Peace of Mind Organizing

Facing down the fears lurking in the clutter

18 September 2009

As Shannon and I discuss in Declutter Happy Hour, sometimes people don’t want to work on clutter because it’s just plain scary.

And by “people” I mean “me.”

I started accumulating a pile of stuff in the inbaskets on the radiator by my desk before I left for Australia. (My dirty little secret is that sometimes, in an effort to quickly clean off my desk each night, I just shuttle stuff into the inbox, rather than dealing with it.)

“Go through inbox” was on my to-do list. But whenever I read that task, I’d feel anxious. Then I came back from Australia and the teetering pile was still there. I unpacked my bag and made it bigger!

So this morning I determined that I’d have to deal with it. I have some fun activities ahead of me today, so I figured crossing this off my list would be a great way to free myself for some fun.

Because I’m all about the before and after pictures, I took a before photo:

Not impressive.

40 minutes later (I know, because I set a timer for 40 minutes), I was finished. I’d even filed the few papers that needed filing. Here’s the after photo:

That's more like it!

Before I started and while I was doing it, I was feeling anxious. What was I afraid of? My liability insurance bill was in there, for one, and I was afraid to see if my rates had been raised substantially. (They hadn’t). I guess I was also afraid I’d find things that I was supposed to have done that were now past due. (I didn’t.)

I love these opportunities to put myself into my clients’ shoes. And I love the reassurance (something my clients learn all the time) that the scary pile or cluttered room or basement really isn’t so bad. And going through it takes less time than you’d think.

It’s only 9 a.m. and that pile is gone and I’m free to proceed with my fun day! I hope your day is as freeing and productive!

Tagged with: clutter, declutter happy hour, decluttering, emotions, empowerment, fear, procrastination, shannon wilkinson

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