Think about a kitchen sink full of dishes, a near dead plant on your office desk, a pile of laundry waiting to be put away, mounds of clutter on your coffee
table, or a book shelf way over-stuffed full with books, papers, binders, and more.
None of these are pleasant thoughts. In fact, I like to refer to these as "visual distractions."
Visual distractions are not helpful. They add to the chaos in our lives, reduce our productivity, and drain the joy right out of us.
As human beings, our brains prefer "order." Visual distractions put our cognitive functions on overload, making us feel stressed, depressed, frustrated, even angry...all emotions that negatively affect our day to day lives, our
accomplishments, and our relationships with others.
Think about walking into Times Square in New York City. There is so much there that most people don't know what to look at first. When
many types of visual stimuli are competing for our attention, it's nearly impossible to focus and zone in on anything in particular.
I like to look at decluttering and cleaning not only as
ways to improve the "look" of your environment, but also as a "much needed release" and a way to "break down barriers" in our lives.
Eliminating clutter, tidying, and cleaning can be
incredibly cathartic. Doing so puts you in control, brings better focus back to your life, and paves the way to more successes.
And no, you don't have to organize/clean your entire home or
your entire office in a day. Just doing one small organizing/cleaning action a day will set you on a more organized, productive, joyous life journey.
