Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Getting Somewhere by Getting Organized

One of the biggest challenges many of us face on a daily basis is clutter. I am, by nature, a pack rat and believe that your desk or your workspace is a reflection of you. I am also someone looking to re-invent the way I live (and work) my life. With this in mind, I took out an interesting book out of my local library, When Organizing Isn't Enough by Julie Morgenstern.

There have been a lot of books written about de-cluttering, but the Morganstern's latest book makes a strong case for not just organizing, but also SHEDing. To SHED means:

  • Separate the treasures
  • Heave the trash
  • Embrace your identity
  • Drive yourself forward
In Morganstein's words, "organizing is about identifying what's important to you and giving yourself access to it. SHEDing is about getting rid of the old and obsolete so that you can have space to discover what's important to you."

While I haven't finished the book yet, I realize that it is perfect for someone looking to get organized on a holistic level. If you are looking to re-invent yourself, When Organizing Isn't Enough is a perfect companion to help you release the old you in order to become the new you that you are seeking to become. The following video illustrates how Morgenstern put the ideas into practice...



I don't mean to turn this post into a commercial for the book. But as someone looking to make changes at many levels, I wanted to let you know that its out there. Good luck...now, I've got a bag of trash to take out.

2 comments:

Lance said...

Hi Tim,
On a deep personal level, this SHED method sounds so great. Part of that is just taking the time to really get in there (into the heart and mind) and go through this "baggage" we've created over the years. And clean up...a little "mind house cleaning" per se. And I love that thought! Thanks much, I'm really thinking about how I can do this, and what it might mean for me going forward...

Tim said...

Lance:

Thanks for stopping by...let me know if you make any good progress - I will hopefully post again soon with my own examples of how I've been able to clear the way to a better me.