How I Turned My Cluttered Home Office into a Sanctuary

This post was originally published on my personal blog in May, 2016. It’s part of my 15-year journey into minimalism — the journey that led me to start Compassionate Clearing Co.

I've been feeling energized, yet claustrophobic, like a sports car with a full tank of gas sitting in traffic. Despite all my minimalism efforts over the past year and a half, I was once again drowning in email and the ever expanding piles in my home office: unread magazines, novel research, books, paperwork, mail. The room is my sanctuary and I use it for yoga, reading, meditation and work. But recently, I couldn't do any of those things without shuffling piles from one area to another to make room. I could sense my energy getting trapped and my sanctuary was no longer a place of peace. Tasks took longer than necessary and I felt overwhelmed. Something had to be done. And so I spent an entire day minimizing my office.

I started with my e-mail.

Digital clutter is just as suffocating as physical, those ever increasing notifications flashing like alarms.

I've spent many hours over the past two years deleting, filing, and unsubscribing from email, but the battle never seems to end. So much to read... Between my e-mail and magazines (I only have two subscriptions) I could spend an entire month reading and still not finish. But I'll let you in on a little secret I learned: you don't have to read all your email.

Before you say, "Yeah, no kidding, I delete more than half my email without even opening it," know that I'm not talking about those e-mails — the sales, suggestions and free shipping opportunities. (By the way, you may want to unsubscribe from those.) I'm talking about the ones you want to read, those that you identify with that you think may have some secret tip, amazing news, hold the key to your success, feature the perfect pair of spring pants, suggest you follow someone on [X] who might be your virtual soul mate and if you delete any without reading them you may have missed out forevvvverrrrrrrr... NOOOOOOOO!!

Guess what? You're not missing out on anything, except having a clean inbox.

This is what's really in most of those emails: Efforts to get you to buy something or buy into something and/or the same recycled information said a different way. Even if it's really good, it will show up again or you can find it elsewhere. Those Pinterest suggestions for your carefully curated boards will come around again. Those [X] suggestions... same. It's all an algorithm. And don't forget, you can always find what you're looking for on a website or with a quick Google search.

It was thanks to that realization that I was able to search my inbox for everything from a writing coach I like, select all, and hit delete. I had been saving everything she sent (and she e-mailed daily), convinced that those e-mails held the key to my success. Well, I checked her website and all the info. was there. I bookmarked it and moved on with my purging.

Cleaning out and filing my e-mail felt so damn good, I wanted MORE. So I decided to take another minimizing pass at my office. No plans for Saturday and a dreary forecast —  PERFECT! Sitting on the train daydreaming about the cleanse, I had an idea. "Does the top half of my desk come off?" I texted my [ex] husband. And he, accustomed to random questions without any explanation responded, "yes."

Oh man, this was gonna be good!

[Regretfully I no longer have the photos from this blog post. Imagine an extremely cluttered and messy desk with no surface area to actually work.]

I woke up Saturday with an energy and excitement unique only to the satisfaction of a great purge. I worked for ten hours, filing, sorting, consolidating, and rearranging. I used my printer so seldom that the ink dried out so when I did need it, it was useless. I put it in the yard sale pile. The desktop computer? Maddeningly slow. I transferred all my files to USB keys and it's being wiped and recycled. The entire hutch? Just a place to stick stuff that really isn't needed or should be put away.

I craved space.

Beside a floral chair was a closet I couldn't get into without fighting with the chair so although the closet was mostly empty, I didn't use it. Not efficient. I moved the chair and now I can get in and out of the closet easily.

By the time I was done, I achieved what I had been craving. My sanctuary was restored and I created space. It was a day extremely well spent.

[Regretfully I no longer have the photos from this blog post. Imagine a wonderfully clean, organized office with a clear desk and little to no clutter to be found.]

Now no time is wasted when I enter the room to do anything. There are no piles to shuffle in order to sit down at my desk or in my reading chair, no clutter preoccupying me when I meditate, nothing to move to roll out my yoga mat. Just organized, minimized, efficient, useful space. I walk in, set my coffee down, open my laptop and get to work.

I share this with you because it is my hope you may be inspired to create space in your own life. That printer, the hutch, the piles... they had become fixtures that I simply accepted, allowing them to take up precious space. Is something broken or useless taking up space in your home? Wouldn't it feel good to get rid of it? You may think it's not hurting anything. The printer wasn't hurting me. But it wasn't helping me, either. It wasn't until I decided to toss it that I realized I could do away with the entire top half of my desk. Let the domino effect take shape and allow yourself to be inspired.

You may just find yourself with a sanctuary of your own.

If this resonates with you and you’d like help creating space in your own home, I’d love to hear from you. Book a free consultation.