Helping Create Success
Clutter; the creativity killer
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lutter is a creativity killer, sucking up the energy needed to think clearly. I once had a client who had great views of Rockefeller Plaza but his office was so messy that you couldn’t see a thing. We spent hours clearing and organizing, all in order to help him think. It worked wonders.
Clutter can also creep into conversation and presentations, which is equally enervating. Filler words and phrases, cliches and general lack of concision will leave your listeners feeling over-fed and under-nourished.
Papers, piles and more piles of papers. The bane of my existence and clashing with my love of trees, I hate these necessary nuisances. My solution was to buy a label maker, which let me make beautiful, clear labels on my files, and made filing a fun thing instead of a drag.
Your office should be a place for work only and unnecessary or irrelevant items, such as sports equipment, make-up, and food do not belong in there. Get rid of them-your office isn’t a catch-all for the rest of your life.
How is your office looking today? How are you sounding in conversation? It’s time to streamline, and get lean and mean.
Clutter In The Office = Fuzzy In The Head
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e all know that we’re supposed to have a zen garden for an office, and it’s a worthy goal. I’m not there yet, but…I have made huge strides in managing the energy in my office, so it doesn’t manage me! And after a lot of study and experimentation, I can tell you that the single best thing you can do to have a comfortable, supportive work space is to get rid of the clutter.
Yes, your tech set-up matters and your chair is important, but if it’s engulfed in stuff then you’re not getting full value from them. Clutter is anything you’re not using, not loving, and it’s just taking up space. And not just any space, but your particular work space, where hopefully a little magic is bubbling away somewhere.
Here are some tips on types of clutter and what to do:
Papers, piles and more piles of papers. The bane of my existence and clashing with my love of trees, I hate these necessary nuisances. My solution was to buy a label maker, which let me make beautiful, clear labels on my files, and made filing a fun thing instead of a drag.
Unnecessary and irrelevant to the work-at-hand items, such as sports equipment, make-up, and food-especially candy! Put them where they belong-your office isn’t a catch-all for the rest of your life. In their place, have some drinking water to stay hydrated, and perhaps a small plant or some fresh flowers to stay grounded.
Have a simple system for tracking your time, so you don’t get lost in thought and stay there. With so much to distract us, mindfulness becomes imperative to maintaining a nice healthy work/life balance. I use a day planner and Google Calendar-it gives me the right digital and manual balance that I need.
By the end of each week, my office looks like the wreck of the Hesperus, and I have to take about 30 minutes to restore order. I’m fine with this, but am aiming for a tidy desk at the end of each work day, which I think is preferable.
One Common Mistake to Avoid When On Camera
A quick word on background when shooting a video: open bookshelves are a popular place for people to position themselves in front of, but I advise my clients against it.
Books & photos have a very “talky” energy to them, so while you might be focusing on your message, your audience can’t help but notice what’s going on behind you. That means your background is pulling focus away from you and onto itself.
A better choice is to place yourself in front of a simple setting that is uncomplicated and almost zen-like. A well-placed prop can go far…a healthy plant or beautiful object…candles, floral decoration, or a backdrop that you customize for your shoots. The goal is to make it easy for your audience to watch and listen to your every word, and not to try to make out the titles on your bookshelf.
Clutter in the Convo.
Spring lends itself perfectly to sloughing off layers of life that we no longer need. Blankets, hats, excess pounds, and unused “stuff” —it’s safe to shed what you won’t be needing.
This includes your style of speaking!
How you come across in front of others makes all the difference in where you might want to go with your career. If you want to go far and wide, you’ll need to be ready to speak up spontaneously. Shakespeare was right- “all the world’s a stage.” Let’s make sure we’re ready to go on:
1) Are you padding your sentences with extra words and industry phrases when you talk to colleagues?
On a recent bus ride through the Lincoln Tunnel, I was reluctantly privy to one side of a typical work conversation. My young woman was liberally using industry-speak on her phone call. Those are the filler words, buzz-words, phrases, and things that everyone else says but no one gives much thought to.
I’d say it took up about 2/3 of her sentences, leaving her caller (and myself) with the remaining 1/3 to try to glean her meaning. Because she was asking a lot of questions, this back and forth went on for way too long. If she had just cut out the flabby words and phrases she was larding her sentences with, she could have finished her call in 1/3 the time and I could get back to my book!
This is an easy but deadly trap to fall into, because all of those industry words can add up. If you’re not getting mileage out your speaking, but are saying the same words that everyone else does, I encourage you to find a different approach. Words without significant meaning to the speaker are verbal clutter. They will eat into your listeners attention spans, without advancing your ideas.
2) Make sure you can be heard. Audio crispness- in phones, cameras, etc. has been in steady decline for years, and clear sound is never a given.
Clutter in the Closet.
Everyone has clutter somewhere in their house, or their computer, or their head. It’s an ongoing battle which must be fought-this creep of things, ideas, and information. One place that can always benefit from a fresh look is the closet. I got that chance this morning.
Last night a 5-alarm fire destroyed a condo complex in Edgewater, NJ, our neighbors to the north, also on the Hudson River. 500+ people are homeless. Someone tweeted that among other urgent needs, clothing was wanted.
Clothing that just takes up space … you haven’t worn it in years but hope to fit back into it one day, or you paid a lot for so you can’t part with it, is taking up your energy as well as closet real estate. It influences the way you can see and style yourself.
Too much clutter in the closet is associated with too much weight on the body. Things that need to be repaired, altered or given away will bring your vitality down. This is especially significant when you’re going to be seen and heard in public…you want to be poised and look the part.
While I tend to have a lean closet, I looked at every item differently this morning. Is something that I’ve been hanging on to “just in case” worth more to me, or to someone who’s just lost everything? That made it easy to decide.
The Profound Effect of Clutter on Communication.
“As within, so without.”
Socrates
I once worked with a financial analyst who was bright, charming and surrounded by clutter in his office. It was a beautiful space, with views of Rockefeller Center, but all you could notice was the stuff. It was distracting…photos everywhere, piles of files, books, athletic gear, and a big ball made up of rubber bands that had made the last three moves with him. That’s what most of his clutter was…stuff that he hauled around but never gave much thought to.
We would get together in one of his firm’s meeting rooms, and then go back to his office to set a date for the next rehearsal. The difference in the two rooms was always so striking, that one day I asked him if he was open to cleaning up and clearing the clutter. He blushed a bit (he was known at his firm for his muddle) but immediately said yes.
It didn’t take too long, and it really paid off. We got rid of a lot of stuff, organized what remained, and tossed out the rubber band ball. We re-positioned photos of his wife to places where he would notice them. Colleagues started stopping by, as word got out. Their amazed faces when they walked in told me we’d gotten it right. It was a transformed work space, and now he’d be much better supported for the demanding work he did.
If you are in such a position, one of the best things you can do for yourself is to look at your space with “fresh eyes.” Walk in and notice everything. How does it make you feel to be in your workspace? Are you able to think and focus?
If not, do not think poorly of yourself, which does no good. Just gently start going through your objects, one by one. If you don’t love it, or find it useful, then it’s clutter and it’s having a major, negative effect on you. It’s an energy drain. Get rid of it, and welcome in the energy that the clutter has been blocking!