“Clutter creates chaos and cleanliness creates clarity.” My mother used to say that all the time. I pretended not to understand this statement especially when she was insisting that I clean up my room. However, my soul knew exactly what lesson she was trying to impart: ‘With free flowing energy in and around you, choices based on your inner wisdom come easily and anything your heart desires is possible.’
I may have pretended not to understand my Mom’s statement, but I remember standing watching her orchestrate my families’ life from her desk in her alcove off our kitchen. It was a small space and she always kept it neat and tidy. On one side of this alcove was the pantry of dining room linens and tableware. On the other side was her desk. Files for projects stood in one corner, trinkets and art-deco projects from the kids lined the wall in front of the desk, a file cabinet stood to the right of the desk and, of course, the obligatory, colorfully and carefully coded calendar was on the far wall. This desk area was where she carefully conducted the busy life of a mother of four children, a church and Girl Scout volunteer, and the wife of a boarding school master and coach.
For clarity and an easy flow of life, your work station must have this clutter free environment. Whether it is a cubicle or corner office, a home office of a solopreneur or the desk of a busy mom in a kitchen, if you want things to flow easily in your life, if you want to be able to focus and make decisions that ultimately bring more abundance and joy in your life, it begins with organization at your desk. Remember “Clutter creates chaos and cleanliness creates clarity.”
You may have heard about Feng Shui ~ the art of Chinese Placement ~ to allow energy to flow freely in and around your home. But, did you know that you can take it’s teachings and apply them directly to your desktop? Absolutely you can! You can take it’s theories and use them to support all the areas of your life with an influx of inspired energy for more joy.
-The first step is to get rid of the clutter and creating systems. To some this may come easily, to others it may seem like a daunting task but it need not be. Here are a few suggestions that will help with clarity and good energy flow:
-Keep the desk as clear as possible. The only things on top of the desk should be those necessities that you use all the time.
-Keep items of distraction to a minimum. Only keep in front of you what you are working on at that time on the desk ~ everything else should have a place in drawers and/or containers.
-Put your phone in the upper right hand corner of the desk. This is the area that feng shui theory considers vital to cultivating relationships. You may consider putting those pictures of vital relationships to you here as well.
-Put something that represents Abundance to you in the upper left hand corner of the desk. This is the area that feng shui theory associates with Wealth.
-Bonus Points: place on the bottom right corner a picture of your most trusted and supportive adviser (a mentor, an angel, etc.) This is the area for helpful resources according to Feng Shui principles.
-And, always, put your desk to ‘sleep’ each night. Return items used during the day back to their places. Create a power-list for tomorrow’s activities. Say goodnight with gratitude to the desk. This symbolizes that it is time to ‘turn off’ work~time.
Allowing clutter to enter your life will only bring down your energy and create stagnation to grow. It makes choices more difficult to see. If you, like so very many women, are trying to lead an active and vibrant life, it will be much easier if the work area of your life is decluttered and organized. Setting up your desk using the principles of feng shui will ensure that you are attracting vibrant energy to you.
Remember: “Clutter creates chaos and cleanliness creates clarity.” And where there is clarity, there is joy and abundance!
