Even though I am an interior designer and feng shui practitioner, I find that a good portion of my business is about simple clutter control. Everyone has clutter. Even me. But I would never say that out loud….or did I just do that?
I often wonder if our ancestors battled with any kind of clutter. Can you imagine Scarlet O’hara having too many dresses? Yea I can’t either. So clutter is definitely a newer phenomenon. In my opinion there are several factors that play into the role of clutter and how to manage it. But not everyone is ready to tackle their demons, so if you are like many of my clients who either: 1) Think they don’t have clutter, or 2) Refuse to admit that the stack of papers on the counter isn’t clutter, I have great news for you! Today we are going to learn 3 Simple, unorthodox rules to manage clutter. Are you excited? Yea, me too.
1) Face the fear
Say what? Well, nine times out of ten, we hold onto clutter to avoid facing other issues in our lives. It’s a proven fact that people either hoard to hang on, or accumulate to avoid letting go. It’s essentially a control mechanism, so facing it head on is like spinning out of control – only you won’t spin out of control, fall apart, or forget to breathe. But you will feel lighter, more relaxed, and in more control than you’ve ever felt before. You might even lose weight! Sounds pretty good to me!
2) Make it a daily routine
So let’s be honest here. If you haven’t really decluttered in say a decade, the idea of starting is enough to stop you before you even start. Am I right? Many people are paralyzed just by the shear thought of trying because it’s too overwhelming. So rather than looking at the entire cake, enjoy one slice at a time. Whether you choose a category, like clothes or mail, or choose a room, the point is to get started. I’ve even had clients start with a junk drawer. Do one thing every day and make it a routine. You can even set a timer. Include the family and in 30 minutes you can knock out an entire house.
3) Reframing
Many of my clients will jump at the opportunity to go out with friends, or head to the movies, but the idea of clutter clearing – well that’s a chore. Instead, look at it with a new frame of mind. Feeling exasperated about a task before you even start sets you up for failure.
Having open space does so much for your psyche. As my instructor always said, you can have a stack of mail, or infinite possibilities. The universe is like a vacuum. So when your vacuum gets junked up with unnecessary things, it stops working. Meaning new opportunities are SLOW to come in. Remove the clutter and the vacuum starts working again. Isn’t that exciting? Yes! So you can have a stack of bills, used envelopes and unnecessary sticky notes laying all over the place, or you can have exciting new opportunities coming into your life. Reframing the chore to an exciting opportunity makes it all worth while!
No matter how you slice it, clutter can quickly get out of control, and when it does it takes over your life. Your thoughts get cluttered, you waste a lot of time, and our house looks messy. Using these three simples rules everyday will help you get on top of the mess and gain control of your live. Do you have any great tips on how to manage clutter? Post them below in the comments -We’d love to hear them!