2016: The Year of Clearing Space?

You can’t reach for the stars by climbing that mountain of clutter.

That’s what I wrote two years ago (2014: Time to Start Shoveling?) and I stand by it today. There are plenty of obstacles you’ll encounter in your life that you have no control over.

Clutter is a major obstacle, but it’s one you can do something about.

In fact successfully dealing with clutter, if it’s an issue for you, can actually boost your ability to deal with those other obstacles.

Not sure if clutter’s an issue? Here are some questions to ask yourself.

1. How much stuff are you holding onto because you might need it someday?
2. How much stuff are you holding onto because it has financial value or “might be” valuable?
3. How much stuff are you holding onto because it has sentimental value? Just how much of your past are you curating?
4. How much stuff are you holding onto simply because it’s already there?
5. How much stuff might you be holding onto that you don’t even know you have?
6. How many items of clothing or pairs of shoes do you have that you no longer wear—or that don’t even belong to you?
7. How many drawers, cabinets, closets, countertops, and shelves are so full you can’t fit anything else in or on them?
8. How much work do you have to do before you can clean your living or work space?
9. How much time do you spend looking for things?
10. Have you ever failed to respond to something in a timely manner because you lost track of the paperwork?
11. How much of your stuff needs to be repaired, refinished, repurposed, or recycled?
12. How often do you notice something in your living or work space and think “I really need to do something about that”?
13. Have you ever panicked at the thought of someone coming into your home and seeing the mess?
14. Conversely, have you ever said, “You think your place is bad, you should see mine”?
15. How many times have you gotten everything in one area completely tidy and organized only to find the clutter slowly creeping back months, weeks, or even days later?

My interest in clutter and having too much stuff (the two often go together) is related to the effect hey have on the brain. Clutter tends to snag your attention on a regular basis and in dozens of different ways. You don’t have an unlimited amount of System 2 (conscious) attention. How much of it are you letting your stuff siphon off? Wouldn’t you rather use your System 2 attention for something more productive or at least more interesting?

Having so much stuff that every space or place is filled or overflowing can have another dampening effect by keeping you stuck instead of allowing you to move on and explore other interests. Have you ever decided not to take up a new hobby, for example, because you have no space for the materials or the activity due to the fact that you’re storing a bunch of stuff you no longer use?

Clutter falls into different categories: physical/material, mental, emotional, and the hodgepodge of things left undone and/or not being attended to. But all of it has the same effect. So whatever it is:

• Clean it out
• Fix it
• Address it
• Replace it
• Finish it
• Toss it out

The best thing you can do for yourself in 2016 is to make it The Year of Clearing Space. You have no idea what you’ll be able to see once you get all that clutter out of your way.