::::::::
Apparently, the medical world has now concluded that "clutter" is a disease, an indication of a mind gone wrong.
Based on what is written at this site I can only conclude that the vast majority of authors here are diseased with clutter.
I can only imagine what their work spaces look like, the piles of unmitigated junk that loom high and which must be worked around.
One author I knew actually had to carve a path between his desk and bed among the piles of clutter that were as high as three feet.
Indeed, his mind was as cluttered as his living quarters and in a nutshell that is how one can determine whether an author’s space is cluttered or not, by the clutter of their mind.
Becoming uncluttered, both in mind and body is no easy task because like all diseases it must first begin with recognition that the disease in fact exists.
In fact, clutter is just as addictive as alcohol or heroin and after a lifetime of affliction, getting away from it is nearly impossible and almost never can be done.
After all, like the alcoholic or heroin mind, the cluttered mind is happy because it is used to the state in which it exists.
Extracting a person from that state is a very difficult task which in some cases can only be done with outside intervention.
More often than not this intervention comes from a loved one.
Sometimes it is a good friend, but in every case it means that something profound is wrong and must be corrected.
Clutter is the result of a mind that cannot focus, a mind that is sloppy in its thinking and this results in sloppy writing, a great deal of which is apparent at this site.
If the cluttered thinkers here would begin to unclutter their work spaces, they will soon discover that their minds have also become uncluttered.
But where to begin?
Very simply, by throwing out everything that is absolutely not needed at the present time.
Forget about the future.
Most clutter is the result of thinking you need something someday sometime.
That is where virtually all clutter comes from.
The idea is to focus on the here and now with what is absolutely essential for doing the job immediately at hand and that means getting rid of almost everything in your immediate work space.
We’re talking about 99% of what you have in front of you and around you.
Cold turkey, of course, but it is the only way to begin.
If you sit down and start going through the clutter piece-meal, analyzing every single thing you have, you will simply be buried and nothing will be accomplished.
You just have to start throwing stuff out right away without even thinking about it. And you need some place handy to dispose of the stuff.
First and foremost, once 99% of the clutter has been junked is to have in front of you a clear work space which consists of your laptop, printer and lamp - that is it!
You do NOT need another thing.
All reference material is now readily available on the net so all reference books can be disposed of. They simply are no longer necessary.
If your work demands reference material then have it on an adjacent table where it is readily available.
Also, it is important to have plenty of clean, clear space around your immediate work area so you can spread your material out and look at it.
This is essential and so you must have your entire work space organized so that there is plenty of work area anywhere you want it at the given moment.
Plenty of light is important and air. Distractions such as pets, plants, etc, should be removed from the work space so that it is pristine and clean.
The uncluttered mind begins with an uncluttered work space.
