Taking Back Your Space

I clutter busted for a client who worked as a real estate agent. She had an office in her home. But the office was overwhelmed with boxes and stacks of paper. My client felt very erratic in this space. She was happy and buoyant in other rooms of the house. But her work space did her in. She called it, "The Torture Chamber". She even whispered those words when she said them, as if the room might hear and make things worse. It was a room in her house, but she felt helpless to make it a good space. It was like the room had a personality and had a temper and was punishing her.

I told her, "It's amazing to see you cringe about a space. You're a very powerful woman and this room has made you a tiny scared dog. Let's do something about this. This is going to be fun!" We sat down on the floor of her office and went through one stack at a time. At first the papers intimidated her. She was afraid to challenge their worth. But I kept asking her, "Do you really need this? Are these papers essential to the work that you are doing?" At first she timidly said, "no". As we progressed she began to see there was nothing to be scared of. It was great to see her get tall again. Sometimes we give spaces the power to bully us. But once we see there is no bully, we come alive again. It's one of my favorite parts of my job.

We filled up all her trash bins with the clutter fake bully. When we were done she said she felt taller. She meant it.