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Detail or big picture? Your viewpoint will impact decluttering - 27th September 2019
What's your natural viewpoint? Do you see the detail or the bigger picture? I'm naturally a detail person. I notice the small things. For years I hadn't really appreciated the two extremes. It was only when I started my business that I realised I lacked big picture skills.
Read on to find out how this impacts your decluttering.
Like anything else, the more you practice the better you get! These days I pride myself on having a 50/50 balance of big picture and detail, at least in my working life!
I have a feeling that many people who get overwhelmed by clutter are either extreme detail people or extreme big picture. You need both these attributes in order to effectively tackle clutter.
Stage one of decluttering - you need a big picture view
Imagine you have at least one room that is badly cluttered. You need to be able to scan the room and identify the main problem areas and the main problem content. You can then tackle the things that will have the most impact. It is the big picture view that means you can dramatically reduce the amount of stuff in your room because you see everything at once and can discern which areas are needing your attention first.
If you start out with a detail view you will end up with some of your stuff wonderfully organised - but the rest of your room will be in chaos.
Middle stages of decluttering - you need a detail view
In the middle stages you will have piles of sorted content to work through. Your detail view will mean that you easily sort these piles into sub categories and know how to store them in a logical order. Your sorting skills will help you identify what is no longer needed. This is the fine tuning part of decluttering. Without it you might have less stuff but it will be in chaos!
Final stages of decluttering - you need both views
You will be back to needing your big picture view as you decide if any "spare" items need relocating elsewhere in the house. What impact might that have? How will you manage it? You will need detail view to slot those odd items into just the right place without compromising that area.
Still a bit confused?
Imagine looking through a telescope with a broad lens on it. That's big picture - you see everything and can take it all into account. Detail view is a bit like looking through the wrong end of the telescope! Your vision is like a laser beam now, very precise and defined.
Which are you?
Before self-employment I was an office administrator, the kind of work that relies on detail. Jobs with similar view points would be book-keepers and accountants, for instance. They definitely need to be detail people. I've also learned it's a bit of a personality thing. The detail people are more likely to be quiet introverts. I've worked for big picture people of course. They tend to be sales orientated in their work, or creative. They are more likely to be gregarious extroverts.
So what?
Ideally you need to be able to switch at will from big picture to detail throughout the process. You will zone in and out as required during the process. That is mastery.
I hope at the very least this blog post helps you identify your natural view point in relation to decluttering. Also, that you can now see the benefit of developing the skill which does not come to you so easily. It might even explain why you have found decluttering to be so challenging in the past. When you understand the "why" of being stuck it will dispel the feelings of guilt you may have around not making inroads on your clutter. There is a reason why you are stuck and it's purely your style of viewing the world. Part of your character.
Do you feel you might struggle to develop your viewpoint? I am able to support you with the part of decluttering that you find too challenging. Working with me will help you learn new skills that pertain to either big picture or detail - whichever it is you need. If you live reasonably local to me in Northamptonshire I can visit you for a practical session. If you are too far away I have various ways I can support your remotely.
Please get in touch for a chat about this. Contact me via email organised @judithmorris.co.uk or call me on 07850 580802.
Keywords: methods, organise
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