There was a fair bit of media attention around hoarders in the last two weeks due to the National Squalor Conference here in Sydney. This little video was posted on YouTube by my dear college Wendy in Melbourne. She clearly is an expert on working with Hoarders.

LessMess is the expert commentator on this week’s feature article on the InShape NewsFlash blog

“Many of us are guilty of having a cluttered household. This, not only makes it stressful to find what we want, when we want it, but it also can lead to health issues.

According to McMillan & Company Professional Organizing, some 80% of clutter in your home or office is the result of disorganisation, rather than a lack of space. They also estimate that by decluttering your home you could eliminate 40 percent of your housework.

Susanne Thiebe, an accredited expert professional organiser who holds a an engineering degree in interior architecture, says that clutter is a health concern.

“Professionally, I realised that people with a lot of clutter often have health issues,” she said. “So by helping them declutter, I help them get healthier,” said Thiebe.

Thiebe says she was motivated to develop her professional organising concept because a lot of customers had health issues.

“It occurred to me that my customers health issues might not be the reason for their clutter, but rather, the other way around,” she said. “You get depressed if you have too much stuff.”

“Just by observation, I realised that some people hold onto stuff and this includes their weight,” said Thiebe. “It’s about change management, loosing fear, embracing new ideas and following healthy routines,” she said. “It might sound like a weight loss program, but it is more of a stuff loss program.”

Thiebe believes that by starting the program and shedding clutter, people often discover that they can lose weight, and vice versa.

“I am motivated by my customers tears of gratitude,” said Thiebe.

Thiebe says that listening to yourself and making time is important.

“Listen to yourself, it’s your life, not someone else’s,” she said. “There is no such thing as ‘not enough time’. If you claim not to have time for something then you should really say that you don’t find it important enough.”

Thiebe believes in incidental exercise and using your daily surroundings to workout. She says that it is vital to maintaining your health and fitness.

“Replace driving with cycling and walking, and take the stairs, not the lift,” she said. “Also have a weekly meal plan and stick to your shopping list.”

Decluttering your life begins with your home and then it progressively develops into a lifestyle choice.

David F. Tobin Ph.D., director of the Anxiety Disorders Center in the United States, says in Consumer Reports on Health that clutter can be hazardous and unhealthy.

“Clutter might create a fire hazard or vermin infestation, or keep them [people leading cluttered lifestyles] from walking around in the house,” said Tobin. “They have an exaggerated attachment to items and that prevents them from discarding things,” he said.

“We recommend cognitive-behavioural therapy, in which we help the person identify and change irrational ways of thinking and practice new patterns of behaviour,” said Tobin.

According to a study conducted by Clutterless Recovery Groups Incorporated, a clutter addict recovery group situated in America, some 74 percent of clutter addicts felt they needed therapy. Some 37 percent of the 1000 people surveyed said they suffered from clutter anxiety, and 24 percent considered themselves to be depressed most of the time.

Karen Kingston, author of ‘Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui’, states in her book that clutter can make you feel tired and lethargic, can affect your body weight and cause confusion, as well as generate a sense of shame.

“A curious fact I have noticed over the years is that people who have lots of clutter in their homes are often overweight,” said Kingston. “I believe this is because both body fat and clutter are forms of self-protection,” she said. “By building layers of fat or clutter around yourself, you hope to cushion yourself against the shocks of life, and particularly against emotions you have difficulty handling.”

being an Architect I know how hard it is to supervise a building site – mainly because you have to have so many different trades on site. You have to manage the timeline for the whole project and be responsive to everyone’s input.

This a about how most mothers do it all – in fact 23 different jobs. And I am sure you can come up with a couple more just reflecting what you have done in the last week

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1307943/Hard-working-mums-jobs-23-DIFFERENT-people.html

I do know it’s a bit overdone by now, the New Year’s resolution thing y… But it’s never too late to improve a bad habit!

This product was invented and is produced by a colleague of mine and it’s one of these oh so simple things that could start a change to the better in your (home) office.

You can buy it through my website by clicking on “shop” on the left side navigation bar and some Australia Post shops stock it, too.

• keeps  your bills organised before, and after you pay them
• saves time  (no more sorting through piles of paperwork)
• helps you avoid paying late fees by keeping track of when your bills are due  (month by month)
• is  convenient and easy to use
• helps track your monthly expenditure
• is a helpful budgeting tool

$20.00 Incl. GST. Plus postage: $3.00 Standard Australia Post. Orders are sent by Australia Post within 5 working day To order please click here and scroll down to the bottom of the page

I have decided, from now on every Monday, I will post a useful link: to a great blog or website, a newspaper article I found over the weekend or, as today, an organising related video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9r85zAeNxE&feature=related

8 steps to managing your warranties and manuals from Paper Flow

this is a small replacement of the not happening back to schoolpost.(If you are looking for one, why not check last years January post?)

My kids love it, although Mr. 8 got into trouble for doing creative things with the rubber band at his lunch break!!
Via: www.athomewithrealfood.blogspot.com
Stop cut apples browning in your child’s lunch box by securing with a rubber band.

and for those who haven’t been in front of their TV last Tuesday – click anywhere on the image below