Declutter Your Office, Then Your Mind.

We tend to hold onto past events — good and bad — that keep us from growing. The messy office is a symptom of us not letting go.

February 10, 2020

Have you ever walked by a colleague’s office and thought, how do they find anything? How can they work with books and papers scattered all over? Naturally, when asked about all the clutter, the person usually cites Albert Einstein's office as an example of brilliant minds who can work in a messy environment. But can we? Can we reach our maximum potential surrounded by all the clutter? Another question to consider: If our offices have this much clutter, how much are we holding onto in our minds? Because clutter exists in both places.

We tend to hold onto past events — good and bad — that keep us from growing. The messy office is a symptom of us not letting go. But if we can’t put things behind us, how do we make the necessary changes to successfully lead our people?

In Marie Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, she explains how clutter hampers our potential.

“The act of tidying is a series of simple actions in which objects are moved from one place to another. It involves putting things away where they belong. This seems so simple that even a 6-year-old should be able to do it. Yet, most people can’t. A short time after tidying, their space is a disorganized mess. The cause is not lack of skills but rather lack of awareness and the inability to make tidying a regular habit. In other words, the root of the problem lies in the mind. Success is 90 percent dependent on our mindset.”

We might want to cling to something to serve as a motivator for the future, but does that memory actually spark motivation? Probably not. More likely, it spurs negative thoughts in our mind, which then creates self-doubt.

Begin by decluttering your office. Remove things that you have not used in over a year. Keep the room tidy, then try to perform these 4 tasks every day:

  1. Identify the essentials in your office and mind. Write down the three things that will determine success.

  2. Eliminate things from your life that cause distractions. Like unused subscriptions and memberships. Streamline your life.

  3. Cut down on media — from Twitter to Instagram to how many websites draw your attention. Eliminate most of your bookmarks (scale back to five) for web sites, as these only serve to distract. They really don’t make life easier in the long term.

  4. Work on one chore at a time — don’t multitask. Complete the task at hand first.

When we declutter our office and then our minds, our efficiency and productivity will significantly rise. Only then can true growth occur.

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