Peace of Mind Organizing

Decisions and clutter

5 March 2009

When I talk with clients or give talks, I’ll often make this statement:

Clutter is nothing but delayed decisions.

And then I’ll urge folks to make decisions, rather than delaying them.

It’s not always that simple, though, is it? That simple sentence doesn’t address why it’s so hard for people to make decisions. Sometimes it’s hard-wired behavior, I suppose. Maybe some people are just naturally indecisive. But sometimes there are some deep emotions attached to the inability to make decisions:

• Lack of confidence: You think you don’t know enough to make a correct decision.
• Fear: Maybe you got in trouble as a child for making the wrong decision and are afraid of failing again.
• Perfectionism: You’re waiting to make sure you’re making the very best choice.
• Misplaced importance: You blow the importance of the decision way out of proportion, making a mountain out of a molehill.
• Emotional (or physical) exhaustion: If life’s beating you down, you don’t want to have to think about another thing.

And then sometimes you just have too many choices. Studies show that the more options you have, the harder it is to make a decision. (Read this fascinating article on decision-making in Scientific American for more information.)

Whatever the reason for habitual indecision, it certainly can result in clutter.

That’s one reason I’ve teamed up with life coach Shannon Wilkinson to offer folks the opportunity in a four-week teleclass to deal with the emotions behind the clutter, as well as the clutter itself. Check it out at Declutter Happy Hour.

Tagged with: clutter, decisions, emotions, scientific american

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