Unfinished projects are as haunting as bad dreams. Languishing in a tangle of good intentions, is that a partly  refinished end table with oodles of potential, a jumble of unsorted photographs calling for attention, along with the tarnished silver and pants needing hemming we see in your house? Why can’t you just get rid of them, enjoy the results, and rid yourself of the little voice that taunts, teases and torments you? Those rainy-day projects, unfinished promises of great things to be done, clutter more than your home; they clutter your mind.

Are you just lazy? A procrastinator? Maybe…but it’s likely something much more. Unfinished projects are pure potential! They hold promises of what might be. But, unless we bring them to completion, they just take up space. They’re clutter ~ the kind that sends negative messages to say we’re incompetent, disorganized, or yes, even lazy.

Where does rainy-day clutter come from?

Oftentimes we take on projects that are too ambitious for us. We get overwhelmed and although we might get them started, we often never finish them. Many of us avoid failure by dodging the task. If dreams of learning watercolour painting didn’t pan out, an overflowing cupboard of unfinished projects and art supplies shoot back little messages of incompetence, and that’s why it’s clutter. Those projects will nag us, but we resist.The materials hog space and the undone projects unsettle the mind.

Sometimes we have great dreams, but we just lose interest. Interests change, and that’s okay. If you hear yourself saying “I might get to it one day”, admitting that that scenario is unlikely will help you move forward. Inject new life into unfinished projects by gifting them to others. That half-finished quilt? Offer it to the members at the local Senior’s Centre to complete and sell at its next fundraiser.

The ‘Shoulds’, you know, the paint cans in the corner ready to spruce up the kitchen cabinets, the stack of interlock piled on the garage floor… Like unwelcome squatters these things not only clutter our homes but keep us off balance and uptight. We might feel it’s extravagant to pay others to do things for us, but why not delegate the job, swap projects with a friend, or if you can afford it, hire help. It will feel good to get these projects completed and off your back.

Have a look at your pile(s) of rainy-day clutter taunting you. If it disappeared, would you be relieved? Take the time to evaluate how important each project is. Think of your definition of clutter ~ objects that are not useful, beautiful or spiritually enhancing. Do these objects include the projects you’ve lost interest in and those that no longer reflect who you are are or your current interests and lifestyles? By letting them go we free up our physical space and end the frustrations that haunt our internal world. Room opens for new opportunities. Best of all, we empower ourselves by exerting control over our lives!