The Clutter Fairy Weekly #291
Overcome Overwhelm: Stop Your Emotional Juggling and Move Forward
People with clutter issues often report feeling overwhelmed—like a juggler trying to keep too many balls in the air. Even when they know where they’d like to go, they can’t always see a way to get there through the confusion. In episode #291 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly, Gayle Goddard, professional organizer and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, explores the condition of overwhelm and offers practical pointers to get unstuck and stay in motion on your organizing projects.
Content in this episode is based on the results of audience surveys.
Some content in this episode is based on results of a survey of our audience.
The next selection for The Clutter Fairy Book Club will be New Order: A Decluttering Handbook for Creative Folks (and Everyone Else) by Fay Wolf. Shop for the paperback or ebook at Bookshop.org.
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The Weekly Tittle is an exercise designed to focus your attention on a specific space, aspect, or challenge of decluttering and organizing your home. We assign a new tittle in each webcast/podcast, then check on your progress the following week.
Breaking Down a Barrier
This week’s assignment is to identify, clarify, and break down a “barrier to entry” in your decluttering or organizing process.
- Start by choosing a task that you’ve been meaning or wanting to do, but never seem to be able to start.
- Spent a few moments reflecting on what’s getting in your way. What is it about this task or project that prevents you from getting started?
- Spend five minutes writing or sketching about what obstacle stands in your way. Giving a name to the barrier might be all you need to start breaking it down to get going on your project or task.
- Identify a first step, however small, that would help you move past this barrier. For example:
- If there’s a piece of information you’re missing, could you get it by making a phone call or sending an email?
- Is there a tool, supply, or raw material that you’re missing? Would a quick shopping trip get the project unstuck?
- Are you waiting for help to move past this particular barrier? Whose help do you need? Start the ball rolling by having a conversation with the person who can help you.
- Schedule an appointment with yourself to take the next action you identified. Or if it’s something you can accomplish in less than five minutes, do it right away!
For the full discussion of this week’s tittle, watch the Weekly Tittle segment on YouTube.
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