Evan Renaerts

Un-Cluttered

November 20, 2007

Today there is a pale yellow sun circling the horizon from east to west; the sky has a soft-smokey- quality with a cool and crisp edge to the air. It’s a day that invites long walks and stopping to examine the details of tree bark and wilted flowers and the random beauty of fallen leaves, as they decompose.

I have a friend who says that what he loves about procrastination is that it means there is still hope – he may yet get around to doing all those things he has said that he wants to do. He always gets a laugh.

What I notice is that whenever I put things off clutter starts to happen; there is a slow steady build up of items on the to-do-list, whether that list is written down or only in the mind. Not giving time, attention or energy to the business and the plans and the dreams in life creates a background of discomfort.

While it is possible to turn our eyes away from the things we want to do there is no good or permanent way to turn the mind away. One example that comes up on a regular basis is with clients who don’t know what their current financial situation is. They postpone balancing cheque books and resist keeping a budget (too restricting) and hope that their income to expenditures ratio lands right side up.

In every case the ongoing uncertainty about how much money there is begins to create stress. These individuals find themselves worrying about money in a completely ineffectual way; they worry, they have no plan, and take no action to relieve the worry. While they might have hope that everything will be okay, or if not, that it will get better, they just don’t know and the not knowing more than offsets the hope.

Where the procrastinating is more general; where tasks are left undone for days or weeks and dreams are left unexplored, the anxiety is more general and harder to pin down. People in this state often feel as though a storm is gathering just out of sight, ready to bowl them over the minute they relax.

What leaps out from working with this issue is the tremendous and simple freedom that comes from maintaining some basic disciplines in our lives. The paradox is that by submitting to a discipline that we believe will tie us up and take away our spontaneity we are set free from the continuous nagging of fear and uncertainty.

One of my personal growth practices is t be as honest as possible with my self. Before I make a to-do-list I inquire within about why any particular thing should go on that list: is it something that I personally want to do, is it something that I need to do for the general well-being in my life or is it something I want to do for another or maybe because doing it will feel good?

When I know why I have put a thing on the list and what the doing of it means to me then getting it done is never an issue. The other thing to keep in mind is that “life happens.” Make a plan and if life doesn’t seem to cooperate then just change the plan – don’t get caught in the belief that there is only one right way.

Evan Renaerts
604 314 0835
evan@evanrenaerts.com