How to stop cluttering (2)
Clutter cannot be solved by pretending the problem isn’t there, or by getting ourselves less involved in the solution. The best way to solve a problem of clutter is to get into the midst of it or at least getting closely involved, after all it happened either by your making or something just went wrong and got beyond your control.
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Determine the causes
Get to the root of the clutter and know the causes. The scripture says that the Creator used light. “Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good…”
The light exposed the causes, the root of the problem. This is the point of the process that leads to the practical solution of all problems including clutter.
Try to appreciate what is happening within the space that has been cluttered up. Get yourself to understand what is really wrong with the situation.
Is it just a matter of things having been placed wrongly? Is it an issue of littering? Could it be that users of the space were not mindful of the usage of space? Or is it a case of disorderliness? Such questions will bring the light to the situation.
Light is good – it makes us see things clearer than we used to see them. Just that sometimes light exposes things we don’t want to see.
This step may make or unmake the desire to de-clutter. Because there is the tendency that the light from your introspection may indicate how bad the situation has become and may also point to the cause, which in most cases, are the users including you.
But the fact is that problems are necessary for solutions. So after the exposure you don’t have to remain there, you must move to the next step.
Outline the solution
Use your imagination, what do you want to achieve with what you have. Get a good picture in your mind.
The truth about clutter is that the items that we use to cause clutter are not necessarily waste or useless things. We clutter with all kinds of items mixed together and so the exposure brings out good and bad things all mixed up.
What you need to do at this stage is to really picture what you want to achieve from the situation at hand. And that next move is to imagine what you want that space to look like.
The following exercise can be of help to you whilst to try to picture the solution.
- Imagine waking up in the morning to a calm, uncluttered bedroom, choosing an attractive outfit from a neat, well-organized wardrobe or closet where you know that everything fits and everything is clean and ironed and ready to wear.
- Imagine leaving home; getting out the front door on time because you haven’t had to search for your car keys, look for school bags and exercise books, or do a ‘Google’ search for the notes you are to submit in the afternoon.
- Imagine sharing a meal with your family or a guest at the dining table without having to move piles of books and strange things before a decent space could be acquired.
- Finally imagine relaxing in your sitting room where there’s room to sit on the couch and you can find the TV remotes because you have cleared out all of the so many things that contend with each other for space.
