Does Clutter Have You Blocked?

My step-daughter stopped by the house to spend the night after a day of hanging out with her friends over Memorial Day who were “home for the summer.” She had a later shift at the coffee shop where she works, so she enjoyed a leisurely morning before jumping on the road for the hour drive back to Raleigh. She has just one week before moving to her new apartment across town - paring down from 3 roommates, to just 1.

Her car looked like a homeless person’s domicile. I have picked with her for a month each time I see it. This time, I noticed the floorboard had amassed a collection of discarded fast food bags and cups from coffee shops that were as high as the front seat. That seat too, was the receptacle for all the things she might have needed access to over the past half year. Chapsticks, napkins, hair ties, face masks, sweatshirts, wax melts (she said they made her car smell nice), and a host of other remnants of junk. The back seat and accompanying floor board was a jumble of spools of colored yarn?and partially crocheted squares (parts of her side hustle). It also had blankets, discarded clothes, still-bagged cat food samples, assorted bits of trash, makeup, art supplies, a book to read, and wet towels and swimsuit from the previous day's fun with her friends.

Clutter can impede the next right step.

The surmounting collection was literally impeding her from taking the first daunting step towards making a competent dent in the mess and bringing order back to her vehicle. The mess had accumulated a mass that was beyond her ability to know how - or where - to even start… The effort felt too intimidating due to the volume the clutter had reached, preventing her from pushing pause on all else, and devoting a couple hours to the task. In other words - the clutter was impeding her ability to take the next right step to rectify the problem.

The solution - "deal with the clutter" - was always the right option. The longer the clutter remained unresolved, the more unresolved it became. It grew. It did not remain static, it got added to. It expanded. Taking a step was pushed further back, because the problem was amplified.

This same premise also showed up in my step-son's bedroom. With his Junior year in highschool maintaining his 4.3 GPA in all Honors classes, marching band, working on improving his skills on the drum set for jazz band, working 20 hours a week at Chick-Fil-A, dating his wonderfully sweet girlfriend, and trying to squeeze in a little socializing with his gaming friends - his room was getting out of hand. He knew it. His mom and I knew it. Because he does his own laundry, he found himself running out of basics - they were in one of the dirty clothes piles on the floor. He kept saying he was going to tackle the room - but the mounting piles were encroaching on him... and the overwhelm was paralyzing. Tackling just one pile a day - would not have caught him up. It needed a full deep dive into the problem.

Clutter attracts clutter.

The solution of a trash bag would not solve the current problems of a dirty car or an overwhelming bedroom. The clutter, as mentioned, was growing in volume every single day. The reason is the heading for this point - clutter attracts clutter. Until clutter is dealt with, we simply add to the collection that exists.

For both spaces - since there was no process or place for things - they got dropped on top of the existing piles... and grew.

Objective approach by an outside source.

I wasn’t overwhelmed. These after all, were not my personal messes. I could see the room objectively, and determine the steps for tackling the problems and bringing order back to the space. For both "kids"- I tackled their overwhelm. Different days, different spaces, different kids - but same process and the same results.

The car, it got a thorough washing. I also spent a couple of hours sorting the interior clutter into a "keep" pile and garbage. 2 trash bags later, and you could now see floor mats, seats and a dash. An interior deep clean - and the car felt, smelled and looked a million times better. The overwhelm was gone.

For the bedroom, I drug all the piles of laundry to the laundry room - sorted and started running loads. I remade the bed with fresh sheets and a newly-cleaned blanket. I swept the floor. I threw away the trash. I gathered the dirty dishes and I put his room back in order.

Both of the kids appreciated the deep clean - and the reset. They also declared their personal intention to put systems in place to NOT let it get back to that level of chaos again. The car now has a trash bag hanging, and another in the side door for once the first is full.

What you focus on - grows.

The mess overwhelmed the simple solution to the point where the mess felt bigger than the solution. In order to get on top of the problem, a shift in perspective had to be made. Both kids were focusing on the mess, the clutter and the way it made them feel. They both hated it. They both complained - yet they were immobilized.

More effective action requires we focus on something - new. You have to not internalize the clutter as being reflective of you. You have to stop focusing on the mess, and begin focusing on the goal on the other side of the yuck, the frustration, the difficulty faced. Grow the desired result to be something BIGGER and more desired than the current clutter that overwhelms.

Wrap Up

Clutter is NOT just a pile of assorted dirty laundry, discarded fast food bags, remnants of recent activity… it is everything that we “collect” that requires action — and action has not been taken. This article is directed at Manufacturing leaders on the subject of branding and marketing, so my focus with the stories above focused on the “clutter of stuff” may feel a bit oddly placed. This is not an article on the subject of a cleaning service for messy offices and warehouses… rather to provide a concept you can readily visualize and make the mental connections — either experientially (been there — done that) or objectively (I can observe the point thru the story illustration) — and apply to the “clutter of information.”

I have worked with enough Manufacturers to know that “clutter of information” can definitely work against productive movement and steps towards resolution. You sit around the giant conference table with products and their schematics, making tweaks to planograms and sales projections while wrestling with cost analysis — and you become overwhelmed. All the points above relate to you and your business. It is not about “dirty warehouses”, but about the mass piles of thoughts and words — unstructured and everywhere.

It is not about “dirty warehouses”, but about the mass piles of thoughts and words — unstructured and everywhere.

Clutter can impede the next right step. When I sat with Longworth Industries surveying the massive 3-ring binder for their new XGO brand in preparation for introducing the brand to the military, there was overwhelm. They were following the steps of simply taking the clump of stuff and details and dumping it into a folder. "Here it is!" and hoping the recipient was as in awe of the $40 t-shirts as they were. They needed help getting the clutter into something usable and manageable. That is what AdJourney was able to do for them. I was able to sort the chaos, offer a fresh perspective, and deliver the message that made sense to their target audience.

Clutter attracts clutter. When you are unpurposeful with your brand, then everything is of equal value on the table of decision. What do I mean? If you have not defined the brand's WHY, then everything is a reasonable bullet point. Everything is a "yeah, that too..." and nothing is special. Remember the awesome movie by Pixar, The Incredibles? The character Syndrome makes the statement, "if everyone is special, then no one is special." This same concept is applicable when you are not sorting the chaos... without "boxes" in which to place things, then it all is equal. Clutter then, grows by attracting more clutter.

Objective approach by an outside source. So when you are facing the clutter of information and trying to make sense of the next right step and decide how to handle the clutter - the problem may very well be you need branding. You need an outside source who can help frame up an objective perspective and define what is really important. This is what AdJourney is exceptional at. Developing a brand, defining the brand strategy and designing marketing around effectively communicating what the brand is all about. We help get rid of the clutter that is impeding your progress.

What you focus on - grows. Let's jump on a call and chat about your business... your brand(s). We can begin getting our focus right, so that we are seeing growth in the right places - like your bottom line.

Click this link to schedule a time to chat.

Brian Wilson Sykes / AdJourney | Branding & Marketing for Manufacturing