NEAT & SIMPLE LIVING

Food, Inc. The BIG Profits in Poor Nutrition

To me, you can't truly live a Neat & Simple lifestyle if you don't feel well and healthy most of the time.  I see it so often in my clients, friends and family that struggle with excessive clutter and chronic disorganization. 

Clutter and disorganization are almost always, symptoms of deeper underlying emotional and / or chronic health issues such as chronic pain, depression, chronic fatigue, obesity, fybromyalgia, ADHD and poor nutrition.  In fact, I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone who is chronically ill that has eaten a long term really healthy diet free of chemicals, artificial sweeteners, sugar, transfats, high fructose corn-syrup, low in gluten, and high in unprocessed vegetables, fruit, whole grain and protein sources. 

I grew up on a primarily highly processed chemical laden diet courtesy of the "surplus food" program provided by welfare before they had food stamps.  The stuff was crap.  Powdered eggs, highly processed "cheese product", pastas, anything you could dry and preserve with lots of cheap chemicals.

The only times I ate well as a kid were when I ate at my grandmother's house.  She cooked mostly whole food, though she did engage me in my former addictions of ice cream and popcorn.  Every Sunday we would go for a "Sunday drive" to get ice cream, and then come home to watch Ed Sullivan and eat a HUGE bowl of popcorn while we played cards.

But I digress. What I really want to do here is reach out to those of you want to feel better and improve your health by improving your nutrition, but find it really difficult to stop buying and eating the enticing and highly addictive substances companies like to call "food."

This trailer for the documentary Food, Inc. will make it a lot easier to motivate youself to start voting with your dollars and make Food corporations more accountable what they put into our food supply.  And of course, the movie will make an even better ally in your campaign to release your junk food cravings!!

Similar Movies to Inspire You (Descriptions from Netflix.com)

Super Size Me(2004) PG-13   (Now showing free with your Netflix Membership)

On the heels of recent lawsuits against McDonald's, director Morgan Spurlock takes a hilarious and often terrifying look at the effects of fast food on the human body, using himself as the proverbial guinea pig. For one month, Spurlock eats nothing but McDonald's, ordering everything on the menu and "super-sizing" his order whenever asked. The result is a sobering examination of the line between personal and corporate responsibility.

Fast Food Nation(2006) R 

Richard Linklater's fictional tale (inspired by Eric Schlosser's 2001 book of the same name) critiques the junk-food juggernaut that's arguably responsible for America's alarming obesity rates. Don Henderson (Greg Kinnear), a corporate exec of a national fast-food chain, follows beef's journey from the corrals to the slaughterhouses and ultimately to your stomach. The power cast includes Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette and Bruce Willis.

The Corporation(2004) UR

Filmmakers Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott explore the genesis of the American corporation, its global economic supremacy and its psychopathic leanings, with social critics like Noam Chomsky and Milton Friedman lending insight in this documentary. With their merciless quest for profit and insatiable aim to sway every aspect of culture, conglomerates' inner workings are scrutinized to draw conclusions about "business as usual."

Related Articles on this Blog

Cracking the Overeating Code - Interview with Dr. David Kessler

ADD-Friendly Tips for Healthy Eating: Veggies, Butter and Self-medicating with Food

Sugar linked to depression, severe PMS, arthritis, ADD, autism, asperger's, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, yeast infections...

Related Books I Recommend

The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite by David Kessler

Going Against the Grain: How Reducing and Avoiding Grains Can Revitalize Your Health By Melissa Smith

Sugar Shock!: How Sweets and Simple Carbs Can Derail Your Life-- and How YouCan Get Back on Track By Connie Bennett, Stephen Sinatra

Hope you find lots of inspiration in these resources as I have!

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High IQ Is No Help For Those With ADHD who Underachieve

The article below highlights the very real downside of having ADHD in a world that isn't very accepting of people who are different from them.

Not being able to do certain things as others expect us to like: be on time all the time, or get ourselves to follow through on our plans easily, or even get up early in the morning, can cause ADDers (even those with High IQs who do accomplish a lot) to feel like we can never really live up to our "potential." 

In fact, this pervasive sense of underachieving haunts most ADDers constantly.  It is one of the defining traits used to diagnosis ADD.  And, it is a source of profound grief that often leads to chronic depression and anxiety among ADDers. This is partly why ADD is often misdiagnosed and is actually VERY under diagnosed in Adults. (Another reason being the myth that children "outgrow" ADHD.) 

Growing up with undiagnosed ADD in an environment that does not value the gifts of ADD, but focuses instead on punishing and criticizing the differences and our inability to conform to other's values is inherently traumatic.  Years of trying to please parents, teachers and bosses who with good intentions try to "fix" something that can't be fixed easily leaves the individual with an underlying sense of hopelessness and innate "not good enough-ness" that can be paralyzing in and of itself.  

The thing is that ADD can't and never will be "cured" or "fixed".  It is a different kind of brain!  it can only be accomodated, managed and/or minimized with treatments such as education / awareness, right brain - left brain integration strategies, stress reduction, exercise and other self-care strategies, and custom organizing and time management structures / systems / approaches co-designed with the ADDers active participation. And yes, sometimes medication is needed as well.   

In a recently released book called Getting Unstuck: Unraveling the connection between Depression, Attention, and Trauma , the author Dr. Don Kerson, says that being "stuck" is the result of a complex interaction between depression, attention deficit disorder and dissociation (a consequence of childhood trauma caused by living with ADD and the chronic negative feedback that comes with it).

The more I read this book the more I understand why I was so motivated and actually COMPELLED to create my coaching group called Getting Unstuck. Stuckness is a different thing from procrastination and the treatment is much more complex that glib tips like "Just Do it".  The treatment for stuckness is complex.  It includes biological, bio-chemical, environmental and organizational changes as well as exercises to heal and stimulate integration of the right brain and left brain (AKA the Planner and the Doer funtions of the brain as Dr. Kerson points out).

Effective treatment also requires ongoing support and understanding from people who accept you as you are...and who can help you release the shame and pain of years of chronic and constant negative feedback from both others and yourself for not being able to do things the way others do. 

People don't realize it, but years of being told: 

•  you think too much,

• you try too hard...

• you ask too many questions,

• why can't you just do it?  Why can't you just clean your room?  or get out of bed when the alarm goes off?  or follow the instructions I gave you?  or hang up your clothes?  follow that diet program? etc.

and on and on...is in itself traumatic and has profound consequences.  These are negative and painful messages that say "if you need more details than I do in order to act on something, there is something very wrong with you."  To the child and adult hearing those messages over and over again - that means "unloveable" and that has devastating consequences. 

When parents, teachers, friends and bosses say things like that to someone, they don't realize that the recipient hears those messages constantly and from LOTS of people - over and over again - at home, on job performance reviews, even from their doctors!  And it all adds up to magnify the condition of ADD and compound it with very low self-esteem.

I highly recommend Dr. Kerson's book...and in fact, it is now what I consider a foundational theoretical underpinning for my coaching group. Thank you Dr. Kerson for adding a layer of understanding from the field of psychiatry and mental health that I've been working on from an organizational  and educational perspective. Your insights and work are much appreciated!

Getting Unstuck: Unraveling the connection between Depression, Attention, and Trauma

____________________________

And Here's the article that inspired me to write this....

Medical News Today
High IQ Is No Help For Those With ADHD, Yale Researchers Find
19 May 2009

Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/150478.php

Superior intelligence is no defense against the effects of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, Yale researchers have found.

About three of four ADHD individuals with an IQ of more than 120 - a score that ranks them in the top nine percent of the U.S. population - showed significant impairments in memory and cognitive tests when compared to people with similar IQ's who do not suffer from the disorder, according to the researchers.

The report, to be published in the September print edition of the Journal of Attention Disorders, is now available online.

"Many of these people are told they can't be suffering the loss of executive function (the ability to plan and carry out many day-to-day tasks) from ADHD because they are too smart,'' said Thomas E. Brown, assistant professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine and lead author of the study.

The high-IQ, ADHD group lacked self-management skills and the ability to focus. They tended to procrastinate and be forgetful and had difficulty in harnessing their talent to complete many daily tasks, the study found. In fact, 73 percent of the ADHD population showed significant deficits in five or more of the eight measures of executive function.

"Each of these individuals might be compared to a symphony orchestra of very talented musicians who cannot produce adequate symphonic music because the orchestra lacks an effective conductor," the authors wrote.

Philipp C. Reichel and Donald M. Quinlan of Yale are co-authors of the paper.

Source
Yale University

How do you prepare for hurricanes and other disasters? Get Organized!

I'm the last person who wants you to live in fear of a disaster. Chances are good you'll never experience one. But, unfortunately, disasters such as hurricanes, floods, fires, and terrorist acts are not as unlikely as they used to be. It seems like hurricane season has just begun and we are already up to "i". Having lived in Florida for 10 years and having lots of friends and family there, I know first hand the chaos and destruction that hurricanes and other natural disasters can cause. My heart goes out to all the victims of the latest devastation that hit Cuba and Haiti and to friends, family and colleagues all along the east coast.

This weekend, as we were preparing our home and backyard to withstand the remnants of Hurricane Hannah which passed through NJ , (thankfully we weren't hit as hard as they had predicted) I was thinking about what I could do to help others be prepared.

Then I got an email from Judith Kolberg, author of Conquering Chronic Disorganization, ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life and Founder of NSGCD, about organizing for disaster.

So rather than reinvent the wheel, I got permission from Judith to allow me to reprint her tips from her article and her latest book, "Organize for Disaster: Prepare Your Family and Your Home for Any Natural Or Unnatural Disaster."

JUST RELEASED! "Neat & Simple Guide to Organizing Your Office"

JUST RELEASED! I'm so excited to announce that my new book
"Neat & Simple Guide to Organizing Your Office" is finally here! Just in time to help you get a Neat Start to the New Year. Two years in the making, it has over 150 pages chock full of my best organizing advice and lots of photos to go with it.

 

_________________________________________________________

The Neat & Simple Guide to Organizing Your Home Office By Ariane Benefit, M.S. Ed The San Diego Times calls this book the "Bible of Home Office Organization" See their front-page feature story!

Sugar on CBS NEWS!

One of the reasons I often discuss the ill effects of sugar on this blog is that Sugar is known to be strongly linked to worsening or even causing depression, severe PMS, arthritis, ADD, autism, asperger's, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, yeast infections and much much more.  All of which have a very serious affect on your ability to focus and get organized.

Personally - quitting sugar made dramatic improvements in my health and in my life overall.  Whenever I backslide and eat more than a teaspoon or 2 of sugar - within days I become moody and irritable, have difficulty focusing, feel overwhelmingly sad, have difficulty sleeping and feel overall joint pain. After a year and a half off sugar, I'm still amazed at the harmful effects it has.

Connie Bennett, C.H.H.C., author of Sugar Shock, and my inspiration for letting go of sugar, was recently featured on CBS News Sunday Morning during a segment in which they spent a whole 8 minutes on our skyrocketing sugar consumption and related health problems.  If you missed the CBS News Sunday Morning segment it's not too late!
You can view it online here

http://cbs2.com/health/health_story_168113516.html

According to Connie's newsletter, there was:

"one major glaring error in the piece regarding sugar consumption figures. Americans consume 142 pounds per year (or possibly as high as 170 pounds) per person of caloric sweeteners such as sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, etc. That figure does not include artificial sweeteners as was reported in the CBS News Sunday Morning piece.

Actually, according to the Calorie Control Council 180 million American adults (as of 2004) consume low-calorie and sugar-free sodas, other beverages and foods using five different sugar substitutes approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration--saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame-K, sucralose and neotame.

Which, of course, begs the question: Are these sugar substitutes safe to consume? This is one of the most Frequently Asked Questions I answer in SUGAR SHOCK! (I had to cover this, because while researching my book, thousands of people kept asking me if they cut out or reduced their sugar intake, was it OK to drink or eat foods with these sugar substitutes.)

Frankly, I was shocked at what I learned! Health experts urged me to warn my readers that questions have been raised about the safety of every single artificial sweetener on the market!! - despite repeated claims of safety from the FDA and the companies creating them...

By the way, in SUGAR SHOCK!, you also can learn about what some experts call a "paradoxical weight gain" that some people experience when ingesting foods with artificial sweeteners. Yeah, consuming artificial sweeteners can actually PACK ON THE POUNDS instead of peel them off!

Shocking, eh? Anyhow, you can learn about artificial sweeteners and a whole lot more by getting SUGAR SHOCK! here now."

You can get Connie's newsletter on her blog here.

A Perfect Mess - Professional Organizers Respond - Kathy Waddill, Monica Ricci, Jessica Duquette

I've got to make this quick because I have to go to an appt all day today...I'll be posting more on this as soon as I can.

__________

Here's a chapter of the book  A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder you can read free.

Here's blog posts by

Monica Ricci  http://monicaricci.typepad.com/monica_ricci_organizing_e/2006/12/the_misguided_b.html

Jessica Duquette
http://www.its-not-about-your-stuff.com/2006/12/the_new_york_ti.html

___________________ 

Here's a link to NPR's audio cast of the Kathy Waddill responding to the harsh and unfair critique of her, NAPO and our whole profession by the authors on Talk of the Nation, December 28, 2006.

Guests:

Dave Freedman, co-author, A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder, and contributing editor and technology columnist at Inc. Magazine

Kathy Waddill, professional organizer and author of The Organizing Source Book: Nine Strategies for Simplifying Your Life  Her Website:  The Untangled Web

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6691239

I'll be chiming in soon!  : )

New Book "Everything Home Storage Solutions" Features Ariane's Neat Living Tips

What a great way to kick off the New Year!  Last year I was interviewed by Iyna Bort Caruso for her book The Everything Home Storage Solutions Book"  and I  got my copy of it just before Christmas. 

I finally had a chance to read it and I am so happy it turned out to be a great book!  I love that she emphasizes decluttering to gain storage space over buying lots more storage and products.  She also emphasizes having a plan and measuring before buying and products.  Then, she provides ideas on ways to store, well, just about "everything"!

I just checked on Amazon and there are only 3 left!  Way to go Iyna! 

To see more on Amazon:
The Everything Home Storage Solutions Book"

If you get the book, you can see me on pps. 5, 7, 15, 39, 40,and 100!  (Thanks for sending me the pages, Iyna!)

p.s. it's really a small world.  This book is published by Adams Media in Avon, Massachusetts...which is a little town that borders the city I grew up in, Brockton, Mass.  Another coincidence?  Iyna used some of my quotes to write an article for Natural Home Magazine called "Clutter's Hidden Death Toll".   

It was published in the SAME issue (January 2007) where I was quoted in another article 3 Steps to Clutter-Free Living by another writer and neither of them knew about the other! (See my blog post)!  So I'm in there TWICE!   I love that kind of stuff!

Clearing Clutter - Part 2 - Reviews of The 5 Best Books to Help You Let Go of Clutter

Welcome to Part 2 of the Clutter Clearing Series! 

My List of The Very Best Books to Help You Let Go of Clutter - They all get 5 Stars!

Summer is almost here and if it gets too hot to actually physically clear your clutter, perhaps it will be a good time to read a book by the pool and get yourself motivated and ready to clear your clutter by Fall! 

In spite of the fact that I LOVE the following books, I realize they won't be enough for everyone to dig out of their clutter situation.  Some people need someone there to help them stay focused and get the job done.  I know it helps me tremendously to have someone there.

These books will help you understand why you need someone there and if you do hire an organizer, will help you get the most out of your investment in working with a professional organizer!  Seriously, the closer you are to "ready to let go" - the more you will accomplish during and in between sessions with an organizer. 

So without further ado - Here are the BEST books on clearing clutter

Karen Kingston: Clear your Clutter with Feng Shui

To learn more about clutter, how it affects you and ways to start preparing yourself psychologically and emotionally to let go of the everday clutter that's holding you back, I highly recommend starting with Karen Kingston's book. "Clearing Clutter with Feng Shui"    It's inexpensive, brief, gets right to the point and best of all it really does help you change the way you look at your stuff forever.  It helped me convince my husband to partner with me in letting go of stuff when we got married and had to merge 2 homes full of stuff.  He read the book reluctantly, but then loved it. Now he enjoys clearing clutter as much as I do!  If you can only buy one book - this is it.

Fugen Neziroglu: Overcoming Compulsive Hoarding - - Why you hold on to stuff and how to stop!

If you think you might have issues with hoarding, check out the best of the very few books on the subject "Overcoming Compulsive Hoarding"   I give it 10 stars in helping me to understand and help my clients.  Here is just one of the many touching reviews on Amazon by people suffering with clutter who have been helped by this book.

"Overcoming Compulsive Hoarding saved my life! It's the first book I have read that accurately addresses why I hang onto things and why I can't let them go. I have had to deal with clutter all my life. I have felt shame and been hard on myself until I read the book. The invaluable insights in this book have helped me to clear the clutter. Once I know why I'm hanging onto something it's much easier to let go of it! Other organizational books have not worked for me because the books assume I have no emotional obstacles to becoming organized. This book is a must-read! I am very pleased with this book and recommend it to anybody, hoarder or non-hoarder, who has difficulty with clutter and organization."  (by Gwendolyn Thompson)

If you can get more than one book this summer, these are at the top of my list as the very best books to help people overcome clutter & disorganization by getting to the source of the issues:

Marilyn Paul, Ph.D.: It's Hard to Make a Difference When You Can't Find Your Keys

Marilyn is awesome.  She is a self-professed "recovering chronically disorganized person".  She grew up thinking that a neat home or desk meant you spent too much time organizing and not living life.  But she learned the hard way the very steep price to be paid for chronic disorganization and found a path out of the belief system that that held her back from getting organized.  Her book is deeply insightful and has helped so many people change their lives. Here is a excerpt of a review by a real person whose life she has affected.

"I can't express how differently I feel about my "chronic" clutter and disorganization after reading this book. I have used organizing methods and "tip" books before...many of them quite good, but the new regimes would only last for a little while. This is the first book that has truly gotten to the "why" of my cluttering tendencies, in a genuine, non-judgmental, humorous, and compassionate way that WORKS...

The result has been a completely organic shift in my behavior that has been completely effortless. It IS a process...my life hasn't become neat, clean, and fully organized overnight! But the small beginning steps have made a truly dramatic difference. My whole attitude has changed. I see progress every day and am so optimistic now that I know it is only a short matter of time before other areas of my home--and life!--will follow suit. "

This is what I mean when I talk about finding your personal balance between NEAT and LIVING.  It's not about being perfect all the time, it's about developing habits that help you be "neat enough" to "enjoy living"!

The next 3 books reviewed here will help you clear clutter AND get organized!

Clearing Clutter - Part 3 - Why Clutter isn't ONLY your Fault

WHY CLUTTER ISN'T ONLY YOUR FAULT

In many ways, it's not your fault you have a lot of clutter.  You'd have to spend a lot of time researching to really understand how the corrupt corporate marketers of the world use marketing and psychology principles to manipulate your basic human drives and get you to aquire the stuff they are selling.  And you almost have to be as devious as they are to believe the lengths they go to to deliberately reach out to your kids.  It's hard to imagine people would use kids on purpose to get you to buy tons of stuff to keep them from nagging you.  (Yes, that is an actual explicit strategy marketers use.  They call it the NAG FACTOR")

And you'd have to be a super human to resist the social pressures that cause us all to accumulate stuff far beyond our real needs. I became a professional organizer partly because I wanted to be part of the backlash against the culture of out of control addictions to acquisition and debt that caused me to grow up in an extremely cluttered home and get into big trouble with debt early in my career.

How I Got Out of $25,000 in Debt

This is my story of overcoming debt, simplifying and letting go of clutter.

I also got my first credit card in 1978.  This was when they first started to be accepted by America.  It was so easy to spend and there was no one to teach you how to deal with credit cards.  I ended up in the late 80's having to fight my way back from over $25,000 in crippling credit card debt. That was a real lot of money back then.  Back then, interest rates were 18% and up. There were no 0% interest offers.  My interest charges alone were over $700 per month.

The way I finally learned to manage and control debt was when I worked for Arthur Andersen. As a project manager in an accounting firm, I learned all about budgeting and finance.  It was a revelation.  I took that knowledge home and created a budget spreadsheet in Excel that finally helped me manage my own money.  Instead of filing bankruptcy, I sold nearly everything I owned and moved in with a roomate for a few years.  But between that and the discipline of a budget, I finally worked my way out of debt.  The experience not only scared me, it helped realize I could let go of stuff and live with a lot less.  I learned to always live well below my means and keep money in the bank or mutual funds. I still to this day refuse to carry a balance and live fairly frugally and simply.

But not everyone gets to go work for an Accounting firm and learn what I learned.  That's what I love about being an organizer!  I get to help people take back control of their lives and their homes.  To help them learn to recycle and donate stuff they don't need.  To learn how to shop strategically instead of impulsively.  I get to be part of the resistance to the culture of "stuff" and part of the movement toward creating sustainable more spiritually fulfilling lifestyles.  My dream would be to work myself right out of a job! 

Not everyone can afford professional organizing services but most everyone can afford a book!  : )  So here are my offerings to save you time weeding through books to find the truly inspirational and great books that help you understand where clutter comes from on a cultural level and why clutter isn't just your fault.  It's not just something wrong with you. Our culture and business practices have serious flaws that have led us to led to an epidemic of clutter and waste that is simply unsustainable. These books don't just whine about the way things are but also offer suggestions and ideas on how to get back on track and make things better.

Scott Simon: Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic

"We are a nation that shouts at a microwave oven to hurry up." If you can relate to this quote, you may already have Affluenza.  The definition of affluenza, is "a painful, contagious, socially-transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more." It's like a virus that feeds on our desire to be more, have more, and have life be as easy and convenient as possible.

It feeds on our desire for novelty.  We love new beautiful things!  So we buy, buy, buy.  We can't just leave beautiful things in the store when they are so cheap and easy to take home, right? We stop thinking about what it will really take from us to own the thing, not to mention dispose of it down the line.

Affluenza is not only crowding our homes, it's threatening to destroy our environment.  We simply can't continue to live an economic system that profits from promoting the ultimately unsustainable lifestyle centered around the aquisition of things.  This book explains the symptoms of affluenza, how it became an epidemic, and what we can do about it.  According to the authors,

• The average American spends more than $21,000 per year on consumer goods
• Our average rate of saving has fallen from about 10 percent of our income in 1980 to zero in 2000
• Our credit card indebtedness tripled in the 1990s, more people are filing for bankruptcy each year than graduate from college. 
• We spend more for trash bags than 90 of the world's 210 countries spend for all their consumer good needs.

This books explains the historical, political, and socioeconomic reasons that affluenza has taken such strong root in our society, and offers practical ideas for change. They provide examples of people who have already opted for simpler living.

For more great resources, ideas, & example, check out these free blogs by amazing women who are also driven to help others live a more enjoyable life free of the bonds of clutter.

Frugal For Life

It's not about your stuff!

Juliet B. Schor: The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don't Need

By the author of 'The Overworked American' and 'Born to Buy', this book delves deeper into the marketing, brand consciousness, and breakdown of neighborhoods, and many other factors that have led us to a society based on consumerism. She also describes the backlash Simplicity movement, in which people focus on living and enjoying life rather than working at jobs they hate to support a lifestyle of spending and acquisition.

If you want to understand the factors that influence you constantly so that you can choose your life rather than be unconsciously moved to compulsive and impulsive shopping and spending, this book will shock and surprise you and then ultimately empower you. 

Joel Bakan: The Corporation : The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power

I love this book.  And the documentary of the same title is extraordinary. As I've said many times now, clutter is a direct result of out-of-control, impulse spending. Much of this spending is spurred on through extremely manipulative marketing designed to make us want things we don't need.  But why are corporate marketers so aggressive about this? - purely to make a profit for their coroorations. Social ethics and moral responsibility are so often NOT part of a corporation's identity.  Their morals only exist where we have legislated them.

They don't want us to think before we buy anything. Do they really care if they are destroying the environment?  I'm not advocating that everyone become a radical.  Corporations have done a lot of good in the world.  But the bigger they grow, and the more they market to children using amazingly devious tactics, and the more we start seeing schools and public art centers being named after corporate sponsors (e.g., the Garden State Arts Center is now the PNC Bank Arts Center), and the more corporations like Coke and McDonalds are fighting tooth and nail with school districts to have the right to take over school cafeterias, the more we have to start wondering: just how far will their desire to manipulate us go?  what will stop them?  What will the limits be?   

This documentary explores the development of the corporation, it's marketing tactics, it's social and environmental impact in the most chilling way of all.  Using real video segments of interviews with CEO's, top marketers, and even top business professors.  It's utterly amazing and enlightening the things they have to say. 

They examine how corporations influence world wide politics, schools, our health and our food supply.  I wish everyone could see this movie or read this book.  I can't remember when I've been as deeply affected by a movie as this. 

And now, it's time for me to get back to work!  If you got this far, thanks for reading this. If you've read any of these books, I'd love for you to add your thoughts! 

All the best,

Goal-Free Living and Blogging can be a GOOD thing!

BRILLIANT concept!!!  If you enjoy blogging, Goal-Free Blogging is a must-read post by Stephen Shapiro, author of Goal Free Living .  I’ve been blogging since August and I also have found that blogging is best as an adventure and a journey - not a goal. It started out as part of my organizing business, but now it’s much more than just about organizing and productivity.  It's about learning, discovery, insights, sharing and community just to name a few. And yes...it's so much more fun and insightful when you just let it flow rather than set goals and objectives for the blog.  At first, it was tough.  But now, ideas for the blog just hit me all the time. And, I think it helps me be a better organizer as well.  It stimulates my creativity and innovative problem-solving. 

I can’t wait to read Goal Free Living - the new Book by Stephen Shapiro coming out in January.

I suspect Goal-free concepts can be applied to helping my clients enjoy getting and staying organized, rather than seeing it as a dreary task or goal that must be done.  If you see organizing as a chore, then it is.  If you see it as a way to creatively make your life easier and more fun...then it will be! 

Why wait to enjoy life "once I get organized".  Start enjoying your life NOW!  : )

All the best,
Ariane

Clear your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston

If you or a loved one hang on to too much sentimental stuff, this is the BEST book I know of to help you "reframe" the way you relate to your things. It's very easy to read and will surely help you regain control of the stuff in your home. When I have a client that is having great difficulty letting of stuff, I give them this book to read.  It has always done the trick so far.  I even succeeded in getting my dear husband to let go of a ton of old stuff in our attic! An amazing feat! 

This book covers:  Why we keep clutter, how it affects you, the beneficial effects of letting go, and how to let go emotionally, and how to stay clutter-free. (see also "Clutter-Free Forever" in the Controlling Clutter category of this blog) 

Karen Kingston clearly and concisely addresses sources of clutter, such as paper clutter, sentimental clutter, and clutter that comes from other people - and what to do about them.

Feng Shui is about "balancing and harmonizing the flow of natural energies in our surroundings to create beneficial effects in our lives."  Some people think there it is about superstition and luck.  Some people may use it that way, but I don't beleive that you will get rich by putting a purple candle in your wealth calendar.  What I know is that if you have balance and flow in your environment,  you will be more peaceful, and more able to recognize and respond to opportunities that arise.  Essentially, by paying attention to energy, you can make your own "luck" or as I like to think of it - "positive outcomes in your life". 

Let me know how it works for you.  : )

Becoming a Professional Organizer

I've been getting a lot of questions lately about how to become a professional organizer, so I created a few tips to get you started.

Starting any business is financially risky. So, if you have a job, and it is your primary source of income, I highly recommend NOT leaving your job until you have done several projects and are sure this is right for you. Many new organizers are quite surprised that being great at organizing yourself is NOT at all the same as helping others learn to organize in ways that really work for them in the long term.  It's not about being neat, or doing it for them.  It's about partnering and co-creating a system that the individual can maintain.

If the business will be your primary source of income, have at LEAST 6-12 months worth of living and business expenses in the bank before you quit your job. Business expenses include a business phone line, credit card merchant account fees, advertising & marketing expenses, website development and hosting fees, and more. Be sure you have a plan and a monthly budget that includes these in addition to your living expenses.

You also need to be honest with yourself about your skills, strengths, weaknesses, and ability to deal with not having a steady income. Running an organizing business means you not only have to be a good organizer, you need to be skilled at marketing, sales, financial / budgeting, technology, writing, and the consulting process.

Working with people and educating them is just as important as your ability to organize stuff. The truth is that you can only spend maybe half your time actually organizing with clients. That said, if you have all the skills, are willing to keep learning, and you really have a passion for organizing, it can a wonderfully challenging and rewarding career.

For More Information:

NSGCD

NAPO

I wish you all the best!

Feng Shui & Getting Married for the First Time over 40?

About 6-7 years ago I discovered Feng Shui. I read several books about it and most of it made sense. Some of it was just too "superstitious" sounding for me. But one day, I met a friend of a friend who had trained to become a Feng Shui consultant. At the time, I was 40 years old and still single. I had been engaged 5 times, and every time something horrible had happened (like he cheated on me) and it didn't work out. So I talked with the Feng Shui Consultant about it and he agreed to come to my home the next week and see if he could help me change the energy in my home and "make room" for and attract someone wonderful into my life.

I was skeptical, but figured it couldn't hurt. He came to my house and after making an evaluation of every room and the whole apartment, he made several suggestions. It was actually surprisingly easy to make the changes.  They made my home feel more inviting and spacious - so I figured it couldn't hurt. Here are a few of the changes I made.

Clear the Books!
First, he had me take all my books out of the bedroom. He said it made me "think too much" in relationships. Ouch. He was right.

No Dried Flowers
He also had me remove all the dried flower arrangements. Easy. (Dead things create stagnant and dead energy.)

Make Room
Then he had me clean out my drawers and closets and make room for someone else to share them with me. Sounds wierd, but once again, I needed to clear the clutter anyway so I did it.

Visualize What You Want
Finally I made a little area with pictures of my friends who had great marriages that I admired.

Results
Okay, so here's the thing, 2 months later I was dating my current husband and

"Clutter-Free Forever!" by Stephanie Roberts

"Clutter-Free Forever!" by Stephanie Roberts - Book Review
Clutter-Free Forever! Website

If you are into Feng Shui, and even if you aren't, this is a program you will love. I love it because it really helps you change the habits that lead to clutter. It features the main book PLUS 6 weeks of lessons, and additional articles by other authors.

Who Should Read This Book
If you have a hard time letting go of sentimental clutter, or if you want to deal with your clutter but just thinking about it makes you tired and overwhelmed, you need motivation and this book / coaching program provides it. Stephanie's writing is warm, crisp and clear. So many books ramble on in dry monologue or repeat them selves to death. She gets to the point without sacrificing style and even makes you smile every now and then.

Compassionate Approach
Only a recovering clutterer who has really been through the transformation and hard work of changing habits could have written a book this insightful. She's been through it and shares so many great tips to deal with the emotional side of letting go. Anyone going through change experiences a predictable cycle of emotions. Support and understanding is the key to getting through the changes and emerging to experience the rewards of your efforts.

Topics Covered
Here are just a few of the chapter titles...

How Clutter Affects Us Helps you understand the high price you pay for hanging on to stuff. This is the key to building your motivation. How many people would have quit smoking if they didn't know how bad it was for you?

Benefits of Clutter Clearing I particularly found her tips on how to use clutter clearing as a way to get over food cravings, lethargy, not wanting to exercise, and helping you focus, very inspirational. I have experienced increased energy and even a kind of euphoria as a result of clearing clutter. But I hadn't really used it in specific ways as she recommends it. But I have to say it really works! Clutter Clearing is one of the most effective anti-depressants, weight loss aids and even relationship improvers available! Think about how much family conflict is caused by different clutter habits!! A disciplined, therapeutic clutter clearing regimen may be even better than drugs at relieving depression, stimulating weight loss and

 

197 Tips for Improving Curb Appeal

One of the services I provide is helping people stage or present their home in the best possible light so that they can get top dollar. So I'm always looking for great resources to help me and my clients make sure they are doing everything they can to make their home look like warm and inviting.   

One of the most valuable things you can do to get the best price for your home is to improve it's curb appeal.  Real Estate Agents often give people lists of homes for sale to consider. Buyers then drive by the homes and tell their agent which houses they want to tour. So that first impression is critical to even getting someone to consider buying your home!

According to the National Association of Realtors, Curb appeal sells 49% of all houses. One resources I use to give clients an idea of the possibilities is this ebook. It has lots of before and after pictures and really great tips!

So if you are planning to sell your home, townhouse, or condo, or commercial property, or if you just want to improve your curb appeal, give this a read. 197 Ways to Improve Curb Appeal

Another really great affordable resource to help you get your home ready to resell is HOME STAGING, FIXUPS AND HOUSE MAKEOVERS It has lots of great ideas including pictures.

Wishing you lots of great curb appeal and a big profit on selling your house!

All the best,