o Are you overwhelmed by all the “stuff” in your life? Magazines and newspapers that you never finished reading, clothes that you never wear, emails that you have not responded to, or photos that you intended to share with friends or colleagues?

o Are you embarrassed to invite people to your home or office because they will see how you live or work? Do you rush when someone comes to hide the evidence?

o Does clutter put pressure on a relationship that is important to you? Do you argue with your spouse about what to keep or spend time reassuring colleagues that you know what it is all about?

o Are you wasting time looking for things you really need: documents you already created or the keys or receipt you had in your hand five minutes ago?

o Is your home or office too crowded? Does clutter take up valuable space and leave you overwhelmed? If you answered “Yes” to two or more of these questions, you are caught in the disorder trap, a state of cumulative disorder that lowers your physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, or financial health. There are more than a few people who are reading this article right now and are distressed by the clutter in their lives. There are more than a few whose relationships are drained by discussions of disorder. There are more than a few who would panic at a letter from the IRS announcing an audit. “But wait,” you may be saying.

or “Isn’t disorder the inevitable condition of living in a complex world with never enough time, never enough space. Always too much to be responsible?”

o Or you may be saying, “I’m creative, and creative people are just naturally messy.”

o O “I have more important things to do than worry about clutter.”

Here’s the truth! Clutter is NOT inevitable. It is NOT synonymous with creativity. It is NOT a precondition for life on earth at this time. It came to earth without clutter and it will certainly leave without clutter. The question is how do you live in the middle!

Let’s put it another way: to see if it’s organized, ask three questions:

1. Does it work?

2. Do you like it?

3. Does it work for others?

Most people answer “Yes” to the first question, hesitate to the second, and will admit that the answer to the third is “No,” but rationalize by saying that it doesn’t really make any difference. But does it? What will be the results if something happens to you or one of the people in your organization? In reality, clutter and the resulting inability to find the right information at the right time can, and often do, have a negative impact on everyone who lives or works in such an environment.

Our mission is to help individuals, families, and organizations create and maintain a productive environment so they can do their jobs and enjoy their lives. What is a “productive environment”? Think of it this way: it’s an environment where everything supports who you are or who you want to be. The more clutter, the less likely you or the people around you will be able to find what you need effortlessly. We have developed a program called Productivity QuickStart (TM) that guarantees a ten percent increase in productivity, based on the premise that your ability to accomplish any task or goal is directly related to your ability to find the right thing at the right time. .

For the past 25 years, we have developed a five-step process that you can use to create and maintain a productive environment that we call The Productive Environment Solution (TM):

1. Design your vision.

2. Eliminate your excuses.

3. Take your time.

4. Select your tools.

5. Maintain your success.

Do you see the common word in those five steps? “You!” The key to escaping the clutter trap and creating a productive environment is linked to discovering and implementing what works for YOU, not what worked for your mother or what your colleague thinks you should do. In other words, “organizing is an art!” Design your vision

Have you ever noticed how much you seem to be unaware of your everyday surroundings? Look around your office and you are likely to “see” many things that have become invisible to you on a daily basis because you have trained not to look at them.

Clutter is Deferred Decisions®. The first step in creating a productive environment is deciding what you need to promote your highest and best experience. It is impossible to even define our own disorder if we do not have a clear image of who we are or what it is about.

One photographer had continuous dreams of living in a white tower with glass windows, while her real home was buried in clutter accumulated for more than 30 years. When we focused on her love of the arts, letting go of unsightly clutter became less painful and even liberating.

Eliminate your excuses

Eliminate any temptation to blame the condition of your environment on the circumstances or people around you. “I don’t have enough space” is often inaccurate after one of our office cleaning days. Choose to work with what you have.

A book agent discussing the idea of ​​a book on the subject of clutter commented, “Some of us are just lazy.” Only if you want to be. Creating a pleasant and productive environment requires a process. If you follow the process, you will be successful. While it’s impossible to force someone else to eliminate clutter, we’ve never met anyone who couldn’t get rid of theirs.

Commit your time

Recognize that the time you invest in creating and maintaining a productive environment will pay off every day of your life in your personal and professional life.

An association executive recalls coming to work every day for five years and berating himself because there was no room in his office for a meeting. Finally, in desperation, he hired an organizational consultant to help him. Within six hours, the boxes he had paid to move to three different offices were replaced by a small conference table.

“How long is it going to take and how much is it going to cost?” is the first question potential customers ask. The answer: “The longer you wait, the longer it will take and the more it will cost.”

Select your tools

Find the perfect equipment to suit your operating style and organize it efficiently and aesthetically. Barbara’s father used to tell her that “half of any job is having the right tool.” Of course, what he really meant was “use the right tools.” Many people, for example, do not invest the time or receive the necessary training to use the organizational tools that already exist in all computers.

One customer had Post-it® notes posted throughout her office to remind her of places to go and things to do. He swore he could never use a calendar. “I just hate those ruled lines and the idea that every hour of every day must be so structured.” We found a unique calendar with a red leather cover and lots of open space on the pages. Within three weeks he called to say that he didn’t know how she had managed without him. “It doesn’t control me, I control it!” It will never become a Palm Pilot, but you finally found the tool you would love. What you love, you will wear. What you wear streamlines your life and work.

Keep your success

One of the main excuses for not organizing is “It never lasts anyway!” Good news. Once you’ve accomplished the first four steps, maintaining your success isn’t difficult.

Remember the previous three questions in this article? It works? Do you like it? Does it work for everyone? This ever-changing world requires asking those questions frequently. If the answer is “No”, it does not mean that what you did in the past was wrong. The situation has just changed. This five-step process is most powerful when it becomes a way of life.

Having a hard time getting rid of clutter? How much of your clutter is there because “it might come in handy one day.” Several years ago, a colleague made a statement that significantly influenced our work today: “Sometimes excessive responsibility turns into irresponsibility.” How much could such unused furniture or equipment benefit a nearby school or community service group? And that cane from your broken ankle eight years ago? And that flute that no one has played in thirty years? It’s so much easier to let go of something when you know someone else will benefit.

How often do we hear “But my real problem is other people’s clutter! How do I change them?” One customer complained: “At work, people give me things to put away. I have no choice, and at home, other people’s things drive me crazy.”

The shortest path to frustration and failure is to try to change other people. Your most powerful path to sustained success is to start with yourself and let those around you take a hit by observing your increasing calm, focus, and productivity. If all your past tactics have failed, it may be time to try a new approach. Tell yourself a new story about the amazing level of power and control you have over one person in the universe – you. Tell yourself “I don’t allow anything to steal my freedom to create the results I want in my life.” In other words, change what you can. Accept what you can’t change (everyone else) and don’t waste energy fighting for difference. Over the years, we have discovered an interesting phenomenon. Emotional loss, such as the death of someone close, the loss of a dream, or the frequent loss of physical belongings, can often affect people’s desire to hold onto physical things. A woman who had been fighting her husband over his mess for years got dramatic results when she told him, “You know, I never really understood how much you want to keep all these things. Let’s see how we can keep them.” She arrived a few days later to find the garage full of boxes that he was donating to a local thrift store.

Very few people are truly immune to their environment. Most of us just pretend to be. We make promises to take care of the mess later. Meanwhile, we walk as incomplete and diminished versions of the fully generous and resourceful people we could be. The world needs the best you have to give and if the best of you is covered by clutter, we all lose. It is a great campaign. We are all in this together. Good luck.