Clutter and the Art of Decluttering

Clutter shows up in my life in many forms. The most obvious, especially for anyone who has seen the inside of my bedroom, is physical clutter. However, clutter can also come in the form of non-tangible mental and emotional clutter that can impede your progress. Many times, the causes of clutter aren’t immediately apparent. It is this type of clutter that has become the most apparent to me in the last week since the completion of “The Habit Series: The Art of Decluttering” organized by Relearn Habits.

After I published my last post, How Habits Changed My Life, I had many people reach out to me about The Art of Decluttering. One thing I repeatedly got asked was “what does decluttering mean?”. The funny thing is that I actually had a hard time answering that question because I couldn’t immediately see where the clutter in my own life was. However, after completing The Art of Decluttering, I can now see that it was in front of me the whole time and something that I have been continually dealing with. A lot of clutter caused by a few major insecurities.

The April of Clutter (Post-RED Academy)

In late March I opened a fortune cookie that read “Your next month (April) will be chaotic yet delightful”.  Sitting here today at the end of the month, this fortune has most definitely proven true. April started with the last week and a half of my program at RED Academy, where I was studying Digital Marketing. The last stretch ended with a flurry of activity, as all the students were finishing the final projects and presentations. We were all working 12 hour days and the stress of looking for a job was also looming as well. It seemed overwhelming at the time but we all survived (I think).

My time at RED Academy ended with a fun “prom”/”graduation” event where we all got to let loose and celebrate finishing the program. The night was filled with a lot of laughs, dancing and good times. I even somehow convinced the organizers to let me give a speech! It was a great end to a program where I learned a lot about digital marketing, met some amazing people and became a lot more self aware. Then it was all over. Waking up the next morning slightly (very) hungover, I was hit with the panic of uncertainty. My life for 12 weeks was structured and clear but now I was faced with the situation of not knowing what the future will look like. Thoughts of my career, social life, health and finances clouded what should have been a time of relief and relaxation.

For a few days after, I was in a funk. I stopped applying for jobs. My health and nutrition habits slipped. I didn’t plan my days out and was just waiting for things to happen around me. I knew there were things I needed to confront but had little energy to actually do it. It felt very disempowering. Luckily for me, through the Habit Course and a plethora of personal growth books and articles I have read in the last year, I had tools to apply to situations like this. Without even knowing it, I had started decluttering my life.

The Clutter in My Life

The clutter in my life in this case showed up in the form of mental and emotional clutter. At the Art of Decluttering event, we defined clutter as something that:

1. Creates Confusion
2. Decreases Effectiveness
3. Impedes Movement

From my example above, it is quite clear how these three conditions showed up. I was directionless. I didn’t achieve any of the goals I set out for myself. I was physically and figuratively immobilized. So you might be wondering how I got out of it? At the Art of Decluttering we talked about this idea of the “Real Clutter”. The “Real Clutter” is the source of much of the clutter in your life. It is the clutter that isn’t immediately apparent and requires some work to discover. Without stating it as the “Real Clutter”, this was the piece that I immediately knew to find when I started feeling a bit off. I knew that there was a cause to why I felt the way I felt and identifying the cause was the most important part of moving past it.

As I said previously, I was in a funk for a few days before I was finally able to get myself out. One day I finally found enough energy to confront the causes of my anxiety around where I was in life. It was something that I avoided doing for as long as I could. I sat down and worked through a couple of self reflection exercises I learned in the Habit Course. What I anticipated to be a 20 minute exercise turned into two hours. The more I dug into myself, the more I discovered.

The Real Clutter

What became very apparent was that I had many insecurities that I didn’t want to admit to. I realized that I was scared of reverting back to my old habits and who I used to be. If you have read any of my previous posts about habits, or have seen me in the last year, you will know how much I have changed. Deep in my mind, the idea of going back to a 9-5 job in some unknown corporate office somehow connected itself with reverting back to the 265 pound Corey with little confidence. I also worried about getting lazy, not being financially independent and not seeing people.

Without consciously thinking about it, these worries had taken over my life and stopped me from achieving the goals I set out for myself. Realistically, these worries were probably present for weeks before they finally manifested into something that I couldn’t just push away. A major breakthrough in my reflection came when I realized how connected many of these thoughts were. My mind had been building stories on top of each other and by not addressing it, I was only making it worse. By finally bringing everything to light and confronting them, I was able to bring myself back to reality and move on from these thoughts. In other words, by identifying and confronting the “Real Clutter”, I was able to declutter my life and clear my path forward.

What Decluttering Means to My Life

In the weeks since I finished at RED Academy, my life has been a whirlwind. There have been many ups and a few downs along the way. However, knowing that I have tools to use when I am feeling stuck has been a great way to ensure that I stay on track. My health and spending habits have strengthened. My schedule has been full and I am meeting the deadlines that I set for myself. Lastly, I’ve realized that I have the power to control a lot of what my life looks like. This has helped me keep everything in perspective and allowed me to stay grounded when entering different situations.

On a more tangible level, removing clutter from my life has done wonders for what I have been able to achieve professionally. Sitting here three weeks after RED Academy, I have already started a new job in an industry almost completely unknown to me. I am also taking on more responsibility than I could have imagined. Whereas once that thought would have scared me, it is a prospect that I have become increasingly excited about.Living a decluttered life to me means that I am more confident and, realistically, more happy. It forces me to control what I can and let go of what I can’t. Finally, I am also happy to report that I have decluttered my room and donated four bags of clothing over the last week. If you know me, you will know how big of an accomplishment that is. 

The Habit Course

As a last bit of news, the next Habit Course starts on May 17th (a prior version of this post had May 10th but we have postponed by a week) and I would love to see as many of you out as possible. You can see how much it has affected my life. If you have any questions or interest at all, please contact me. You can register here.