University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
When Organizing Isn't Enough
Book

When Organizing Isn't Enough

SHED Your Stuff, Change Your Life

Julie Morgenstern
Fireside, 2008
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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Applicable

Recommendation

Almost everyone wants to become better organized. Thorough reorganization involves getting rid of the assorted rubbish that weighs you down and prevents you from moving ahead efficiently. Some of this junk is physical, but not all of it. Your junk can include an overbooked schedule, a mountain of action items that never get done and bad habits that steal your time. Organization expert Julie Morgenstern developed the “SHED” system to help people eliminate the messes that accumulate in their lives. Do you want to get rid of the bulky load of bricks you’re carrying? Morgenstern can teach you how. Her approach to organizing is pragmatic and highly useful. She doesn’t dwell on working smarter, improving your schedule or completing action items. Instead, she focuses on ridding yourself of your heavy load of junk, whatever it is, so you can start over fresh and light. getAbstract believes her book is perfect for anyone who wants a new, uncluttered start.

Summary

How to Change

Are you in a rut? Do you know some type of change is in order, even if you are not sure what it should be? If you’re in this situation, you can use the transformative “SHED” process to change your life and move ahead. Shedding can blast you out of your inertia and supercharge you.

It can help anyone who undergoes a significant transition, such as starting a company, moving to a new home, getting married or having a child. It can help people deal with unanticipated changes, such as divorce, loss of income or sudden illness. And it is the ideal tool to help people reach self-fulfillment. Are you ready to shed? You are if you want a new life course but don’t know how to start; if you recently made a significant life change but feel no different than before; or if some major life change is being forced upon you.

Using the shed program, you can get rid of the possessions, activities, action items and habits that burden you. Like a boxer getting down to fighting weight, ditch everything that weighs you down. Shedding is a deliberate, deliberative process. It is holistic and encompassing. You do not throw away everything willy-nilly from your old life...

About the Author

Julie Morgenstern, speaker and consultant, teaches people how to get organized. She served on the board of the National Association of Professional Organizers.

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