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7 things you need to know when making decisions about your clutter:
1. Your intention when you are de-cluttering is:
- that your belongings are used and appreciated for the intention for which they were made, as quickly as possible
- you are deciding whether you want to keep the 'thing' OR have more space. You can't have both.
2. Remember - be REALISTIC in your decision making, not ruthless
People who are ruthless, ALWAYS regret their decisions later on.
3. Your brain works best with 7 choices at any one time
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if you have less than 3 (such as keep, throw, charity) your brain goes into panic mode
Having 3 or less choices is not enough choice for your brain, so it goes into panic mode and more often than not puts the majority of your belongings into the 'keep' choice for safety. Our brain also interprets the 'throw' option as being wasted. Most of us grew up being told not to waste anything (the post-war rationing mentality), therefore the 'throw' option is too severe and irreversible which is why 'keep' is a much safer choice and less wasteful.
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if you have more than 9 choices your brain goes into overwhelm mode
4. You brain works best when it has ACTION focused choicesHaving 9 or more choices is too much choice for your brain, so it goes into overwhelm and can't make a decision at all. That's why, if you've got more than 9 things that are out of place in your home you feel overwhelmed, or if you sort your clutter into 9 or more piles then your brain can't make a decision about which pile to put it in so instead starts another pile.
That's why, if you sort your clutter into piles of types of clutter your brain then says 'what now?'. If we have more than 7 piles of types of clutter when we declutter then we're going to achieve very little.5. Don't expect an instant decision
Your brain can't be expected to make a decision quickly about an item it hasn't seen for a while, especially if it's a sentimental item.
6. It's OK to be unsure about what to do with your clutter straight away
Our brain has to do 3 things to make a decision:
It's the third thing that people often fail to do when they declutter without following a clear process. Our brain can't necessarily do these 3 things in a matter of seconds - especially if it's something of sentimental value. Looking at the item when you find it is enough to enable your brain to achieve the first thing. The second thing requires some context which it won't get if this is the first item you've found, and the third is dependent on your ability to motivate your brain.......
- remember the association
- rate the strength of association against other, similar items
- rate the strength of association against it's expectations for the future (see point 7 below)
7. You need to train your brain
The more detail you can give your brain about how life will be better when the clutter is cleared and organised, the easier it is for your brain to make a decision. This is not a one off event - just as a child has to repeat their times tables several times so that it becomes more automatic, we too need to train our brain every time we do some decluttering so that it remembers, and gets clearer, about what it's aiming for.Clare covers, in detail, the issue of how to make decisions and all of the above 7 issues as part of her 12 Week Success Club.
Just like planning a trip from A to B, you need to let your brain know what and where B is so that, when it's struggling up a hill, it's reminded that it's going to be worth the effort because B is such a wonderful place. The detail needs to be more than 'I won't have the clutter' - if that were enough to motivate your brain your clutter would be gone by now.
Click on the video below or the 'Clare's Success Club' button below to find out more.
