Unclutter Your Time By Not Judging Others for Their Clutter

As a child, my parents repeatedly told me that it's not what is on the outside that matters, but what is on the inside. I was an extremely literal child, so I thought they meant that a person's organs -- like their lungs and kidneys -- were very important. The advice was wasted on me because I didn't know how I was supposed to see someone's liver to make an evaluation of a person.



As an adult, obviously, I understand the lesson my parents were trying to instill in me. I try my best to ignore a person's exterior and really see and understand their humanity instead. Some days are better than others, but overall I hope I've finally taken my parents' advice to heart.



From an uncluttering and organizing perspective, it can be easy to look at someone's space and jump to conclusions about the person. If you see someone who is messy, you might assume he or she is unreliable. If you see someone who is extremely organized, you might assume he or she is all work and no fun. Neither of these assumptions would likely be correct, but you still might come to these conclusions until you get to know the person better.



Clutter, or a lack of clutter, doesn't indicate intelligence, class, income, education level, race, one's ability to have fun, reliability, or a thousand other personal characteristics. All it does is roughly identify priorities -- either someone has made handling clutter a priority, or they haven't. And, since we all see different things as distracting us from the lives we imagine, it's even difficult to say that it identifies priorities well. Being an unclutterer means that a person has chosen to get rid of the distractions that get in the way of the life they desire. What those distractions are vary significantly from person to person, so one man's trash can certainly be another's treasure. There is not one standard for uncluttering or organizing.



Instead of worrying about someone's state of clutter or disorganization (assuming the person isn't a danger to himself or others), try to get to know the person first. What lies beneath their skin? This will help you to see the world through another's eyes, as well as unclutter your time and energy.