On the other hand, if your situation is that everything is already in the center of the room when you start, then the first thing to do is make sure you have enough storage space to put it all away. Then divide the pile into smaller manageable chunks and get to work on them, one by one.
Sorting Through Your Stuff
As you sort through things, do not create a pile of objects with the intention of deciding later where they will go. Pick up each object in turn and make a decision about it then and there. Does it stay or does it go? If it goes, put it in the relevant box (Trash, Recycling, Charity, Selling, etc). If it stays, but needs attention, put it in the Repairs box. If it belongs elsewhere in your home, put it in the Transit box, which is a great invention because it prevents you from getting side-tracked if you wander off to other parts of your home while you work.
Toward the end of each clutter clearing session, take your Transit box on a walkabout and relocate its contents in or near the places you have decided each item will now live. If any of these places are already full because you haven’t cleared them yet, the items will need to stay in the box for a while, which is not ideal but may be the best you can do.
Make this whole process fun for yourself. Decide now that everything that takes up space in your home has to have a valid purpose for being there. Ask yourself, “Does it pass the clutter test?”
The Clutter Test
Decide what to keep by asking yourself these three questions:
1. Does it lift my energy when I think about it or look at it?
2. Do I absolutely love it?
3. Is it genuinely useful?
If the answer is not a resounding yes to question 1 and an equally resounding yes to either question 2 or 3, then what is it doing in your life?
Does It Lift My Energy When I Think About It or Look at It?
Recognizing whether you feel energized or not is the most reliable part of the clutter test. Your mind can fool around with you and invent all kinds of excuses so that you get to hang on to stuff, but your body knows the truth and never lies. Trust the feeling in your body.
Do I Absolutely Love It?
If so, does it really inspire me, or is it just “nice”? Do I already have enough of this type of item for my needs? In spite of how much I love it, does it also have sad associations in my life?
Is It Genuinely Useful?
If so, when did I actually last use it? When, realistically, am I likely to use it again?
The Dilemma Box
While you’re learning the knack of clutter clearing, you may need to use a Dilemma box. When you come across things that you know constitute clutter but you truly do not feel ready to part with them yet, put them in the Dilemma box and then stash the box in the deepest, darkest recess of a closet. Make a note on your calendar at a future time—say, in six months—to check on the box. Try to remember what is in it before you open it. The chances are you will have forgotten, in which case it rather proves the point that you don’t really need any of those things. Your life has gone on perfectly well without them.
You could even get a friend to open the box for you (choose the kind of friend who doesn’t have clutter and finds it hard to understand why anyone else would). Anything you can remember and still feel you have a genuine use for, you can keep; everything else, your friend takes away to dispose of however he or she wants, and you never see the items again. If this feels too extreme for you, then just open the box and seriously review the contents again, bearing in mind that you haven’t needed any of them for the entire time they’ve been in storage.
One woman told me she was so worried she might regret getting rid of something that she bundled it up in three large trash bags and slept with them in her bedroom for three nights. She figured that if there were anything in there that she would miss, she would have been out of bed in the middle of the night, rummaging through the bags to retrieve it. But she slept peacefully every night, and on the fourth morning she happily dumped the lot in her garbage bins and didn’t miss a thing.
Tidying
If your clutter is more of the messy variety than things that need sorting and tossing, here’s a very good way to learn to tidy your home and keep it that way.
Start in one corner of the room. Pick up any object at random that needs to be put away. Let’s say it’s a shirt. Start talking to yourself out loud in a kind of rhythmic chant, describing what you are doing. “I’m picking up the shirt and I’m walking to the drawer. I’m opening the drawer and I’m putting it inside.” Then get some more items from the same corner. “I’m picking up the newspaper and putting it in the bin. I’m picking up the book and I’m putting it on the shelf.” And so on.
All your sentences need to have a similar rhythm and be in two parts: dee-da-dee-da-dee-da and dee-da-dee-da-dee-da. It is this rhythm that carries you along and makes the task enjoyable and fun. Kids love tidying this way. It also means that your mental dialogue is already full, so you don’t get stuck in your usual indecisiveness or bogged down in details. You just get into the rhythm and go with it. You start in one corner and work your way across the room until it is clear. With a bit of practice you can even get the words to rhyme!
GETTING CLUTTER OFF THE PREMISES
Don’t do all that work and not take the final step of getting the clutter off the premises. This is a crucial part of clutter clearing.
Throwing Things Away. Clutter that is no use to anyone in any shape or form is the easiest and quickest to dispose of. Hire a Dumpster to take it away, drive it to the dump yourself, or put it out for the local garbage service to collect. It feels very satisfying to get trash out of your home as soon as you can.
Recycling. The next easiest option is recycling, and in many parts of the world this is now just as simple (and a lot more environmentally responsible) as throwing stuff away. An amazing number of things can now be recycled. A quick Internet search on the word “recycle” and the name of the object you are ready to send off to a new incarnation will usually yield results.
Gifting. Gifts to friends, relatives, charity shops, institutions, and other deserving causes generally take longer to dispose of. You may have to wait until you see a particular friend or pass a certain charity shop, school, library, hospital, etc. Posting the item to a website such as www.freecycle.org can speed up the process. But if you choose the gifting option, set a date (say, the end of this month or next), and make a deal with yourself that you will send the item off for recycling or consign it to the garbage heap if you haven’t given it to anyone by then. Don’t misunderstand me. I am wholeheartedly in favor of giving ex-clutter to people who will use and appreciate it, but my experience is that most junk designated as gifts just sits in boxes or bags and never makes it out the door. Until you have become experienced at clutter clearing, it may not be wise to allow yourself the luxury of gifting. Just get rid of it as fast as possible in the most conscientious way you can.
Returning Things. This can also take a while. You have to contact the people the items belong to and request, plead, or insist that they take them out of your space. Set a reasonable deadline and let them know that if they haven’t collected the stuff by then, you will dispose of it in any way you see fit. Alternatively, you can mail the items or deliver them yourself.
Selling Items. This can take even longer because now you have to find someone who will pay money for your junk. It’s generally not a good bet for a first-time clutter clearer, unless you have a bulk purchaser or decide to have a yard sale (an excellent idea). If you have just a few items to dispose of, eBay or Craigslist can be a good solution.
Exchanging and Bartering. This is even more difficult because now you are looking for someone who wants what you have and has something you want. Set yourself a deadline and if you haven’t found the exchange or barter you want to make by that date, sell the item, give it away, throw it a
way—do anything but keep it.
Repairing, Altering, and Renovating. These options can take the longest time of all and are by far the least likely to happen. The chances are very strong that the items will still be unrepaired, unaltered, and unrenovated this time next year or, in fact, this time next decade. Be particularly wary of keeping obscure items you have convinced yourself you will someday transform into something useful, and items you are keeping until you have something to go with them to make them useful.
CLEARING CLUTTER GETS EASIER THE MORE YOU DO IT
Like learning anything else in the world, clutter clearing is a skill that you can develop. Think of yourself as needing to build your clutter clearing “muscle.” The more of it you do, the more proficient you become and the easier it gets, but when you first begin you can feel like a clutter clearing weakling.
After a few successes, when you experience what I call the E-factor of clutter clearing, it changes from being a chore to being a delight. “E” in this case stands for exhilaration—the joyful feeling of accomplishment you get when you finish a job.
One of my clients who had been a hoarder all his life became so enthusiastic about clutter clearing that he told me he would sometimes come home from work, say hello to his wife and children, and then go upstairs to his bedroom, open a drawer, select something such as a pair of old socks, and just for the sheer heck of it, throw them away! He’d discovered the E-factor.
Here’s a personal example from my own life. I once set myself the goal of taking an early morning walk to a certain place, farther than I usually go. I got tired before I got there and nearly convinced myself to quit and go home. But instead I ignored the dialogue in my head and just kept walking until I reached my destination. A small goal, you may say, and seemingly unimportant, but the level of exhilaration in my body as I walked back was completely out of proportion to the achievement. I felt fantastic, and the feeling lasted throughout the day.
It’s exactly the same with clutter clearing. You decide to clear a small drawer, and once you do it, the feeling of exhilaration that follows is almost heady. All kinds of energy blockages are released in your body, all the failures of previous attempts at clutter clearing are overwritten, and you feel unstoppable.
Actually, you can experience this any time you decide to do something and then do it. It’s not limited to clutter clearing. The E-factor is one of the main things that inspires successful people to do more.
Treat Yourself
My whole intention in writing this book has been to make the benefits of clutter clearing so attractive that you will overcome the inertia of keeping your junk. Adopt the attitude that clearing out your clutter is a treat. Later, when you have experienced the benefits, you will want to treat yourself more often. As one woman said to me, “I never realized one could get just as much pleasure from getting rid of material possessions as from acquiring them in the first place!”
Remember, you don’t need to aim for perfection. Just deal with the main items of clutter that are clogging up your space and then get on with your life.
It’s Safe to Let Go
Affirm to yourself as you sort through your things, “It’s safe to let go.” Clearing clutter is about letting go and trusting the process of life to bring you what you need, when you need it. Anything you are keeping “just in case” you are keeping out of fear.
If you have a lot of clutter, you may need to go through it several times before you feel ready to let go of some things. In some cases, it may take a whole year or more before you finally admit to yourself that an object still hasn’t come in handy.
SEVEN TOP CLUTTER CLEARING TIPS
Here are seven tried-and-true tips for effective clutter clearing.
1. Discover Your Most Effective Clutter Clearing Time of Day
Most people find they have a best time of day for clutter clearing. Some people prefer the morning. Others find it easier at night. Discover when you are at your most decisive and do your clearing then.
2. Schedule Clutter Clearing
Decide when you will begin and schedule it on your calendar, as you would any other activity. Make a date with yourself to do it, and show up. It can be a whole day, a half day, or a series of appointments of just an hour or half an hour, depending on how fast you want to progress.
3. Timebox Each Task
It’s a well-known fact that all jobs expand to fill their allotted time limit, so if you tell yourself you will clear your stuff until it’s done, don’t be surprised if the process takes forever. Timebox each job. Break each task down into chunks, decide how long it will take you to complete each one, and then set your timer. Work against the clock to do each chunk within the timebox you have set yourself.
You can also use this technique to accomplish other types of tasks. For example, if you’re doing a job at your computer, you might use one of the great timer software programs out there. Instead of a boring alarm sound when time’s up, you can set the program to burst into life with any soundtrack you have on your computer. I revised and updated most of this book in sixty-minute timeboxes using this technique.
If you’re the kind of person who procrastinates because you love the adrenaline rush of getting something done just in time for a deadline, you’ll adore timeboxing. You won’t have to wait for a big deadline but can get your fix many times a day. However, I have to warn you that with practice, you’ll be able to timebox yourself without a clock, and will routinely start completing jobs on time. So use this technique only if the rest of your life is interesting enough not to need adrenaline highs (your kidneys will thank you for this and serve you longer because of it).
4. Play Upbeat Music
Some people prefer to clutter clear in silence, but many find they are able to keep going two to three times longer if they have the right music playing. If this works for you, be sure to use external speakers (not headphones) and set the volume loud enough to make your body feel like dancing. For best results, set your player to automatic repeat so that it just keeps going. Avoid alternating fast and slow songs—the ballads will cause you to lose momentum. If you have a lot of clutter to clear, it would be a good investment of your time to make your own music compilation especially for this purpose. But don’t let doing this be yet another delay to making a start!
5. Wear Something Red
Just as red dancing shoes make your feet feel like moving, so does wearing red clothes make you feel like taking action. If you don’t have anything red, then wear colors from the warm end of the spectrum (orange, yellow, etc.) rather than cool colors like blue. Many people keep clutter as a way of comforting themselves. Warm colors are more emotionally comforting than cool ones, so if you wear colors from the warmer end of the spectrum while sorting through your stuff, you’ll probably find it easier to let things go.
6. Don’t Wear Black or Gray
Black attracts low-level vibrations and will quickly make you feel tired when clearing clutter. Gray is also not a good color to wear because it can cause you to be indecisive about what stays and what goes.
7. Reward Yourself for a Job Well Done
It’s human nature to seek gratification, so if you reward yourself in some way after you’ve clutter cleared, part of you remembers this and is more inclined to want to do it again. Promise yourself that when the job is done, you’ll reward yourself with a massage, watch a movie, go out with a friend, or whatever kind of treat is possible, affordable, and meaningful for you.
Many people get very inspired to clear their clutter after reading this book, but then find they are just too busy to put what they learn into practice.
We live in a busy world, where there seems to be less and less time. As Benjamin Hoff put it so eloquently in The Tao of Pooh, “If time saving devices really saved time, there would be more time available to us than ever before in history. But, strangely enough, we seem to have less time
than even a few years ago. It’s really great fun to go somewhere where there are no time saving devices because, when you do, you find that you have lots of time. Elsewhere, you’re too busy working to pay for machines to save you time so you don’t have to work so hard.”
Physicists are not even sure time exists. They say that the passing of time may only be the way we perceive it, and that time itself may be an illusion, a matter of perspective. But it certainly seems real enough to us, and learning to handle it effectively is an important part of the clutter clearing process.
PRIORITIZATION
The first and most important step in tackling time clutter is prioritization. You need to establish your main priorities and arrange your life around them, not the other way around. Most people schedule everything first and then try to fit their life into the gaps in between. That’s a surefire recipe for getting to the end of your days and realizing that you never figured out the important stuff or made time for it.
Prioritization requires a level of serious introspection that people generally find quite challenging, but it’s really not such a big deal. In my experience of working with people over many years, the list of priorities doesn’t vary that much from person to person. It’s a matter of discovering what is important for you, while bearing in mind that priorities change as you move through different stages of your life. Being clear about your priorities enables you to maintain an overview so that you don’t get lost in day-to-day details.
Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui (Revised and Updated) Page 10
