Conquer Your Clutter

by Kera McHugh

Oh clutter… dear clutter… how we desperately avoid parting with you. You are our link to the past (I've had that so long), our reminder of the present (where did I put that phone number?), and our hopes for the future (I know I'll need/use that someday).

I have news for you… there's a thrift store that needs your clutter more than you do!!

Yes, ok, I'm just as guilty as the next person, I have plenty of clutter. But I know I have to get rid of it. Do you? I'm here to give you the OK! Here's your permission to part with that precious envelope of hair clippings from your 35 year old's first haircut; To sell that set of extraordinarily ordinary, but really old and probably valuable, dishes that your old girlfriend made you buy at an auction and has been sitting in the garage ever since; To throw away the cases and cases of cassette tapes you haven't listened to in decades but have moved 8 times.

Oh, and all those bits and pieces of free software, and old documents you have sitting on your harddrive?? You can get rid of them too! Electronic clutter is not immune to the need for space!

We were away for a couple weeks, and had a chance to reflect on our clutter. Coming home, we had a renewed inspiration to GET RID OF IT! It's amazing what a couple days of de-cluttering can produce! A cleared out driveway, a tidier office, a finished dining room and a pickup truck full of junk for the dump. My goodness, does one feel cleansed by a good de-cluttering!

So as I sit here writing about clutter, I look at my in-tray… Ugh. In spite of de-cluttering my office, it's still full. Why? Because all those bits of paper that I wasn't sure what to do with at the time are now in there! Hardly a successful clutter removal process. That's called "pile-shifting", right? And don't tell me you're not guilty of that one, because we all know it's not true. Everyone shifts his or her piles once in a while, at least. It's the best procrastinating tool out there!

Have I made my point yet? Clutter is not productive. Getting rid of clutter is productive. They say a cluttered house is a sign of a cluttered mind… could that be true? I'm hoping not, but I don't want to wait for the proof!

To that end, I leave you to your own piles, and hope you find inspiration to liberate yourself from clutter. I'm off to attack my in-tray.

Happy sorting…