Reclaiming Your Mind One Mess at a Time - Day 4

Do you find some of my cleaning projects intimidating? If so, you might like today's project.

Clutter CityIt's a busy day, you haven't the time to take a slow breath, nevermind prune through your junk piles, but you're committed to cleaning one small mess a day. What do you do?

Start small.

My closet project proved larger than I intended. I needed to take it easier today. How could I do that and stick to the plan? Choose a smaller project. Today's project? The top of the small fridge.

Ahhhh. I can think clearly now.Easy to clean, I just gathered everything into piles according to person in the home, happily threw out random screws, elastics, and other fuzz, then boxed up the broken plates and prepared it for shipping. Lastly, I wiped things down with a cloth. Even though this project only took me 20 minutes I felt just as pleased when it was finished as I did when I organized my closet shelf. Look at that top. How could I not feel pleased?

The important part of this project is to build self-esteem through success and to free our mind by freeing ourselves of clutter. No matter how small the project, each success is a step forward. Good luck.



Join me each day this week and comment here when you finish. Spread the word. Let's get a whole bunch of us filling up landfills across the world*. The trick is to pick a small pile that can be polished off in one quick session. Most of my readers are dealing with Depression, AD/HD, or both so beginning yet another unfinished project brings a lot of emotional baggage. Start small and congratulate yourself on success. Know your limits, but push to expand them, and always remember "When in doubt, throw it out."

Day One (Corner of Car Junk)
Day Two (Camera Box)
Day Three (Photo Box from Hell)
Day Four (The Easy Peasy Refrigerator Top)
Day Five (Kitchen Storage Shelves)
Day Six (Studio)
Day Seven (PC Junk Box)


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Comments

Anonymous said…
I agree that it feels better to clear all the grit and stray paper off the studio floor, the cat hair off my desk, the piles of folders and books that surround me as I work at this keyboard, but strangely these cluttery things keep coming back! I start to get nervous when they reach a certain density (usually approaching eye-level on the desk, instep level on the floor), so nervous that I can feel the stuff getting into my mind and displacing its contents completely. Then I am compelled to impose order, organization, clean sweepiness to save my mind. But I am equally compelled to let it all build up over and over again. I'm not sure if I'm doing something constructive or I'm just caught in a trap. It's like being an industrious spider devising ways to capture myself in my own web. But I feel if I break this pattern of organizing then disorganizing things, I will start falling.

I have to rethink this whole thing! Thanks for getting me started on that.

john@storiedmind.com
October 26, 2007 11:04 PM
D.R. Cootey said…
It sounds a bit compulsive, John. I'm not sure that's entirely healthy. :)

The law of entropy rules our universe and life becomes cluttered. Sometimes, we just don't have the time or energy to stave off the disorganization. But if we give up, we become buried. For me, when that happens I begin to get depressed, anxious, sluggish, etc. None of those are good states of mind, so I like to keep things tidy.

Like you, however, I tend to let things pile up a bit before I deal with them. That's only natural, isn't it? We can't spend every moment of our life cleaning. That's why this cleaning project is important to write about. We can get a lot done in a short amount of time if we start small. It's not a trap; it's survival. :D

Thanks for commenting.

Douglas
October 27, 2007 3:22 AM
See Bee said…
hi there - i like ur blog and the fact ur trying to reach out to so many people :)

im by nature quite a 'clean freak' - but of late - ever since i srated working that is - i just find myself getting lazy - too lazy to clean clutters (both outside my head and in it). i find it easier to hide the junk behind a pretty curtain

taying with my mom doesnt make things better - the moment i do clean up - she comes and re-arranges thing. Re-arrangeing according to me, is re-cluttering

:(

and yes - how does one prevent clutter from coming back?
October 27, 2007 1:00 PM
Claire said…
I like to think the greatest source of clutter in my house is my husband and kids (never me ;)). Truth be told, it's as much me as them. To keep it from coming back too quickly, I try to make sure I open the mail as soon as it comes in the door, and I open it over the recycling bin so it can go where it belongs (most of it). I have a basket where I put the bills and other stuff I need to take care of sooner rather than later, and a place where I put things that need to be filed (that's where my clutter piles up!!). It sounds so cliche to say "A place for everything, and everything in it's place", but it really has worked for me. My husband and son don't always get it, but my 3 yr old daughter already gets it! I've caught her returning her toys to their place when she's done playing!! Miraculous!

Maybe I'm creating an OCD child . . .hmmm.

:)

Claire
October 27, 2007 4:20 PM
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