Organize + Energize: The Snowball Effect of Clutter

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Kristin MacRae, GoLocalWorcester Organizing Expert

Clearing the clutter on the outside will do a world of good for the mental clutter inside.

Visual clutter > mental clutter > lack of focus > reduced productivity. That statement causes a snowball effect that will continue to spiral out of control if your physical disorganization remains in the state that it is in. Let me paint a picture for you.

You walk into your office on Monday after a relaxing weekend and the first thing you see are the piles of paper on your desk, on the floor, and exploding out of the filing cabinets and drawers. Your office isn’t aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Maybe there is too much furniture or you aren’t using your office trays in an efficient manner. This visual clutter will immediately change your personality and will set the tone for how the rest of your day or even week will play out.

This visual clutter, whether it is paper or the physical disarray of the office will in turn cause mental clutter. Mental clutter will take up unnecessary space in your head. In the back of your mind, you know you have to tackle an organizing project, but the project seems too overwhelming, so it’s just easier to continue to work the way you’ve been working and nothing gets accomplished. Whether you know it or not, subconsciously this mental clutter will weigh on you. Get rid of the visual clutter and that in turn will release the mental clutter.

An overwhelming problem

Can you see the snowball getting bigger? If you continue to let it grow, it’s going to turn into an avalanche. This mental clutter will cause you to have a lack of focus. You are trying to remember everything you have to do, where you have to be. The piles of paper and disorganization are becoming a distraction for you, which in turn causes you to lose focus.

When you are distracted at work and lose focus, you aren’t as efficient and productive as you could be. You may be losing clients or missing out on important opportunities. Basically, you aren’t running at 100%. You aren’t giving your back end of the business the attention that it deserves.

The clear solution

Set up working organized systems. Once you set up these working organized systems you won’t have to deal with all the aspects of disorganization discussed above. Your daily routine of maintaining your system will become habit which in turn will allow you to become more efficient and productive. You will be able to put all your focus and attention on thriving as a small business.

There are many benefits to being organized. It is proven that you will have more free time, more money, less stress, more energy, and your clients will have more confidence in you. I have seen the transformation happen with my clients. If you are lacking in any of the above, it may be time to make a fresh start and tackle that disorganization once and for all.

Get a handle on your disorganization. Even a big snowball can knock you down hard. Don’t let that snowball turn into that avalanche and bury you alive.

Kristin Carcieri-MacRae, the founder and owner of Organizing in RI, has always enjoyed finding creative ways to streamline the environment around her. She has appeared on air on Patricia Raskin's Positive Business Radio and her articles have been published in the Rhode Island Small Business Journal and New England Home Life. Kristin's CD, Organizing Basics, is a 1-hour guide for the person who wants to get organized but doesn't know where to start. She is also available for organizing workshops. Tune into her weekly radio show, Organize, Energize! on Mondays at 8:30am on www.talkstreamradio.com.