Diary of an Organizer- Did She Say People Clutter?

You know all about clutter in your life.  You probably have too many clothes, too much paper, and too many kids toys.  We all do.  We’ve all lost sight of what we need on a daily basis, and what is important to us.  Too often our wants come in obtaining more possessions, or the next “it” thing from fashion to computer gadgets.  To make it worse, what we want today is different than what we will want tomorrow.

But stop and think for a moment about the clutter that isn’t physical.  We have a lot going on in our minds at any one time.  You think of things after the deadlines have passed, you remembered that you needed milk while you were at the store—you think of everything you have to do, all the time, so you don’t forget it.  Obviously a good to do list can solve a lot of these problems, and I recommend that everyone has one so you don’t drive yourself crazy juggling all of the things that have to be done within your mind.

However, what about all of the other stuff that is bouncing around in our lives?  Are you on Facebook?  How many Facebook friends do you have?  Do you really talk to all of them, and consider them friends?  If not, you are just cluttering your home page with the status updates, Farmville, and all of the other updates.  Lost are the people you really do talk to, because Facebook wants you to know about everyone.  It’s just like at home, when you want to find your keys, and all of the “friends” you don’t talk to like catalogs, junk mail, and items that aren’t in their “homes” keep you from finding them.

How many entries do you have in your cell phone address book?  Again, do you talk to all of them?  Are you using their entries?  If not, its time to weed out the unused entries.  I bet if you went to your phone right now there is at least one person in there that you no longer have any idea of who they are.

Email addresses are the same story.  Do you know who they are?  Does someone always send you spam or forward emails?  Ditch the address and the emails. They are cluttering your life.

Finally, its important to think about those in your life that bring you joy and positive energy.  When you leave dinner with a friend do you feel energized or exhausted?  Do you feel used, or do you feel wonderful?  Start
thinking about and identifying these feelings so you can spend time with those important to you, and less time with those who drain you.  Friends and family members who energize you will make every day brighter and even the toughest days easier.