“Conscious Order: Clear Your Mind, Leave Clutter Behind”   by Annie Rohrbach

Immediately upon meeting Annie at the May 2014 NAPO Conference I knew we would know one another a very long time.  Both of us believe in a Holistic Approach to helping our organizing clients.  

In her book, she gets us thinking about why we want to get organized and then how the power of our choices lays the foundation of creating a less cluttered life.  

One example of a new choice that she shares:  “I choose to let go of the things in my mind, my home, my office, and my life that no longer serve me.” 

Research shows that 90% of our self-talk is negative.  Try reframing the “I don’t have enough time,” to “There is plenty of time for me to do what is most important to me.”

The list of specific types of clutter is insightful:

• Gift Clutter
• Fix-It Clutter
• Don’t-Know-Where-to-Put-it Clutter
• Too-Nice-to-Toss Clutter
• It-Might-Be-Worth-Something-Someday Clutter
• Might-Need-It-Someday Clutter
• The-Kids-May-Need-It-Someday Clutter
• Should Clutter
• Inherited Clutter
• Other People Clutter
• Event Clutter
• Unfinished Projects Clutter
• I’ll-Deal-With-it-Later Clutter
• Kids Clutter
• Stuff-It Clutter
• Heap Clutter
• Paper Clutter

Here are a few of the great questions we can ask ourselves when “we hit a wall:”

• If I were moving, would I take it with me?
• Would someone else make better use of this, or use it more often than me?
• What’s the worst thing that will happen if I let go of it?
• Is it in alignment with the life and intentions I am now choosing?
• Will this just add to my clutter?

Other areas explored in this book are:  fear, awareness, and life transitions.  She offers ways to work through them all. 

Remember, what you focus on gets energized; what you are grateful for increases.