Tips for finding a place for everything and everything in its place. —————————————————————— Originally Published March 1, 2004 -- Your Wellness Guide Take Charge of the "Stuff" in Your Life —————————————————————— Over the past several years I’ve worked on reducing the amount of “stuff” in my life.  You know, it’s the stacks of untouched papers, the piles of never-finished projects, the unintentional collections from impulse buying, a decade-old closet full of fashion do’s and don’ts, packed drawers, and too many knick-knacks. A watershed de-cluttering moment for me was when I read Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston.  Her book was passed along to me by a friend who had her own cluttering issues. I loved how Kingston went through all the reasons why we clutter, why it was problematic, and how to systematically get rid of clutter.  So much of why we keep things is emotional or sentimental; but, getting rid of the clutter is about creating new habits, learning to be more decisive, and freeing yourself of “stuff” to bring in a breath of fresh air and more positive energy. As Kingston says “the junk itself is only the physical aspect of the problem.  There are always many layers of deeper issues underlying the reason why clutter has accumulated.”  And, these reasons are often subconscious -- emotional, psychological, and habitual. Sunny Schlenger, best-selling author of How to Be Organized In Spite of Yourself says that de-cluttering is more about self-discovery than anything else. “Organizing is a means to an end,” she told me from her New Jersey office, “with the end being that you become a more whole person with feeling like you have time for what you want to do and what you need to do.” Image: Wellington Media With a psychology background, Schlenger has identified 10 organizational styles with de-cluttering methods for each.  There’s the “Perfectionist Plus,” “Everything Out,” “Allergic to Detail,” and “Total Slob” styles included in her list.   She says that most people are a combination of two or more styles but the object is to make your resulting organizational method work for you instead of against you. In spite of style differences, there are commonalities in taking a look at your stuff, Schlenger (www.suncoach.com) says.  Her two first steps are the following: 1. Look at everything you own, your décor, and how you are using your time.  Make an inventory, just like a detective, about how you see yourself living your life. 2. Analyze what you have discovered and compare the findings against who you are or who you want to become.  For example, through this process you mind find that your pile of CD’s don’t match your current musical tastes and are only collecting cobwebs in the corner.  Or you might determine that your actual schedule is so cluttered that you have left no time for a hobby that you dearly love. "Paper clutter is probably the number one issue,” Mike Nelson told me.  Nelson has created the Clutterless Recovery Groups organization ( www.clutterless.org), a non-profit establishment that has support meetings across the U.S. In fact, paper and other types of clutter can become a devastating family, personal, or business problem.  Spouses may  view clutter differently, which can cause unneeded disagreements that over time breed disharmony.  Children might be embarrassed to have friends at their home because it is too messy.  And, with more of us working out of our homes -- either as an entrepreneur, telecommuter, or day extender (bringing work home from the office) -- maintaining organization and managing business “stuff” can make or break our financial future.  A Harris Interactive survey found that on average people lose 20 minutes per day looking for items in the office.  35 percent found that searching through paperwork was annoying and 31 percent found it frustrating.  44 percent wish they had a better organizational system. Small Office Consultant Jeff Zbar ( www.chiefhomeofficer.com) told me that one of the chief paper clutter offenders is everyday mail and that people should adopt the concept of touch mail once.  “By not acting on (the mail), you are not only procrastinating but also it might get lost or some service might get disconnected.” He recommends the following: 1. Throw Away: When you get your mail, go through it and determine what goes in the trash.  Throw away statement stuffers, junk mail, and flyers right away. 2. Open bills right away:  Either pay them right then, or put them into a file designated to hold all your bills for bill-paying day. 3. Sort and Put Away: Children’s mail immediately goes on their bed.  The wife or husband’s mail goes on his/her desk. “A place for everything and everything in its place is truly a mantra to live by,” says Zbar.  I agree. Terra Wellington is a national authority on creating a wellness lifestyle.  www.terrawellington.com  © Copyright Terra Wellington