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SHED Your Stuff, Change Your Life 

Top Takeaways:

Readers will: 
 
1. Learn a practical, transformative plan for managing any change with confidence, courage and mindfulness. 

2. Stop seeing clutter as junk, and start understanding what their clutter represents, and why it’s important.

3. Let go of objects, tasks and behaviors that have been holding them back for years.

4. Free up space, save time and eliminate bad habits.

5-Reconnect to the best, most authentic versions of themselves.

 Top Tips Lists: 

Top 3 Tips on Ways to Get Unstuck

1. Name a theme -- a simple word or phrase that captures the essence of the next chapter of your life.

2. Aim for a radical release -- once you’ve separated the treasures from the trash, let everything else go.

3. Once the clutter is gone, do a completely different, off-track activity to gain a new perspective. 

Top 5 Tips on How to Get Rid of Clutter for Good

1. Recognize that no one lets go into a vacuum -- no one lets go of anything without reaching for something else. Come up with a one word theme for what you are making room for: Connections, Security, Self-acceptance, Freedom, Mobility.

2. Analyze the role the clutter is playing in your life before releasing it. By understanding the role it is playing in your life, you are in a position to find a healthier way to achieve that goal.

3. Before tackling any pile, establish your treasure guidelines. Ask, "if all this were gone tomorrow...what would I miss?" Write that down on a piece of paper, and use it to guide what you keep.

4. Aim for a radical release. Once you’ve separated the treasures from trash, get the trash OUT. Not 2 items a day but in one fell swoop to make room for moving forward -- you should be able to measure the space gained in pounds (remove 100 pounds of stuff from your house) or inches (remove 50 inches of files...) or hours (removed 5 hours of time wasted on a bad habit).

5. Be prepared for the Wall of Panic. After heaving a bunch of stuff, you will have a moment when you feel lost, disoriented, asking who am I without my stuff? What the heck do I do with all this space? Respond not by reaching for what you just tossed, or rushing to fill the space with anything new, but by embracing your identity from within -- know that you have everything you need inside you to reinvent your life

Top 3 Tips to Get Your Life in Order

1. When you’re struggling with a transition, boost your confidence by remembering all the times you’ve managed to survive a difficult situation before.

2. Do an honest assessment of what’s holding you back. What is your weakest discipline: drive, organization, self-confidence, healthy habits or attention?

3. Learn how to live in the moment. And try to keep yourself there.

Top 5 Differences Between Getting Organized vs. SHED

1. You organize to become more efficient. You SHED to get unstuck.

2. Organizing gives you access to what’s most important to you. SHEDing helps you discover what’s most important to you.

3. Something that’s entirely organized but no longer relevant can be SHED. A perfectly organized closet filled with items you no longer use is obsolete and should be released.

4. It’s possible to get organized without throwing anything away. It’s impossible to SHED without letting things go.

5. Organizing is about designing systems so you can function better where you are. SHED is about reducing the volume of stuff so you can go someplace new.

3 Common Misconceptions about Clutter

1. Clutter is just a bunch of junk you should easily be able to toss. Truth: Clutter represents an attachment to something you are struggling to release: an old belief system, obsolete need, or unexpressed part of you that needs to be discovered.

2. Getting rid of clutter will get you organized. Truth: Decluttering will not create a system, it will get you unstuck—by opening up space for something new. It creates the energy, space to think, and time to figure out what’s next.

3. Clutter is always messy. Truth: Clutter is what is obsolete, the objects, things and habits that no longer serve you -- and it doesn’t have to be disorganized. A perfectly arranged closet filled with clothes you never wear is clutter. So is a perfectly organized day filled with activities that no longer fuel you.

5 Things Clutter Can Represent

• Companionship
• Unfulfilled goals
• A part of yourself you’ve put on hold
• Someone else’s view of who you should be
• Old belief system about yourself