A blog series just in time for Spring Cleaning-Top tips for the artist from a professional organizer

A blog series on creativity and clutter...

Have you been bitten this year by the Spring Cleaning Bug?

I used to joke at the concept of spring cleaning. As a creative, I have an excuse, right? I'm creative, so therefore I'm messy. It's a sign of my creative-ness. Well, I'm here to tell you, that can be a crippling mentality for an artist.

According to an article written by Professor Sabine Kastner. in Princeton Alumni Weekly,

"If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind,” Albert Einstein once cracked, “of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” The answer, according to psychology professor Sabine Kastner, may be clear thinking. In 20 years of research on attention, Kastner has found that, despite the protests of Einstein, Steve Jobs, and other messy creative thinkers, visual clutter competes with our brain’s ability to pay attention and tires out our cognitive functions over time."

I love how Lori Woodward from the Artist's network puts it, "Clutter causes confusion, confusion leads to stress, stress can develop into avoidance, and avoidance often results in procrastination." 

Last year, I was experiencing all of what Lori describes first hand. In fact, most of my life I've struggled with clutter, but last fall it really started to cave in on me. With a designated studio space of approximately 340 square feet, plus a designated office space, and I did not have one clear spot to work or create. My laundry room, two car garage, pantry and attic space all contained over flow of my "arts and crap", as my husband lovingly describes it. I avoided my studio because just entering the space, gave me anxiety. This was my studio....

Just looking back at this photo gives me anxiety. As a reminder that I don't want to ever go back to this state,  I'm going to be sharing my journey with clutter, along with some tips from a professional organizer and some things that I learned in the process. *I do want to note, I'm still a work in progress in this area; both with my studio, home clutter and my mindset. Regardless of my lack to completely conquer my issue, I hope you will join me over the next few weeks to take a look at my journey with clutter. I'll be sharing more before and after pics, in-the-process photos and a final studio tour.