To Master the Art of Decluttering, Ask Magic Question 2
The art of de-cluttering is similar to any other skill or talent worth developing. If you want to play better piano, you need to practice, Practice, PRACTICE. If you want to be a better basketball player, you need to shoot hoops and practice moves on the court.
Whatever talent you wish to master, you need to respond vividly to the second of two magic questions.
The great masters, whether in music, sport, or any other talent, practice and use visualization to mentally finger the keys or take hoop shots.
We take it a step further.
Visualization is not enough when we have access to five senses.
Master the art of decluttering so that you may join us as STUFFologists.
In over 45 years of clearing the clutter throughout my life, I have found when I clear a physical space; it has a profound effect on how I think. For example, clearing a square foot area of clutter clears my mind and opens me up to unexpected possibilities. It goes deeper than this but I’m limited by two-dimensional expression.
Imagine what we can accomplish room by room in an entire home or office!
Clutter will never totally disappear. It’s part of our natural cycle of life. Just as you eat to digest the nutrients in your food, and then eliminate, there will always be a cycle of clutter in our lives. We accept this as the natural course of life; especially, while we’re focused on other tasks leaving clutter to accumulate.
We can control our clutter by answering the two Magic Questions.
In Chapter 22 of STUFFology 101, we address the Two Magic Questions.
Eric Riddle wrote about the first Magic Question in Why do I have this?
This article invites you to step up the challenge of answering Magic Question 2: What would the area I am focusing on look, feel, smell, or sound like if I cleared the clutter?
Your ability to feel the answer deeply will yield lasting success. In other words, visualize the area but go beyond to imagine using your other senses.
- Do you notice how clean an area smells after you’re finished dusting?
- Do you remember feeling a more open mind after clearing an area of a stack of papers?
- Have you noticed after emptying a room of stacks of boxes, that you are able to hear sound more clearly?
Where do you begin?
Click to Start with S.T.U.F.F. Define an area you want to clear of clutter and get started. Focus on how you feel, what you smell, hear, touch, or see.
The more senses you involve, the greater your success.
Over time, like a virtuoso pianist or a star basketball player, you will master the art of decluttering.
And who knows?
In the physical, mental, digital, temporal, and even sensual space created, you may find an unexpected gift. There is no telling what it will be. That’s what makes it unexpected. I have found if I observe closely and keep an open mind, I usually find the answer to a question I’ve been mulling around awhile or a find a solution to a challenge I’ve encountered.
Visualization has never been easy for me, partly because I resist the way some have promoted it in the self-help genre. Paraphrasing, visualize what you want and it will magically appear in you life. If it sounds hokey, then it probably is hokey tends to be my gut reaction.
I view the second magic question differently because it implies an action to take after I visualize whatever it is I wish to declutter. For me, visualization will always fail without being followed by some type of action. As Brenda noted, clutter will never totally disappear; I find this to be true with the physical (paper) clutter in my home office. Since I know what it looks like when it is free of clutter, it is easier for me to visualize the cleared up space. Furthermore, having experienced the positive feeling of a clean office, I am inspired to take action to achieve that feeling again.
I am busy with life just like you. When I focus on one area of my office and ask the second magic question, it is easier to take action and declutter, breaking the inertia of doing nothing. Try it, you will be glad you did. I am.
Eric, you raise an important point–the feeling (and the emotion) that goes along with our answers to Magic Question 2 and successful implementation, will help us keep #clutter under control.