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DeCluttering: Inspiration, Success Stories, Tips
Hopalong:
I think anxiety, depression and OCD (and probably other things) can all be expressed in a disorganized and messy personal environment. I've posted on this elsewhere, as have others, and I thought it would be nice to have a thread where people could vent, share, etc., about the issue of STUFF or DISORGANIZED STUFF. It's a big handicap in life sometimes. Here's a starter link (which I discovered while wasting time on Google, but I did stop to put half my laundry away...) :?:
http://www.creatrope.com/blog/2006/06/17/top-decluttering-tips/
Hops
Hopalong:
Hi all,
I've copied below an email newsletter I get (it is an ad). I actually believe wholeheartedly in the power of using tapes, etc., because that's esssentially self-hypnosis, which saved me from cigarettes lo' these many years. Anyway, this one sounded so helpful that I'm thinking of ordering it and I wondered if it might help you too, GS, and anyone else who struggles with clutter/disorganization/financial chaos.
If anyone has already used these tapes (Mike Brescia's) I'd love to know what you thought.
thanks,
Hops
----------------------
Today's story highlights the sad truth about us humans...
namely that we can be educated, we can know WHAT we should do,
we can know HOW to do it, we can know 100 reasons WHY we should
do it...
And we still won't do it.
Take being organized, for example. The whole concept is pretty
simple and there are hundreds of life-altering benefits to being
a well-organized person, but when compared to what most people
are capable of, hardly anyone even comes close.
Consider:
An organized person can excel in sports: They have more time to
practice, train, etc.
An organized person can earn a whole lot more dough: Gets
things done faster and with fewer mistakes/delays; Researches
good investments opportunities, etc.
An organized person can have more and closer friends: Has more
time to work and play with them.
An organized person can be in better health: Takes time to eat
healthier food and exercise/play sports; worries less about
things that aren't done/less negative stress, frustration and
anger.
An organized person is a more effective parent and
spouse/significant other: Isn't rushing around with no time to
spend with their loved ones.
An organized person can get more promotions/raises at work:
Employers reward those who get the job done.
I can't tell you how many people email telling us that they've
read every book written on being organized and they STILL are
not with it.
This reminds me of a saying I heard years ago...
"To know is to do. Not to do is not to know."
======
In today's mailbag, April Davis from Callie writes about how
she became more organized.
Dear Mike,
I am a great organizer. I have a talent. I can take anything
and make it work...everywhere but in my home.
I have also thrived on the philosophy that I can do it
tomorrow. I have always excused my mess with sound reasons, "I
have 4 kids, we only have 1100 sq. feet, it'll only get messy
again, etc" When I would clean my house, and get close to
getting it organized, I would panic. I turned into the super
beast. I got so uptight from having a clean house, that I would
literally shut myself down and sabotage the place, it wound up
looking worse that it did before I started. I have tried
everything from FLYlady (which I love) to Sidetracked home
executives, etc, but I was fighting it from the inside.
I had been doing research for a while, looking for something,
anything that could help me. My husband, although not good at
helping keep it that way, is a neat freak. He hates life when
everything is not in its place, and makes it very loudly known.
So about 4 months ago, I bought Think Right Now for Windows
- http://www.thinkrightnow.com/trnwindows.htm
- End Procrastination Now!
- http://www.thinkrightnow.com/audios/procrastination.htm and
I am Organized
- http://www.thinkrightnow.com/audios/audioorganized.htm
I cannot tell you what a difference they have made.
I began by putting the CDs on my MP3 player so that I could
play them continually at night. I listened to one or the other
disk in the car every chance I got. I entered the sayings from
the two audios into the windows software, since I do medical
transcription, I am at my computer a lot.
Within 1 1/2 weeks of beginning the program, I had found that
everyday I was finishing something else. I got through filing
that had been piling up for 5 or 6 years. All of the bags of
clothes were gone through, the left-overs given to charity. I
textured my wall in my family room, painted it, and finished
that room. It had been a work in progress for literally 2 years.
I laid the tile in my kitchen which had been a gaping hole of
concrete for almost a year. I found every closet, cupboard and
drawer in my house clean and organized, My desk is clean almost
every night, usually before I even get up to go do something
else. My dishes are done, and my family room has not been a
mess since the day I finished it. I have found that I have a
peace that I can't explain.
I can no longer walk past something without picking it up. I
feel a peace from having a clean house that I NEVER imagined
would be possible. There are still a few projects that remain
to be done, but the major ones are done. My husband is happier,
I am happier, my children are happier, and the stress has left
my home.
My best friend and I have been friends for over 20 years, she
told me one day, April, never quit using that program. I have
always loved you, but I love talking to you now. You are so
positive and upbeat now. Anything that makes that change in a
person has got to be good! My mother is constantly telling me
now how proud she is of me (this is huge as I didn't receive
that praise when I was growing up). But, more important than
that, I am proud of ME. It really doesn't matter what they
think. I have found a sense of who I am.
We are now expecting baby #5, and for the first time ever, I am
not stressing over all the projects I can't do due to my high-
risk pregnancies. There is a calm assurance that all is well.
Your programs are the answer to my prayers. I tell everyone I
know about your programs, I have bought several others and lent
them to friends. Thank you for waking up one day and deciding
to follow your dreams. I am working on becoming that person. I
still have a ways to go, but I know I can do it!!
April Davis
Gaining Strength:
WOW Hops. :shock:Sounds too good to be true. I am interested.
I still want to hear about your new job! - love to you - Gaining Strength
insomniac:
I've been really struggling with this lately, but I do have a wonderful site that I haven't been using but should have. It has helped a lot of others, though:
www.flylady.net
October:
I think this issue of clutter has to do with emotional connection.
My Nmum has a real problem throwing anything away. She is a compulsive collector of any old tat she can find, whether silver spoons, stamps, thimbles, dolls houses, books, miniature houses; you name it, she collects it somewhere. She does this for herself, and does not share her hobby as you might expect; she buys stuff and hides it away in cupboards.
As a counter to this, my ob went the opposite way. He always wanted to throw everything away. When I was fourteen or so he 'encouraged' me to throw away a series of diaries that I had kept for about seven years, together with a book I wrote at school and won a prize for. He always wanted me to justify anything I wanted to keep, and unless it was being used currently, he wanted it gone. So I threw that stuff away, and lost part of myself when I did it.
Because of this, I think, I do not find it hard to throw anything out. Nothing is mine, or feels connected with me. I find it very easy to give anything to anyone. As an example of this, I had a rosary which I loved; my favourite one. I took it to an uncle's funeral this year and used it to help me stay grounded, and prayed with it. So it is very important to me. But a good friend was at my house, and admired my rosary collection, and I said, I have lots and lots, you can choose which one you want. She chose that one. And I felt a tug, but thought, she is more important than the rosary, so she can have it. Part of me mourns for the prayers that went into that rosary, but mostly I think it has gone to a good home, and was only here in passing. And I still have lots more left.
This is not to say I have a minimalist house, but I noticed that when my ex left, my d became very clingy, and found it very difficult indeed to disconnect from any of her toys from babyhood and childhood. I thought it was best to allow this to follow its natural course, which has meant the house becoming rather more cluttered than I would really choose it to be, but I can't just clear out things which mean so much to her, when she has already lost so much. So it is a compromise at present.
Every now and then I go through my stuff, though, and aim to clear out about a third of everything I have. As long as I know it is going to a good home (ie the charity shop mostly) then I don't mind moving out the less needed stuff, to make more room for d's stuff to gradually take over every room. :lol:
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