60 Small Ways to Improve Your Life in the Next 100 Days

 by Marelisa Fabrega 

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to make drastic changes in order to notice an improvement in the quality of your life. At the same time, you don’t need to wait a long time in order to see the measurable results that come from taking positive action. All you have to do is take small steps, and take them consistently, for a period of 100 days.

Below you’ll find 60 small ways to improve all areas of your life in the next 100 days.

Home

1.  Create a “100 Days to Conquer Clutter Calendar” by penciling in one group of items you plan to declutter every day, for the next 100 days.  Here’s an example:

• Day 1: Declutter Magazines
• Day 2: Declutter DVD’s
• Day 3: Declutter books
• Day 4: Declutter kitchen appliances

2. Live by the mantra: a place for everything and everything in its place. For the next 100 days follow these four rules to keep your house in order:

• If you take it out, put it back.
• If you open it, close it.
• If you throw it down, pick it up.
• If you take it off, hang it up.

3. Walk around your home and identify 100 things you’ve been tolerating; fix one each day. Here are some examples:

• A burnt light bulb that needs to be changed.
• A button that’s missing on your favorite shirt.
• The fact that every time you open your top kitchen cabinet all of the plastic food containers fall out.

Happiness

4.  Follow the advice proffered by positive psychologists and write down 5 to 10 things that you’re grateful for, every day.

5. Make a list of 20 small things that you enjoy doing, and make sure that you do at least one of these things every day for the next 100 days. Your list can include things such as the following:

• Eating your lunch outside.
• Calling your best friend to chat.
• Taking the time to sit down and read a novel by your favorite author for a few minutes.

6. Keep a log of your mental chatter, both positive and negative, for ten days. Be as specific as possible:

• How many times do you beat yourself up during the day?
• Do you have feelings of inadequacy?
• Are you constantly thinking critical thoughts of others?
• How many positive thoughts do you have during the day?

Also, make a note of the emotions that accompany these thoughts. Then, for the next 90 days, begin changing your emotions for the better by modifying your mental chatter.

7. For the next 100 days, have a good laugh at least once a day: get one of those calendars that has a different joke for every day of the year, or stop by a web site that features your favorite cartoons.

Learning/Personal Development

8. Choose a book that requires effort and concentration and read a little of it every day, so that you read it from cover to cover in 100 days.

9. Make it a point to learn at least one new thing each day: the name of a flower that grows in your garden, the capital of a far-off country, or the name of a piece of classical music you hear playing in your favorite clothing boutique as you shop. If it’s time for bed and you can’t identify anything you’ve learned that day, take out your dictionary and learn a new word.

10. Stop complaining for the next 100 days. A couple of years back, Will Bowen gave a purple rubber bracelet to each person in his congregation to remind them to stop complaining. “Negative talk produces negative thoughts; negative thoughts produce negative results”, says Bowen. For the next 100 days, whenever you catch yourself complaining about anything, stop yourself.

11. Set your alarm a minute earlier every day for the next 100 days. Then make sure that you get out of bed as soon as your alarm rings, open the windows to let in some sunlight, and do some light stretching. In 100 days you’ll be waking up an hour and forty minutes earlier than you’re waking up now.

12. For the next 100 days, keep Morning Pages, which is a tool suggested by Julia Cameron. Morning Pages are simply three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning.

13. For the next 100 days make it a point to feed your mind with the thoughts, words, and images that are most consistent with who you want to be, what you want to have, and what you want to achieve.

Finances

14. Create a spending plan (also known as a budget). Track every cent that you spend for the next 100 days to make sure that you’re sticking to your spending plan.

15. Scour the internet for frugality tips, choose ten of the tips that you find, and apply them for the next 100 days.  Here are some possibilities:

• Go to the grocery store with cash and a calculator instead of using your debit card.
• Take inventory before going to the grocery store to avoid buying repeat items.
• Scale back the cable.
• Ask yourself if you really need a landline telephone.
• Consolidate errands into one trip to save on gas.

Keep track of how much money you save over the next 100 days by applying these tips.

16. For the next 100 days, pay for everything with paper money and keep any change that you receive. Then, put all of your change in a jar and see how much money you can accumulate in 100 days.

17. Don’t buy anything that you don’t absolutely need for 100 days. Use any money you save by doing this to do one of the following:

• Pay down your debt, if you have any.
• Put it toward your six month emergency fund.
• Start setting aside money to invest.

18. Set an hour aside every day for the next 100 days to devote to creating one source of passive income.

Time Management

19. For the next 100 days, take a notebook with you everywhere in order to keep your mind decluttered. Record everything, so that it’s safely stored in one place—out of your head—where you can decide what to do with it later. Include things such as the following:

• Ideas for writing assignments.
• Appointment dates.
• To Do list items

20. Track how you spend your time for 5 days. Use the information that you gather in order to create a time budget: the percentage of your time that you want to devote to each activity that you engage in on a regular basis. This can include things such as:

• Transportation
• Housework
• Leisure
• Income-Generating Activities

Make sure that you stick to your time budget for the remaining 95 days.

21. Identify one low-priority activity which you can stop doing for the next 100 days, and devote that time to a high priority task instead.

22. Identify five ways in which you regularly waste time, and limit the time that you’re going to spend on these activities each day, for the next 100 days. Here are three examples:

• Watch no more than half-an-hour of television a day.
• Spend no more than half-an-hour each day on social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Stumbleupon.
• Spend no more than twenty minutes a day playing video games.

23. For the next 100 days, stop multi-tasking; do one thing at a time without distractions.

24. For the next 100 days, plan your day the night before.

25. For the next 100 days, do the most important thing on your To-Do list first, before you do anything else.

26. For the next 14 weeks, conduct a review of each week. During your weekly review, answer the following:

• What did you accomplish?
• What went wrong?
• What went right?

27. For the next 100 days, spend a few minutes at the end of each day organizing your desk, filing papers, and making sure that your work area is clean and orderly, so that you can walk in to a neat desk the next day.

28. Make a list of all of the commitments and social obligations that you have in the next 100 days. Then, take out a red pen and cross out anything that does not truly bring you joy or help move you along the path to achieving your main life goals.

29. For the next 100 days, every time that you switch to a new activity throughout the day stop and ask yourself, “Is this the best use of my time at this moment?”

Health

30. Losing a pound of fat requires burning 3500 calories.  If you reduce your caloric intake by 175 calories a day for the next 100 days, you’ll have lost 5 pounds in the next 100 days.

31. For the next 100 days, eat five servings of vegetables every day.

32.  For the next 100 days, eat three servings of fruit of every day.

33. Choose one food that constantly sabotages your efforts to eat healthier—whether it’s the decadent cheesecake from the bakery around the corner, deep-dish pizza, or your favorite potato chips—and go cold turkey for the next 100 days.

34.  For the next 100 days, eat from a smaller plate to help control portion size.

35. For the next 100 days, buy 100% natural juices instead of the kind with added sugar and preservatives.

36. For the next 100 days, instead of carbonated drinks, drink water.

37. Create a list of 10 healthy, easy to fix breakfast meals.

38. Create a list of 20 healthy, easy to fix meals which can be eaten for lunch or dinner.

39. Create a list of 10 healthy, easy to fix snacks.

40. Use your lists of healthy breakfast meals, lunches, dinners, and snacks in order to plan out your meals for the week ahead of time. Do this for the next 14 weeks.

41. For the next 100 days, keep a food log. This will help you to identify where you’re deviating from your planned menu, and where you’re consuming extra calories.

42. For the next 100 days, get at least twenty minutes of daily exercise.

43. Wear a pedometer and walk 10,000 steps, every day, for the next 100 days. Every step you take during the day counts toward the 10,000 steps:

• When you walk to your car.
• When you walk from your desk to the bathroom.
• When you walk over to talk to a co-worker, and so on.

44. Set up a weight chart and post it up in your bathroom. Every week for the next 14 weeks, keep track of the following:

• Your weight.
• Your percentage of body fat.
• Your waist circumference.

45. For the next 100 days, set your watch to beep once an hour, or set up a computer reminder, to make sure that you drink water on a regular basis throughout the day.

46. For the next 100 days, make it a daily ritual to mediate, breath, or visualize every day in order to calm your mind.

Your Relationship

47.   For the next 100 days, actively look for something positive in your partner every day, and write it down.

48. Create a scrapbook of all the things you and your partner do together during the next 100 days. At the end of the 100 days, give your partner the list you created of positive things you observed about them each day, as well as the scrapbook you created.

49. Identify 3 actions that you’re going to take each day, for the next 100 days, in order to strengthen your relationship. These can include the following:

• Say “I love you” and “Have a good day” to your significant other every morning.
• Hug your significant other as soon as you see each other after work.
• Go for a twenty minute walk together every day after dinner; hold hands.

Social

50. Connect with someone new every day for the next 100 days, whether it’s by greeting a neighbor you’ve never spoken to before, following someone new on Twitter, leaving a comment on a blog you’ve never commented on before, and so on.

51. For the next 100 days, make it a point to associate with people you admire, respect and want to be like.

52. For the next 100 days, when someone does or says something that upsets you, take a minute to think over your response instead of answering right away.

53. For the next 100 days, don’t even think of passing judgment until you’ve heard both sides of the story.

54. For the next 100 days do one kind deed for someone every day, however small, even if it’s just sending a silent blessing their way.

55. For the next 100 days, make it a point to give praise and approval to those who deserve it.

56. For the next 100 days, practice active listening. When someone is talking to you, remain focused on what they’re saying, instead of rehearsing in your head what you’re going to say next. Paraphrase what you think you heard them say to make sure that you haven’t misinterpreted them, and encourage them to elaborate on any points you’re still not clear about.

57. Practice empathy for the next 100 days. If you disagree with someone, try to see the world from their perspective; put yourself in their shoes. Be curious about the other person, about their beliefs and their life experience, and about the thinking process that they followed to reach their conclusions.

58. For the next 100 days, stay in your own life and don’t compare yourself to anyone else.

59. For the next 100 days, place the best possible interpretation on the actions of others.

60. For the next 100 days, keep reminding yourself that everyone is doing the best that they can.

Marelisa Fabrega

Marelisa holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., as well as a Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center. She lives in the Republic of Panama. Marelisa blogs about creativity, productivity, and getting the most out of life over at Abundance Blog at Marelisa Online. She's the author of the eBooks "How to Live Your Best Life - The Essential Guide for Creating and Achieving Your Life List", and "Make It Happen! A Workbook for Overcoming Procrastination and Getting the Right Things Done".

Of course you don't have to do everything on this list. Pick out the "tiny projects" that would do the most good for you. Since I am still in declutter mode, I'll pick those special ideas. Plus one or two of the health ones. Those are my priorities at the moment!
Linda

Eat That Frog with Swiss Cheese!

Eat That Frog!






In “Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time” Brian Tracy recommends that you think continually of ways to save, schedule, and consolidate large chunks of time. Then, use that time to work on your most important tasks. However, if you don’t have a large chunk of time available to work on an important task, such as a report that’s due in a couple of weeks, it’s a mistake to keep postponing the task until you do have a few hours of uninterrupted time.

Instead, you should apply the “Swiss Cheese Approach”. This is a method that was introduced by Alan Lakein in his book, “How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life”. Of course, Swiss cheese is easily recognizable because it’s full of holes. According to Lakein, “the underlying assumption of the Swiss cheese approach is that it is indeed possible to get something started in five minutes or less. And once you’ve started, you’ve given yourself the opportunity to keep going.”

In a nutshell, the Swiss Cheese Approach consists of the following:

• Work in small holes of time, such as fifteen minutes, twenty minutes, or half an hour.
• Poke small holes into a large task on a consistent basis.

This approach works for the following reasons:

• Once you get started on a task, it no longer looks as difficult and overwhelming as it did before you got started.
• By poking small holes in a project you’ll be making constant progress at a good pace.
• This approach allows you to create a sense of forward momentum.
• Each time that you get a little bit of the task done, it gives you a feeling of accomplishment.
• You’re making good use of small pockets of time, instead of wasting that time.

When you only have fifteen or twenty minutes to work on your project, instead of telling yourself that you’re better off waiting until you have more time to work on it, ask yourself the following questions:

• “What can I get done in these fifteen minutes?”
• “Is there a small segment of the project that I can get started on?”
• “How can I use this time to poke a small hole into this project?”

Keep poking holes into the project whenever you have a few minutes to spare, and soon you’ll be surprised to discover that you’re practically done with the project.

Cut Your Clutter Calories! - 7 Ways to Prevent Clutter from clutterdiet.com
Lorie Morrero

Just like cutting down on your candy consumption, preventing clutter from being created is the first step toward reducing your organizational “weight gain.” Here are a few tips to help you cut those clutter calories:

1. Control your “clutter cravings.” People often seem to have an appetite for purchasing certain things, but just like food cravings, you really can overcome your urge to collect. Get comfortable with the concept of “enough.” Avoid the places that encourage your particular collecting behavior, and if you must go, have a targeted approach to something you’ve planned ahead to buy. You may even need to bring a friend to “talk you down.” Here are some examples of places that are the clutter calorie equivalent of going to Krispy Kreme:

Garage sales
Flea markets
Souvenir shops
Discount stores
Used bookstores
Shoe stores

2. Deal with things as they come. Mail, dishes, and laundry are continuous sources of clutter. You can probably think of a few more examples of “continuous clutter” yourself. These processes are not going to stop, and accepting that is the first step in dealing with the problem.

To battle clutter, you must have systems and routines for dealing with it, usually on a daily basis. Can you imagine if the post office let letters and packages stack up, and at the end of the week the workers acted really surprised and panicked about delivering all of it? Of course not! They know it’s their business to deliver mail, and they have systems and routines in place to make that happen--daily. Our homes are no different. We need to accept the fact that we are also in the business of processing mail--and laundry and dishes-- and deal with these things as they come each day. No more ignoring these items and acting surprised when they have stacked up!

3. Stop extra postal mail, unsolicited phone calls, and junk e-mails. Junk communications are clutter too, and they cost you time and energy. Each communication represents little decisions you have to make every day. Should I talk to this salesperson? Should I read this catalog? Should I open this junk mail?

First, do not make it easy for them! Do not provide your personal contact information without asking yourself if it’s really necessary, and always be clear on the privacy policies of the company who is receiving this information. Sending in sweepstakes applications and warranty cards often put you on mailing lists, and these activities should be avoided.

Any time you receive an unsolicited sales call, have a response ready to end the call quickly. It’s very effective to say that you simply “have a policy” against purchasing from telemarketers. Always make sure you ask to be removed from their list so you won’t receive any future calls.

Ask your e-mail hosting provider or your IT service person to help you reduce your spam problem. There are many tools and services available to filter your mail, and they will be able to tell you the right tool for your particular configuration.

Resources:

Postal Mail Reduction Tips: www.newdream.org/junkmail
Direct Marketing Association: www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailing
Opting Out of Credit Card Offers: www.optoutprescreen.com
National Do-Not-Call Registry: www.donotcall.gov
State Do-Not-Call Lists: http://www.callcompliance.com/regulations/statelist.html
Federal Trade Commission Spam Information: http://www.ftc.gov/spam/

4. Plan before you buy. People create a lot of clutter by simply buying the wrong thing and not returning it. Take measurements, bring color swatches, and know sizes and quantities before you go out. Also, make a list of exactly what you need before you shop. If you are buying many things for your home, you can create a shopping notebook for your car that contains swatches of fabric, paint, and wallpaper, along with measurements of your rooms and furniture. Planning your purchases will help you save money, too!

5. Think before you buy. When you are about to buy something impulsively, ask yourself these crucial purchasing questions:

Who can I borrow this from or share this with?
What do I already have that is like this item?
Where will I store this item?
When will I have time to use it and maintain it?
Why do I need this item?
Before you purchase something, mentally decide exactly where you are going to store this item when you get it home, and consider the time the item requires to maintain or use. If you are considering subscribing to a magazine or newspaper, ask yourself if you truly have time to read it each time it arrives. Are there already stacks of other magazines you are not reading? It may be better to buy a copy as a treat at the newsstand rather than subscribe and get into a clutter trap.

6. Don't always accept freebies. What a nifty glow-in-the-dark golf visor! But after the novelty wears off, what is going to happen to it? Don't take home everything you are offered from a party, a trade show or a conference, and don't bring home hotel soaps, samples, or other things you won’t use. When you are traveling, take five minutes while you are packing to leave to throw away anything that doesn’t truly belong in your home. And if a friend offers to give you something she doesn't use, don't accept it if you won't use it.

7. Ask for the gifts you want. It doesn't always come up, but if it does, be ready to tell people some great gift ideas for you. Otherwise you risk getting things you don't want and won’t use, which means clutter! And if you are truly the “person who has everything,” let everyone know you no longer want gifts but would rather have a donation in your name to a favorite charity.

Like dieters always say, “a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips.” Preventing the clutter from entering your home in the first place means that you’ll have less of it to “work off” later!

Box and Banish refurbished

Box and Banish refurbished

Box and Banish is a drastic, clear-it-out effort that transports clutter away from living areas, to be dealt with later.

Box and Banish is simple.

You will need boxes, lots of them. Starting at the front door, move from room to room placing boxes in front of each storage area: cabinets, drawers, closets, and shelves. 

Gather all clutter from counters, drawers, chairs, tables, floors, ovens, and bathtubs. Place the clutter into a box or bag and place this “clutter bag” in a place outside the living area. Work until all surfaces are clear and clutter free.

Then begin at the beginning once more. Start, for example, at the table in the hall. Remove any and all items from the table that are not assigned there but have a home somewhere else: gloves, mail, keys, change, handbags. When the table is empty, except for the vase of flowers that belongs there, circle the house with your catch. Gloves are placed in the box before the coat closet where they are supposed to live. Mail is dumped into the box in front of the desk area. Handbags and change are delivered to the owner's launch pad area. Items to be thrown away are delivered to the garbage can. Place the items in the box at the correct storage area if you are in a hurry. Otherwise, put them back where they belong.

Next step: open each box or bag of clutter, one at a time. Decide whether each item inside should be thrown away, put away, given away or sold, or stored. You might just have time for one box a day or week. Keep loading up the specific boxes with relevant clutter until you get to it. Some people even leave the boxes in the correct area until they can get to it. If not, label the boxes so finding things in an “emergency” is simple.

Box and Banish has advantages and disadvantages as a declutter method.

On the plus side, Box and Banish creates instant results. Often, impending guests or other emergencies force a version of Box and Banish upon the cluttered household. Clearing clutter quickly sparks enthusiasm and motivation. By making sure that the clutter is placed into a box or bag instead of just heaped onto a surface, good habits start to bud. Everything has a place and everything is in its place. Not somewhere else!

While Box and Banish can create an instant absence of apparent clutter, the method doesn’t do much to change the underlying problem. More gradual decluttering methods go hand-in-hand with other components of getting organized: building new habits, organizing stored items, creating new household routines, reducing spending, accumulating things.

If you're fiercely motivated and determined to complete the declutter process, Box and Banish is an option that jumpstarts organization efforts with fast results. You could probably even throw away Box and Banish boxes, sight unseen!

Daily clutter checks make sure no clutter is permitted to return. Set aside just 15 minutes to declutter each day. You can either declutter the areas by plopping the unwanted items into the correct boxes or empty one of the boxes. Baby Steps taken daily will get you to your goal as well as laying the stepping-stones for useful habits.

Books as soul mates or clutter?

We believe in the promise of books—they'll open our minds and our souls and take us to places we've never been. We find it gut-wrenching to give them away, even when we've run out of storage space. Excess begets chaos, and finding the time to read is even harder when you can't get your hands on the book you know you have...somewhere. Our project is to first edit and then organize our collections.

1. Before you do anything, ask yourself, "Why do I stockpile books? Is it to have meaningful words nearby? To lend to friends? To build a reference library? To create a particular atmosphere? To impress people? Do I really read the books or just have them in the background?" Your collection should reflect your intention.

2. Empty your shelves, grouping books into categories you would find in a library or bookstore (biography, poetry, fiction, self-help) on the floor. Does the size of each pile reflect your interests and goals now? Hold on to works that made a lasting impression, the two or three best reference books on any topic, the classics, your favorite authors, signed volumes, and all new books until you've had a chance to read them (or for one year, whichever comes first.)

3. Rearrange your shelves. Once you've decided what stays and what goes, you can start planning the layout of your library. If bookcases live all over the house, assign categories to specific rooms. Consider both the available space and where you read. For example, biographies in the living room; reference works in the study. Arrange books in each category alphabetically by author or subject. If your shelf space is limited, you can group books by size. (Although I shudder at the thought! I know someone who grouped books by color!! Arggh.)

4. Rethink your storage.  Try framing a window, fireplace, or doorway with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. Narrow shelves can also be recessed between wall studs in a hallway without cramping your space. Ready-made modular systems allow you to create storage in odd-shaped areas, around corners and under stairs, without the expense of custom cabinetry. Check out smartfurniture.com (1-888-GO-SMART), and Bookboxes from Levenger (www.levenger.com). You can use small bookshelves as end tables in your living room or bedroom.

5. Send them packing. Parting with the giveaways is easier when you know they're going to someone who'll use them. You can donate to schools, libraries, prisons, senior centers, or hospitals. Or ship the gift of reading to the International Book Project (www.intlbookproject.org) or the Global Literacy Project (wwwglpinc.org); both foster community-based literacy initiatives in Africa, Asia, and other parts of the world. If you'd rather sell, try eBay's www.half.com, amazon or a used-book store. Just don't expect to get the money back that you spent on the books.

6. Now read. A University of California-Berkeley study found that all the information released (books, newspapers, film, etc.) in just 2002 would fill half a million libraries the size of the Library of Congress. You'll never get to it all. Schedule regular times to read—during your commute, before bed, and on vacation—but be realistic. Try the "POWER OF 15" principle (15 minutes every single day). Once you've organized your books, you have fighting chance of enjoying them.

THE ‘POWER OF 15 PRINCIPLE’

The worst enemy in the war against clutter is procrastination.

Lots of people talk about the novel they are going to write or the downsizing they have as a goal. If you’re going to get that novel written, apply for that college or meet your goal of downsizing, you’ve got to be a self-starter.

One of the best ways to make the most of your day, your time, your life, is to take advantage of the ‘POWER OF 15 PRINCIPLE’... in its simplest explanation this means find 15 minutes (900 seconds) a day to work at something you want to do, to learn, to try, to be.

Whether it's a new language, learning about the requirements to get into college, practicing interviewing techniques for job interviews, or increasing your vocabulary by reading a book or the dictionary - you find 15 minutes each day to work at it. This helps you stay consistent, keeps your motivation revved up and often leads to more time (than just 15 minutes) devoted to reaching the goal. 

Everyone has 15 minutes to spare out of a 24 hour day. You can set your alarm earlier, go to bed later, skip Dancing with the Stars, or spend a little less time phoning, texting, tweeting or Facebooking. We all have places in our daily schedule where time slips through the cracks.

So, what if you only apply the 15 minutes a day rule 6 days week for 1 whole year? You will have devoted 78 hours to your goal! EVERYONE can find 15 minutes a day to improve themselves and reach their goals. If you use the ‘POWER OF 15 PRINCIPLE’ every day, you will have magically spent at least 91.25 hours on your goal. That’s the equivalent of more than two 40-hour work-weeks that have been moved you toward your goals with hardly an ounce of inconvenience. Now THAT is going to get you somewhere!

In so doing, you can find time for regular exercise; for writing your novel; for blogging; for photography, art or educating yourself in an area of interest. You might want to use it for small areas of the basement or garage and even for de-cluttering your cupboards. You could teach yourself a musical instrument; spend more beautiful moments with your kids; sew an heirloom patchwork quilt; or take some time for the garden. Grab two or three 15 minute blocks and achieve more than one goal. The potential is enormous.

Identify your goal, plan for it and achieve it - 15 minutes at a time!

What kind of clutterer are you?

What kind of clutterer are you?

The Behind-Closed-Doors Clutterer

Symptoms 

Home looks pristine and well organized—until you start opening closet doors and are suddenly buried by file folders, moth-eaten coats, broken lamps, old kitchen appliances, paper towels, holiday decorations, and shopping bags full of purchases no one ever got around to returning. The BCD clutterer lives in some flawless future universe instead of creating solutions that work today.

Perpetrators 

Perfectionists, control freaks, harried working moms, anyone who's time-starved and overbooked

Three-Step Plan

1. Get over yourself. 

"With clutter, the great is the enemy of the good," says Peter Walsh, organization expert. In other words, that injury-inducing hall closet is the manifestation of your shame at failing to live up to your own unrealistically high housekeeping expectations. 

2. Start with small, manageable chunks. 

"This type of clutter is about delayed decisions," says Walsh. If perfecting a chic shoe-organizing system or deciding which wedding gifts to return is too difficult, start with something less emotionally laden, like the tangle of paper clips overrunning your junk drawer. Better yet, confine the task to a time frame: I will clean this closet for exactly 15 minutes. The next day, repeat. 

3. Enlist a friend. 

If you can't find time to spontaneously tackle your secret messes, schedule it—and invite a trusted relative or friend to help. By ceding some control to an impartial outsider, you'll keep things in perspective and make the process much more fun. Are you really going to repair those cracked candelabras? And what on Earth are you still doing with that neon green '80s-issue ski jacket?

The Knowledge Clutterer

Symptoms 

Stockpiles every book she has ever read or hopes to read, and/or every issue of Architectural Digest ever published—believing, as Walsh explains, "that if she owns the book, then she somehow owns the knowledge, even if she never reads the book or takes it off the shelf." When she encounters an interesting article online, prints it and stashes it in an overstuffed file folder.

Perpetrators 

Book club members; enthusiasts of coffee table tomes on interior design; recent college grads wanting to show off their feminist poetry collections.

Three-Step Plan

1. Go digital whenever possible. 

While nothing can replace a beloved, well-worn novel, We have an entire library at our disposal nowadays via the Internet. It's not necessary to own hard copies of everything. In other words, those guilty-pleasure page-turners, celebrity memoirs, and how-to books you'll read only once can live on your e-reader. And when you come across an interesting article online, e-mail yourself the URL and store these e-mails in folders labeled "interesting articles" or "weeknight dinner recipe".

2. Manage magazines. 

Certain issues of favorite magazines you'll just want to hold on to forever. But if your living room is blanketed with weeklies dating to 2007, consider implementing a system: Keep the current issue and two back issues. As new titles arrive, donate the old ones to a local hospital. And remember: The definition of a periodical is that there is always another one coming.

3. Establish clear limits. 

Designate a clearly defined area for your book and magazine collection, whether that means one shelf or six. What matters is that when you've filled the allotted area, you donate an old title to make room for any new ones. To prevent your nightstand from being swallowed by half-read paperbacks, try a bin or basket large enough to contain only three or four books; to add another, you must remove one first.

The Techie Clutterer

Symptoms 

Drawers, cabinets, and desk weighed down by a metastasizing tangle of cords, chargers, remotes, and half-full USB drives, many belonging to clunky devices dating to the '90s. 

Perpetrators 

Twenty- and 30-something Apple devotees; eBay enthusiasts; grandparents terrified to pitch the cord that connects their digital camera to their computer. 

Three-Step Plan

1. Banish boxes. 

There was a time when you could sell used electronics, so it made sense to keep the original packaging. Unfortunately, no one wants your old gadgets anymore. Technology moves too fast. Recycling an item's box within a month of purchase and donating old devices to a women's shelter might be better ideas. (When you move, pack your electronics in bubble wrap—or better yet, a towel.)

2. Label all wires. 

With a label maker or small piece of masking tape, differentiate camera cords from BlackBerry chargers; note contents of all minidrives. If you're feeling ambitious, corral wires into a "charging station" to eliminate the nightly game of hide-and-seek with your phone cord.

3. Store smartly. 

You might consider labeling four shoebox-size containers "look," "listen," "travel," and "data," and placing them on a shelf. "Look" stores anything visual (the charger and memory card for your camera); "Listen", anything audio related (iPod accessories, an iPhone car charger); "Travel," anything vacation related (a portable GPS, plug adaptors); and "Data"—well, you get the picture (mini flash drives, a wireless network card).

The Sentimental Clutterer/Family Historian

Symptoms 

Hoards baby clothes, kindergarten papier-mâché creations, and grade school report cards belonging to fully grown offspring—wrongly assuming said offspring will someday want them; stores acres of unsorted boxes of deceased relatives' clothing, tchotchkes, and war memorabilia in attic, basement, and closets.

Perpetrators 

Besotted parents; empty nesters; women of a certain age who have suffered loss and/or who feel a responsibility to preserve family heirlooms and history.

Three-Step Plan

1. Establish a hierarchy of value. 

You must distinguish between your grandfather's World War II medals and the box of receipts he used to support his tax claims in 1982. In other words, distill ten boxes of family mementos down to one containing only the most meaningful items. Having a hard time parting with your great-grandmother's musty aprons? Remember, no one who loved you and wanted what's best for you would want your life and home overrun with their stuff.

2. Start a family history wall. 

How about framing a few old photos alongside shadowboxes containing your mother's favorite ceramic piece or her beloved recipe cards—the things that most remind you of her or "make your heart sing when you look at them?  When you treat the real treasures with honor and respect, it becomes easier to let the rest go.

3. Establish limits on kids' artwork. 

If your children are still young, stop the pileup in its tracks by prominently displaying one or two of each kid's best efforts in an Ikea frame or under Plexiglas on the kitchen table. Each week or month, let the child pick a new favorite piece. Photograph all other items and store the photos in yearly albums (while quietly disappearing the originals).

The Bargain Shopper/Coupon Clutterer

Symptoms 

Prides herself on clipping coupons and sourcing online promotion codes; keeps her kitchen, bedroom, and garage stocked with three years' worth of paper towels, mixed nuts, and orange Tic Tacs; spends $10 on gas speeding to three different megastores to save $10 on diapers for children not yet born; is driven by the misguided notion that 'if I own it, I am better off, regardless of what it does to my space, my finances, or my relationships'. 

Perpetrators 

Stay-at-home moms; retirees; anyone with a membership to Costco or Sam's Club.

Three-Step Plan

1. Limit purchases you don't plan to use immediately. 

If you can't park your car in the garage because it's full of toilet paper, you may be out of control. Designate just one area or shelf for bulk purchases; when it's full, stop buying.

2. Recognize that you're being had. 

In order to create a sense of urgency around bargains, retailers study and carefully design everything from lighting to floor texture to distance to the register. Feel like you're getting the steal of the year? That's probably by design, too.

3. Find a new hobby. 

If you find yourself cruising Target or the grocery store on weekends while your husband is watching football, maybe you should be more creative with your spare time. Play tourist in your own city; take a class; choose a local charity and donate your skills. Break your addiction to the cheap rush of bargains. "As my grandmother used to say," quips Peter Walsh, "'you can go broke saving money.'"

Source: oprah.com