Create a Vacuum: Make Space for What Comes Next
Create a Vacuum: Cleaning as a Foundation for Career Pivots and Retirement
One fundamental step often overlooked is the act of cleaning or decluttering to create a vacuum into which your new passions can be created. This process is not merely about physical space; it's about mental and emotional preparation that facilitates clarity and purpose in your next chapter.
The notion of creating a vacuum has served me well in my life. My career was my life into my thirties. My work in high-tech, especially once I joined SRI International, took me all over the world and I was often away from home. One year, I spent less than six months at home. This played havoc with my love life. Who wanted to stick around when I wasn’t around? Or, I’d hook up with someone in the UK or Switzerland where I spent a lot of time. I finally purged all of my relationships and while I had male friends, I didn't date for a year. I created a vacuum. During that time, I got very clear on the life partner I wanted and then met my life partner. I’ve always believed that by creating a vacuum, I created the loving partnership I have with my husband of over forty years.
Create a vacuum - get clear on what you want - give your physical space and your psyche the opportunity to create what works for you.
Best Practices for Decluttering Before Redirecting
Start with a Vision: What do you want your redirection to look like and how do you want your office and your home to support you? This vision will guide you in deciding what stays and what goes, or in the case above, who goes.
Assess and Prioritize: Evaluate your belongings. Keep those that support your new direction or bring you joy. Save those things that are downright irresistible to you. This selective process helps maintain focus on your goals. Marie Kondo’s KonMari has a systematic cleaning technique that is not just for tidying, it’s also good for deep, meditative, redirection cleaning in my opinion. And the best advice she gives is to “discard all things that don’t spark joy.” (1)
Create Physical and Mental Space: Cleaning frees up space, allowing new ideas and opportunities to flourish. It's symbolic of letting go of the past and making room for new experiences. But also save what’s been important to you. Honor your accomplishments and the materials that reflect your contributions. I still can’t get rid of the final report and HR Tech presentations I gave for the 15 years I managed the SierraCedar HR Systems Survey.
My office today: keeping what matters while making room for what comes next. Extra tip: It’s a Continuous and Life-long Process: Treat cleaning as an ongoing activity, not a one-time event. As you progress in your new career or lifestyle, your needs and priorities might change, requiring you to reassess your environment. And, it will definitely need to be a continuous process when you retire!
Cleaning at Retirement Compared to Career Pivots
While cleaning out physical and mental clutter is crucial for both career pivots and retirement, the context and implications differ:
Career Pivots: For those changing careers, cleaning helps eliminate irrelevant materials and distractions, sharpening focus on new goals and skills. It's about aligning your environment with your new professional identity and requirements. But, remember to keep those things that have been important in your career - they often are important in subsequent jobs and roles. A theme of my work over the years has been in support of value engineering and change management. I still have some seminal books, for me, by Paul Strassman, Peter Senge, and I’ve kept a copy of every book where I’ve contributed a chapter or more. Years ago, my husband and I donated 45 boxes of books to our local library but I’ve kept novels I love, gardening books, books on painting and quilting. I’m now down to maybe 80 linear feet of books. On my to do list, to purge again.
Retirement: Cleaning in the context of retirement often involves a more profound reassessment of belongings and commitments. It's an opportunity to reflect on what's genuinely important and to simplify life, potentially downsizing or reorganizing living spaces to better suit a less structured and very different lifestyle. For me, my office was also my studio. Now it’s more of a studio with an office section. It supports my quilting, a hobby I’ve had for over 40 years, and my new passion for watercolor painting.
Scott Burton calls this “purging to reconnect with essence”. He found he had layers of stuff including countless project deliverables. It was a huge relief to purge those documents. “I didn’t own my stuff. It owned me. I got new square footage.”
He also purged for his father who had things of value to his parents, but not to him. He held an auction. He gave stuff away. Now he’s down to one box from his parents made up of postcards from their marriage, notes on their honeymoon, pictures, and jewelry.
As this story suggests, retirement cleaning has a forward-looking component—it's about preparing for a smoother transition not just for you but also for your family. So, organize and downsize possessions to reduce the burden on family. My husband has gotten rid of a lot of photos and mementos through digitizing them along with our important documents.
Conclusion: Create a Vacuum - It Will Open Up Possibilities
Cleaning is therapeutic and offers a chance to reconnect with who you are. Purge your old career documents that no longer serve. Keep what confirms your sense of the value you’ve contributed. Cleaning is not just about creating space but recognizing yourself, reclaiming control while keeping what brings you joy, and preparing yourself mentally and emotionally for what's next. Whether it's a career pivot or retirement, starting with a clean, organized space can profoundly impact your ability to embrace and succeed in redirecting.
FOOTNOTES:
Kondo, Marie. Rule 6: Ask Yourself If It Sparks Joy? https://konmari.com/marie-kondo-rules-of-tidying-sparks-joy/
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