SHED Your Stuff, Change Your Life: A Four-Step Guide to Getting Unstuck (Buch)

BOOK ARRIVED QUICKLY, IN GREAT SHAPE AND I HAVE PASSED IT ON TO A FRIEND AFTER READING

There are a lot of books out there on reorganizing and decluttering, including Julie Morgenstern's own Organizing from the Inside Out, second edition: The Foolproof System For Organizing Your Home, Your Office and Your Life Most of these works are very helpful in assisting the reader in getting control back into their lives by disposing of the clutter - physical or otherwise - that holds them back. This latest work by Morgenstern takes the decluttering and organizing process to a new level by assisting the reader in identifying the "treasures" from a cluttered life, i.e. the good things that clutter represented and retaining these treasures - more as attitudes and perspectives than as physical possessions - and applying them to a new life's "theme". This is an innovation in decluttering literature which is interesting and exciting: by identifying a new "theme" in your life, you can then focus your energies (as expressed in possesions, schedules and habits) on those things that will move you towards your theme. So it's not just a matter of getting rid of those tangible and intangible things that hold you back, but of also identifying how you want your life overall to take shape, and only bringing those things from the past with you that support this new life theme. This is different from other organizers' advice who ask you to visualize the role a room should play in your life (a la Peter Walsh, for example, in It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff). This new and different approach will help open reader's lives to new opportunities and to new aspects of themselves that they may have buried alive in their formerly cluttered existence. Morgenstern also gives useful, encouraging and practical advice on how to take on new activities to identify hidden strengths as well as how to move forward with your new life's theme. If you are in a rut or at a crossroads, this is an invaluable book for your library.

I'm reading a LOVING Julie Morgenstern's SHED Your Stuff Change Your Life: When Organizing Isn't Enough. This is not simply a de-cluttering and organizing your life book, it's also about getting rid of old, outdated belief systems that keep us stagnated and attached to things.

For example Morgenstern uses the example of the well organized closet full of stuff you don't even use anymore. I'm also enjoying Morgenstern's personal story of how she went from a career in theater to Professional Organizer.

The basic premise of the book--so far I'm only part way through--is that you can't have what you want in your life, until you actually make room for it by SHEDing some stuff you don't want or need anymore.

Feng Shui experts all agree that you need to clear out the old to make room for the new. Julie Morgenstern, in her ever-practical, down to earth way, tells you exactly how to do this. What impressed me most about this book is the careful attention she pays to the underlying psychology of all us pack rats out there. She guides readers through a method that involves evaluating objects to identify treasures and includes clear steps for getting rid of the rest, identifying your true identity and moving forward. As a coach specializing in life transitions, I plan to give this to clients. I expect my own copy to be dog-eared from continuous use.

Not one to like self-help books, I was VERY skeptical and am here to say this is a fantastic book. Getting ready for a move, I have been trying to clear out junk and it wasn't until I read this book that I could really begin to clean out the house. Morgenstern point is not to have a sterile, barren home or life but rather to free up your life by getting rid of the irrelevant with some pointed questions:

"How much space or time would you free up if you were to release the obsolete items?"
"How difficult would it be to let go of the obsolete items?"
"Is it invigorating to my life right now?"
"What practical value does this item provide?"

Every time I was hesitant to clear away what I thought might be clutter, I would ask myself the questions that Morgenstern asks in her book. so for example, when I came across my grandmother's antique metal curlers that I had held on to for decades and moved about in the back of the closet, I was able to ask myself, How much space would getting rid of these free up? Not a lot. How difficult would it be to get rid of them? It would be easy to get rid of them. Is it invigorating to my life right now? No way! What practical value does this item provide? None! Done. Out go the curlers and I move to the next item. In fact I become a little embarrassed that it took me so long. Then on to that stack of books, clothing in my closet, the knick knacks that I dust, for what?

Morgenstern contends that we can't move productively into the future unless we SHED the stuff that is weighing us down and keeping us from making changes.
And this really cut to the core: "A perfectly arranged dresser drawer filled with clothes you haven't worn in years is still clutter."

Once Morgenstern finally convinces you, yes, even you, that you have a problem with junk in your life; she takes you step by step through her process of cleaning it out and letting it go. And she stresses this isn't about a one time clean up, it is about changing your thinking and thereby changing your life.
Reading this book can change your life!