The Clutter Diet Blog

Please Read: My Personal Challenge to Companies, to Colleagues, and to YOU

It’s official… I am blissfully in love with life and with my work, and I want to sincerely and passionately explain to you WHY. Please bear with me on the length of this post, because if you could see my face right now, you’d know that this article matters. I am imploring you to hear me out to the end, and I want to issue a challenge-- for companies, colleagues of mine, and all individual readers.

It was my honor Monday to help launch a major social responsibility movement along with Goodwill and Levi’s, as I explained to you in the last blog post. I want to tell you more about why it’s so important, in my own words-- and also, on a very personal note, how it is part of what is making me feel so fulfilled.

The Donate Movement and the Donate icon are vastly significant, and it’s not just about Goodwill Industries-- the reach is much further. Here’s how I see the vision of what this is truly about:

• Social Services/Charitable Impact: We want people to understand that their household item donations are just as valuable as financial donations. Just as you would not write a check to someone without knowing why, we don’t want you to just dump your unneeded belongings at the first convenient spot you see. Not all thrift stores are charities. If you don’t know what is going to be done with the revenues from the sale of your donations, please be a Conscious Donor and make yourself aware. Whether you donate to Goodwill or your own favorite charity, we want you to choose a reputable nonprofit that puts a significant percentage of their revenue back into their services to help others. 84% of Goodwill’s collective revenues go directly to support its mission of providing job training, placement services, and community programs to those who face challenges to finding employment. Goodwill’s founder Edgar Helms once spoke of “reclaiming the value of both things and people,” and I think that is simply beautiful. This mission is more important than ever, given our economy and the other circumstances we face—I just met CEOs of Goodwill member agencies from Louisiana and Alabama and Florida… they will be there to help displaced workers get on their feet with what is going on right now in the Gulf. You can find out more about nonprofits at CharityNavigator.org, Guidestar.org, or your local Better Business Bureau, and you can find your most convenient Goodwill location at donate.goodwill.org.


• Environmental Impact to Landfills: Can you believe that people actually throw millions of pounds of clothing into the landfill each year? And did you know that Goodwill (in partnership with Dell) has saved 98 million pounds of electronic equipment from the landfill since 2004 alone? As I said in the PSA that Goodwill produced for this Movement, “Just as there are things you recycle, there are things you donate.” We want people to think twice before throwing something usable away and not only adding to the landfill, but depriving someone of desperately needed social services. One working computer provides 5.3 hours of career counseling! Goodwill has been an environmental pioneer of the “reduce, reuse, repurpose” concept for over 100 years.


• Environmental Impact Overall: I was intensely impressed with Levi’s commitment to sustainability when I heard their representative speak at our launch. (Listen to Jason McBriarty from Levi’s here at 23:00 into the launch video) They looked at the entire product lifecycle of their 501 jeans and their Dockers khakis, from the cotton and how it’s grown, all the way to the manner in which consumers care for their products and beyond. They have been working with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to find new types of cotton that are better for the environment and for the farm workers, and they launched their care tag that says, “Wash Less, Wash in Cold Water, Line Dry, Donate to Goodwill.” They are the first company to put the Donate icon on their product. This company has the vision to responsibly and comprehensively see its products through a longer lifecycle. Goodwill is working to find other corporate partners like Levi’s who get it and want to take their products as far as they can go for the good of everyone. As other companies join us, the Donate icon will eventually become as recognized as the recycling symbol, the pink ribbon, or the yellow bracelet.

And now to my happiness and to your challenge… I have come to realize that growth and contribution are some of the highest-level human needs and those that bring the most fulfillment. (Thank you to Tony Robbins, one of the world’s finest human beings, for that insight.) Growth takes effort and it takes conquering fear… it’s not easy and nothing worth having is.  I have worked hard for ten years to bring my company where it is today, and the journey has been difficult with a lot of risk. There’s a long road ahead, too, to be able to learn and accomplish more. And I am glad people think I was poised, but going out on stage to a live webcast to the world with so much riding on the speech I gave Monday was scary! (My launch speech is introduced here at about 11:30 minutes into the video)

What kept my nerves calm was the knowledge that I was speaking for those who can’t speak for themselves. And the sense of contribution and responsibility that brings is immense. I believe that every person has a unique set of skills, abilities, experience, and knowledge that can be matched with just the right opportunity for contribution. My friend and mentor Brendon Burchard helped me see that partnering with a nonprofit could be the right way for me to serve (the amazing Brendon, my mentor who is actually much younger than me! There is something not fair about that). I am so happy and fulfilled because I have found with Goodwill the opportunity that allows me to take everything I know and everything I can do well and use it to give back in the biggest and best way. I cannot begin to describe in words how moving and significant this is for me, and I have tears in my eyes as I write this. So that brings me to my challenge:

• To Companies: Are your thoughts on your products’ lifecycle considering the environment and the community in the fullest possible way? Can you be involved in the Donate Movement by putting the Donate icon on your products, or in the absence of products, by promoting the Movement in your company’s messages wherever they might fit with this vision? (If so, let’s please have a conversation!)
• To My Colleagues and Friends in the “Expert” Industry-- Speakers, Authors, and Consultants: How could you contribute your unique expertise and your story to benefit the world? Who could you help and how can you serve them? And to my friends in NAPO… will you commit to educating your organizing clients about Conscious Donation, whether that means to Goodwill or to another reputable nonprofit in your area?
• To Everyone: Are you being a Conscious Donor of your belongings? And more importantly, what is YOUR unique set of skills, abilities, and knowledge? How could you contribute to your family, your community, or the world in your own way? Do you know the answer? Good… now, think bigger. Marianne Williamson says, “Your playing small does not serve the world.” When I am feeling afraid, this quote puts me in my place every time. What fears do you need to push through to achieve growth?

Thank you for making it all the way to the end. I hope you feel my heart and soul in this article and I hope you’ll comment and let me know if it spoke to you.

With gratitude,

Big Announcement: Join Me in Supporting Goodwill's Donate Movement!

I am so excited and pleased to announce that The Clutter Diet® is partnering with Goodwill Industries International to launch the Donate Movement! Visit donate.goodwill.org to see all of the details. I am in Tacoma today serving as their national spokesperson and ambassador of the movement, speaking at the launch event and doing a radio media tour, and soon you'll see our Public Service Announcement commercials airing all over the country.

You can get a sneak peek now on YouTube! We have three PSAs, one featuring me and a bunch of stuff popping into my outstretched hands... and the other two explaining more about the choices we make about our stuff and the impact they have.

"Just as there are things you recycle, there are things you donate" (the one I'm in)

"Donations = Chances" showing the impact your donations have

"Think Twice: Donate for Your Community and the Environment" showing the choices we make every day that make a difference

Many people get organized and donate their household items without ever considering the impact those donations are having on their neighborhoods and the world. We want to create a culture of Conscious Donation, and have people consider where they are making their donations of belongings as carefully as they would consider where they are making a financial donation.

Did you know that, according to a survey we just commissioned, we found that for every one item of clothing consumers donate, they have at least 30 more that are ready to be donated? Get organized, get that stagnant stuff out of your house, and use it to put people to work and build strong families and communities! Visit donate.goodwill.org to see the impact of your donations on people and the planet. And if you need help getting organized, you know our expert team can help anybody, affordably, from anywhere... Read more about our Clutter Diet®  program that gives you the tools and support you need at less than the cost of a pizza.

Oh, and PS: I purchased the fabulous red shirt I am wearing in the commercial at my local Goodwill store on Lake Austin Boulevard!  :)

Look for the Donate icon on Levi's care tags (and other partners' products coming soon)! And watch for tweets with the #Donate hashtag!

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7 Useful Folder Categories You Might Not Be Using

Filing is typically a fairly personal thing, varying because of how people's brains work differently and the fact that people have unique experiences and memories and triggers. There are some standard file folder label names that almost everybody has in their file drawers, like "Bank Statements" or "Medical Insurance," but here are a few practical ones that you might not have considered:

• Travel: Places to Go. Here's a file to hold all of those brochures you've picked up and articles you've clipped about dream vacation spots. Grab this when you are planning some time off, and when you go through it, make sure you weed out what's no longer relevant.
• Travel: Places We've Been. Sometimes it's useful to keep some brochures and maps and other information from vacation places that you might see yourself returning to someday. If you have a lot of these, sometimes people break them down into individual folders for different places, but that is not typically needed.
• Travel: Local Things to Do. Here in Austin we get Austin Monthly magazine, and they always have great restaurant reviews and articles with names like "101 Great Things to Do in the Summer." This file is a great place to keep ideas like this for when you have a long weekend or have visitors coming to town. You can also make a "Tourist Binder" as I have outlined on this previous post. You can also call it something else if you like... none of this is set in stone!
• Career Planning. This folder provides a home for aptitude testing information, various historical versions of your resume, performance reviews, and educational transcripts.
• Credit Reports. Through the weekly "menu" plans of projects we provide in our online program, we remind our members to run these reports three times a year. Smart monitoring of your credit report keeps the chance of identity theft lower by helping you catch mistakes and fix them before they are too far gone. The only credit reporting website that is official and authorized, by the way, is www.annualcreditreport.com. Be very careful about visiting others who may be only trying to upsell you on further monitoring services (or worse!). 
• Humor. Also known as the "Funny File." Where else do you have a home for those little torn out comic strips and article clippings after they have worn out their welcome on your bulletin board? If you still think they're funny and want to keep them, here's a place.
• Trophies. Call it Keepsakes if you like, but the difference here is that these are things that represent accomplishments you are especially proud of. A photocopy of the first check you received in your business... a particularly meaningful thank you note from a customer or teacher... a clipping of yourself from the newspaper... These are things that make you feel great when you look at them. I also keep things like this posted off to the side of my vision board (my big corkboard wall I put in my closet-- read about that here). And of course, if you have a bunch of these, you can make a scrapbook with them instead.

It's worth noting that all of these folder names I also have as ELECTRONIC folders too, or I use variations of them as tags in Evernote to hold little bits of information. Some people may even have these only as electronic folders and not have any paper!

What are your favorite, clever files you've created that help you? Share in the comments!

And, hey, get ready for a BIG announcement on Monday, everybody!  I can't wait....see you then!

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Be a Force of Nature!

I collect quotes, and I just ran into this one that I couldn't wait to share with you:

"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown out on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy."  - George Bernard Shaw

Wow. Just reading that makes my blood pump faster and makes me want to stop complaining and be a better person!

We talk a lot in my book and my online program about having a "WHY" that motivates you to accomplish your organizing goals. This quote speaks of being used for a mighty purpose. What is your mighty purpose? What sets you on fire and makes you feel like a force of Nature?

Whatever your answers are, I know that piles of paper, cluttered closets, and gluttonous garages are not going to stand in your way, RIGHT?  I love talking about organizing, but isn't it really a means to an end? If you were more organized, wouldn't you be doing something toward that mighty purpose? I want to push you to think about what would really energize you in a spirit of growth and contribution, and get you to see that all of this excess stuff is just holding you back from that.

Woohoo, let's bust through it!

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Shred or Be Sorry: A Cautionary Tale

My sons are working this summer for our city's public works department, and they were helping with an "illegal dumping" incident this week that reminded me of how people need to be careful with their personal information!

Apparently a tanning salon has gone out of business, and they dumped a huge bunch of papers and trash next to our city dumpster. As my son was cleaning up, he realized that the papers had customer information all over them, including contact information, social security numbers and even some credit card numbers! And my son and his team just had to take it to the dump "as is." It was not their job or responsibility to make sure that information was destroyed properly-- it was the tanning salon's job and they failed utterly.

I was upset for all of the people whose information was potentially compromised and angry at the irresponsibility of this business owner. It's a great opportunity to remind all of you who read the blog to be more mindful of identity theft as you organize your lives. Here are a few strategies to follow:

• As you open accounts, don't willingly provide companies with any more information than is necessary to process your transactions. It's rare that you actually must give your Social Security number to anyone, and a tanning salon certainly is an example of a business who does not need that information to provide you service. It's okay to ask questions about providing extraneous data and get the manager involved if necessary. You can be nice about it, and know that you will not be the first person who has asked.
• When in doubt, shred-- that is a great rule of thumb when you've already decided to throw your papers in the trash. In my example above, the business is the one who should have been shredding, but as you can see, whatever is thrown in the trash may be read by somebody else. Shred anything you throw away at home that might compromise your identity, your privacy, your finances, or your reputation.  :) 
• Buy a shredder, and don't scrimp on quality. To me, a shredder is as necessary a home appliance as a toaster or refrigerator. Buy the best cross-cut (confetti) model you can afford and know that a cheap one will aggravate you to no end and will break quickly. Since people do ask me, I like the Fellowes brand, and the one I have has never jammed (it's an Intellishred PS-79Ci). The cost of this shredder is less than the combined cost of the two cheaper ones I burned up and cursed over before getting this one. Note that two pieces of paper folded into thirds and inserted into an envelope add up to 8 thicknesses of paper, so if you want to be able to shred things without opening the envelopes, you'll need at least an 8-page capacity shredder. I prefer much higher.
• Don't forget computer data too! Most new, high-quality shredders have features that allow you to grind up CDs and DVDs. Old floppies can be easily taken apart and destroyed too. eHow has a good article on this subject. Hard drives can be trickier, but you can try Eraser and Blancco. (Use any of these methods at your own risk and get advice from an IT pro beyond me if you have questions.)
• If you have a large batch to shred (like this lazy business owner did), hire a shredding truck to come on-site to do it all at once. It is not very expensive, especially considering how long it would take you to sit there and shred it yourself with a puny overheated machine. Read my previous post with a step-by-step account of how my client lost 783 pounds in one day.  :)
• Protect your passwords and other account information by organizing it well. For electronic storage of information, I love SplashID, which is a product I have followed along with since I had a Palm Treo way back when. Now I have their very impressive Android version, and it's compatible with Blackberry and iPhone and almost everything else too.  I have it synchronizing between my smartphone and my desktop. For a more traditional password organizing system, you can use a plain old A-Z index card file and create a card for each account. You can also use the Internet Password Organizer® book we sell in our online store, which is a nondescript black, spiral-bound book that neatly alphabetizes and organizes your information. (This is a great gift, by the way!)

Be careful out there! And wear sunscreen too!  :)

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Summerize the House for Kids

It's summertime again, and that means for many of you, the kids are out of school and probably underfoot a little more than usual-- in a good way! It's wonderful to spend more time together as a family, but there are challenges that come with the togetherness, usually related to the common areas of the house where people share spaces. Here are some strategies to make things go more smoothly:

• First, clear the school paper clutter out as soon as possible. Doing this means the transition from school to summer is really complete! Get closure by recycling and shredding as needed, and be choosy about what artwork you keep. Have the kids participate in this process, especially with the artwork.
• If you swim frequently, establish a home for swimming gear like towels, pool toys, club membership cards, etc. that constantly come in and out of the door. Hanging up a row of pegs in the garage or near the back door often solves a lot of dropped towel problems. And in the bathroom, if you need extra towel racks to hang up towels and suits, you can use these clever Hinge-It racks that easily install behind the door.
• Anything that is happening frequently, whether it's baseball or just playing outside, needs to have an established system for handling the gear so it isn't a constant problem or mess. Look for the bottlenecks and logjams and focus on solving them now before they drive you crazy!
• Make it as easy as possible for children to serve themselves for snacks and drinks. Look at your kitchen from a kid point-of-view and make sure they can easily reach cups and bowls and healthful snacks. Use our drinking glass "parking space" method for corralling the extra cups, and remember that it's not too early for most children to learn to clean up, too. Even kindergartners can put a dirty dish in the dishwasher. Really!
• Have some regular routines for your children so they still get a feeling of consistency in their lives. Make some of the routines about running the home, like cleaning and organizing and doing chores, and make some of the routines fun, like a weekly "library day." Chores for the kids might include sweeping the porch, putting shoes and laundry away in their rooms, and emptying the dishwasher in the morning. We have a 26-page Household Systems & Routines workbook that is a bonus item included in our membership program, which helps you go through your home and decide about frequency and ownership of all of the tasks it takes to run everything. This workbook has suggested responsibilities for children in every section (and our members say the process has been GREAT for getting spouses to share more of the workload too!).
• Get a grip on the family room with an evening routine. Along with the other routines you'll create, make sure you specifically focus on the family room or game room. There will be more snack mess and game accessory/movie clutter than usual. Make it a policy to clean up from the day's activities before bedtime. You might also want to have a rule that all snacks go on trays-- helps reduce mess and make cleanup faster.
• If you're getting ready for an overnight summer camp, make sure you check out my previous post on Organizing Your Happy Campers for some great tips on the packing process.
• Overall, loosen your standards for the house and enjoy your kids. As I always say, it's not about being perfect! Good Enough is really good enough. Make exceptions frequently!  :)

Have a great summer, everyone!

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The Organized Mindset: 7 Fundamental Beliefs That Can Change Everything

I have written a regular column for the Connections for Women website for years now, and I just wrote this article below for their June issue-- I think it's a very powerful topic, because we need both methodologies AND the right mindset to be successful with our efforts in life. I hope you like it.

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People always ask me this question: “If there were just one small step I could take to get more organized that would have the most impact, what would it be?”

Often people are looking for a “tip” or some kind of expert trick, but my most authentic and accurate answer is to change your mindset. It’s a small step in that it doesn’t require any money or physical effort, but it’s a big step in that it’s much easier said than done.

Here are seven key beliefs you can adopt that will accelerate your progress, not just in terms of organizing, but in increasing your quality of life in general:

1. It’s okay to let go. I cannot own everything, do everything, or know everything. I will be okay letting go of some things, some activities, and some knowledge. I have an abundant life, and I have Enough with a capital “E.”  I have to give up some things to gain others.
2. It’s okay if things are not perfect. I can relax into life and focus on what is most important to me. I am clear on what really matters, and “Good Enough” is really good enough.
3. It’s okay for me to place a high value on my time. Time is absolutely my most valuable resource. I am the only one who gets to ultimately decide how to spend it, and it’s okay to be very selective and discerning. Sometimes time is worth more than money.
4. It’s okay to make mistakes. I make the best decisions I can at the time with the information I have. I will move forward with my decisions and reduce the time I spend questioning them. Mistakes help me learn beneficial lessons.
5. It’s okay to want the best for myself. I am fully responsible for my own life experience. I treat myself kindly, and I want to constantly improve myself, my life, my surroundings, and my relationships. Sometimes this means saying goodbye to things, people, activities, interests, and commitments that are no longer serving me.
6. It’s okay if I don’t have all of the answers. I am strong and capable and can figure things out. I value learning and am a resourceful person, and I am open to being wrong.
7. It’s okay that I am not good at everything. I am good at many things but not all. I can focus on my strengths and ask for help to allow others to use their strengths on my behalf.

I am basing this set of beliefs on ten years of observing and listening to clients and our Clutter Diet® online members and realizing some common limiting themes. People often hold on tightly to the opposites of these belief statements. “I’m not worth it,” or “I can’t let go,” or “I have to always do it right.” That is what I typically see holding people back, not only in their organizing projects, but ultimately in their lives, too.

Sometimes it takes a significant event or culmination of experiences to change your beliefs. My friend Joyce Bone, author of Millionaire Moms, says she had a defining moment when she resolved that in her life, there are going to be no more “NO’s,” only “HOW.” It’s that kind of determination, ownership, and resourcefulness that changes your mindset and your progress. Making some of these shifts will likely take time.

Which of these beliefs do you struggle with the most? Can you make the connection from your disorganization issues to one or two of these convictions? Share in the comments...

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Travel Tips Roundup

Since I am traveling a whole bunch at the moment, I hope you'll enjoy this digest of tips and strategies for efficient summer travel. With baggage fees as expensive as they are now, getting your belongings pared down to a minimum is more important than ever. Travel light and save money and hassle!

My Clutter Diet® expert team member Helene Segura, of LivingOrder San Antonio, has put together this great video on packing, based on her extensive traveling experience all over the world. (Apologies to my Kindle readers) Click here if you are not able to see the embedded player.

Here are some of my past posts on travel that will help you prepare for your summer trips:

• Straighten Up  & Fly Right- tips for packing and getting through security faster
• Lost Luggage Lessons Learned- Use these tips to prevent lost luggage- don't let this happen to you!
• Travel Tips- a few clever things to pack for your family trips
• Do You Know Where Your Passport Is?- Tips on the passport process
• Stop the Souvenir Insanity- don't bring more clutter into the house after your vacation! Ideas on practical souvenirs that make sense

I am in San Francisco and Baltimore this week-- looking forward to sharing what I am "up to" soon!  :)

Cheers,

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Keeping It For The Kids

Last weekend I met someone who told me that she has enough stuff in her attic to furnish a 3-bedroom house, no exaggeration. She has been storing it for decades "for her kids." The items she saved were things that the children loved and enjoyed when they were growing up, including toys, sports equipment, and furniture.

Her kids are now in their 30s and 40s and have their own homes and families. I have seen this situation before, and I know with almost 100% certainty that the kids don't want 80% or more of this stuff. They may possibly want a few keepsake items, and a special bed or dresser may be a welcomed heirloom. But their busy lives make it difficult to even come and survey the stash, and if they live elsewhere, the difficulty is magnified.

This person is convinced that her adult children should be delighted to have these treasures and that they should be grateful that she kept them all these years on their behalf. Here are a few gentle reminders that I provided:

• These items in the attic are just "stuff," and what gives you an emotional reaction is the memories associated with the stuff. Someone else just sees an old boot or a stained cookbook. Focus on the memories above the objects.
• Accept that your adult children may be completely uninterested, and further accept that they might not want to keep anything you feel is worthy, or anything at all.
• Remember that stuff can be a burden. Your intentions may be truly good, but you might be actually having a negative effect. You might even be imposing a financial hardship given shipping and storage that could be required if they live elsewhere or if they are moving soon.
• Respect your children's wishes. Don't jeopardize your current relationships with them by pressuring them with things from the past. People outrank stuff!
• Find a way to preserve the memory without keeping the whole object. Take a photo of the item, maybe even including within the shot the people involved with that memory. Clip a swatch from significant fabrics to frame, or arrange small objects in a shadowbox.
• Use the earnings from selling the objects as a donation to a meaningful charity, or contribute to a college fund for your grandchildren. You could also use the money to pay for converting memorabilia from old formats to new (super 8 to DVD, slides to digital photos, etc.). Memorabilia conversion often emerges as a project when you dismantle large storage areas.
• Make meaningful gifts by framing some of the items to make it easy for your children to enjoy and use them in their homes. What is better: shoving a bag full of wadded-up handmade doilies at them, or handing them a holiday gift of one of the best pressed doilies in a frame?
• Ask family members other than your children if they might like some family keepsakes. You can e-mail photos to them to get a faster answer.
• Donate as much as you can, and don't get fixated on finding the "PERFECT" home for each item. Giving to a general nonprofit organization like Goodwill means that several people in your own community can benefit from your donated objects-- the buyers of the items and subsequently the people that receive job training and placement from the proceeds.
• Whatever you do, please take care of distributing the stored stuff before your children have to do it for you. In that situation your memories are not available to provide context, and your children will be burdened with sorting it and disposing it without that information.

Handling family heirlooms and keepsakes can be an emotional mine field. I hope these guidelines will help you and your family. What have you experienced that helped in these situations? Share in the comments!

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