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Start by Answering the Real Question
When you clean out a closet, a cupboard, or a dresser, the real question is, ‘how did that make you feel when finished?‘
If the answer is that a weight was lifted or a sense of accomplishment, there’s a reason for that: One of the basic principles of Feng Shui is that decluttering and organizing helps to remove negative stagnant energy from both your home and your person.
Unnecessary ‘stuff’ and ‘things’ can block your life’s natural flow of energy.
Feeling a weight being lifted is reason enough to start a decluttering project.
However, if you need more convincing, here are three additional reasons why you should invest in your decluttering plan:
1. STRESS! TOO MUCH CLUTTER CAN EQUAL TOO MUCH STRESS, SO CUT THE CLUTTER TO CUT THE STRESS
Do you have undone organizational projects in your home? Every day, do you think about them? Does it annoy you that you haven’t started your cleaning projects yet?
If you’ve answered yes to all three of these basic questions, then whether you know it or not, your clutter is stressing you out in some way or another.
The solution is simple: start a cleaning project. It doesn’t matter if you finish the task in ‘X’ hours; what matters is that you begin. Don’t put unnecessary deadlines on yourself, but remember that the finished result gives you that feeling of bliss and ultimately relieves some stress.




Tackle your project at a reasonable pace. For example, if you feel the project can be finished in a few hours, get it done. If you think the project will take a week, take that week, but get it done.
2. CLUTTER AFFECTS YOUR ABILITY TO FOCUS; IT IS A NAGGING DISTRACTION
A study published in the January 2011 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience by researchers at the Princeton University Neuroscience Institute resolved that “a serene environment helps you focus and process information more effectively.” Conversely, a cluttered room creates blocks to processing information and, in turn, affects your focus. You can read more about it here.
3. YOUR CLUTTER PROCRASTINATION CAN LEAD TO PROCRASTINATION IN OTHER AREAS OF YOUR LIFE
One bad habit can lead to another bad habit.
Think about this for a second: You have a stack of unopened mail needing to be processed, and it’s been on your mind to get it done, but you’ve been procrastinating.
You also have the front hall closet that needs to be organized and sorted. The list of things you need to do starts to get longer.
Next, your bedroom closet gets increasingly disorganized; then it’s the kitchen cupboards. It’s not that all of this is happening at once; it’s that, as we ignore one task, we tend to ignore other tasks, and that cycle continues. The messy weight grows, and we begin to feel overwhelmed.
So what’s the solution? The solution is to get started on one thing and then watch how fast this cycle begins to unwind itself. It’s that simple, get started:
- Work on your uncluttering tasks and stay in that moment – don’t push yourself to do everything at once.
- Compartmentalize – Clean the closet and only the closet, then, when done, move on.
- Don’t think about the long list of things you still have to do. Forget about them until and focus on the one task you’re working on completing.
- Jump right in – Look at that closet, and start to empty it, forcing yourself to make choices.
- Make decisions about items quickly – Give yourself 10 seconds to decide to keep, trash, or donate – If it takes you longer than 10 seconds to make that choice, do you need it? I suspect the answer is no.
"Hey There! Thanks for stopping by today. I'm Barbara Cipak, Owner of Funkthishouse; a place where you can safely rebel against neutral decor. My nutty passion is finding funky, and interesting products for the home or office. I'm a home decor rebel who blames her decades in the real estate industry for my love of color! Since leaving neutral behind, I've built Funkthishouse.com, a place where souls once trapped in neutral-decor-world roam free and funk'n love it. Visit FAQs for more about Funkthishouse and the whole funky story.
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I think cleaning can be cathartic. There is something, whether it’s taking your mind off of other things, or the act of cleaning, but it does feel good to do it.
I admit that I can be a “stacky” person. I really need to declutter my office desk again.
Thanks for stopping by. Have to agree about cleaning being cathartic, there’s a certain amount of peacefulness in completing tasks – plus being end results driven, the satisfaction can be fairly quick 🙂 – Decluttering your desk may give you a fresh start feeling for the coming spring
This article is relevant to my current situation. I have plans to move in about 6 months, and to that end I have begun to ‘downsize’ as I will be in a smaller place. As I begin to organize, I am packing up things not needed right away (books, etc.) and finding new homes for other things. I have just started, yet already I feel more organized and uncluttered. 🙂
Hi Pat, thanks for stopping by. Moving is such hard work, I really feel for you having to prepare and get ready for that. Yuk. Glad you’re getting to clear out some of the clutter and feeling good about that part of it. But whoa, it’s a big task to move, hope you get through it quickly and without too much difficulty.
Barbara, I’ve spent my life moving (29 moves in my adult life alone, not to mention the multiple moves in my childhood), so it’s not as hard as you think for me. Just have acquired 6 more years of ‘stuff’ since last move that I need to sort/downsize/NOT move! LOL.
You’re absolutely a pro then! You could probably teach a course on it!
OMG, Barbara, I feel like you were writing every single word of this to me! I hate decluttering (grew up in a cluttered household) and have a hard time letting go of things, but I love how I feel after I’ve finished a decluttering project. Thank you for a much-needed nudge, my friend!
Margaret, I hope you get a chance to unload some of the clutter weight this spring – and I hope I do to! Thanks for stopping by my friend <3
It just occurred to me that undone home organization projects might be part of the reason I cannot finish more of my creative work. I think I need to make a chart of little areas I plan to organization, and calendar it out. And then keep it uncluttered – that is the tricky part!
Oh yah, I’m like that – when things in my environment aren’t just so, I find it harder to focus on office work