Clutter Rescue

This weekend Mr 6 and I went to our local Kindy fete.  We go every year (mostly for the chocolate slice and cupcakes!) but there are also great rides and lots of fun things for Mr 6 to do. There is also a great book stall. So, like all good bookworms, I spend ages at the book stall searching for a good title or two to take home. Unfortunately this year there weren’t any books that jumped out at me, begging me to own them.  However something I did notice while trawling through the books was a number of titles from well-known Professional Organisers (both Australian and overseas) giving plenty of strategies to organise and declutter your space. Why is this?  The book stall had the same books that sit on my professional bookshelf in my office.  These are books that I refer to, read often, flick through when I’m doing a presentation for that snippet of inspiration.  These books often take you step by step through the organising process, guiding you so that you can clear the space yourself. Here’s my theory as to why there were so many organising books for sale at the book stall: The purchaser bought one book, it kind-of made sense, they tried some of the strategies which kind-of worked, so they then bought another book – and so the cycle continued. The purchaser thought they were a DIYer – but in the end it all looked too hard. The purchaser was happy to read the book, get direction, and then come up with their own plan of attack.  But then life took over and they never implemented their plan (or even formulated one). The purchaser saw the said-expert Professional Organiser in the media (on TV, in the paper, on the radio) and thought they were great so bought the book. These are all valid reasons to buy a book that will help you achieve your goals.  But what’s missing? Thinking. Thinking: What’s my lifestyle like? Does this author’s approach take my lifestyle into consideration? How do I know they really get me so that the system will work long term? Can I connect with what the author’s saying?  Does it make sense to me? A friend of mine is a book worm.  When she was having trouble with getting her baby to sleep she bought nearly every book on the market that promised to show her how to get that elusive eight hours a night.  But do you know what happened?  She became increasingly confused, parts of different books resonated with her – however the advice was contradictory to the other pieces of advice that also resonated with her – so guess what happened?  Nothing.  She was so confused she didn’t know what was up or down. So my advice?  Pick one book that resonates with you – not ALL of them – and give it a try.  Stick with the system for at least six months to see if it works for you.  If it does, great!  If not, send that book off to your local Kindy fete book stall and move on. Or, of course, give us a call! Does this sound familiar to you?  What titles have you bought, and tried, and had success or not-so-much success with? Until next time, happy organising!