Taking Stock and Clearing Out the Clutter: Making Room for the Things that Really Matter

Clutter is energy and, often, wasted energy.  Clutter is anything in our physical environment, our minds, our hearts, our spirits, and in our relationships that interferes with our ability to think or see or feel or act clearly.

‘Stuff management’

I recently cleaned up my desk.  Immediately, it made a difference in my mental state and productivity.   It felt great!

The following week, I went for the storage closet, which was crying out for attention. It was filled to the rafters with a lot of stuff, much of which I no longer needed.   I can’t tell you how good it felt to organize the things I decided to keep and throw or give away the rest!

I would love to come up with better ways to remember how good it feels to complete a de-cluttering task, so that it doesn’t take so long the next time to do the necessary de-cluttering tasks. Any ideas?

Internal clutter
It is quite clear to me that physical clutter is only part of the story.   Being able to also clear out mental, emotional, and relationship clutter is absolutely key for me in maintaining clarity and making room for what really matters in my life. I feel that, particularly in our current times, maintaining healthy emotional and mental states is critical to well being.  Most importantly, I’ve found that I need to surround myself with healthy, supportive people so that I can maintain my strength and perspective plus be there for others.

Regarding mental clutter, I am a born pessimist and a learned optimist so I have to constantly look at and manage my thoughts in order to keep things in proper perspective.   This is easier said than done, but for me it’s critically important to keep me on track.

What has worked for me over time is the applied analogy of working a muscle in the body so that it gains strength.  When stressed or feeling a pessimistic thought-feeling arise I try my best to go inward, become aware of my breath and begin to slow down.  The goal is for me to get quiet and into “neutral”, which thankfully begins to shift the content and quality of my thoughts to a more positive overall focus.  This is an ongoing work-in-progress but I am happy to report that, with time and diligence, I can now describe myself a much more optimistic person that I used to be.

In the emotional clutter department, I find I need to continuously rein in my impatience.  I was born in NY, which is famous for the “NY minute” and even though I left 35 years ago and now live on a tiny island of 800 people, I still carry this trait with me.   I likely will for the rest of my life.   The good news is I am keenly aware of this pattern and I work daily at reducing its impact on others and myself.

The main way I do this with myself is to practice mindfulness when I feel impatience rising within me:  As in dealing with mental clutter, I remind myself to take a moment and slow down, to breathe deeply, and allow myself to shift more fully into the present moment (and away from whatever it is I think isn’t happening fast enough or in the way that I think it should!).

When I am kind to myself in this way, I find I am also kinder to others.

Finally, the topic of relationship clutter is particularly important to me.   I learned a long time ago that holding onto unresolved situations with others can weigh me down and dominate my thoughts and feelings.   I resolved at one point in my life to clean up any remaining cluttered relationships and commit myself to keeping future relationships ‘clean’.  This required a good degree of initial work on my part, finding ways to say what I wanted to say to these individuals, doing my part as best I could, and letting go of the rest.

But the payoffs were worth all the effort.  These days, I find it easier and easier to apologize when I have been in error, to let go of issues and grievances, and forgive.   I’ve learned that letting go not only keeps my relationships ‘clean’, but also leaves all sorts of room for doing, experiencing and enjoying the things that really matter to me.

Q: What are your de-cluttering experiences and suggestions?