Originally written in 2008

Several years ago I read a book on Feng Shui and while I was very interested in what it had to say, the point that stood out the most was the fact that clutter causes disorganisation and chaos. The main theme of the book was to get rid of the clutter and all the things you really didn’t need in your life (or like, for that matter) and organisation would reign. But it doesn’t happen all once.

When you clear the clutter you open up space for new beginnings – it allows new things to enter your life. Recently in the paper there was an article on ‘fat houses’. Not only is there an obesity problem amongst humans but now we have a ‘house obesity’ problem as well. The article went on to say that there was a correlation between fat houses and fat people. Our fat homes make us blue and our weight problems make us blue – and many fat homes belong to people struggling with their weight (and often other health issues). So what is a fat house?

A fat house is a house that has so much clutter that it is bursting at the seams; so much so that many people either move to a bigger house (as overweight people move to bigger clothes) to accommodate
the clutter or find storage areas to move the stuff out of the house. Instead of economising with the new space in the new house or storage area, more things are bought and more clutter is the result, and with the clutter comes more disorganisation and chaos. The researcher said that people become anxious, guilty and depressed with the amount of clutter in their life, and most people have at least one cluttered
room and many have at least three.

Most people would prefer to have less clutter, just as most people would prefer to be slimmer and fitter. So what is the answer? The answer is to not have a fat house; declutter – and just as with any change
of diet there is a bit of discipline required, just as with any change of habit, you can’t do it all in one day. So make a plan to declutter one room in your house a week until it’s done.

Get organised so you have three boxes in your garage. The first box is for the stuff you’ll give to charity; the second box is stuff for the garage sale or online marketplaces and the last box is the ‘I’m not quite sure I’m ready to get rid of that yet’ box. Leave these goods for six months, then pass on any you haven’t used – sell them or give them away. The object of this declutter is to get rid of anything you don’t use or doesn’t make you feel good. Be ruthless in every area of the house, from the wardrobe to the kitchen and bathroom as well as the home office and the kids’ rooms. This is not just for the small things but the big things also, like broken furniture or stuff you’ve had since university days.

You’ll be surprised that most people who declutter and are really ruthless with what they do, find themselves losing weight and gaining energy. This is not scientific fact, this is just an observation, not only by me but also by many people who declutter and organise people’s homes for a living. Then the object is to keep your house ‘slim’ and not let it get fat again. This requires taking a more conscious approach to shopping, rather than buying impulsively or for entertainment. I find this ironic but I say the same thing about food shopping.

So if we can keep this concept in mind with not only our home but also our body, we won’t feel so blue, anxious, guilty, depressed or overweight. It’s worth the effort.

Let me tell you about my very interesting experience with decluttering.

My First Decluttering Story and the Amazing Result
After I read the book on Feng Shui, I thought I’d give the decluttering a go, so I cleaned out my entire house – every cupboard, every room, every corner. It took me months but was easily achieved by chunking the task down. The whole house felt wonderful. There was a new freshness, not only to my home but also to my family’s lives. After the declutter I didn’t refill the house with more stuff but made a conscious effort, when I saw something that I liked, to ask the question: Is this a need or a want? If it was a need I would make the purchase; if it was a want I would pass it by. (We often clutter our lives with needless things instead of prioritising what is important. By setting priorities we not only keep the budget under control but we also keep our lives simple, uncluttered and organised.)

My kitchen was the last room I cleaned out; I was feeling very stale with my cooking and I needed some inspiration. I decided that if I didn’t do it I would stay uninspired. It took me several days. I cleaned out every cupboard, including the junk draw and to this very day I have no junk draw. I assessed every appliance and utensil to decide whether I needed it or not. If I had more than I needed I put it in the charity box. Every cupboard was thoroughly cleaned and relined. The pantry was the last one I tackled. Everything came off the shelves and I threw out any food that had been sitting on the shelf past
its use-by date. I also threw away food that was not as healthy as I or my family wanted to eat, and any old spices and herbs were sacrificed. After the uncluttering and organisation, the kitchen felt great. It was no longer a minefield but a place I wanted to spend time in. My inspiration for cooking was back. By decluttering my kitchen I had opened up a space for something new to come into my life, and it did!

A couple of days later, a film crew called to see if they could do a story on me. The entire filming was done, guess where; yes – in the kitchen. I remember the camera man going into my pantry and being stunned at the organisation. After the story went to air my book went to ‘bestseller’.

See, you get rid of the clutter and the mess and become organised and it opens up space for new things to enter your life. Take a risk and give it a go; I guarantee things will change. Most importantly, energy levels will change; uncluttering has an energising side-effect as well as being a wonderful weight loss boost.

Staying organised
Once you have cleaned out and are ready to go with your changed habit, it is important to stay organised for your healthy lifestyle by making sure the pantry shelves have all the ingredients needed for making the foods you want to prepare. There is nothing worse than deciding on a dish and finding you have run out of one of the ingredients. On the front of my fridge I have a shopping list and pencil, the minute I run out of a particular food or can see that the supplies are getting low, I write it on the shopping list. Grocery shopping for me is a once a week expedition and if I can stretch it to two or more I will. I want to make sure I have everything I need so the list ensures I get it all. Anything I use frequently I always buy double to ensure back up stock. When you keep the pantry shelves well stocked, making a nourishing and balanced healthy meal is effortless, and the need to go out and buy take-away becomes less and less. If you’re not organised it is all too easy to run to the local pizza or fish and chip store for the evening meal, and these foods, as you now know, do not build healthy bodies. By the way, excessive stock creates disorganisation, so you must find a happy medium which suits your pantry and your budget.

Having said all that, there is another way to approach this organisation and that is bit by bit. I personally like the bull at a gate method but if you don’t have the time or it is not your style, then changing bit by bit will work just as well. To change slowly, it is just a matter of, when you run out of an ingredient that
you have used in the past, then refill the space with a superior ingredient. For example: if you have traditionally bought bleached white flour, replace it with organic unbleached flour and replace your usual white sugar with Rapadura, and so on. The best way to be informed about food and therefore choose
healthy food, is to read food labels and understand ingredients.

To declutter your house and organise yourself and your belongings is a cathartic process which, in turn, changes many aspects of your life. The research points to that if you declutter and organise your house, car, wallet, bag etc. your life will change, physically, mentally, emotionally and financially. Even without the research we know things will change just by doing something. If you continue to do what you are doing now, you will continue to get the same result; but do something different and you will get a different
result.

Don’t take my word for it; give it a go and let me know your result.

Happy Decluttering and Changing Habits

Cyndi