Unclutter Your Life

Life should be easy, wing it, un-plan it.

Imagine your home or your favorite space. Is everything in its place all the time? Drawers and shelves neatly lined up? Your closet color coded or set up by e season, shoes all in a row or in boxes? Or is your space a jumbled mess of papers, sticky notes, clothes, hangers, socks, books, stuff everywhere? Do you have a favorite drawer where everything seems to land, to be sorted only when you need something (desperately) from that space?


Not easy to face up to what your space looks like is it? Now compare this to your life. Is it cluttered? Or is every minute of your day assigned and orderly. Is the clutter in your life all negative influences or experiences that need to be removed or realigned so they do not interfere with your everyday life. You can realign the clutter that exists by putting it on different shelves, in drawers or even in the garbage can -get it out of our minds completely, send it away.


Clutter. Our lives are full of it. Why do we hang on to things (or people) that clutter our lives? Clutter is the person who calls just to talk even though they know you are at work and you cannot get rid of them. Clutter is the event you have to go to because someone else committed you to it. Clutter is the stack of books and magazines in the corner that you told yourself you needed to read them but cannot find the time. Clutter is the argument that keeps coming up between you and your spouse. Clutter is the relationship you have outgrown and keep up with because it is a habit.


Wow. That is a great deal of clutter. And imagine what clutter would look like if we looked at our work life through this lens?

How do we get rid of clutter? It's a decision. Not an easy one, to determine which clutter needs to go, and perhaps, which clutter needs to be put on a shelf or in a drawer for later use.

Deciphering the clutter is a very personal task. Which clutter do you want to keep but simply move? What clutter just needs to go away? What clutter are you happy with having around you? See, life should be easy, and easy to wing it, so to speak.


Try this. Upland your life just a little. Make a list of the clutter. (you are saying un-plan but you are making me do work, well, you need to get to the 'un-plannable' state by being able to work through the clutter and sort out what is in the way, then you will be able to give yourself a fresh start and a new routine which will take 21 days to build into a habit.)
Next to each clutter point, put an A next to the clutter that needs to go away. Put a B next to the clutter that you want to keep. Put a C next to the clutter that you may simply need to reallocate.


Work the keep or B list first. Go through each one and determine if it has a positive or negative effect on your life, work, and peace of mind. If it truly is a keeper, check it off. If not, use one of the other letters, A or C, to redefine it.


Work the A list next. If it needs to go away decide what you are going to do with it. Is it a relationship that needs to end? What are the steps, though difficult, that you will take to resolve the relationship. Could it be as simple as avoiding all contact, or eliminating all contact, or having a conversation with the person stating the facts about why the relationship will be changing? Is it old clothing sitting in the closet that you think you may fit into again? Easy, send it to a clothing recycler-Goodwill, consignment or the local church. Go through each A list item and plan the steps. Then do the steps to get rid of the clutter.

Lastly, work on the C list. The clutter that needs to be reallocated. Go one by one through each item and note where you will be reallocating the items on the list. For example, if it is a daily phone call with mom that always gets into the middle of your morning, let her know what your morning schedule is and would it work to relocate the meeting time. Or, if it is an event that you have been committed to, let go of some of the responsibilities by delegating to others.

Not yet mentioned are those little items that just seem to crop up. Say NO. Be strong...unless you want to!

You will need to complete the ABC exercise with items as well as relationships and your schedule.

Your life has just become a little more unplanned, open to change. You will find yourself more relaxed, at peace and full of energy. Try it!