This work offers a summary of the book “CLUTTER-PROOF YOUR BUSINESS by Mike Nelson”.

To overcome a cluttering habit, you can logically expect to take one of two approaches:
1. Try and restrict the inflow of “stuff” into your life – so there are less things to organize and find space for.
2. Better understand why it is you feel the need to hold on to things – and address those root causes rather than the symptoms.

The conventional solution to cluttering has usually been along the lines of the first approach. That is, develop new and improved ways to organize your life and to store things so they can be found when needed. Unfortunately, with the explosion of the amount of information which is flowing into people’s lives every day, the shortcomings of this approach are b ecoming obvious. It is now almost impossible to deal with everything that comes along. Getting better organized and trying to restrict the inflow of information are at best a band-aid approach to cluttering, when really something more robust is needed.

Clearly the second approach to cluttering has the potential to deliver more long-term benefits. In other words, this involves striking at the source of the clutter rather than trying and better deal with the consequences. For example, some people are afraid to throw things away because of a fear they will need that item in the future. To deal with this fear at its very source, one approach is to consistently ask yourself: “What’s the worst that could happen if I lose this piece of paper?” Or alternatively, you might consider the replace ability of most paper documents if needed. By doing that for each source of your cluttering tendencies, you get to the heart of the matter rather than simply trying to deal with the result.

Put another way, to clutter-proof your business, don’t try and change your outside circumstances alone. At best this is only a stop gap measure. Instead, try and understand what it is you fear will happen. Then systematically deal with each of those fears. Sometimes, just the act of identifying your fears will be all that’s required while at other times, further action will be called for. Address those true inner beliefs or fears and the clutter will naturally subside.