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CLUTTER
(n)
Webster's
Dictionary
1.
a crowded or confused mass or collection;
2.
interfering echoes visible on a radar screen caused
by reflection from objects other than the target.
Someone mentions "clutter."
Close your
eyes. What do you see? If you're like most, the image closely reflects
Webster's first definition. Clutter equals junk. It's stuff that's all
mixed up. Although valid, this illustration is not complete, as it
depicts only what clutter is without considering what it does. It
portrays clutter as passive, without consequence. Yet clutter does
have repercussions. It impacts your life. As articulated in Webster's
latter definition, it interferes.
Clutter diminishes clarity.
It occupies space,
both physical and mental. It impedes movement and progress, and
detracts from efficiency and effectiveness.
Getting rid of clutter is not about cleaning.
It
is about increasing focus and decreasing interference. Far from a
low-level task best relegated to the night time janitorial crew, it is
a process whose return on investment grows exponentially the more
potential value you have to contribute.
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Benefits of Getting
Rid of Clutter
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PHYSICAL because you have more free space,
and it's easier to find what you're looking for.
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FINANCIAL because you zero in on targets,
accomplishing what's important in less time. You
don't purchase items you already own but forgot you had
or couldn't find and you allocate fewer dollars to
unnecessary storage.
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EMOTIONAL
because you have more energy and less stress and a
reduction in the overwhelming feeling there's no time to
do it all. When you are drowning in clutter, the
cost to you and/or your company is great on many levels.
Once clear, however, you can more easily access the
resources, physical and mental, that you want or need at
any given moment.
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So What Is and Isn't Clutter?
The bottom line is that clutter is "things that
are not where they are supposed to be." Making this
classification is an individual judgment. After all, sometimes the
optimal location for an item is the garbage can (or recycling bin.)
But who's to say what belongs in the garbage? As the saying goes ...
one man's trash is another man's treasure.
The key is to remember that it's only clutter if
it interferes, and it only interferes if it's not where it's supposed
to be. Think of it in these terms:
Clutter Is Unrelated Things Mixed Together
It's certainly not realistic to expect that you will
never have papers out on your desk. After all, you have work to do.
But clutter is not one project all spread out; it's when you get
unrelated projects mixed together - or various thoughts muddled
together. Think how hard it is to move forward when you feel your
brain is jumbled.
Clutter Is Things You Neither Need Nor Want
Remember the 80/20 rule: Eighty percent of the value
comes from 20 percent of any group. Think about your closet:
You wear
20 percent of your clothes 80 percent of the time. Eighty percent of
your income comes from 20 percent of your clients. It is even
estimated that 80 percent of the papers you file, you never need look
at again. There is more information and opportunity available to you
or thrust upon you than ever before. That doesn't mean that you have
to keep a copy of all of it.
Clutter Is Things Left Out Because They're
Unfinished
How many times have you said to yourself, "I'll
put it here for now because I'm not finished with it?" As soon as
these words leave your lips, you're challenging your brain to remember
this temporary location. Even if you can remember it, why use your
creative energy in this way? You have more important things to do.
Another oft-recited phrase is "I'm leaving it out to remind me to
do something." Leaving things out doesn't alert you to what needs
to be done. Instead, it distracts you from what you're doing at the
moment.
Clutter Is Things You Haven't Made a Decision
About Yet
Often, clutter results because you've postponed making
decisions. Like cars being driven down the road, if they all get to
the intersection and no one decides which direction to turn, they're
going to pile up. Does that mean that when you first set out on a
journey, you know all of the turns you're going to make? No.
It's just
saying that each time you have the opportunity to make a decision,
make it.
Where
is your clutter? It may be anything from notes stuck to your computer
monitor to the extra, ummm, you know, words you inject into
conversations to the thoughts and worries buzzing about in your head.
It may be in your memos, on your desk, in your computer or in the
manner in which you structure your day. Whatever the area,
uncluttering it positions you to soar.
NOW
YOU'VE FOUND IT ...
HOW
DO YOU GET RID OF IT?
Since clutter can be physical and/or mental,
these strategies are most effective when put to use in both venues.
Know What's Important
It's hard to decide what to get rid of if you don't
know what is important to you in the first place. Imagine sorting
through boxes in your basement. How can you possibly decide what to
keep if you haven't set any parameters? And consider the fact that, at
last count, research showed the average corporate worker sends and
receives over 175 messages and documents per day. At that rate, the
amount of potentially important information can quickly become
overwhelming if you don't have a triage method.
A mission statement, a strategic plan or simply
knowing that you are going to keep only good photographs and pitch the
blurry ones - any of these is a statement of what's important. Without
such a statement, anything is potentially important.
Group Related Items Together
Doing so gives you an overview. It alerts you to
purchases required, and saves you from wasting time and money
acquiring goods you already have. Group your thoughts together too.
Merge those "things I gotta do" that keep coming to mind
with the million dollar ideas you've scribbled on napkins into one
master list. It's only by seeing it all together that you can begin to
appropriately prioritize.
Get Rid of What You Don't Need or Want
If it's hard to part with things, do it in stages.
In this way, you'll gradually pare down.
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Divide piles into three categories:
Keep / Maybe / Pitch.
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Immediately get
rid of Pitch items.
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At your next uncluttering session,
again divide what you have into three categories and get rid of the
Pitch pile.
If a bulky item holds a special memory for you,
perhaps because your child created it, consider photographing it.
You
can preserve the memory without hanging onto it. Keeping something
because you "paid good money for it"? Realize that it has
served its purpose. After all, when you pay good money for an elegant
meal, you don't expect to hold onto that forever. Don't forget that
sometimes the garbage can you need is a mental one. So while you're
uncluttering, get rid of "what if's" and "should's."
When you catch yourself thinking, "But I
might need that someday," refer back to your statement of what's
important. Remember, everything is potentially important, and if you
keep everything you're going to need a warehouse. Rely on the
instincts that led you to create your statement of importance.
Designate One Logical Place for Everything
When everything has one "home," it's faster
to both put things away and find them later because there is only one
place to go. The designated location should be logical. Avoid
"Where can I put this," "Here's an empty spot" and
"I'll stash it here for now." These rationalizations
encourage you to select a location you won't necessarily remember
later. Instead, think "Where would I look to find this?"
Keep items in their designated home, no matter
their stage of completion. Don't leave a project out just because you
don't want to forget about it. Remind yourself of what needs to be
done with a list system. Retrieve resources only when you are going to
work with them.
Compartmentalize
Compartmentalizing is an extension of the principle
"designate one logical place." Imagine shopping for
groceries if all of the items are somewhere in the store, but not
separated into aisles. Even though you know the logical place to go
for food - the supermarket - it is hard to find what you want if the
space inside isn't appropriately allocated. It's only by
compartmentalizing a larger area that you can locate specific items.
Apply this concept to everything from your
closet to your desk drawer to your computer files. Even use it for
your to do list. Separate tasks from phone calls from outside errands
to be run. These are distinctly different activities, most efficiently
accomplished if batched together. When they are listed this way, you
can quickly see all the tasks in each category.
It's always easier to find what you want if you
only have to look in one compartment, as opposed to the entire space.
Uncluttering
your life is a powerful experience.
It creates space for you to
transform data,
information and opportunity
into knowledge, wisdom and
action.
Uncluttering creates clarity. |
