Like learning anything else in the world, clutter clearing is a skill that you can develop. You can think of yourself as needing to build your clutter clearing ‘muscle’. The more of it you do, the more proficient you become and the easier it gets, but when you first begin you can feel like a clutter-clearing weakling.

After a few successes, when you experience what I call the E-factor of clutter clearing, it changes from being a chore to being a delight. ‘E’ in this case stands for Exhilaration – the joyful feeling of accomplishment you get when you finish a job. You decide to clear a small drawer, do it, and the feeling of exhilaration that follows is wonderful. All kinds of energy blockages are released in your body, the failures of previous attempts at clutter clearing are overwritten, and you feel unstoppable.

One of my clients, who had been a hoarder all his life, became so enthusiastic about clutter clearing that he told me he would sometimes come home from work„ say hello to his wife and children, and then go upstairs to his bedroom, open a drawer, select something such as a pair of old socks, and just for the sheer heck of it, throw them away! He’d discovered the E-factor. Actually you can experience this any time you decide to do something and do it. It’s not limited to clutter clearing. The E-factor is one of the main things that inspires successful people to do more.