Annmarie Brogan - Beyond Tidy: Declutter Your Mind and Discover the Magic of Organized Living

Copyright 2020 by Annmarie Brogan and Marie Limpert

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Racehorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2020933978

Cover design by Brian Peterson

Cover artwork by Getty Images

Author photograph by Bryan Leale

Print ISBN: 978-1-63158-603-3

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63158-604-0

Printed in the United States of America

To our beautiful friend Marcy, who gave us the not-so-gentle nudge we needed to take a chance and start our own business.

Thank you for your love and friendship, and for believing in us. We miss your smile and the light you brought to this world.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Congratulations! If you are reading this, then you have hope. You believe, even to the smallest degree, that you can learn to be more organized and change the way things currently are. More importantly, you believe that you can play a direct role in making that change. There can be no change without hope, so even if this book is your Hail Mary play, youre still in the game and we celebrate you!

When we were first approached about writing a book, it was important to stay true to ourselves as teachers of organizing strategies. We have been professional organizers for thirteen years, and in that time weve worked hard to craft proven systems and language that motivates and resonates with those who come to us for help. There are many organizing books out there, so what do we offer thats different than the others? What can we bring to the party that causes a tangible shift for you, the reader?

What makes us unique is our emphasis on the why behind all the whats we are asking you to do. We want you to understand the impact behind each tip, strategy, and suggestion. By impact we mean how your life and circumstances will be positively affected, including improvements in your state of mind and emotional well-being. Its not just about the way things appear on the outside. There is an abundance of research that supports the benefits of cultivating positivity, increasing optimism and hope, and staying motivated. This book is a fusion of our best organizing principles with positive and behavioral psychology . While the primary focus is on organizing, we sprinkle the research throughout the book in an easily digestible way to support the principles we teach. We believe that when you combine conceptual understanding with tangible, proven strategies, you will be equipped to handle any organizing challenge.

In other words, we go beyond tidy to a much higher level.

To begin, we reflected a lot on the many different reasons people have called us over the years. The range of demographics, circumstances, and physical/mental health challenges that make up and affect our client base would probably surprise you. Yet the negative emotions attached to feeling disorganized are consistent across all of the above factors.

One thing is clear: there are many reasons why people are disorganized. Some have simply never been organized. Maybe they were raised in a cluttered and chaotic environment, where things were always out of place. Perhaps they never learned good strategies at home or at school. Some truly believe they werent blessed with the organizing gene and therefore arent innately organized. They call us when their disorganization is adversely affecting their lives, work, and/or relationships and something needs to change.

Others struggle with mental health challenges, such as depression, anxiety, or ADHD, which make it truly difficult to stay focused and on task. They come to us to simplify their lives and learn techniques for making things more manageable.

Then there are those who have always been super organized until a life event gets them off track (think: death of a loved one, birth of a child, need to go back to work, unexpected job loss, etc.). Not used to feeling out of control and scattered, mastering their new normal becomes top of the priority list.

Combine this with different personalities, circumstances, and family dynamics and its obvious that a one size fits all approach isnt effective. However, the more we reflected, the clearer it became that our clients successes over the years have been rooted in key unifying factors:

We come to you without judgement.

As we just mentioned, there are a lot of reasons why people get to a point where they feel they need our help. Our clients learn quickly that our goal is to empower and help them move forward. This calls for more than just teaching tips and tricks, although weve got plenty of them! It requires feeling free from perceived judgement (including self-judgement), which often renders people immobile and unable to take that first step. We invite you to come to this process with self-compassion. Give yourself permission to be human as you navigate new ways to approach organization, leaving any self-judgement at the door.

We work as a team.

We are teachers, motivators, collaborators, and strategists. While we feel becoming more organized will lead to greater self-esteem, our energy is spent helping to increase your self- efficacy , the belief in your abilities to handle challenges and complete tasks successfully. We believe in your resourcefulness, even though you may be feeling quite incapable and out of control. When people truly feel safe and supported, they are free to take risks and try new things. They become excited to explore and learn. As your teammates, we help you increase positive emotions in order to build curiosity and openness to whats possible. As Dr. Barbara Frederickson explains in her book, Positivity , Positivity broadens our minds and expands our range of vision... A broad mind changes the way you think and act in a wide range of circumstances. When you see more, more ideas come to mind, more actions become possible. Positive emotions broaden and build and cause upward spirals that filter into other areas of life. Think of it as a positive chain reaction.

We build trust.

We understand how emotional and overwhelming life can be when a person is disorganized, especially when he/she begins to unpack the underlying causes of his/her disorganization. Our clients trust us with so much more than just their physical belongings. They also share their feelings, emotions, insecurities, and secretsthe things that make them most vulnerable. We get to see sides of them they dont share with their closest family and friends. We do not take that trust for granted, and we come to each project with compassion and respect.

Conversely, part of the way in which we empower our clients is through our trust in their capabilities. We believe wholeheartedly that anyone who comes to us with a sincere desire to improve their situation can learn what we have to teach. If they are willing to shift their mindset and establish new behavior patterns, they can and will achieve organizing success.