Jennifer Ford Berry - Organize Now! Think and Live Clutter Free: A Week-by-Week Action Plan for a Happier, Healthier Life

If you are ready to face your internal clutter as well as the obvious external clutter, you are finally on a journey to transform your life. Two summers ago I called Jennifer after my neighbor referred me. Working with her has been nothing short of a miraculous recovery from years of insecurity, low self-confidence, and overwhelming confusion.

On paper it looked like I had it all. I had a medical degree and was married to a surgeon. I lived in a beautiful home with my three wonderful children. Inside I felt that I wasnt capable of returning to work that I loved, maintaining a home well, and being a good partner. I was a mess and so was my home.

I was ready for a change. I didnt even try to clean up. This was not the time to hide from the shame I felt about my struggles. Jennifer came into my home and started helping me clear up years of paperwork. What she also uncovered was that my mind was filled with forty-seven years of mental clutter! She encouraged me to let go of the past and create a new present and future where Im an organized, happier, and more accomplished woman.

I see myself differently now. Jennifer is more than a personal organizer with cute storage ideas. She is an incredibly insightful and competent professional who can guide you to a more healthy and happier life.

Constantina Spiropoulos, M.D.

Can you picture a day where you wake up feeling refreshed from a good nights sleep and feeling excited to start your day because you know you are living with purpose and following your passion?

Your health and weight are under control, and you know you are taking excellent care of your body.

You feel confident in the life you created, and you are surrounded by strong, healthy relationships.

Your full spirit keeps anxiety and worry at bay.

Do you dream of a life like this? Guess whatits possible, and this book will tell you how to create it!

Physical clutter is often a by-product of emotional clutter. How many times have you removed piles of clutter from your home only to have piles reappear a few weeks or months later? Its possible that youre surrounding yourself with stuff on the outside because you dont know who you are or what you want on the inside. Its easy to wrap your identity up in physical thingsclothing, a car, or a career, for example.

I wrote this book because I believe people are desperately looking for answers and ways to get more out of life. Unfortunately, people look for answers from outside sources or stimulants rather than looking inside themselves. They look to things and other people to fill them instead of finding spiritual fulfillment. And they look at buying more instead of simplifying and living with less.

Does your stuff, your physical belongings, directly affect how you feel about yourself and how you live your life? Know that you are not alone! Millions of people are overwhelmed and embarrassed by their stuff. They are afraid to ask for help, but they want someone to tell them how to get organized once and for all! My hope is that this book will help you stay organized for life. When you know who you are and what you want, there will be no room for clutter in your life. You will recognize what you want, need, and love, and say yes to those things. You will also recognize what you dont want, dont need, and dont love, and say no to them. The piles of unused stuff around your house will disappear, never to return. You will wake up each day feeling happy and at peace because you will know that you are in control of your life. Your stuff will no longer control you!

Clutter is anything that doesnt serve a purpose or bring you joy. Clutter is also anything that keeps you stuck and blocks you from making progress in any area of your life. When you hear the word clutter, your mind may automatically jump to knickknacks and inherited items in your home. But, have you ever thought of the clutter in your mind? Are your thoughts holding you back? Do you have:

• negativity and pessimism
• doubt in yourself, in others, and in circumstances
• perfectionism

These negative thoughts feed into the physical clutter around you and the physical clutter enforces and causes more negative thoughts. Its a vicious cycle, but you can choose to end it. You choose the way you think. Choose to take a positive approach and see how much farther you get. An old eastern proverb says, We strengthen the body to free the mind and thus polish the spirit. When you organize your physical surroundings, you free your mind of the negative thoughts that were held in the clutter, and that will bring peace to your spirit.

Clutter can be overwhelming. The desire to change can also be overwhelming. Feeling overwhelmed often causes another feelingfear. When a project seems too big, its easy to fear that you will fail, and this fear often keeps a person inactive.

People often think that until everything changes, nothing changes, but this is not true. The first little bit of change you make opens up the doors of opportunity for more change. It helps you build momentum. A simple shift into action helps you build momentum. Youll gain energy and motivation to make bigger changes that will ultimately help you reach your end goal.

When you feel overwhelmed by a task, break down the task step by step until you identify a step you can take right away with confidence. The instructions in this book are written in very simple steps to help you complete each weekly goal without feeling overwhelmed.

If you are feeling stuck in your life and need an internal boost to change your life, I encourage you to follow the steps in this book with everything youve got. It will be a lot of work, but I guarantee this process will be life changing if you stay committed and finish what you start.

Life is full of choices, and you make a decision about each choice you face, whether you recognize your actions are a decision or not. Taking action is a decision that puts you in control of your situation. Not taking action is a decision that puts the circumstances (or another person) in control of the situation.

As long as you are breathing, you have the ability to choose a new way of life for yourselfto choose differently than you have in the past. Choice is a wonderful gift. Dont take it for granted. Choose to take action in your life.

In my first book, Organize Now! A Week-by-Week Guide to Simplify Your Space and Your Life, I told readers that if they are tired of letting clutter control their lives, they must make a choice to L.I.V.E.

L=List. If you dont write it down, chances are you will forget it.

I=Internal Organization. Organization starts on the inside first.

V=Vision. Be very clear about the vision you have for your life, and keep that vision in the forefront of your mind throughout everything you do.

E=External Organization. When you have yourself organized internally and know where you are going and why, you can begin the task of organizing your external environment.

This book will help you with your internal organization by helping you identify what you want for yourself, your family, and your home. When you know what you want, you know how to choose whenever you are faced with a choice. You will be able to say yes or no with confidence and take action to back up your choice.