The,Cancer,Clutter,Take,look,a DIY The Cancer Of Clutter

When starting a new work at home business it is very easy to become consumed by it. We spend so much time trying to get the business up and running that we may end up becoming burned out and lose our motivation. There is so much to learn and Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in

Take a look around your home or your office and notice what's there.Is your space clear and open, ready to support you in the challengesyou set for yourself? Or are there things lying around that disturbyour sense of peace and well-being, distracting you from your dailygoals? Perhaps there's some unfiled papers piling up by the phone. Areyour closets and drawers filled with clothing, but you feel you've gotnothing you love to wear? How about one of my favorites - hundreds ofgreat photos of your loved ones, stuffed into shoe boxes or an oldshopping bag? If you answered yes to any of these questions,chances are high that your life energy is being sucked away by theseseemingly innocuous piles of clutter. Cancer is aterrible disease - cells multiply out of control in your body, throwingyou out of balance and eventually draining the life force out of you.Proliferation of clutter in our lives operates very much like a cancergrowth. It can start out small, but if left unchecked, clutterwill grow to the point where you feel unproductive, distracted andunable to move forward towards your goals.Clutter canbe present in the external world, which is the focus of this article.There's also internal clutter that can accumulate in your life, in theform of resentments, incomplete communications with others orunfinished business (but that's for a future issue!) In either case,clutter creates stress, embarrassment and can impair your ability tofunction. Our consciousness is such a potent creative force,but when its operation is tied up with guilt or resentment aboutclutter it's hard to create inspiring results. It'sastonishing the number of people I've spoken with that have experienceda major life improvement that followed a de-cluttering effort!Idecided that to rise to my next level of personal and career goals, Ihad to reclaim the energy and creative juices that I could feel werebeing tied up with clutter. So, a few weeks ago I engaged the servicesof a professional organizer to work with me for a long weekend - and itwas the best investment of time and money I could have made! (UlrikeLechert-Lombardi, Professional Organizer. She provided the catalyst Ineeded to break my log jam, take back control of my space, and reclaimall the energy that was being tied up in managing around the clutter Ihad in my life.Whether you use the services of a professionalorganizer or take on the challenge yourself, I encourage you to clearout the old and create the space for new experiences and energy in yourlife. You deserve it!Clear Out the Old, Make Way for the NewHere are some easy tips to get you started to de-cluttering your way to new success!1. What's Clutter-bugging you?Take 15-30 minutes to create a list of what drains your energy in yourphysical environment. Go through your space methodically and write downanything that bugs you when you walk in the room. The first step issimply to become aware of where your energy-sucking clutter zones are.2. Create some TimeNow that you've got a list; give yourself the gift of your own time andattention. Whether it's 15 minutes a day or an hour once a week, put itin your calendar just like it's an appointment and start attacking yourlist. You'd be amazed how energizing it can feel to know your socksmatch or that your bills have been filed!3. Beware of Incoming Clutter!Set up some parameters for yourself to manage the amount of clutterthat comes into your space in the first place. Get yourself off directmail lists. Don't feel compelled to print out hard copies of all ofyour emails. If you haven't worn something in a year, decide thatyou'll garage sale it or give it away and let someone else have funwith it!4. Enlist some help Enroll your spouse,your children, or your co-workers in helping you to maintain aclutter-free zone. Delegate appropriate items to others. You caninstitute a scavenger hunt with your children to sweep the houselooking for things that are not in the right place. Have some fun withit! Then you'll all be more likely to keep up with your de-clutteringprocess.5. Have clear expectations The key tosuccess is "a place for everything and everything in its place". Do youknow where you want your places to be? Do you want household cleaningproducts in the laundry, the kitchen, or decentralized in eachbathroom? The people sharing your space aren't mind readers, so createa map of your space of where you'd like your things to go. This willsave not only a lot of time, but avoid a lot of resentments as well.6. It's a Marathon, not a SprintDe-cluttering your space is a process, not an endpoint. Many of us setourselves up for disappointment thinking that once we make that bigpush our space will stay organized and pristine only to discover beingawash in old clutter and habits again six months later. Building insome ongoing maintenance time and attention will help keep your spaceclutter-free. Article Tags: Professional Organizer