Often, we think of clutter in terms of physical stuff. We see books and magazines spilled across the coffee table, extra dishes stacked on the counter, and clothing draped over the dresser, the treadmill and any other available surface in the bedroom. The truth is that clutter can also be an emotional, mental, and social issue. If you have trouble getting to sleep because your mind is crowded with competing thoughts or you are exhausted by jam-packed weekly schedules, then you may need to deal with the clutter of a different sort.

To define clutter, first, you need to know what clutter is not. Clutter is not dirt.

Clutter is not hoarding. Hoarding involves an often unhealthy process of being reluctant to part with unnecessary stuff. Clutter generally involves an unintentional collection of items throughout your space or home.

There are FOUR types of clutter problems:

• The cluttered
• The disorganized
• The stasher
• The hoarder

Scientists out of Brown University have recently released findings from a study that shows that one of the best ways to remove unwanted thoughts from your mind is to occupy your thoughts with something else instead.

Creative thinking allows us to develop original, diverse, and elaborate ideas and connections. But it’s the uninvited negative thinking that clutters our minds and often drains our enthusiasm for life.

According to Australian psychologist Dr. Russ Harris, author of The Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living, “Thus, evolution has shaped our brains so that we are hardwired to suffer psychologically: to compare, evaluate, and criticize ourselves, to focus on what we’re lacking, to rapidly become dissatisfied with what we have, and to imagine all sorts of frightening scenarios, most of which will never happen. No wonder humans find it hard to be happy!”