Tangible items in your home are not the only things that can have malignancy associated with them. I wrote the other day about malignant clutter, which is clutter that carries an additional emotional and/or mental burden.

Certain debt can also create this extraordinary burden. This isn’t the run-of-the-mill anxiety some may feel over debt. Malignant debt has a weight of its own; it produces a visceral reaction every time you make a payment as it serves as a monthly reminder of something of which you would rather not be reminded.

It might be legal fees from a recent divorce. Or perhaps medical bills from a recent illness. Maybe it was just an impulse purchase you have now come to regret.

This is where a mass-prescribed get-out-of-debt plan may not be the best for you. The malignant debt may not be near the top of the debt snowball or be the one with the higher interest charge making it mathematically the most sensible to pay off first. However, paying that debt off before others may have the biggest emotional impact on your life, which could ultimately have the bigger ripple effect in your life, impacting your mental health, your physical health, and your relationships.

Working with a financial coach uncovers situations like these. A coach should be able to ask the questions that get to the root of your values, your goals, and what is and isn’t working for you.

If you are looking for a more personal and individual approach to help with managing your money, reach out to Unburdened. I would be happy to set up a question-and-answer session so you can determine if financial coaching might be right for you.

leslie@unburdenedcoaching.com

I love the term malignant clutter. I first read about it in Peter Walsh’s book “Lose the Clutter, Lose the Weight”, and I latched on to it. Malignant clutter is the stuff that has added emotional, mental, and spiritual weight because of how it affects you in your soul. I was able to see the impact first hand of this type of clutter while helping a client clean out her garage.

We came upon some medical supplies that her son had needed when he was an infant, but these particular boxes had dozens of unopened, sterile supplies. However, since the boxes themselves had been opened, the company wouldn’t take them back, and she couldn’t find a place that would take them as a donation. As she relayed this story, the tears started flowing. She was feeling guilt over the items going unused, guilt that the insurance company had paid for those items, and just the general burden of what those supplies represented—that it had been a life-or-death situation for the first four or five months of her baby’s life.

Paralyzed by these emotions, she was unable to make the decision on her own to let go. With gentle encouragement and assurance that letting go was okay, I put those boxes in the purge pile, and she released the weight from her heart and her mind; a weight that she hadn’t even realized was there until the items were gone.

What are you holding on to that is weighing you down?

· Clothes from 30 pounds ago that depress rather than motivate you?

· A wedding dress from a marriage that no longer exists?

· Clothes or toys for the baby that never came?

· A room or storage unit full of belongings of someone who has passed?

These things have real impact on your mental, emotional, and physical well-being. It’s okay to grieve them, let them go, and reserve that space for what makes you content and happy.

If you don’t want to tackle it alone, please reach out to Unburdened and allow me to compassionately walk beside you on your journey.

leslie@unburdenedcoaching.com

There is a lot of good financial and organizing advice floating around, and perhaps you have even tried some of it. And perhaps you were disappointed in yourself when it didn’t stick.

The problem likely isn’t you. Many of the mainstream “gurus” lay out their systems and methods but fail to inform that those systems and methods may not be for everyone.

• A debt snowball may not be the best way for you to pay off debt

• Organizing by rainbow order may not work for keeping you organized

• You may be okay with using a credit card in your everyday life

• You would rather shave off your eyebrows than file fold your underwear and pajamas

My job as a financial coach and professional organizer is to find a system or method that is functional and sustainable for you and your life, not to force you into my specific system or method that works for my finances and home.

If you are frustrated with the things you have tried that so far have not worked for you, please reach out to me and let’s discuss how Unburdened can work for you.

leslie@unburdenedcoaching.com

I recently worked with a client who—due to various life circumstances--had put her creative outlet of soap-making on the back burner for over a year. We were organizing her new home and were able to organize her soap supplies in the existing shelving in the garage. After going through a couple of dozen boxes and purging a dozen bags and boxes of unwanted items, there was room for her car in the garage and the sentimental items that needed to be gone through were sorted and organized by category, awaiting the time when she had the emotional energy to tackle them.

A few days later, I received the pictures below. She mentioned that while having the physical supplies organized was a contributing factor to her making the two pounds of new soap, it was really that the order we had established in her home freed up creative space in her mind. She was not only unburdened of a lot of the physical clutter, but she was also unburdened of a lot of the mental clutter that is attached to disorganization, which is why I do what I do and why I love what I do.

I would love to help create that space in your life. Please reach out to schedule a Q&A session so we can get started on that process.

What mountain have you been circling?

In her book “I’ll Start Again Monday”, Lysa Terkeurst discusses a passage from Deuteronomy where the Israelites had been circling Mount Seir for many days. In verse two of chapter two, the Lord spoke to Moses, telling him, “You have skirted this mountain long enough; turn northward.” In other words, it is time to take action.

What mountain have you been circling? Perhaps it is the mountain of getting your finances under control or getting your stuff and your house in order. You know something needs to change but aren’t sure where to start.

Don’t stay stuck in the same pattern. Let me help get you moving in the right direction.

Let me help bring calm where there is chaos, order where there is disorder, and peace where there is fear and anxiety. You have circled the mountain long enough; it’s time to get moving.