Decluttering

It felt so good. My focus was restored and my creativity unleashed. I was completely invigorated. Without spending a single cent, life was better. The miracle cure? Environment management, or to put it more simply, decluttering.

Like a dry sponge, I tend to soak up my surroundings and give back what I have taken in. If the room is dark, I am sad. When my office is crowded, my creativity is stifled. If my closets are sloppy, so go my thoughts.

I was dragging and the reason was clear. A messy desk equals a messy mind. It was time to clean up my act.

God loves beauty, creativity, and order. In creation, His divine fingerprint fashions splendor from chaos and creates order from confusion. He called it good. So do I.

The Cost of Clutter

Disorder is draining, inefficient and costly. Take your typical business executive. Studies have shown that she can spend four and one-half hours a week just searching for lost papers. At an average annual salary of $30,000, she has just spent $3,376 dollars. If she makes $60,000 a year the cost is $6,752. At $100,000, the annual cost jumps to $11,250 – all to answer that compelling clutter question, “Now, where did I put that?”

According to Crown Financial Ministries, clutter is costly in other ways as well:

• Every time you allow an interruption in your work, it costs you six minutes in addition to the time actually spent. Thus, if you have just three 10-minute unexpected conversations in one morning, you will lose 48 minutes!


• You become an easy target for scammers who will double or even triple bill you. How often do we overpay because we lose track of the original invoice?


• Poor communication due to disorganization can cost up to 280 hours per year – seven entire weeks.
  

Whether we work at home or for another, disorder is expensive - financially, emotionally, and spiritually.

The Joy of Decluttering

I have begun to turn that loss around. This week, I have cleared my desk, tied up my loose ends, and freed my mind for more important things. You can do the same.

Our God is a God of order and He has a plan to help each of us become more faithful stewards of all that He has given. Join me, the Christian Life Coach, over the next few weeks as we declutter for the glory of God.

Be sure to leave me a comment and let me know how your personal decluttering project is going.