Soul-Wise Living
Soul-Wise Living

Clutter: It’s Bad for the Body & Soul

clutter control1Clutter Comes in all shapes and sizes. And is not only bad for your mental health but is also bad for your physical health. The move this month took me out of the 900 square foot office into a 200 square foot office after being in the same space for 14 years. I pride myself in keeping a space that has been designed from the principles of feng shui and allows energy to freely flow through it. Clutter impedes that flow. I never realized how ‘impeded’ I was!!! The move has reinforced much in my life.

Clutter can be bad for your physical health. Too much of it can cause a fire hazard. If clutter prevents you from being able to clean often, dust, mold and mildew can accumulate. This is bad for allergies and asthma.

Clutter is bad for your ability to manage your time efficiently and effectively. When there is too much in the way, knowing where something is when you want it is virtually impossible.
..
Clutter also becomes a mental deficit. It drains energy and the ability to process and complete work. When people start working their way through clutter, their attitude improves and their energy rises.
I’m followed this simple rule  as we cleaned out the offices:
..
Do I love it? Do I Use It? Will it fit? No? Then, LOSE IT…I can not believe the energy in the new office because of this simple rule!!!!!!!
..
What pile can you take care of today to start increasing that energy and your health for yourself? 
If you liked this post, please share it with your friends by clicking the links below! And, don’t forget to share your thoughts below too, I’d love to hear from you!

8 Comments »

  1. Great post Laura! Clutter does cause emotional harm as well as physical, I’ve seen it in action. I’ve always been a non-clutter, totally organized person. Couldn’t imagine my life any other way.

    [Reply]

    Laura Clark Reply:

    YES!I was totally organized for this move ~ then the guys’ I had moving got sick and the proverbial Murphy’s law came into action! It’s been a great test of patience and determination. I still have a few details to sort out then all will be upside right 🙂 and it really makes feel very fortunate for being of the organized-ilk!!

    [Reply]

    Comment by Victoria — January 24, 2013 @ 9:09 am

  2. Great post!

    [Reply]

    Laura Clark Reply:

    Thanks, Susie ~ no doubt you know and see this in your work 🙂

    [Reply]

    Comment by Susie — January 24, 2013 @ 11:44 am

  3. Good point! Cluttered office. Cluttered mind.

    [Reply]

    Laura Clark Reply:

    It certainly is ~ cluttered move ~ cluttered mind 😉 Thank heaven, I was smart enough to hire an organizer at the beginning of the week to help support the next steps of this transition!!! 🙂

    [Reply]

    Comment by Catherine Doucette — January 24, 2013 @ 3:34 pm

  4. I read these things all the time…
    And, wonder, really wonder as to the accuracy of these statements. Oh, I know, that some folks get overwhelmed with it. But, let’s use a concrete example.
    My office desk (ok, one of three). It has an organized stack (in folders) of papers and items that are time-sensitive and relevant to the needs of one of my clients. Things I need to have at my (left) hand when I need them to handle their issues. While I work on projects for other clients. (I am the temporary CEO of that entity.) On my right hand side are a stack of papers (yes, it’s a stack of cut-outs) from journals that I need to deal with over the next month. Preferable the next week- if time allows, but MUST be completed by the ides of February. To the front of the desk are seven texts to which I refer when receiving calls from other clients. To match the tome or two on their desk, so that when I proffer advice, they can refer to the same chapter or verse at their end. And, directly in front of me is computer monitors (two of them) which provide five or six mini-screens of activities that I need to effect TODAY.
    To you- that’s clutter. To me, that means at least an hour a day of NON-wasted time having what I need when I need it.
    The trick is when I am done with a project or activity, the material is removed- either to the trash, to the computer memory (indexed and categorized, I might add), or to a bookcase, as the case may be.

    [Reply]

    Laura Clark Reply:

    See, Roy, you get it 🙂 That is NOT clutter to me ~ that is a system of organization that you use effectively to do the good work that you do! It’s about saving time and energy by being able to access quickly what you need when you need it. So, yes, to me, I may walk into your office and ‘see’ clutter but to you you walk into your office and see the next task and opportunity to be accomplished. They say Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Too many people allow those stacks you have to be unorganized and then waste valuable precious time trying to find things. (a concrete example to your point: A friend tried to help me during this move and was wonderful but despite this she moved some stacks of files and put them all into one trying to be helpful ~ they were organized into ‘to shred’; to take to the home office and to take to the new office. My organized stacks were her!!!) I think you ended your thoughts with the key to everything. The trick THE BIG SECRET is when done to remove material and not allow it to ‘hang out’!!!! Thanks for your thoughts ~ always enlightening!!! 🙂

    [Reply]

    Comment by Roy A. Ackerman, PhD, EA — January 25, 2013 @ 6:14 am

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Leave a comment













Subscribe for More Wisdom