Are you plagued by clutter in your personal or professional life? Is there someone in your family or your work who is? Based on my experience, the answer is probably "Yes!"
As a professional organizing consultant for more than 20 years, I have discovered that eight out of ten people are bogged down in life with physical clutter somewhere in their lives. Ironically, most of them suffer in silence. In many cases, you would never know it just by seeing them, or even working with them, because they are frequently some of the smartest and most successful people in the world. In far more cases than most people believe, the clutter actually drives them to do or not to do the very things they want most or want not to do. In some cases, it causes emotional paralysis, even mental illness. The only thing stronger that their desire to get of the clutter is their desire to hang on to it, and a vicious cycle results.
My consulting business has been built on the concept "Clutter is Postponed Decisions?." In the beginning, I was referring to the physical clutter that plagues so many people in our increasingly materialist society. When I began to explore this issue, it became evident that the physical clutter was an outgrowth of another kind of clutter: emotional clutter ? internal beliefs that control our behavior and our results.
If I just get organized, I will be able to do it all. I, or someone else I know, might need it someday If I keep it long enough, I can justify the fact that I bought it. I can't get rid of it because someone else gave it to me.
You can keep everything you want if you are willing to pay the price: time, space, money, and energy.
It suddenly occurred to me that decision-making about our emotional environment is just as important as decision-making about our physical environment. Deciding what thoughts to keep determine whether we just "keep on keeping on" or learn from our experiences, move on to even better things, and help others to learn by our example.
I once interviewed an extremely talented and prolific painter in her home studio. It was filled with beautiful paintings. "Do you ever like something you create so much that you can't let go of it," I asked. "On, no," she immediately responded. "I have to. Otherwise nothing new would come."
? Barbara Hemphill is the author of Kiplinger's Taming the Paper Tiger at Work and Taming the Paper Tiger at Home and co-author of Love It or Lose It: Living Clutter-Free Forever. The mission of Hemphill Productivity Institute is to help individuals and organizations create and sustain a productive environment so they can accomplish their work and enjoy their lives. We do this by organizing space, information, and time. We can be reached at 800-427-0237 or at www.productiveenvironment.com
affordable house cleaning Park Ridge ..? Are you embarrassed when you walk into your home... Read More
Q. I have several projects going at once -- but... Read More
1. Teach your children to use an alarm clock or... Read More
Questions come my way all the time regarding my God-given... Read More
Collections are the outward manifestation of a deeply-felt principle or... Read More
We are in a society where people are applauded for... Read More
What do you gain if you SIMPLIFY?Dictionary* says:to reduce to... Read More
Decide When And Where To StartDecide when and where to... Read More
What does "quality of life" mean to you? If you... Read More
Studies show that 80 percent of what we use comes... Read More
Finish each day and be done with it. You have... Read More
I like a room you can dance in the middle... Read More
How to do keep track of all you have to... Read More
Worried because you're moving soon? This really doesn't have to... Read More
Sometimes the task of keeping a clean, tidy house just... Read More
EVERY HOME NEEDS AN OFFICEYes, it is true that every... Read More
What's in a Name?Everything.What do you do with all the... Read More
In part 1, we discussed a system you could use... Read More
The store reminded me of a well-worn slipper ? tattered... Read More
You arrived on earth without clutter. Your parents and doting... Read More
Ever wonder how they do it? How a short-order cook... Read More
Technology has given us the tools to reduce routine tasking,... Read More
Cleaning out can seem overwhelming -- especially if it's been... Read More
I talk about the mail a lot in my newsletter,... Read More
Have you ever been totally overwhelmed by a massive task... Read More
affordable house cleaning Mundelein ..Some people seem to be born organized. You probably remember... Read More
Getting organized is hard. If it weren't, we wouldn't put... Read More
Our children are probably the biggest clutter creators we have... Read More
Coping with clutter is rarely easy. There's more involved than... Read More
Collections are the outward manifestation of a deeply-felt principle or... Read More
1. The Law of the 1st StepA good first step... Read More
Much of my time as a Professional Organizer is spent... Read More
The Productive Environment Scorecard?Read the statements below and rate your... Read More
Whatever your clutter problem the answer is the same: make... Read More
Home organization isn't just for neat-nicks or those drawn toward... Read More
Have you ever wondered how some people seem to have... Read More
There is nothing worse then spending ten minutes looking for... Read More
For some reason, Americans think they have something to prove... Read More
Use these 35 sanity savers this year to help you... Read More
Do you feel like you are running around in circles,... Read More
An organized living lifestyle can cause you to weed out... Read More
Do you like storing your papers on top of your... Read More
At this point, you have probably run across some belongings... Read More
In one of my favorite books, First Things First, written... Read More
Whether you are in your own business or an employee... Read More
Nature loves clutter. Just think of all the stuff that... Read More
I've noticed that in the two years since the major... Read More
Chances are, most of you have a lot you need... Read More
In many of the companies I have worked in, there... Read More
Studies show that 80 percent of what we use comes... Read More
Get Organized - Organization |