Feng Shui and Clutter

Clutter
Photo by kk+

Even if you don’t know a lot about Feng Shui, there is something you can do to make a huge impact on the energy in your home.

That is: get rid of clutter!

Clutter and Feng Shui

Clutter is very bad Feng Shui. If you think about it and stop to really experience what you feel when you are surrounded by clutter, I think you will agree that clutter is depressing and really lowers your energy levels.

In Feng Shui, we say that the chi (energy) gets stuck in clutter. The chi can’t flow like it should, with clutter around. It just gets sucked in to the pile of clutter and stays there, stagnating.

I used to have a huge problem with clutter before I started studying Feng Shui. I really didn’t notice much of how my environment was affecting me. It was only when I read Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui by Karen Kingston that I really realized just how my clutter was affecting me. This is a small book and a quick read. It contains a lot of good information, and I highly recommend it.

Clearing Clutter

Now that I know how clutter affects me, I don’t let it get so bad. I still have a tendency to let my desk get messy, for example. But I soon feel myself getting irritated with my work, and I realize that it needs to be cleaned up. It is amazing to me how much different I feel as soon as the clutter is cleaned up.

As far as the rest of the house goes, I have learned over the years to clean up as I go along. I don’t let clutter pile up. If I am in a room and I notice something out of place, I put it where it belongs. This way, it’s not a huge job to clean up all at once.

For a former clutter-holic, this is really saying something. I believe that you do things that you feel are important. Once you realize how clutter impacts your life, you will gladly do what it takes to keep from getting overwhelmed by it.

The Power of Nine

If you have a clutter problem in your house, don’t be overwhelmed. Just start small. Feng Shui has a few tricks that can help you with this. One tip is to do a small amount every day. In Chinese culture, the number nine is very important and signifies completion. So use the number nine in your decluttering. Every day, work at decluttering for 9 minutes. Or, pick 9 things a day to clean up.

Soon decluttering will become a habit, and you will see progress. Those 9-minute segments will add up. Remember, it takes 21 days to create a new habit, so keep at it every day until it becomes automatic.

- Pat Doyle

This entry was written by Pat Doyle, posted on January 1, 2008 at 8:08 pm, filed under Clutter. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

11 Comments

  1. Hueina Su - Intensive Care for the Nurturer's Soul
    Posted January 5, 2008 at 1:52 am | Permalink

    Hello Pat:

    Thank you for sharing these wonderful tips with Carnival of Healing, posted at Intensive Care for the Nurturer’s Soul.

    Blessings,
    Hueina

  2. Tip Diva
    Posted January 5, 2008 at 1:05 pm | Permalink

    Thank you for submitting your post to Carnival Of Tips. What you said about the number nine is very interesting - I may try to use your method while trying to organize my room and desk. After a while, I get fed up, but I wouldn’t mind focusing on things nine at a time.

  3. Pat Doyle
    Posted January 5, 2008 at 3:08 pm | Permalink

    Hueina Su and Tip Diva, thanks! I’m glad you like the tips on de-cluttering.

  4. JHS
    Posted January 5, 2008 at 10:55 pm | Permalink

    Wanna come over and help me de-clutter? I would love for my desk to look like that bottom picture, but fear that it looks more like the top. That’s at home. NOT in my office. Never there. Why is that?

    Thanks so much for participating in this week’s Carnival of Family Life hosted at Pajama Mommy Community! Be sure to drop by and check out some of the other wonderful entries this week!

  5. Pat Doyle
    Posted January 6, 2008 at 12:25 am | Permalink

    JHS, don’t worry - you can do it. Just do a little bit every day, until it becomes a habit. ;)

  6. CG Walters
    Posted January 13, 2008 at 7:06 pm | Permalink

    Thank you, Pat…now I just have to hide this article from my wife!
    Good info, though…just got to get started now….
    Peace and wonder,
    CG

  7. Pat Doyle
    Posted January 14, 2008 at 11:06 am | Permalink

    Hi CG, welcome! I’m glad you liked the article, and I won’t tell your wife. ;)

  8. Karen Lynch-Live the Power
    Posted January 15, 2008 at 11:36 am | Permalink

    Hi Pat,
    Excellent tips and it really is refreshing to hear it from a former “clutteraholic”.
    So many people giving advice seem to have been born “neat and tidy” and it makes it seem out of reach for the rest of us!

  9. Pat Doyle
    Posted January 15, 2008 at 4:10 pm | Permalink

    Hi Karen,

    Thanks! Yes, I was really bad as a clutter-holic!

  10. Patricia - Spiritual Journey Of A Lightworker
    Posted January 19, 2008 at 1:00 am | Permalink

    9 minutes or 9 items cleared a day is good information to stop from being overwhelmed. Thanks.

  11. Lynda
    Posted March 28, 2008 at 9:28 am | Permalink

    Clutter has become a sort of universal disease - and it’s beginning to show! With Feng Shui and clutter removal, you can begin to change the way your life feels as well as the way you feel in relation to the stresses you face each day.

16 Trackbacks

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