Fairy Godmother Closet Design  by Marla Stone

Since we’re spending more time at home, now is the perfect opportunity to gain control of your closet. No more clothes shoved in, no more unsuccessful searches for that tie or belt. An organized closet is a thing of beauty and functionality, and it’s within your reach. Marla Stone, The clutter remedy expert and author of The Clutter Remedy: A Guide To Getting Organized For Those Who Love Their Stuff The Clutter Remedy Book on Amazon
​, supports categorizing and containing everything you own. It doesn’t matter if your renovation project is for a small apartment closet or a spacious walk-in closet – it’s yours, and it can become an inspiring space instead of a source of can’t-find-it stress.

Designing an organized closet involves discovering what you want to keep versus discard. Then, how will everything be stored? If not, call a professional organizer. Next, fitting a combination of hanging rods, dresser drawers, shelving units, and other components into your available space, like a puzzle, in an appealing and helpful configuration will get the job done.

Not all floors or walls are created equal, so there will be lots of measuring and customizing to your space. Through the frustrations and triumphs, you’ll have built a personalized storage space and a closet that will serve you well. 

How to Get Started
One of the first things you want to consider is existing space. How much closet space do you have, or how many can you create? Are you planning on making your closets more prominent? Are you an empty nester, and you’re thinking about turning that small bedroom into the walk-in closet you’ve always longed for? Look at the big picture first, then jot down a quick sketch of what you envision. This fast drawing is a starting point as you assess your wants and budget. It won’t be your final draft; the design will evolve as you consider all the factors.

Designing your own closet organization system is the perfect opportunity to get precisely what you want, as long as you’re flexible regarding cost and other factors. If you share the closet with someone else, seek your partner’s input. With some persistence and a good game plan, you will design the perfect closet. Grab your measuring tape, pencil, paper, or computer design program, and let’s get the ball rolling. Or call a professional home improvement company that you will find on www.theclutterremedy.com

Assessment Phase
You can take stock of your dream closet, your skills, and your budget. Do you think this project is something you can tackle yourself or something best left to a designer? For inspiration and advice, browse design magazines, home improvement websites, and Google images. No closet organization design is the same, so be creative. Visit your local home improvement store for a complimentary closet design consultation.  Contact a local closet specialization company that is an expert in space organization. This will give you great ideas for creative configurations and trends.

Take Stock of All of Your Clothing
Please take a look at your wardrobe. Does your current space give you the room you want, or would you like to enlarge the space? Are your clothing being used, or do you have items you haven’t worn in ages that only take up valuable “real estate?” Count your shoes – how many do you have, and how will they fit into your dream closet? Don’t forget accessories, like belts, ties, scarves, hats, and jewelry.

Measure Carefully and Cautiously
Measuring your space carefully before you start designing, building, or ordering pre-built boxes and shelves. Measure your emptied closet space, including the height from the floor to the ceiling and the width of each wall, considering molding at the bottom of walls or crown molding at the top. Make a note of any electrical outlets, light switches, ducts, doors, windows, or vents. That would affect the placement of shelves or drawers.  As you start designing, include the exact dimensions on paper. Drawing on graph paper is very helpful for this. Ask yourself what the measurements of your overall floor plan are. Don’t forget to consider any space taken up by doors or entryways. Measure the closet dimensions at the front and back, top and bottom, because walls, ceilings, and floors are seldom precisely level. This will affect how well your designed boxes and shelves will fit into the space.

Closet Zones
Think of your closet as having “zones” – rods to hang clothes, shelves, drawers, shoe racks, whatever your needs are in that space. It may help to use blue painter’s tape to mark the outline of those zones: a drawer system, shelves, and a ceiling-to-floor shoe rack. Painter’s tape is easy to remove from walls and flooring, so you can tape, remove, and re-tape as your design shifts.

Ask yourself what items will go into drawers, such as socks, underwear, shorts, or lingerie? Or do you have more hanging clothes, like shirts, skirts, suits, and slacks?  How do you want to store shirts and shorts? Your preferences of how you like things stored are essential for easy, long-term use of your space.

Hanging Storage
One crucial decision is how far up from the floor you’ll place hanging rods for clothes. Do you want storage on the floor underneath? How high is comfortable for you to reach while hanging clothes without grabbing a stool to stand on? When measuring to hang rods, add at least a few inches at the top to get the hangers on and off the rod. Go through your wardrobe and count how many clothes will hang down to the ground, like dresses, suits, or winter coats. You’ll want to make room for these items.  Also, consider whether you prefer to hang slacks full-length, requiring a higher rod, or draped over a hanger, which can ride on a lower rod.

Open Shelving or Drawers?
Do you like open shelving, drawers, or both? Some people prefer drawers for a tidier look and streamlined look. Awkward stacks of sweaters or workout t-shirts can be placed into drawers either rolled or library style. Or, you may prefer shelves to display shoes or handbags. Shelves also offer quick access for those late-for-work, dress-in-a-hurry mornings. This is your closet, so it’s your choice within your budget. Keep in mind that drawers are typically more expensive than shelves. Ask yourself, "Do I want hanging storage for accessories like belts or ties, or do you roll or fold in a pull-out drawer? Keep notepads nearby to jot down ideas as you delve into your specific organizational design.

Jewelry, Hair Jewelry, and Sunglass Drawers
Consider where you’ll store your jewelry, fancy hair designs, and sunglasses when designing your custom closet. Consider drawer inserts that will make everything easier to store and how to keep those items safe, perhaps with a lock on the drawers. Ensure space for a safe for expensive pieces or other valuables. 

Brighten Up Your Space
When dreaming up the perfect closet space, don’t forget about lighting. No one wants to trip in the dark. Consider lighting for a more illuminated experience every time you enter your closet, so include that in your budget. Search for the perfect designer lighting online or at local designer lighting stores.  If it’s a small space, you may be able to install less expensive battery-operated lighting.

Important Considerations
Know how the sections fit together before shopping, ordering, or building. Can you anchor the cabinets or rods into wall studs? How will you attach the shelves to the drawer units? Are you building some or all components or buying some pieces from a home improvement or design store? Ask where everything is made and what the pieces are made of. Are they solid wood or particle board? Are they sourced locally or from out of the country? Pre-assembled systems can work better for a custom space and cost less than purchasing custom-made pieces. You can assemble and install them yourself or get a professional to help you. Keep your budget in mind as you consider all the different types of systems, the prices, the materials, and where they are made.

Design Trends - For You or Not At All?
Please look at websites and stores to see the new trends and designs in custom closets. There may be custom features, like shelves or lighting, that you’ll want to incorporate into your space.
Once you’ve settled on the configuration and products, take the time to consider the materials. Do you prefer an ultra-modern, traditional, or eclectic design? Do you like the sleek look of shiny metals or crystals? Clean, white lines? Will you choose wood, such as oak, pine, or cherry, to match your bathroom or bedroom decor? Does your dream closet include a mirror, chair, or bench for dressing convenience? Did you have a sit-down vanity area for makeup and grooming? Perhaps you want a couch or an island in the center of the space.

It’s time to start drawing designs. Do you prefer your drawers on the right side, center, or left side? You’ll want a design that satisfies all your personal closet desires and one you’ll be happy with. Armed with exact measurements, shop around to find what meets your design and pocketbook. If you’re on a budget, check Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, second-hand stores, and other sources for used components you can incorporate and then paint to match the different sections for a unified look.

Declutter and Donate
Once you finish installing your custom-designed system, it’s time to move your belongings back. Then, step back and admire your new space. It was worth the time and effort, wasn’t it? When repopulating your closet, use the opportunity to declutter with ideas from The Clutter Remedy: A Guide To Getting Organized For Those Who Love Their Stuff. This book teaches you how to be a pro at organizing. Suggestions: First, categorize everything you own. Go through your wardrobe, including shoes, ties, suits, and handbags, and ask yourself The Clutter Remedy questions.

1. Will I use it?
2. Do you think it serves a purpose?
3. Is it sentimental?
4. Do I love it? ***When some things don’t meet your criteria for #akeep, consider giving them a new life elsewhere by donating gently used items to a thrift store or a homeless shelter.

You can keep it that way now that you have the closet of your dreams. Stay organized perpetually by going through the closet once a day, picking up stray clothes, wandering shoes, or wayward accessories, and putting them back home. Retaining everything in its place can become a healthy habit, making finding what you want much more accessible. Dust the surfaces and banish cobwebs and dust bunnies. Caring for your organization's proponents will ensure years of dependable, beautiful function.

TheClutterRemedy.com The Clutter Remedy Book on Amazon
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A messy and disorganized office impacts your ability to do your best work. Engaging a business organizer in Orange County, Los Angeles, or San Diego would be a good idea if you want to grow and flourish in your practice, business, or organization. Nationally, we specialize in Feng Shui, decor re-design and business coaching, hoarder help, ADHD, ADD, anxiety, depression, and anything that impacts getting and staying organized.

Having a well-planned corporate or small business space so your best work can be accomplished involves a professional organizer’s expertise, organizing jobs for each and every employee so they can, in turn, learn how to stay organized. It is one thing for planners and organizers to come in and get you organized to the bone, but how you and your employees keep up the space is another.

The difference between a good organizer and a great organizer is helping you and everyone you work with from the outside and inside out.

Having your office Feng Shui style also impacts the business's health, prosperity, customer relations, employee relations, fame and recognition, individual career opportunities, and creative flow and energy. If your desk faces a wall or window with your back to the door, you will always have things coming out of the blue. You’ll be thinking, where did that come from? Or what’s going on around here? I wasn’t expecting that!! It also symbolically means you're not facing the world or looking forward to new opportunities. Living an organized life in an organized office means all the difference to your business practices. Having your office in Feng Shui style means good energy and flow will abide, and you will look forward to being at work. Having your office and cubicle in Feng Shui style will also be a creative way to get organized and stay organized. Everything has a home according to Feng Shui principles. Also, it will be interesting to see if you are in the prosperity area of your business (significant for the boss, CEO, or owner) or the career area (better for receptionist).

Remember, the outer is a reflection of the inner you!
And your office space is the reflection of your business practices!! Believe me, your customers will notice when you have an ideal workplace! To get to the grit of neat and orderly, order, The Clutter Remedy Book on Amazon by Marla Stone, MSW.
Your fame and reputation will be enhanced with a nicely organized, well-planned office space while flaring up your fame and reputation area (far back wall in the center, from the front door). The company's health (center of the floor plan) depends on the organization, well-organized employees, and well-organized paper system, ideally becoming a “Green” business and going paperless. A well-planned cubicle system is also essential. Remember, nobody’s back should be to the opening, and ideally, everyone in the space could easily see the main entrance to the whole office.

Having a more linear approach to doing business and time management practices is an excellent way to increase business productivity and efficiency. You want to do things step by step and create a pattern of achievement, rather than a haphazard approach, finishing parts of projects and then moving on to the next.

Getting a linear approach to business involves being smart with your smartphone, inputting essential events into your calendar, ensuring it is shared to your desktop, checking your calendar, emailing confirmations to the people in your calendar, and following through and being on time to appointments.

If you suffer from symptoms of ADD / ADHD, it may be challenging to follow through linearly, but you can learn the methods Marla Stone teaches to simplify your life by taking fewer steps to follow through on your plans, ideas, inventions, thoughts,
www.i-deal-lifestyle.com

1.    Space Analysis of your space and figure out what you want to use it for.  For instance, do you like to park your car in your garage, or will it be a workshop or a kids' playroom?  Understand that you want to use the space for more than one activity and realize the potential of the space and all that it can be.  Make drawings of what you think it would look like even if you don't draw well.  Cut out pictures from magazines of ideas you have for the space.  Visualize the space in your mind’s eye.  Discuss the space with family and friends and generate ideas.  Call a professional organizer, designer, or home improvement company for free consultations about your space.  Next, take everything out of your space so you can see it clearly. To get really informed on decluttering and become your own personal organizer, read The Clutter Remedy Book on Amazon.
2.    Find an area to sort through the things you will keep and the items you will eliminate. Take everything out of the space.  Starting with an empty space will help you determine a home for everything you are keeping and give you a blank canvas to design the space from scratch. Categorize everything you own, then review each item and ask yourself four questions. "Will I use it?" "Does it serve a purpose?" "Is it sentimental?" and "Do I love it?" Anything not meeting the above criteria can be donated, gifted, sold, or thrown responsibly in the trash or recycled.

3.    Eliminate.  Of course, the most challenging part is eliminating stuff that you have held onto for some reason or another…and guess what, if you haven’t used it for years and aren’t sure when you will, it is still challenging to get rid of stuff.  

​4.    Putting Everything in its place. I always say there is a home for everything, and it’s true.  You will find a home for every item you want in your space.  The reason it is a good idea to have a home for everything is simple…stuff will end up back where it belongs, and it will be easy to find when you want it.  Since you designed the space beforehand, moving everything into place will be straightforward.  There are great tools at the hardware store for rolling and sliding heavy pieces if there are heavy items.  This is also a time to hire a handyman or get some handy friends over if you need things hung, pictures, racks, wall units put together, etc.…  Once you're finished, sit and relax and take it all in.

5.    Sit and Relax and take it all in.  Finally, your space is complete.  This is a time to use the space and see if it works for you.  You may want to make adjustments, move things around, and even eliminate more stuff you realize you won’t use in the space.  You may also like to purchase some new items for your space.  Reflect on the space and ensure it is how you imagined it.  Hopefully, with all the planning and carefully considered steps, your space is perfect for you!

Consulting business and residential occupants is easy when you are a NAPO Professional Organizer.  Working with a NAPO organizer makes all the difference. Many people running around call themselves "Professional Organizers," but NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers) Organizers are trained regularly in all the upcoming and current ways to get and stay organized.

www.i-deal-lifestyle.com

The Clutter Remedy Book on Amazon
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We all know the saying “Follow the yellow brick road” from The Wizard of Oz.  I can’t help it…” Follow,  follow, follow, follow, follow the yellow brick road.” Following a path without any idea of where you are going is nonsense.  Also, “The blind leading the blind” comes to mind. And we all know that when Dorothy and crew wound up at the Wizard’s door, he did not have all the answers.  The better answers about each of their directions in life came from the support and or confrontation between Dorothy, the lion, the scarecrow, the tin man, the good and evil witch, and let’s not forget the munchkins.  Ultimately, each individual determined their weaknesses, strengths, and golden path, not the yellow one.

The most profound and usually correct answers for every life challenge we face are all stored within each of us. Test it out. When you are relaxed, ask yourself about something you have been pondering. Am I in the correct relationship? The answer will be there inside you. You will hear a yes or no answer coming from within. Am I in the proper job? A yes or no will resound. You can even go further and ask, "Why?" Answers will come from your inner voice!

People are in force telling themselves and everyone else what they "need" to do, what they "should" do, or what they "could" do, but does anyone else really know what is best for you without you first identifying what you truly want in life? Have you thought about what you truly value in life? Could you make a list of what you value most in life now? I guarantee you it is not the values of your past.  Check-in with your present self and figure it out. Past values may have been socialization, school, parties, clear skin, and fame. Now values could include time to read a good book, have leisure time, tight skin, garden, get-togethers with close friends and/or family, and your kid's accomplishments. Depending on your life stage, the value system will change. Being clear on your values will help you set life goals. Life goals are essential if you want to get on the golden path!

The beginning of change is to identify what is not working for you in the present. Ask yourself what part of life you are not enjoying. What makes you feel tough? What feels overwhelming, exhausting, or depressing? Decide how to decrease those aspects of your life immediately. If carting the kids around makes you feel degraded as if you are a bus driver, look for a carpool; if it is cooking, find a neighbor who loves to cook, and trade a task that you enjoy, such as doing hair or makeup for her, or babysitting for her. I would gladly cook for a neighbor if she pet-sits my chihuahua child so I could spend more time working or traveling without the guilt of leaving the little guy alone. Let’s say you abhor gardening, and your friend loves it, but she can’t stand shopping by herself or doesn’t have the stylist talents that you have. Exchange the gardening for personal shopper services.

There was a famous therapist named Virginia Satir, a master at group therapy. Virginia Satir’s most outstanding talent was connecting people to people and creating support systems for her clients. She would have a group and find out one could sew, another stayed home with a child, and another was a carpenter. Connecting how each group member would help and support another towards their dream was a fantastic talent Virginia Satir possessed. Virginia found that the most significant social dilemma was insufficient support from family, friends, or neighbors. People became too proud to ask for help. Let’s face it: many of us live across the country from our relatives; we don’t live in ethnic and cultural neighborhoods any longer, and we have lost our physical connections to friends and family. Neighbors tend to drive into the garage and close the door behind.

Please feel free to reach out and touch your neighbor. They most likely like the camaraderie and could use the company and your help. Move closer to family if they are supportive, go to support groups, and create links and networks to help you on your life path. Okay, here it comes….” people who need people are the luckiest in the world.” Hum along!

Organize your life and live an organized living situation; get organized by following what you dream about. Add friendly ways to manage your life by creating neighborhood barbecues, potlucks, and get-togethers. You can just organize your mind and figure out what you value.

www.i-deal-lifestyle.com

Feng Shui principles work to help space challenges or disturbances. Challenges could be the home’s architecture or landscaping, which can disturb the flow of the “chi” (good energy, thoughts, and ideas). A Bagua is a tool to identify specific areas of your space. When used as a template for organizing, the Bagua map helps you with space planning, furniture placement, choosing the decor, and how everything will most beneficially and functionally suit you. Check out the e-book “Organize your home with Feng Shui template” at http://www.i-deal-lifestyle.com/e-book.com to Feng Shui your space.
http://www.i-deal-lifestyle.com/e-book.html and to learn more about organizing like a pro, read The Clutter Remedy Book on Amazon
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To utilize the Bagua map, hold it in your hands, standing at the front entrance of your home to identify the nine areas of your home. Visualize the bagua template placed over your floor plan from the front of your home, where you enter. You will then determine if your front door is in the knowledge, wisdom, career, or helping people and travel area. If you are standing at your front entrance and the door is to the far left, you are entering through knowledge and wisdom. If your front door is in the middle of the home, you are entering through Career, and if your front door is to the right of the home’s front, then you enter through Helping People and Travel. So, if you can identify the bottom part of the bagua, the rest of the floor plan will be readily determined if and only if you have a rectangular or square home. But here’s the thing: Most of us do not have a perfectly rectangular or square home. Do a second floor; it may have some parts, and even if we miss it, it duplicates the first floor exactly. So what do you do if some part of your home is missing a bagua area or overextends outside of the bagua area? The link to the e-book will be very helpful to understand Feng Shui better.

Placement of furniture, trees, vases, equipment, family photos, books, chairs, tables, lighting, artwork, electrical equipment, telephones, and wires must be considered to protect the “chi” from affecting the inhabitants. Open doors must be protected when facing stairwells so the “chi” does not leave the space. Staircases that come down towards your front door let out all the excellent chi energy from your top floor. Putting a red carpet at the bottom of the stairs can stop the good energy from escaping out the front door or letting in negative energy from the street. Windows or mirrors facing each other in rooms, or no windows, keep energy keyed up. A landscaping faux pas is a tree directly in front of your front door, blocking any good energy from entering the home. Furniture placed in a blocking way instead of open to the entrance of a room can fiercely impact you.

A friend had his couch blocking part of the entrance to his front door (career area), and his business dropped in sales significantly. When I saw the placement of his couch, I asked him if he was having business challenges, and he asked, “How did you know?” Well, that is what a Feng Shui specialist knows! For instance, when you walk into a room, and the back of a couch faces you, or the back of a chair or your desk’s chair backs to the entrance of a room, it is not only a block in that part of your Bagua, it symbolizes things that just keep coming up from behind, challenges that come “out of the blue.” It is just poor decor in most cases. If there is absolutely no other way to place the couch, desk, bed, or any pieces of furniture facing the back of the entrance, then you must have a mirror positioned so that, when sitting or lying down, you can look into the mirror to see the gate or door to the room. Also, your bed placement is so important. No bed should be in the path of your bedroom doorway. When your feet face an open door, lying down, or sitting in a chair, this is the coffin position and can result in the “D” Word. I don’t want to say the D word, but that is what the Masters of Feng Shui propose.

The colors of your walls interior and exterior, types of objects, odd-shaped rooms, beams or sharp corners, where the bathrooms or kitchens are located, and what is painted in a painting, depending on where the painting is placed, can all affect the energy and prosperity, health, relationships, recognition, personally and professionally, for all who work or live in the space.

Going deeper into Feng Shui, you would want to know the year your home was built and the direction the front door faces, whether east, west, north, or south, or a combination of two directions.  You will also learn how to determine the best position for your bed by calculating your birthdate information. Which way your home or business faces can determine fortune or misfortune, even if it looks aesthetically pleasing. Feng Shui can correct most architectural, landscaping, and decor challenges while enhancing all areas of yourself and your space with the building or home.

Getting help from a Feng Shui specialist helps you with what you choose to bring into your home or what to eliminate. Make good choices about your desired art since art pieces reflect your space's intentions. Each decor has different colors, is made of different elements, and can be matched to the best area of your home. Plants and/or trees in and outside sources for better energy flow or symbolize positively or negatively based on where they are home can be placed to increase good energy and flow. What kind of furniture, or anything you bring into your space, can mean good or bad health to the people that use the space.

www.theclutterremedy.com

a.co/d/6YfPHSQDid you move your bedroom furniture around over and over as a child? Were you the messy one who learned the hard way from your parent always telling you to clean your room?  Were you challenged with ADD or ADHD and had difficulty feeling balanced in your environment? You created creative coping strategies to be organized. You may be a natural at-home organization, organizing businesses, organizing systems, organizing people, and helping others manage their lives.  Whatever reason you have for wanting to organize it doesn’t matter. It takes a particular person to enter other people’s homes and businesses, the closet, kitchen, whole home, and even garage organization. Not everyone wants to go through other people’s stuff. Nor do all people feel comfortable having someone go through their personal belongings.

I belong to an Organizer’s network. We are all professional organizers, and we meet once a month. You would have to laugh to see how excited we get while talking about organizing a pantry. You would think we were discussing going to Paris or getting an Oscar. 

It is one thing to want to be a Professional Organizer and start handing out cards. Another is to build a website or business without overhead, create a niche so you are seen as an expert, and get your name and business on the first page of Google. It is also essential for you to know the population that you will be serving.

Many people who call on a professional organizer may face emotional and/or physical challenges. It could become an awkward and unsuccessful quicksand situation if you do not have a background in working with people with challenges.  Learning about mental health challenges like ADD, ADHD, OCD, obsessive-compulsive personality challenges, hoarding, collecting and acquiring, and or over-collecting will be one of the most valuable courses you can take before becoming an experienced professional organizer.

The other part of being a successful and established professional organizer is joining NAPO, the National Association of Productivity and Efficiency Experts, which gives you approval. They also have beautiful conferences where you can learn oodles of information to help you know more about the organizing business. Also, NAPO has a great code of ethics that they require you to uphold, and every item code is a good idea and over yourself, and you will help you c business.

The most crucial part of starting is building a website and advertising yourself.  The second part of being a great organizer is to get educated.  Learning the best way to organize a children’s room is not rocket science, but knowing how your client works, helping them understand how to be managed independently, doing assessments to give excellent space planning, and following up takes experience. Why reinvent the wheel when you can learn from the best in the business. The most important part, however, is to educate yourself, and the "bible" of organizing is The Clutter Remedy: A Guide To Getting Organized For Those Who Love Their Stuff. 

The Clutter Remedy strategies will help you every step of the way to become an experienced organizer.  Marla Stone, the founder of The Clutter Remedy, has her BA in Psychology and a Master’s in Social Work. 

Home organizer Marla Stone, a former social worker, discovered our language creates chronic disorganization, hoarding, and even living in squalor. “We don’t use the word 'will' any more.” Marla explains that we do not “Will” ourselves to do projects, pick up the kids, follow through, and declutter our lives. She states, “People have replaced the word will with need, and everybody is needling themselves to death.” She insists that” I need” is used most in all human languages. The other phrase besides “I need” is “I have to”. She quickly reminds us that “needs” and “have-to haves” are necessities. “Need has even changed in the dictionary to mean a 'want,' or something desired, and it is an incorrect use of the word need."

The true meaning of the word need is necessity, the seven things that keep us alive. Air, water, food, sleep, elimination, shelter, and sunlight are essential to staying alive; if we don’t have them, we will eventually die sooner rather than later. Marla explains, “These seven items are the essential things in life that keep us alive.” Some will argue surgery or medications,een many a person not go into surgery or take their meds, but Marla has s and they are still alive. So she explains that everything else in life is a “want or a don’t want.”

You either want to get organized, or you don’t. Most people don’t wake up every morning wanting to do laundry, put away the dishes, and clear out the garage, but you can use a different language and say, “I don’t want to clean up and get organized, but I will because……” Marla says, “Figure it out, what you want, what you don’t want, and this way, you will start willing yourself to do what it takes to accomplish your daily and life-long goals." She carefully adds, “When you say that you need to do something and that something is not an actual need, the subconscious mind catches it as a lie, and it will derail you from what you want to accomplish.”

Another part of the language discovery for improving concentration, motivation, and follow-through is ceasing all indecisive language. Indecisive language is “I’ll try” (the second most used phrase in human language), maybe, perhaps, if, someday, sometime, might, but, I’ll think about it, we’ll see, sounds good, sure, I can’t commit for sure, yeah, yeah, yeah, and I don’t know (trendy statement). We use hundreds of other indecisive language phrases daily without knowing we are doing it.

“The most important and the saddest part of the destruction of our human language is that we no longer use 'feeling' words or adjectives.” Marla explains that we make statements such as “I feel like” or "I feel that,” followed by a poorly thought-out thought, altogether skipping over the actual feelings. There are 200,000 plus adjectives in English, and we only use about two or three per week. The words frustrated and pissed seem to be the most widespread feelings, followed by upset and depressed. Marla explains that people have “not stopped feeling lonely, pathetic, disengaged, trapped, misunderstood, empty, sensitive, indignant or enthused, joyful, ecstatic or enraptured. We have stopped using all these wonderful adjectives to describe what is happening emotionally, making us robotic-like people. We are afraid to feel. When we do feel deep or dark feelings, we push the feeling away with statements such as 'I feel that he doesn’t understand me' or 'I feel like this is not going to happen,' and this is the main problem facing civilization". The idea that you would say “I feel,” without an actually feeling word (adjective) is improper English. Listen and count how many times you say
"I need," only to prove to yourself how attached you are to the word need.

You can find all this information in her book The Clutter Remedy Book on Amazon.

“The idea behind all three language challenges is that we are incredibly needy, indecisive, and robotic. This language barrier to our inner processes prevents us from getting ourselves, our homes, and our lives in order. Marla’s theory of how language is creating and perpetuating chronic disorganization is one of a kind. “When I researched indecisive language, need versus want, and the lack of adjectives in human language, there was hardly anything about this, almost zilch. I was astonished. Even exceptionally well-thought-out people, doctors, attorneys, scientists, professors, and highly educated researchers are all using poor language and defeating their dreams and goals. This is not just a colloquialism challenge; this is the destruction of our being human, having verbal expression, and then being motivated by our expression.

It is unfortunate that, as human beings, there is a loss of will to thrive and be productive, a loss of our ability to communicate our feelings, and a deep neediness for everything.

Marla thinks that chronic TV watching, electronic game playing, long bouts of internet use, and mindless romance or thriller books have much to do with losing our excellent language skills and communication ability. People are so absorbed in these “non-living” activities that they stop living their own lives.

Marla Stone, MSW, Lifestyle Coach, Professional Organizer, Décor, and Feng Shui Specialist, helps people unlock OCD, ADD, ADHD, Chronic Disorganization, and overaccumulation and collecting behaviors.
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