Feeling overwhelmed with your home? Let author and feng shui expert, Tisha Morris, put you at ease and help you gain control with these actionable steps.
Feel Overwhelmed With Your Home? You’re Not Alone
The #1 problem I hear from clients is that they are overwhelmed with their home, their clutter, and their life, in general.
I recently received this question from a reader:
I have been living in a state of clutter in every aspect of my life. My home is always a disaster and I am ashamed because I can never have anyone over to my home. I even called a professional organizer, but was too embarrassed and canceled. I’m not a hoarder, but know I have too much stuff and completely unorganized. I feel overwhelmed with what to do with it all. Where do I even start?
It’s easy to become overwhelmed with our home because it’s energetically intertwined with our own energy, second only to our mind and body. It’s no different than facing the overwhelming feat of losing 100 pounds. The trick is to tackle it from the emotional angle, while also taking some easy actionable steps.
“It’s easy to become overwhelmed with our home because it’s energetically intertwined with our own energy, second only to our mind and body.”
Cultivate Compassion
Attempting to take action is futile if there’s shame around the situation. This is why someone who loses weight may immediately gain it back, in addition to tacking on some extra pounds. The same is true with clearing clutter, only to acquire more later.
That’s why the first step is to find compassion for yourself. Most likely your being hard on yourself is simply compounding the problem. Be open to working with a coach, therapist, mentor, or energy healer on getting to the root of the issue.
Having too much stuff is simply the symptom, not the problem. Clutter is simply self-imposed distraction from what we don’t want to face in our life. Once you have awareness of the underlying issue, you can take action rather quickly.
“Clutter is simply self-imposed distraction from what we don’t want to face in our life. Once you have awareness of the underlying issue, you can take action rather quickly.”
Remove Easy Things First
Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could just remove things from our mind? You actually can simply by removing things from your space. If there are items you know can go easily without any decision-making processing, then let those go as soon as possible. This is the equivalent to the expired food in the fridge that no matter how desperate you got, you know you’re not going to eat.
Simply creating empty space in your environment will allow the energy to flow more freely in your home and in your mind. This can be anything from papers to furniture. Lighten your mental space by lightening your physical space.
When it comes to clearing clutter, start with the non-emotional, non-triggering, easy-breezy stuff first, not the gut-wrenching, Kleenex-box grabbing items that you could mull and cry over for a week. Move out as much stuff as you can in the shortest amount of time just to get the energy moving.
Prioritize
When you feel overwhelmed, it’s the result of a flooding of the emotional body to the point of paralysis of the mental body. You’d be amazed at what a simple pen and paper can do in these moments. This is when our logical, analytical brain can step in and save the day. Simply write a To-Do list.
Making a list on paper will get it out of your head and give you relief. Don’t worry about tackling the list just yet. You’re simply just looking for a higher vibrational feeling than overwhelment. Later, you can organize your list starting with the easiest stuff first.
“When you feel overwhelmed, it’s the result of a flooding of the emotional body to the point of paralysis of the mental body. You’d be amazed at what a simple pen and paper can do in these moments. This is when our logical, analytical brain can step in and save the day.”
Create One Area You Love
Have some area in your home that is clutter-free and your favorite area in your home. Make this your refuge. This could be your bathtub, meditation space, reading nook, kitchen, or bedroom. Like a meditation, this is the space you can always retreat to quieten and still your mind when everything else seems chaotic.
Ask For Help
Sometimes we just need help. It’s hard to see the forest for the trees when it comes to our home. We’re simply too close to it and can’t always see our blind spots.
Hiring someone with an objective pair of eyes, such as a professional organizer or feng shui consultant, will help you lighten your load and get the perspective you need. Or, grab a friend that will be honest with you. Who knows, she may want the one thing you need to get rid of.
Tisha Morris is the best-selling author of Decorating With the Five Elements of Feng Shui (Llewellyn 2015), Mind Body Home: Transform Your Life One Room at a Time (Llewellyn 2012), Feng Shui Your Life: The Quick Guide to DeclutteringYour Home and Renewing Your Life (Turner Publishing 2010). Tisha is based in Los Angeles where she works with homes and business and facilitates trainings. To learn more, visit Earth Home with Tisha Morris.
