Last weekend I worked with a client in her dining room. The dining room table was covered with papers. So were the counter surfaces. She wanted to be able to relax and comfortably eat dinner in this space. So we went through each piece of paper.
She was very creative and in addition to having a day job she was an entrepreneur. All the projects that she was working on were shuffled together. It was a paper log jam. My feeling was that she didn't realize she was unique and had good ideas. It takes a lot of energy and focus to do something different. If you're feeling sort of insecure about it then it will reflect in your environment.
Part of what clutter busting is about is de-tangling. As we went through each piece of paper we separated them into their subject piles. The children's book that she was writing went into one. The fashion business went into another. Other categories had their own piles. And all the pieces of paper that were unnecessary filled a big bag for recycling. Once you start to figure out the order of how you want to do things, once you start to focus, you see the things you don't need. Once those were cleared out, everything moved quickly. We found places to put the separated paper categories into her office. When we were done, her dining room was clear and peaceful.
It took about four hours. Now she has a place to relax and enjoy herself. We need space to be ourselves and feel good.