Clutter, the Bagua and you

Clutter! It aggravates us, reminds us that we have a chore to tend to, makes us feel bad about ourselves, makes us uncomfortable in the area is which it is and it wastes our time. How often have you found yourself looking for something only to find it a day or two later deep in the clutter zone? Or how many times have you bought something only to find that you already have it – you just didn’t know it cause it’s in the clutter zone?

The effects of clutter and the way it makes us feel vary from person to person. While clutter universally creates stagnation and negatively affects the energy, the feeling in our spaces, clutter affects each of the Bagua areas differently. (Click here to download a FREE Bagua map)

Clutter in the Career area might manifest as an inability to get ahead in your career. You may know what you want to accomplish but you never seem to have the support you need to achieve it – everything feels like a hurdle to achieve. It may also manifest as confusion and frustration, a general lack of direction.

Clutter in the Inner Knowledge area might manifest as a tendency to blame others for our relationship challenges – it’s always the other persons ‘fault’. We might also find that we are super busy in our lives, so much so that we seldom have time to relax and enjoy our lives. From meals to time off, everything we do is on the run or en-route between here and there!

Clutter in Family and Foundation might manifest as distance and difficulty with our family of origin. We may feel that we aren’t good enough, smart enough, pretty enough or we simply don’t get along with one another. We might also feel judged and held back by a lack of support.

Clutter in Abundance might manifest as not having enough resources to make ends meet. We feel overwhelmed, under-resourced and over-extended. It might also manifest as constantly starting but never finishing projects, plans or classes.

Clutter in Fame and Reputation might manifest as others always seeing us in an unfavorable light – no matter what we do or say, people don’t seem to like us. (Or at least that’s what we think they think.) We might also find ourselves unsure of our direction, who we are or what we should be.

Clutter in Relationships might manifest as an inability to meet a partner, or the inability to keep one. Things may start out good but before we know it it’s over and we don’t know what happened or why.

Clutter in Creativity might manifest as procrastination. We may have lots of good ideas but lack the motivation to begin them or to complete them. We might also ‘wish’ we had learned something or done something in our lives and not use the time we have to begin it. It’s over before it’s started.

Clutter in Helpful People might manifest as always feeling like there’s no one to help or support us if we need help. We always have to do everything ourselves and we resent it. (Even if we tell people we don’t need help – the only reason we tell them we don’t need help is because we don’t feel like we can trust them to be there when we need them.)

Clutter in the Health area or center of our homes might manifest as a lack of vitality, a tendency to easily become ill or hurt ourselves.

So, what’s the answer? To address the emotional effects of clutter we have to address the physical clutter.

Set aside time and begin to address your situation. Start small and reward yourself! Starting small keeps the job manageable and creates a sense of accomplishment – much better than feeling overwhelmed or so frustrated you give up.

Once you’ve picked a place to begin, set up 4 boxes or bags. One for trash, one for donations, one for items to keep and one for items you aren’t sure about. The last one is important; if you aren’t sure about something it’s OK to keep it for a little while longer while you decide.

Ask yourself the following questions for each and every item you pick up:

1. Do I love it?
   
2. Is it useful? (Do you need it now?)
   
3. Is it beautiful?
   

If you answer ‘yes’ to any of these three questions, put the item in question in your ‘keep’ box. If you answer ‘no’ to any of these three questions the time goes into one of the other three boxes.

After you fill the boxes or complete the space you’re clearing, take the trash out and place it with your other trash. Take the donation box to the place you are donating it to. (Good Will, etc.) Then take the ‘not sure’ box and place it in a special area, this special area is designated your ‘not sure’ area. And anytime you have an item you aren’t sure about it goes there. Then after 6 months if you find you haven’t used or needed or missed the items in your ‘not sure’ box/area, it’s time to release them.

Clutter starts small but then quickly grows and overwhelms us. By establishing a simple routine like the one I mentioned about, you’ll be able to address clutter before it has time to overwhelm you. And that’s a good thing!

For more inspiring articles and tips visit Laurie's blog!