Five-Step Daily Practice to Support a Clutter-free Life

In recent meetings of the Houston Clutter Coaching Meetup Group, we’ve been exploring the psychology of clutter. We’ve talked about emotional patterns that sabotage our ability to be organized, and we’ve discussed the feedback loop of clutter and negative emotions. Our May meeting examined how living in clutter reflects negative emotional patterns, such as distraction, resistance, and avoidance of pain. We looked at how the decluttering process can serve as a release from bad feelings and a trigger for a brighter emotional landscape.

Inspiration for this topic came from a blog post (link no longer available as of 2/29/16) that cited a TED Talk by Shawn Achor, a positive-psychology researcher and the founder of Good Think Inc. In the video, Shawn disputes the conventional wisdom that success creates happiness and says that positive-psychology research suggests the converse is true: happiness creates success. He documents five proven techniques for achieving success by focusing first on happiness:

• Write down three things about which you’re grateful. This practice rewires your brain for the habit of scanning the world with a bias toward the positive instead of the negative.
• Journal about a positive experience. The act of writing allows your brain to relive the positive experience.
• Get some exercise. The habit of physical exercise teaches your brain that your behavior matters.
• Meditate. This practice allows your brain to focus on the task at hand instead of being distracted by many tasks.
• Practice random acts of kindness. Shawn suggests sending a supportive, positive e-mail to someone every time you open your inbox. This practice reinforces your social support network.