Every woman knows that getting rid of junk always feels good after the fact–that is, after the work has been done. It’s not always easy to set the time aside to clear out unnecessary items from your home or office, but these 5 reasons might give you career-development incentives to take the time to declutter, especially if you have been procrastinating in doing it:

1. Increases energy.  Any new change or improvement requires your energy, time and focus while launching new ideas or projects require your creative input to plan without forgetting any missing pieces.  Whenever you walk past that pile of unattended papers or sort through clothes in your wardrobe that don’t fit or are too tired looking, your brain tires. You can’t afford that drain when you’re looking to progress. Set aside a weekend morning or two evenings to plow through and discard as needed. It’s true it takes an initial output of energy, but your accomplished feeling will increase your energy when it’s done much like exercising initally is somewhat tiring, but then gives you an added boost of energy. 

2. Boosts confidence.  Piles of unfinished work are constant reminders of your stopping and starting, yet not finishing. When you’re trying to make a change, you need all the confidence votes you can muster to remind you of your ability to follow through and complete your objective.  The Fly Lady has a 15-minute at a time, step-by-step method to help you get started.  The Unclutterer also offers you a method to purge stuff.  If it’s clothing or other personal items you’ve not used in more than a year, think of those less fortunate who can use them more and donate them. 

3. Lightens your workload, minimizes distractions.  Don’t fool yourself by straightening and organizing piles, creating new email folders in your inbox to dump emails you think you’ll read later, or spreading out reading materials in different rooms so they don’t feel so overwhelming.  This creates twice the work because you haven’t distinguished de-cluttering from organizing and you’re revisiting information more often than you should.  Give books or magazines to your library.  Make one rule never to add a possession to your wardrobe or even your abode without discarding one item in it’s place.  Make a second rule to go through mail, newspapers and magazines a maximum of twice.  You will save time and alleviate distraction from your bigger goals.

4.  Provides a stable environment for new changes.  The culture we live and work in has a stabilizing or destabilizing impact on us.  If we feel secure, calm, and nurtured in our surroundings, we’ll feel more passionate about making new changes.   Organized environments cause order that can be stimulating, because we’re free to pursue our interests and not be bogged down in details.  If you can’t do it on your own, periodic assistance from a professional organizer (and there are many online, no doubt in your area) could be the solution you need.  They can assist you to put the area of clutter right again and help you figure out best ways to keep it in order.

5.  Frees up brain power.  English Humorist, A.A. Milne said both, “Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.”  It’s true that for the initial output of time spent organizing you will gain valuable time for your priority projects.  Clearing phsyical clutter from your environment frees up brain power and lets you think more easily about what’s most important and how to proceed with those top projects.

Some people have a mental problem that causes their compulsion to horde and they feel a temporary release from anxiety when surrounded by things they enjoy, until they have to horde more to feel that again.  if that’s you, you should get professional help. Even so, the average person does tend to get attached to, sentimental over, or simply favor certain items they find it difficult to part with.  Create a simple farewell ceremony so you can appreciate the good that has come from these things you now are able to part with because you recognize there is more value in letting go and moving on. Of course some treasured items are meant to remain keepsakes, but remember the real value is never in the item itself.

Tags: career development support, de-clutter your environment, energy booster, time saver

This entry was posted on Friday, February 5th, 2010 at 8:00 am and is filed under Career Tips, Time Management, Women Entrepreneurs, Women Managers, Women Returning to the Workforce, Re Careering. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.