Emotional Clutter:
Is Your Inner Kid Keeping You Messy?

Emotional clutter comes in all shapes and sizes.

Your 'mess' does not make you a 'bad kid' (or a bad adult, for that matter).



There must be a lot of people who got in big trouble for having messy rooms as a child.

I hear so many comments from clients who tell me that it makes them mad or resentful to even think about clearing out their stuff and organizing it.

At first, I had no idea what they meant, to be honest.

I really didn't get it.

Why would creating a nice space to live and work in make someone MAD?

Over time, I have discovered that many people have a deep-down belief that if they clear out their stuff or organize their room, they're actually following someone else's rules (most likely their parents').

And when adults feel like they're doing something because "someone else said I had to do it," they often start quietly rebelling.

The rebellion may not be obvious.

In fact, they may say that they really want to have a clean office, or a neat kitchen, or an organized closet, so they force themselves get the room in shape.

And then they are completely shocked when things get messy again, often right away.

I believe that inner rebellion is actually a healthy thing...because, quite frankly, how many adults want to feel like they're following someone else's rules?

But there comes a time when rebellion is no longer supporting you, and it simply becomes emotional clutter..

How about making and following your own rules?

How about deciding for yourself how you want your environment to be?

Organizing is not about punishing yourself, or making yourself 'bad' or 'wrong' for having a messy room.

Organizing is about creating an environment that helps you be your best self.

It's about setting up your environment to be easy to maintain. Lovely to look at. Fun to invite guests over. Wonderful to enjoy on your own.

And you are the adult, so you get to decide.

You can have a completely disorganized room if you want. It's really OK. There is no 'bedroom police' who will come around and give you a ticket if it's messy.

But you can also choose to have an organized room. Simply because you want to.

Not because someone else said you should.

You could organize your room because YOU want to. And let go of the emotional clutter that has been running the show.

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