Clutter is not stuff. Did you know that? Pretty bold statement for a professional organizer who gets paid to get rid of clutter, I know. You and I have all sorts of stuff in our house that is completely needed, used and appreciated. And we have clutter. What makes one pile of stuff useful, and one pile of stuff clutter?
Clutter is not just stuff, it is also decisions waiting to be made. An item is clutter because we have not decided where to put it, when to put it there, or if it just needs to completely leave our lives.
When I work with my clients, we make lots of decisions. Some are new decisions, and some are the same decision, over and over again. We stand side by side, look at every item, and decide where to put it, when to put it there, and what needs to leave the space forever.
Good Decision Making requires having confidence in your decision, and we can learn how to make Decisions. Here’s how:
- Weigh your options.
- Write a list of pros and cons. Sometimes the visual of 2 lists, one much longer than the other, can lead us to the right decision.
- Some pros or cons are more important than others, so you may need to add a scoring system with extra stars or circles around the really important ones, to give them their proper emphasis!
- With a list, you are compelled to: See both sides of the equation, a very important part of decision-making; and Support both sides of your own debate, which will help you focus on the things most important to you.
- Ask the experts: consumer guides, customer reviews, message boards, all are great places to check out.
- When one client is looking for a new car, she gets input from 2 car-savvy friends. The 2 friends recommend the best 4 or 5 cars among her type, based on price, safety, reliability, etc., and then my clients test drives those 4 or 5, and decides which one feels right. She goes with her gut, but only after she relies on the experts.
- Do the research (become more of an expert yourself)
- Go with your Intuition, but Be Self Aware – check your self:
- Get to the heart of it. If you are agonizing over 2 candidates for the position of assistant, are the candidates the problem, or is the fear of change or relinquishing of control?
- If you are agonizing over a paint color for your child’s room, is the color really the problem? Or is it the upheaval we feel when part of our house is disrupted for a time (like with construction or painting projects)? Or the money it will cost to hire a painter? or not knowing anyone who is a painter? or even sadness that your child is growing up?
- Acknowledge all the reasons for the delay, but get back to it as soon as possible. You still have to decide, no matter how hard it is!
- Be someone else for a moment: What would (insert name of someone you respect here) do?
- Ask yourself this question:
- What is the worst thing that could happen if you make the wrong decision?
- If the answer is “Nothing much…”, then just make the decision, and get on with it.
- If the answer is something huge, like “my child will get a poor education and not do well in life”, then that Decision gets a lot of time and effort and research.
- What is the worst thing that can happen if you don’t make any decision at all? This question came up with a client just yesterday. It’s very powerful! My client was deciding between two medical alert systems. If she prolonged the decision, she would continue to live without one of these systems, which could leave her unprotected. The fear of not having anything in place motivated her to decide quickly, knowing she could always upgrade later.
- We can always change our mind later. Avoid perfectionism – not every decision will be perfect, and that is OK.
- Sometimes we only need to make part of the decision “Yes, we will go on vacation this year, so I need to get the time off from work and start saving money”. The “Where” part can wait.
- Learn, learn, learn from the process. Learn more about yourself with every tough decision. Keep those lists of pros and cons, and review them when you faced with other difficult decisions.
What are some decisions you have agonized over? And how did you make the decisions, in the end? Make your decisions, and move your life forward. Don’t let those unmade decisions clutter your life!