Peter Walsh - Enough Already!

ALSO BY PETER WALSH

HOW TO ORGANIZE (JUST ABOUT) EVERYTHING:
More Than 500 Step-by-Step Instructions for Everything
from Organizing Your Closets to Planning a Wedding
to Creating a Flawless Filing System

ITS ALL TOO MUCH:
An Easy Plan for Living a Richer Life with Less Stuff

DOES THIS CLUTTER MAKE MY BUTT LOOK FAT?:
An Easy Plan for Losing Weight and Living More

First published in the USA by Free Press, A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
This edition published in Australia in 2008
by Simon & Schuster (Australia) Pty Limited
Suite 2, Lower Ground Floor
14-16 Suakin Street, Pymble NSW 2073

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Visit our website at www.simonandschuster.com.au

Copyright 2009 by Peter Walsh Design, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data is available upon request.
ISBN: 978-0-73181-416-9
eBook ISBN: 978-0-73181-525-8

Cover design by Xou Creative
Internal design by Katy Riegel

Printed and bound in Australia by Griffin Press.

The paper used to produce this book is a natural, recyclable product made from wood grown in sustainable plantation forests. The manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations in the country of origin.

To my mother
Agnes Catherine Kelleher Walsh,
who, with seven children,
invented the phrase Enough Already!

Barns burnt down

now

I can see the moon.

Masahide (16571723)

Dealing with clutter is my job. Helping people dig out from under the overwhelming mess that fills their homes is part of my daily routine. To the amazement of many, I love what I do. Hundreds and hundreds of families have had me into their homes to tackle clutter. Hundreds of thousands of others have seen me on TV and cleared their own spaces using the same techniques that have worked so well for me. But I have a little secret that I have waited a while to let you in on. Those massive piles of clutter are only the tip of the iceberg. While the clutter you see around you might seem bad, even overwhelming and paralyzing, the physical clutter that fills our homes is nothing compared to the invisible clutter that fills our heads.

Consider this: If you can lose your car keys in your own home, or if it takes you half an hour to find your checkbook, or if you have ever tripped and fallen over your own belongings, then imagine what the clutter in your head is doing to you. In theory, you can see the clutter that you have to climb over every day, but in reality you get so used to walking around it that you can forget its actually there. Somehow, it becomes invisibleat least to you. The clutter in your head is even more difficult to deal with because you truly cant see it and neither can anyone else. Over time, you come to accept the way you are as the way you will be forever. Im here to tell you that it doesnt have to be so.

As the organization guy I have met and received e-mails from thousandsmaybe tens of thousandsof people who are overwhelmed by clutter. Collectibles, furniture, paper, clothes, books, toys, and shoes fill up the spaces in their homes where they should be living their lives. Where does all this stuff come from? How is it that seemingly reasonable, honest, hard-working peoplepeople who might be your friends, colleagues, relatives, or YOUfind themselves nearly buried alive? We buy so much stuff and we fill every corner of our homes with it. But its not only the stuff thats the problem. Surewe buy the stuff, but we also invest in what I call the promise. We buy exercise machines, but we are really investing in the promise of flat abs. We buy clothing, but we are really investing in the promise of being more attractive. We buy all that stuff from late-night infomercials, but we are really investing in the idea that somehow our lives will be better and our homes will be happier. It just doesnt work like that. I know, because I have waded through homes choking with more stuff than you can imagine. Homes overwhelmed with stuff and lives littered with the empty promises that the stuff didnt fulfill.

We buy all that stuff because we think it will make us happy. We think that if we collect all the right thingsthe right home, the right clothes, the right electronics, the right cars, the right applianceswe will eventually accumulate the life we imagine for ourselves. In buying what we want, we hope to acquire the life we desire. If the primary relationship in your life is with your stuff, what youll eventually find is that its not a give-and-take relationship. Stuff can be a real bitch! Its very demanding. It fills space. It costs money. It doesnt respond to your changing needs. It promises everything, delivers nothing, and eventually just stresses you out. Chasing the life you want by accumulating more stuff is a dead-end street.

People are always surprised when they realize that the real challenge in decluttering and getting organized has little to doat least initiallywith their stuff. The real challenge isnt wading through their belongings, although this has to be done. The real challenge is the question that comes before we tackle anything in their home. The first, most challenging task that I give the people I work with is to speak about the vision they have for their lives. Without understanding what this vision looks like, none of the work that I (or you) do can be successful or sustained. Start with the stuff (as most people are inclined to do when they try to conquer their clutter) and you are pretty much guaranteed failure. Start with the vision you have for the life you want and you have taken the first real step to long-term and remarkable change.

The letters that appear throughout this book are a sampling of the many e-mails and notes that I receive every day. Ive removed names and identifying details, but the sentiments are genuine and the people who have expressed them are real. In addition, the anecdotes in the book about other people are used to illustrate common problems Ive encountered in my life and work, but they do not include real names or identifying details.

Dear Peter:

Im stuck in a self-defeating rut. I know it. Im even pretty sure I know why I cant take the necessary action to get out of iteven by doing nothing, the rut keeps getting deeper. The reason I cant motivate myself to lose weight, clean the house, or get involved in anything is always the same: FEAR. Fear of coming out of the safe hiding place Ive created. As long as the house is a mess, I dont have to worry about inviting anyone over; as long as Im overweight, I dont have to worry about attracting the opposite sex; as long as my financial life is a mess, I dont have to plan for the future. Im safe. Safe from anyone finding out that Im just here taking up space. Im a fraudI have a good mask in placestrong, confident, charming. If everything Im hiding behind goes away, what if theres nothing left but ugliness?

As I have helped people work through the challenge of defining and then pursing the vision for the life they want, I have witnessed profound changes in the very fabric of their lives. Not only is the clutter banished and a less-stressed and richer life achieved, but there is also a ripple effect that I dont think anyone foresees. Organizing and decluttering a home becomes the first step in a process that touches every aspect of the persons life. Almost without exception, people reassess their relationships and remove the hurdles that have stunted their emotional lives. Some couples have realized that the life they are living together is more about fear than growthand have gone their separate ways. Others have realized that major changes were needed if their relationship were to continue. People have lost weight, changed careers, reassessed the way they spent their time, altered the way they interact with their friends and family, and reorganized their priorities. Emotional, social, and spiritual lives have flourished. Removing the clutter from peoples lives is so much more than just clearing a desk of unwanted paperwork or getting all that junk out of the garage. Decluttering and organizing is a path to a quality of life that many only dimly glimpse.