Recently, I gave a presentation at my church entitled, Clear Your Clutter: Make Room for Jesus. Three people registered. The coordinator suggested we cancel. I declined.

I’ve learned that whomever God wants in the room will be there.

Years ago, a colleague of mine was hired to speak at a large conference. He entered the ballroom expecting 100 people. There was only one man sitting in the audience.

He walked up and asked, “What would you like to do?”

The man replied, “Well, I came for the show.”

So he gave the full presentation — as if the room were full.

Years later, that same speaker was delivering a keynote to 2,000 people. When he finished, a man approached him and said, “I guess you don’t remember me.”

He did.

“You’re the man who wanted the whole show.”

“That’s right,” the man replied. “And I’m the reason you’re on this platform today.”

I’m grateful I didn’t cancel.

Sixteen people came. And my favorite part — the questions — confirmed something we see every day in our work through the Productive Environment Institute.

The questions were not about containers.
They were not about filing systems.
They were about pain.

Much of the clutter filling their homes was connected to loss — the death of someone deeply loved, or responsibility for belongings from relationships that were strained or unresolved.

Clutter is rarely about stuff.
It is about emotion.

I Had the Title Backwards

The night before the presentation, I woke up with a thought:

“I think I got the title backwards.”

Based on my own journey — not only with physical clutter, but digital, emotional, and spiritual clutter — the real title should have been:

Make Room for Jesus: Clear Your Clutter.

Order matters.

You don’t clear clutter to find Jesus.
You make room for Jesus — and clarity follows.

My Own Experience with Letting Go

If you’ve been around me long, you know I struggled with depression beginning in childhood.

After my first marriage ended, I felt overwhelmed in every dimension of my life. A client handed me a small purple book —The Secret Power of Speaking God’s Word.

I carried it everywhere.

That began a daily habit of starting my day with Scripture. What started as a few minutes has grown into an hour or more most days. On the rare days I skip it, I feel the difference immediately.

In my prayer room is a painting by Justin Keishing (www.artsbyjustin.com) — a constant reminder of God’s love regardless of circumstances. I sit in what Alfred named “The Doris Chair,” purchased when we expected my mother to winter with us. She passed before that happened.

That chair has become my place to listen.
To read.
To be still.

And to STOP.

Those last four letters matter.

Because clutter is not just postponed decisions.
Clutter is postponed stillness.

“I Just Can’t Let It Go”

I will never forget one participant. With tears in her eyes and hands clutched tightly, she said:

“I know I need to get rid of all this stuff… but I just can’t let it go.”

What we consistently observe with clients and students is this:

People are not unwilling to organize.
They are unwilling to feel.

Letting go of clutter requires walking through grief, guilt, regret, and sometimes unresolved love.

At the Productive Environment Institute, we define clutter as:

Anything that prevents you from accomplishing your work or enjoying your life.

The barrier is rarely logistics.
It is an emotional cost.

Which brings us to one of our core principles:

The Cost Factor:
You can keep anything you want —
if you are willing to pay the price in time, space, money, and energy.

So the real question is not,
“Should I keep this?”

The question is:

What price am I paying to keep it?

And even deeper:
Is this keeping me from making room for the purpose for which I was created?

If you answered "Yes" to that life-changing question, we're here to encourage and guide you. Together we are better!