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How to Get Rid of Clutter in Your Home Office

Clutter

When you think of clutter, you probably picture a jumble of objects. Clutter is like a radar screen, filled with random echoes that can interfere with the signals we want to receive. Likewise, the clutter in our homes is the result of collecting items we don’t need or want. Whether we are talking about our closet, our drawers, our workspace or our entire home, clutter is anything that does not belong there. Besides being an energy-zapper, clutter can also create a host of other problems. It’s no wonder that half of those polled expressed that clutter makes them unhappy. Even children can feel the negative effects of clutter, as well. Cluttered environments tend to be less fun for kids and they may have fewer friends. As we said in the first part of the article, a cluttered home or office creates a host of other problems.

Messy Is Not Necessarily Clutter

Just because you may be messy, does not mean you have clutter. Being messy may just mean you have things you need that you do not put away after use but they are still needed, even if they are scattered over your desk or floor. Clutter is stuff you can get rid of because you do not need it.

Having too much clutter in your home or office will only bog you down and prevent you from moving forward. Besides, it will make you feel anxious and prevent you from making decisions and can also make certain people depressed. If you are one of those people who tend to accumulate too much clutter, it is time to get rid of it. Now for some people, they could do this by going through all rooms in the home or office and weeding out anything that doesn’t belong there. They can throw away expired food and old, broken gadgets and recycle or donate those that others might find valuable. For perfectionists, their need to do and have everything “perfect” can actually cause the clutter in the first place and equally, make it difficult to get rid of. They are actually paralyzed by perfectionism. Sounds crazy? Not at all. Nor are they lazy. These may be people with perfectionism procrastination. A perfectionist often needs to be able to do things perfectly and if this is not possible, (for instance, they don’t have time to perfectly declutter a pile of mail) then it gets left and grows bigger, making it even harder to tackle bit by bit. The “do what you can and move on” procedure for decluttering may well be impossible or very difficult for perfectionists. See below for information on perfectionism and overcoming it.

Digital Clutter

Digital clutter may be in the form of too many emails in your inbox, newsletters you signed up for but don’t read, and millions of fuzzy photos on your phone. This can make finding happy memories or work related photographs difficult. In addition to clutter in your digital life, there are also cables, remote controls, and too many apps on your phone. There are even files on your desktop that aren’t labelled. All of these items are forms of digital clutter.

Declutter

You can find professional organizers to help you declutter. Some do it for you, others help you make the changes yourself. Both will also probably recommend making changes to your daily routines. For example, making your bed every day, or washing dishes immediately after using them, builds a simple habit that will set the foundation for a clutter-free life. For some people, clutter may be caused by underlying psychological issues such as grief or guilt or fear of being left with nothing. To combat this, professional organizers may recommend visiting a psychologist. There are many reasons a person may keep items, and a psychologist can help you identify these underlying problems and help you overcome them. For some people, their clutter can become hoarding and this can be a very serious mental illness, where nothing gets thrown away and new stuff gets brought in on top of the old, with passageways  being developed between towers of clutter.

To address the problem of clutter, it may be helpful to identify the underlying cause of your problems and develop new habits and routines to deal with the situation. The first step is identifying your clutter issue and creating permanent homes for items. The second step is to identify how much space you have in your home and what will not fit into it. This will help you determine the most effective methods to get rid of excess clutter in your home. When this is complete, you’ll be freed from the pressure of clutter getting in the way of everything.

How to Overcome Perfectionism

Perfectionists view success as all-or-nothing, assuming that others’ accomplishments are easy and require little effort or error. Perfectionists tend to view their own efforts as futile and never-ending, as if they are never good enough. Very often, things must be done perfectly or not at all (all or nothing thinking perfectionism) and this is the part that can lead to clutter developing or to things being left undone, because perfectionism is the enemy of progress. They are also prone to a sense of failure and fear of failure. To overcome perfectionism, learn to be less critical of yourself and others, have a little self compassion for perfectionism. Here are some tips to get out of the perfectionism trap:

Identify the signs of perfectionism

There are different types of perfectionism. People who exhibit perfectionism may be shy or overly self-conscious. They may delay writing because they fear making mistakes in it and may not write drafts because “it has to be perfect first time”. Or they may be self-conscious about their speaking, worrying that they might mispronounce a word or about their appearance, needing everything to match, with nothing out of place. They may even be health-obsessed. These traits make it difficult to accept failure. If your perfectionism is affecting your relationships and limiting your ability to accomplish your goals, it is crucial to recognize and work on the issues before they get worse.

Imposter syndrome – People who are highly self-critical may be more susceptible to developing imposter syndrome, which is the syndrome where they continually compare themselves with others and feel unworthy. Imposter syndrome, as well as perfectionism, can lead to depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems. Those who suffer from emotional perfectionism often hide their feelings of anxiety or sadness, a state of extreme distress that can lead to depression and anxiety.

Perfectionism can negatively affect relationships. Intimate relationships and friendships are impacted by perfectionism. Procrastination can exacerbate the effects of perfectionism. While socializing with others can help build trust, perfectionism can hinder relationships. Moreover, it may lead to missed deadlines. So, how do you overcome perfectionism? It’s never too late to seek help! When you learn to control your emotions and manage your perfectionism, you can enjoy life and achieve your goals without being a victim of it.

Identify your triggers.

Find out what triggers your perfectionism, is it always there or only in certain circumstances or does your environment trigger it?

Then, identify how you react when perfectionism strikes, do you stay up late trying to “fix” it, or do you give up before you even start, “knowing” you can’t do it? (I know someone who is considered (by other artists) to be an excellent artist but has none of his own art – he destroyed all of it because it was never good enough for him – he became a tree surgeon.)

Then, practice being present with your emotions instead of “fixing” them, or distracting yourself with something else. Observe how perfectionism affects your relationships. If you can find ways to avoid the triggers that drive your perfectionism, you can build more productive relationships. The more you practice being with yourself and others, the less perfectionism will affect your relationships.

You may find that keeping a journal on overcoming perfectionism could help. You may get affirmations for overcoming perfectionism and you write down what you discover about your own perfectionism, when it occurs and what you try to overcome it. Some people also use affirmations for perfectionism or at least for overcoming it.

Healthy Perfectionism

Despite the negative consequences of perfectionism, it can actually help people achieve their goals. Healthy perfectionism can motivate you to reach your goals, but extreme perfectionism will make you feel unhappy, unfulfilled, and unable to enjoy the process. Further, excessive self-criticism can lead to a variety of mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, and even physical illness. So, it’s best to seek therapy for perfectionism if you want to improve your life.

Understand that “good enough” is a perfectly valid assessment of a piece of work, enabling it to be used or submitted or finished and allowing yourself to move on to the next item.

People who have a growth mindset are able to weather setbacks more easily. A growth mindset views setbacks as learning opportunities and can’t be fixed in stone. This helps them overcome failure and move on from them. As a result, people with growth mindsets are able to cope with failure much better. It also helps them deal with the stress of being a perfectionist. So, what can you do to overcome perfectionism?