Emotions play a big part in our lives, whatever we are doing. When we are making the many decisions we need to while decluttering and organizing our homes, we are dealing with all kinds of feelings. Let’s look at some we may have experienced.

Relief — We may experience relief when we open that closet and can immediately find what we are looking for. We also are relieved that we no longer have all that “stuff” we are never going to use.

Pride — We may feel proud when we look at what we have accomplished whether it was easy to unload or even brought tears. Whether we do it alone or with someone else to make it easier, we can feel we have successfully completed what we set out to do.

Peace — We may feel peace that we aren’t living in chaos. It makes us feel calmer when we don’t have that staring us in the face all of the time and we can find what we are looking for.

Happiness — It may now be a place we want to live in and feel good about.

Sadness — Yes, it won’t be all positive feelings, necessarily. We may uncover unpleasant things from our past that make us sad. This could be part of our healing process, too. It’s okay to stop and cry as we remember what used to be.

Frustration — We may express a sense of annoyance for all of the things we’ve accumulated and are now gone. We may have gotten rid of things we have never used and are disappointed in ourselves for wasting the money buying them in the first place.

Regret — We may regret that we bought too much stuff we didn’t ever need and never used. We may also regret that we need to downsize so much that we get rid of things we still like and find hard to donate.

Disgust — We may feel disgusted that we have waited so long to do anything with our stuff. Some people wait until they have to deal with it due to health or living issues. It just makes it harder to do, and it may not be in the timeframe that we want to be working in.

Productive — We should feel like we have used our time wisely as what we have done has lasting effects on our lives, saving time and money in the long run.

Relaxed — When all the clutter around us is gone, we feel free to sit down without the mess and enjoy new “projects” we may have not felt we could do until we cleaned up our living spaces.

Guilt — We may feel guilt at not having done something sooner. But we cannot change the past and we need to move on to what is ahead.

Pleased — We have to give ourselves a pat on the back for taking the time, effort, and energy to accomplish these sometimes overwhelming tasks.

Volunteering at the Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan, there are always organizational tasks that need attention. When I leave after a few hours, I feel such a sense of accomplishment even if we have sorted and dealt with only a few objects. Some jobs may take years to accomplish, so we need to feel good about even small steps.

We may get one counter cleaned off. We should feel good about it. We should try to focus on the positive every time as we deal with life’s clutter.

Doris Puls, of D & O Decluttering and Organizing, is a professional organizer whose mission is to make a difference in the lives of the people she works with in homes and businesses. Contact her at organizealpena@gmail.com or at 989-356-9545.