An Empty Drawer

A place for everything and everything in its place. Question is, is there a place for space?

How many empty spaces are there in your home or office?

Is there a drawer, shelf, cabinet or surface kept empty for empty sake?

We’ll shrink or expand our volume of stuff to the space we have available. Think ‘law of a woman’s handbag’. We may only need three essential items, but if there is room for anything else in there, you know what happens…

An empty space may beg to be filled, but it doesn’t mean we have to fill it.

Your challenge is to allocate a small area or compartment to keep clear of absolutely anything. It’ll improve the way you live, work and think.

Here’s why:

A Margin of Space: Spacial containers are finite. If you keep stuffing ‘one more thing’ into that cabinet or drawer because ‘there’s still room’, eventually there will be no more room left for anything else.

What you do have will likely become buried and frustrating to locate. And unless you purge and rotate your things regularly, you’ll lack the space to bring in anything new. Your life, your work, your mind will feel ‘maxed out’.

The discipline of keeping even one empty drawer affords you not only that extra bit of breathing room, but also a feeling of control over your environment.

Clear your Space, Clear Your Mind: Physical stuff crowds not only our living or working environment, but also our minds. Too much stuff can lead to stress, frustration, and muddled thinking.

Have you ever noticed a particular surge in focus, concentration and problem-solving following a good cull? You suddenly have room to think.

Clearing physical muddle helps release mental space, allowing room for new thoughts and ideas.

Space is calming: When’s the last time you experienced the ‘ahhhh’ moment of open space. A park in the middle of the city, a vast landscape, the beach?

Did you notice how much easier it seems to breathe. How much calmer you feel. Creating small clear spaces at home or work can also elicit this calming feeling.

In the midst of our harried lives it’s refreshing to cast a glance at an unclaimed space for a calming pause and mental break.

Empty a drawer. Empty a shelf.

Treat it as sacrosanct.

Embrace the empty space.