Clearing the Clutter

What kinds of clutter are you tolerating in your home? Stand in your most cluttered area for five minutes. Don't do anything, just absorb its energy. Now stand for five minutes in your least cluttered area. If your whole house is cluttered, stand outside for 5 minutes. See how you feel now. When I do this exercise with my clients, the resposes are usually along the lines of : "I felt like I was choking in the cluttered room, hopeless and lost. Outside I could breathe and feel the clarity."

Take a few mintues to see what kinds of clutter you are tolerating:

• no garbage can in the laundry room for the lint
• junk mail
• piles of twisted cords and you don't know what they're for
• running out of AA batteries
• running out of essential kitchen supplies like milk
• socks that don't match and have no hope of finding a mate
• too many plastic bags
• bits and pieces to "something"
• items to give away but you haven't
• missing scissors, tape, staplers
• clothes that don't fit or don't flatter you
• wobbly chairs and tables
• too many clothes hangers (ususally tangled)
• junk drawers
• expired coupons
• outdated, expired cosmetics
• stacks of magazines or papers you'll never find time to read

Tolerating clutter takes up a lot of time and energy, but resolving it can be a quick process. Just choose five items from your personal list and vow to resolve them by Friday. You'll be glad you did!