Banish Clutter Forever

It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that making a start on any task you don’t really want to do, is the important thing, and counts as much as finishing it. And it’s easy to be distracted, in the middle of a busy day, especially if you’re a parent, and to leave half started non-urgent tasks to be finished later. Both of these strategies are well intentioned, but in the long term (i.e. over the course of a few days or a week) they can trip you up more surely than if you’d simply never started the task in the first place.

You know, deep down, we are all vulnerable and human and we all like to think well of ourselves. You’re probably no different. And unless your conscience has been completely warped or disabled by some other psychological factor, part of believing that you’re a good person means believing that you keep your promises. How does that relate to all those half finished tasks and the resulting chaos of stuff hanging around everywhere? Well, if you think about it, somewhere within your making a start on folding the laundry, or emptying the dishwasher, or soaking the pans in the sink ready for scrubbing, is the promise that you’d finish the task. I mean, you didn’t start putting piles of folded laundry on the table or the bed or the sofa with the intention that you’d never finish the task and just leave it all strewn there permanently did you?

Well, maybe your youngest comes crying to you whilst you’re doing it, with a bump on the head, or your best friend rings you with an emergency, and you abandon it for a while. And then something else happens and something else. Before you know it, that pile of washing is looking at you reproachfully and saying ‘You said you’d fold me, and you didn’t keep your promise!’ Chances are that it’s not the only task that’s hanging around looking at you reproachfully.

It can all too easily become a habit to get distracted in the middle of mundane tasks. That doesn’t sound like a terrible thing does it? But it can be a slippery slope, even if you’re really good with your clutter in general. If your space is littered with half finished tasks, then those reproachful voices will be many and loud. That will sap you of strength much more surely than feeling that there are a few jobs you haven’t started which are overdue. Lots of mess in various corners makes it hard to get anything finished in practical terms too because you don’t have a clear space to work in and can find yourself tripping up over everything. It’s also very confusing for you subconscious mind. Things aren’t undone, but they aren’t done either and you’re living in chaos in the meantime. Too many ‘files open’ in the form of tasks can slow up your thinking and clarity of thought, just as it will on your computer.

Life can be busy and chaotic. You can’t always finish things when you intend to. But start out intending to finish in one go and if you can’t, make it a habit to go back and finish things whenever you can, and especially if they are cluttering up your home. It has the same magical effect on your thinking as closing unwanted programmes when your computer is struggling to do everything at once. Finishing those ‘nagging’ half started tasks will actually give you the energy to start on other outstanding jobs, because finishing something well, feels so good!

Filed under: Time by Sheila Chandra