Feng shui views clutter as synonymous with stuck or stagnant energy. The word “clutter” comes from an Old English word, clott, which means “to cause to become blocked or obscured.” Like a blood clot that blocks circulation in a vein, clutter prevents chi (vitality or life force energy) from circulating through your office.
A visually cluttered and disorganized workspace saps your energy and erodes your spirit. It adds to your stress, slows you down and drains your physical, men- tal, emotional, and spiritual strength. It wastes your time, blocks your creativity, dulls your decisiveness, creates extra work, and makes you late for appointments. Clutter nibbles away at your finances, one lost opportunity and late fee at a time. It erodes your composure. Clutter can keep you from reaching your goals and living out your dreams.
CLUTTER LEAVES NO ROOM FOR GROWTH
If that wasn’t enough to inspire you to put this book down and go throw a few things out or clear the papers off your desk, consider this: an office filled with clut- ter makes it difficult to grow your business. It leaves no space for new ideas, new business opportunities, new client relationships, or new projects to flourish. (It will also prevent any special feng shui cures or remedies from working as well as they should.)
Getting rid of clutter is the single most important improvement you can make to the functionality of your office, and it should be the first item on your feng shui to-do list. This is especially true if you have been feeling stuck or uninspired about your work; getting rid of clutter is the fastest and most effective way to breathe new life and enthusiasm into your work experience.
If your business is not thriving as well as it should be and you aren’t sure what’s wrong, roll up your sleeves and get rid of any clutter in your office. Visible clutter on your desk, shelves, and in piles on the floor is a constant subtle distraction that keeps you from functioning at your best and contributes to the frustrations, wasted time, and increased stress of disorganization.
Closets and closed storage areas represent things that are hidden, unknown, or unrecognized. Hidden clutter in your office storage areas may be out of sight, but it stifles your ability to be intuitive and insightful. It can indicate problems that you may not be consciously aware of but which impede your success nonetheless.
Getting rid of clutter should be your first line of attack when you are frustrated by:
• Slow cash flow
• Difficulty attracting new clients • Stalled or over-deadline projects • Ineffective networking
• Feeling creatively blocked
• Missed opportunities and lost business
Make Room for Expansion
In long-established workspaces—whether in or outside the home—a common feng shui problem is overstuffed files and storage areas. When your hard drive, file draw- ers, bookcases, and storage cabinets are all full with many years’ worth of accumu- lated stuff, there’s no room for new energy (in the form of clients, cash flow, ideas, etc.) to come in.
Clearing the clutter out of your office is the fastest and surest way to make space for possibility. Not only will clutter-clearing dramatically improve your mood and energy, but it will also literally create space for your business (and profits!) to expand.
One of my first feng shui consultations was for a small business owner who was having trouble coping with changes in her marketplace. She recognized that her clients’ needs were evolving, and that she needed to shift her business focus in order to maintain her current client base and attract new customers. She had ideas about how to do that and was excited about the new directions she wanted to take. But her business seemed to be stuck in a rut, and she was frustrated that her efforts weren’t producing the kinds of results she’d expected.
When she invited me to assess her office, I immediately noticed that almost every wall in the office suite featured a framed memento of a past project or an award certificate or plaque that her company had earned. The problem was that none of this prominently displayed imagery was even remotely current; the most recent was almost ten years old. And all of it represented the kind of work she no longer wished to pursue.
Further exploration revealed that every one of her many file drawers was so overstuffed (some with files dating back over 15 years!) that it was difficult to re- trieve or file anything. All the storage closets were full to capacity, and bookshelves were overloaded with reference books many of which were out of date. A brief conversation with her assistant revealed that the computer system crashed fre- quently due to an overloaded hard drive.
No wonder this energetic and accomplished business owner was having trouble shifting her business into a new direction: her office was so overloaded and stuck in the past there was literally no room for change or growth.
She admitted that she knew her office was ripe for a good de-cluttering, but that it hadn’t seemed to be a good use of time and energy when there was so much else she wanted to get done. Unfortunately, all that clutter was a big reason why her new business initiatives weren’t producing results.
CLUTTER CLEARING HELPS YOU LET GO OF THE PAST
How can you move forward when your space is stuck in the past? Take a look around your office to see how much stuff you are holding on to from past jobs and career paths. Clear that stuff out, and you create room for growth in a new direc- tion.
Clearing out your office isn’t just about doing housework and catching up on the filing; it’s about creating space in your psyche for the next phase of growth by freeing yourself from the past and shaking off feelings of powerlessness.
When your office is de-cluttered, you can consciously choose to surround your- self with things that nourish your soul and support you in your life’s work.