Peace of Mind Organizing

Clutter can be such a barrier

13 September 2007

It’s amazing to me what a barrier to productivity, to progress, to peace of mind clutter can be. I see it in my clients all the time. And I know from personal experience.

A confluence of events created a mini-hurricane in my office this summer. For the month of August, my office looked just awful. The desk was piled high, stuff littered the floor. I had purchased a new computer (I just adore my new MacBook!), which was terribly disruptive and created all sorts of trash, I was busy with clients and I was travelling, which always creates disorder for me. This actually isn’t that big a deal for me, usually, because at least I have a place for everything. Messy person that I am, I was being lazy about putting things away.

The emotional toll was huge, though. I felt like I couldn’t do anything else until I cleaned up my office. But when I’d try do to it, I’d very limited time, I’d work in fits and starts—never really completing anything—and it seemed like I was just making things worse. I’d spend hours helping clients create order and just not want to come home and do it for myself. It was nutty, because it really made me feel bad.

I was getting other things done, but really I was just putting out fires. Only the most pressing things were getting accomplished. I felt like doing any planning had to wait until my office was under control.

So finally, on a Saturday, I just told myself that all I had to do that day was clean up my office. I’d work on it until I was done. My approach was to start at the door and tackle each pile and mess until it was gone. You know what? It took me at most two and half hours. Which is nothing.

And what a difference it made! Once the floor and desk were clear, my head was clear. I was empowered. I could actually race through my to-do list, checking things off. And, of course, my feng shui is much improved. I have no doubt that the clutter was blocking the flow energy.

I’ve always had plenty of empathy for my clients. But this experience gave me new insights. And it also proved the value of setting aside time for decluttering and staying focused on it until the project is completed. That’s certainly what I help my clients do—it was time I treated myself with that same regard.

Tagged with: clutter, decluttering, empowerment, feng shui, focus, priorities, procrastination, productivity

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