'A tidy house is a tidy mind'

Who’s ever heard that saying before? Come on, hands up. Probably everyone, it’s one of life’s fabulous cliché’s that grandma’s, mum’s, aunties and school teachers alike all love to spout out whenever they feel the need to point out how shamelessly messy we are. It is one of the most annoying of all cliché’s too as it really does imply that unless you’re bedroom/house is spotless then you have no chance at keeping your brain in order either. However, what is a cliché if not a universal truth that’s stated over and over again? I’m afraid to say that I agree with the line, you do find yourself more on form overall if you’ve had a good clear out of your clutter. De cluttering your worktops etc. does to some degree de clutter your mind. That’s not to say that I put this universal truth into action very regularly, in fact, in this house usually the sides get so piled up with papers, jewellery, empty envelopes, leaflets etc. that eventually my partner grabs a black bin bag and goes on a rampage! “What’s this? Do you want it?” He’ll demand enthusiastically and before I’ve even had a chance to look at what’s in his hand he’ll say “No, it’s been here too long, I’m throwing it.” Whilst his completely gun hoe approach to tidying sends panic running through me every time, when he’s finished, I do always feel a sense of relief that the mess is gone. Every now and then though, his tidying backfires when he realises that he accidentally through away one of his own carelessly placed, important documents!

If you’re a hoarder like me, the chances are that you too have a stash of bits and pieces piled somewhere that you have put down quickly whilst racing away to deal with something else. The trouble is that more often than not, you forget that you’ve put it down and before you know it more odds and sods have been strewn on top. What’s more is, that after a while, and it doesn’t really take that long to happen, the pile of stuff turns into its own sort of entity; one being, not many bits and pieces but one pile of nothing. So much does it have its own identity that you start just passing it, never going through it, never actually dealing with anything that’s in it and you may even get to the point that you are reluctant to even touch it. Just think about this though, if it’s true that there is a direct link between the physical papers and the intentions within our heads than you might as well right off those parts of your brain functions all together. Have you ever forgot to pay a bill because it was under a pile of other bills, newspapers and children’s drawings? It’s not that you in your head forgot that your lights worked by electric, electric that needed paying for, but you forgot that you had a bill to pay because there was no physical reminder there. What’s the answer? If I had a concrete one I’d be the most organised woman on earth! Believe me, I’m not! However, it is worth getting a couple of trays, a filing cabinet, message board etc so that you can file all your documents in an appropriate place and then every now and then you can sit down in front of it and go through things in a more defined way. Never again will your electric be turned off during your favourite TV show!