The benefit of clutter can be seen as an oxymoron. What benefit is there to clutter, you ask? Well, clutter can lead us to identify and examine our lives and see what changes need to be made, for starters.

Delayed Decisions Create Clutter

It’s true. We all have those areas of our lives where we hesitate and want to push back our thinking about it. For some of us, this is one particular area, while for others it can be several.
Making decisions can mean moving into an uncomfortable emotion or situation or even having to face the fact that you don’t want to move into action. This is when clutter starts to accumulate.
Decisions can be complicated or simple, but either way, they bring up feelings of anxiety or dread. Thus, the papers and piles stay in place, and we continue to walk by them or add to them day after day.

Clutter Blends In

Imagine that you have just gone to someone’s house for the first time. You are looking around at this new environment, and the clutter is apparent. However, for the person living there, it has just become part of the background, one of those tasks that they will get to ‘someday’. 
It is easy to avoid clearing up a mess that has become commonplace. Take a look at your home with new eyes, pretend you have never been there before. What sticks out? Do you have piles of clutter where you had previously missed seeing them?

Clearing Clutter

Once you have established that you do indeed have clutter, the time to start organizing it is now! Here are some steps to begin:
• Take everything out of the pile; see what you actually have in there. Take a mental and visual inventory. If you need to, make a list.
• Begin to sort your clutter into piles, like with like. This can be things that go together because they all belong in the same place. For instance, papers that belong in the filing cabinet, not on the kitchen counter. Or, they can be papers that all have to do with your child’s school: homework, drawings, etc.
• Decide that you are going to decide. This is the crucial point.  Either make a decision or give yourself a time frame by when you will make a decision. It is important to hold yourself accountable.

Free Yourself

Clearing up clutter can be one of the most freeing activities you can do. It liberates you from old fears and clears the way; literally and figuratively, to move forward in your life. For more information on how organizing clutter is beneficial, read my blog, Organize for your Health and Well-Being. 
It opens up the door to new possibilities as you no longer have the weight of these old nagging thoughts pulling down on you. It allows you to be more present and more engaged in life and your relationships. It gives you time to enjoy favorite pastimes and even start up a new class or hobby. With this newfound energy and freed up space in your mind and emotions, there’s no telling what you can do!