You may think that too much clutter in your home, workspace or vehicle is no big deal. You might make constant promises to yourself that you’re going to get a handle on it at some future time, but keep putting it off until you have more time and energy to deal with it.

However, have you considered what your clutter might be saying about you? What message it sends to others? Depending on what your clutter is composed of, where it appears in your life, and how chronic it is, you may be surprised to see what it reveals about you, your personality, and your life.

Take a look at the possibilities below and compare them to your own life:

1) Financial. Financial clutter can take the form of overdue bills, excessive debt or spending habits, unused memberships, unread magazine subscriptions, or poor saving habits. Financial clutter often represents a disconnection from your inner power. You may feel fearful about your finances, or insecure about your financial future. You may feel overwhelmed by bills, anxious about not having enough, or worried about being able to handle what you have. You may even be using money (or a lack of money) to play out various emotional needs, like trying to soothe your dissatisfaction with your job by overspending on entertainment.

2) Bedroom. Clutter in the bedroom often reflects upon your love life. This can apply to your relationship with another, or yourself. The bedroom is the room in which you connect with your inner passion, love, and peace. It is the room in which you let down your defenses and rest, or become intimate with someone you love. If this environment is chaotic and disordered, you may be trying to avoid intimacy, either with another person, or yourself.

3) Bathroom. Your bathroom represents your personal care habits. If your bathroom is cluttered and messy, you most likely also struggle with poor health habits like lack of exercise, lack of adequate rest or nutrition, or even neglected hygiene. More than anything, your self-worth may also be neglected or dishonored.

4) Kitchen. A cluttered kitchen represents a lack of spiritual and emotional nourishment. You may feel disconnected, fatigued, stressed, or confused, which reflects itself in this heart of your home. Your kitchen is also usually the place where you strengthen the family unit. It’s the place and time when families usually spend time together talking and connecting emotionally. If your kitchen is chaotic and disordered, your family connections may also be so.

5) Basement. What lies under your feet is your foundation, or support, for the other parts of your life. Chaos in your foundation means you will not feel adequately supported. You will feel like you’re on shaky ground, unable to gain sure footing. This can cause an ongoing sense of insecurity or lack of confidence in everything you do.

6) Attic. A cluttered, disorganized attic creates a sense of oppression and heaviness in your life. You may experience this as a sense of something hanging or looming over you. Your attic can also be a symbol for the “attic” of yourself – your mind. A confused, jumbled attic often reveals confused, jumbled thoughts.

7) Garage. Most garages serve as both storage and workspaces. You may park your car there, but also have a workbench upon which you complete various home improvement projects. Your garage represents “space” in your life. A space to work, a space to store things that matter to you, and ultimately, the space in which you can be productive and efficient. If your garage is cluttered, you likely feel pressured, stressed, constricted or limited in many areas of your life.

8) Workspace. Your workspace obviously represents your professional growth. Too much clutter and disorganization reveals a lack of control over your career path, or feelings of being overwhelmed or dissatisfied by your career.

9) Vehicle. Your vehicle serves as the symbol for progress and movement through life. Too much clutter may represent an inner fear about moving forward, or an inability to let go of the past so you can move more freely into the future. You may be blocking yourself from moving on, letting go of pain from the past.

10) Living Room. Your living room is the place where you can relax and enjoy yourself, either with friends and family, or by yourself. It represents leisure, fun, passion, and recreation. Too much clutter here may mean you have a hard time relaxing and engaging with your inner joy, or difficulty connecting fully with others in social settings.

Once you identify your areas of blockage, there are two things you should do to eliminate them. First, clear out the physical clutter because it will continue to make you feel oppressed. Secondly, address the emotional issues that led to the physical clutter in the first place. By tackling both angles of the same issue in this way, you can conquer your clutter habits for good.

 

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