There are two types of clutter I will discuss on this page: physical clutter in your environment, and mental/emotional clutter in the form of anything on your phone, your email inbox, a life stuffed too full of commitments...basically anything that is not physical mess but is holding you back, stifling you etc.

Question: Is physical clutter a problem for you? Which room/environment needs the most attention?

What about mental/emotional? What form does it take?

Firefighting

In this podcast episode I talk about both forms of clutter as firefighting.

Clutter can create the conditions where you need to firefight either...

...in your physical environment (Oh no! Where is that damn form? I need it NOW!)

and/or

...mentally/emotionally (I just have to interrupt myself every fifteen minutes to check social media)

Question:

What hidden perceived benefits might you be getting out of firefighting? What more important things is this shielding you from?

Hypervigilance

In this page  

I talk about hypervigilance, which is living in constant readiness to deal with perceived threat.

If that threat has passed (and it often has), but your Cavebrain is not convinced, then wouldn't it be a powerful way to keep yourself hypervigilant to be constantly having to search for your keys, never able to relax at home because of the mess, never able to focus at work because you are constantly checking email/social media etc?

What To Do About All This

Opposite Action.

You starve the hypervigilance of oxygen by refusing to assume what it tells you is true.

You stand up to your clutter by taking opposite action.

Start TINY.

Delete one app.

Tidy your room for 5 minutes only . Set a timer!

Agree to put up with the discomfort and prove to your fear centre that its hypervigilance is not needed.

What small action can you take tomorrow to declutter?