Table Of ContentPraise for Blissful Organization
“A quick and easy read that offers hands-on practical organizing
advice.”
—David Tolin Ph.D, Co-Author of
Buried in Treasures
Director of Anxiety Disorders Center
“Pat has done a great job of capturing simple, yet effective tips to
organize your life.”
—Michael Port, New York Times Bestselling Author of
Book Yourself Solid
“An easy read that offers a collection of practical organizing tips.”
—Judith Kolberg, Author, Founder of the
National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization
“Patricia’s tips help you create order out of chaos, quickly and
easily…nicely done.”
—Alison Larkin, Bestselling Author of
The English American
“A wonderful guide that offers valuable organizing tips.”
—Donna Smallin Kuper, Bestselling Author,
Organizing Expert, Speaker
B lissful O rganization
A Guide to Simple Living
Ideas to consider for conquering clutter and…
achieving peace of mind.
Patricia Diesel
Keep It Simple Now, LLC
Blissful Organization - A Guide to Simple Living
Copyright © 2010, Patricia A. Diesel
Keep It Simple Now, LLC 14 Cottage Street
Basking Ridge, NJ 07920
www.keepitsimplenow.com
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or
mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without express permission of the
author. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means
without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized
electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrightable materials. Your
support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
ISBN: 978-0-9789303-1-8
For more information, please address the publisher.
Publisher’s Note:
Throughout this book, you will see where applicable, all service mark and trademark proprietorships for all
companies and products mentioned. Any mention of a brand name product, company, or web-site should
not be considered an endorsement of that product, company or web-site. The author has no affiliation with
any manufacturer, company or web-site and is not paid to endorse any products.
All information and advice in this book is the result of my experience and research along the way or are
simply common sense. Tips from copyrighted sources are listed and credited accordingly.
This book is dedicated to my mother, Margaret Donnelly Giordano
“A mother’s love is a blessing No matter where you roam Keep her while she’s
living
You’ll miss her when she is gone Love her as in childhood When feeble, old and
grey For you’ll never miss a mother’s love ‘til she’s buried beneath the clay.”
—An Irish Blessing
Acknowledgements
To my Heavenly Father…thank you for my gifts.
To my beautiful daughter, Leigha Michelle…it is you my love that gives me
To my beautiful daughter, Leigha Michelle…it is you my love that gives me
inspiration and the will to do “good” work. You are truly a blessing.
To my Aunt June...your unconditional love continues to set me free. Thank you
for this gift.
To my dear friend, Ben...you have always been there for me and I am forever
grateful. Thank you.
To my soul sister, Catherine...we have many lives to fill and I look forward to
sharing all of them with you. To the one who holds my heart…there are no
words.
Introduction
We are all striving for a lifestyle that lends simplicity to our hectic lives.
As a business owner and parent, I can certainly relate to the importance of
maintaining a life in balance.
It is important to remember though, achieving a state of organization is not about
perfection; it is however about creating a lifestyle that enhances your quality of
life.
With the re-birth of these articles, you may notice some of the content appears
more than once – this recycled information is for the benefit of the reader to help
instill the process of getting organized.
It is my sincere wish you find this book to be a valuable tool in your journey
towards living an organized life. Happy Organizing,
Patricia Diesel
Contents
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi Introduction . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . ix
A FEW THINGS FIRST
Blissful Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Maximize Support - Minimize Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Finding Your Organizational ‘Style’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Feel Good . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
BALANCE & WELL-BEING
Creating A Life In Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
The Art Of Saying “NO”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Decisions Uncluttered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Taking Responsibility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Striving For Perfection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
More Or Less?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
CLUTTER ASSESSmENTS
What’s Your Clutter Score? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Break It Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Determine Your Clutter IQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
CLUTTER DYNAmICS
Clutter Free Kids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Getting Organized For
Back-To-School Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Mission: Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Couples & Clutter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
CLUTTER STRATEGIES
From Treasure To Stranger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Breaking Away From The Mess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
The Cure For Clutter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Plagued By Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Treasure Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Making It Go Away. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
The Body Double . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
FINANCES IN ORDER
Are You Prepared? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Make Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Debt Collectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
HOLIDAY IDEAS
Holiday Tips To Avoid
Stress And Keep Ahead. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Three Simple Ways To
Reduce Holiday Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Thinking Outside The
Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Home For The Holidays. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . 108 On Your List: A Mini-Makeover. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110 What To Give
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Simple Selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . 115
HOmE PROjECTS
Designer Clutter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
What’s In Your Closet?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Lighten The Load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
From Tradition Comes Function. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
LETTING GO
Caring For A Loved One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Paying Tribute To Memories
Can Help Us Move On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Moving Is More Than Packing
Up Your Belongings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
‘Letting Go’ Takes On New Meaning -
Coping With Pet Loss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Life’s Passion Brings Comfort Through Loss . . . . . 150
mINUTE mAkEOvERS
6 Steps To An Organized Kitchen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
The First 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
15-Minute Fixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
mEN THAT mATTER
Decluttering Dad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
5 Steps To Simplifying His Routine . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Sweet Deals For Your Honey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Rewarding Dad. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
About The Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
A FEW THINGS FIRST
Blissful Organization
