I always know I’m off-track with pretty much any goal I’ve set for myself when I stop, look around, and see clutter everywhere. For some reason, the state of my house, car or room reflects what’s going on with me in my head and heart. Right now, I look around and see clutter. It’s overwhelming. And that’s exactly how I’ve been feeling: overwhelmed.
So, CLUTTER = OVERWHELM. Okay, so that is clear.
Now, what to do about it?
First, take a breathe. Second, one step at a time. Break it off into size-able chunks. It feels pretty awesome to step back and look at things from a less emotional place – at least for a minute or two.
Next, make a list. Ugh….not the never-ending list you say! YES, the list. Make a list going room by room of all the things you need to do: one room at a time. I always have clients add their car to this list as well (another clutter-laden area).
Now take a highlighter (pick the color you like the least) and highlight the crappiest of crappy things on that list. Limit it to 10.
Whip out another piece of paper and list each of those out with some space under each one. Then list why it is one of the crappiest things for you to deal with. What does it remind you of? Why do you hate to deal with it? Example: sorting through the clothes in your closet. You hate that because it reminds you of all the clothes that don’t fit right now. Next step, and this is important – how does that make you feel? Seeing all the clothes that don’t fit? List the emotions. Read through them. NOW……..
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?????
….And that my friends is what we call getting down to the “nitty gritty”. In the end, isn’t that what we all really want or need to do?
So let’s say we keep using this example and you list that you feel fat, yucky, alone. What am I going to do about it? Guess what the first thing you can do is? Write this down:
I’M WORTH IT. I’M AMAZING. THERE IS NO OTHER ME OUT THERE. I CAN DO ANYTHING.
Then pick 1 thing on that crappy item list (and in this case it’s the closet of clothes) and set a date to be done with that 1 thing. So let’s say I give my self 2 days to go through it. And here’s where it gets a little odd….List 3 things right on the paper next to this item of what you can do to reverse the negative feeling or at least begin the process. So let’s say you feel overweight and sad from looking at all the clothes that don’t fit. List 3 things you can do to tackle this: 1. Call a friend to be an accountability partner 2. Go for a walk (decide on a walking schedule maybe) 3. cook a delish, healthy meal.
The idea is that negative emotions are tied to these cluttery areas of your life. Emotions you might not know how to deal with but more likely just don’t want to. Thus leading to “overwhelm.” And then we feel overwhelmed with all the clutter. It’s a vicious cycle that only you can break. And you can break it. Remember?
I’M WORTH IT. I’M AMAZING. THERE IS NO OTHER ME OUT THERE. I CAN DO ANYTHING.
Feel overwhelmed just reading and thinking about this? Try a calendar to get you started:
http://www.home-storage-solutions-101.com/declutter-your-home.html
I understand the feeling of not having enough time to do everything you need to do in your home, including the process of decluttering.
You can look at the drawer, the room, or the whole house and feel like you’ll need to work for days and days to get it cleared out, and you don’t have that kind of free time in your schedule!
When you are not ready to do the list idea (although I hope at some point you are) this is a great place to start because it gives you a bit of direction. And starting anything is half the battle!
So if you look around and see a bunch of clutter, ask yourself, how am I doing right now? Am I overwhelmed? If the answer is yes, maybe try either of the 2 options up top.
YOU ARE WORTH IT. YOU ARE AMAZING. THERE IS NO OTHER YOU OUT THERE. YOU CAN DO ANYTHING.
