STUFFology 101

STUFFology 101 is for those us who want to #de-clutter without being featured on reality TV. We can still use our bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen, but we harbor secrets.

1. Do you race around to pick up piles when someone's at the door?
2. Do you close the door to hide your stuff in the spare room?
3. Do you still have boxes to unpack from your last move a dozen years ago?
4. Are you unable to focus because your mind is so frazzled?

STUFFologists Brenda Avadian and Eric Riddle share four decades of experience dealing with STUFF--uhhh, clutter. Inside STUFFology 101, you'll find FUN and FLEXIBLE approaches to get your mind out of what YOU DEFINE as CLUTTER.

After decades of dealing with clutter, Avadian and Riddle help YOU to declutter the Cluttergories in your life--Physical, Mental, Digital, Temporal, and Sensual. Funny, serious, and humbling stories are woven with tips to help you clear the toxic clutter out of your life.

BRENDA AVADIAN, MA author of nine books, was raised by a mother who could not say no to a free offer and a father who had "spare parts for everything." She took steps to reduce the cycle of clutter in her life as she learned to let go. "It's mine!"

ERIC RIDDLE would say while holding onto his children's stuff for many years. Once he defined his clutter, he discovered that getting his mind out of the clutter is an ongoing process.

At the end of your life, what will matter most - -THINGS or PEOPLE? Are you ready to manage the STUFF in your life?

STUFFology 101: Get Your Mind Out of the Clutter

STUFFology101.com

STUFFology 101 is for those us who want to #de-clutter without being featured on reality TV. We can still use our bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen, but we harbor secrets.

1. Do you race around to pick up piles when someone's at the door?
2. Do you close the door to hide your stuff in the spare room?
3. Do you still have boxes to unpack from your last move a dozen years ago?
4. Are you unable to focus because your mind is so frazzled?

STUFFologists Brenda Avadian and Eric Riddle share four decades of experience dealing with STUFF--uhhh, clutter. Inside STUFFology 101, you'll find FUN and FLEXIBLE approaches to get your mind out of what YOU DEFINE as CLUTTER.

After decades of dealing with clutter, Avadian and Riddle help YOU to declutter the Cluttergories in your life--Physical, Mental, Digital, Temporal, and Sensual. Funny, serious, and humbling stories are woven with tips to help you clear the toxic clutter out of your life.

BRENDA AVADIAN, MA, author of nine books, was raised by a mother who could not say no to a free offer and a father who had "spare parts for everything." She took steps to reduce the cycle of clutter in her life as she learned to let go. "It's mine!"

ERIC RIDDLE would say while holding onto his children's stuff for many years. Once he defined his clutter, he discovered that getting his mind out of the clutter is an ongoing process.

At the end of your life, what will matter most - -THINGS or PEOPLE?

Are you ready to manage the STUFF in your life?

STUFFology 101: Get Your Mind Out of the Clutter

STUFFology101.com

TABLE of CONTENTS

Preface

PART ONE: STUFFOLOGY 101

I Can’t Park My Car in the Garage

1. What is Stuff?

2. Cluttergories

PART TWO: DOES STUFF MATTER?

3. The Station Fire

4. The Wooden Spoon

5. A Man’s Home Garage is His Castle 6. Those Are MY Toys 7. Stuff Matters, But … PART

THREE: I WANT MY LIFE BACK

8. Where Stuff Comes From

9. The Toy Gun That Killed

10. The Ghost of Opportunities Past

11. POOP!

12. Why Can’t I Play Pool?

13. Whose House Is It Anyway?

14. I Want My Life Back!

PART FOUR: GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE CLUTTER

15. Define Your Clutter

16. Write Down Your Thoughts

17. Focus on Doing One Thing

18. Dedicate a Workspace

19. Repeat Small Steps

20. Do It NOW!

21. Input, Throughput, Output

22. Two Magic Questions

PART FIVE: WIIFM?

23. What’s In It For Me?

24. The U.S. Savings Bonds Windfall A Deep-Fried Thanksgiving

25. Unexpected Gifts

Afterword

Bonus STUFFologist’s Guide

Acknowledgments

Appendix That’s MINE!

Notes

Additional Resources Index

About Your STUFFologists

 We Want to Hear From You

We’re Here to Serve You

DEDICATION

For all who want to stop STUFF from draining their life force, their energy, and their vibrancy. For all who don’t want clutter to take away from the time they spend with people.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

Brenda and Eric provide a fun, user-friendly, and effective look at what’s collecting in your life, and offer a pathway to freedom from the physical, virtual, and mental STUFF weighing you down. Their personal stories make it seem they are walking alongside you as a friend. If you want to live Clutter-Free, this book is for you!

Carol Peters, MD, DMin

Host Dr Carol Show

www.drcarolshow.com

Brenda and Eric present an interesting and compelling book on clutter. I admire their passion, and their expertise comes through. Brooks Palmer, Author Clutter Busting Like the occasional great teachers we had in school, Brenda and Eric inspired me to think, feel, reflect and, above all, act. STUFFology 101 offers a gentle escape from the prison of "more."

Patrick Arbore, EdD

Program Director

Institute on Aging

STUFFologists Brenda Avadian and Eric Riddle share four decades of experience dealing with STUFF--uhhh, clutter. Inside STUFFology 101, you'll find FUN and FLEXIBLE approaches to get your mind out of what YOU DEFINE as CLUTTER.

After decades of dealing with clutter, Avadian and Riddle help YOU to declutter the Cluttergories in your life--Physical, Mental, Digital, Temporal, and Sensual. Funny, serious, and humbling stories are woven with tips to help you clear the toxic clutter out of your life.

BRENDA AVADIAN, MA, author of nine books, was raised by a mother who could not say no to a free offer and a father who had "spare parts for everything." She took steps to reduce the cycle of clutter in her life as she learned to let go. "It's mine!"

ERIC RIDDLE would say while holding onto his children's stuff for many years. Once he defined his clutter, he discovered that getting his mind out of the clutter is an ongoing process.

At the end of your life, what will matter most - -THINGS or PEOPLE?

Are you ready to manage the STUFF in your life?

STUFFology 101: Get Your Mind Out of the Clutter

STUFFology101.com

TABLE of CONTENTS

Preface

PART ONE: STUFFOLOGY 101

I Can’t Park My Car in the Garage

1. What is Stuff?

2. Cluttergories

PART TWO: DOES STUFF MATTER?

3. The Station Fire

4. The Wooden Spoon

5. A Man’s Home Garage is His Castle 6. Those Are MY Toys 7. Stuff Matters, But … PART

THREE: I WANT MY LIFE BACK

8. Where Stuff Comes From

9. The Toy Gun That Killed

10. The Ghost of Opportunities Past

11. POOP!

12. Why Can’t I Play Pool?

13. Whose House Is It Anyway?

14. I Want My Life Back!

PART FOUR: GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE CLUTTER

STUFFologist Brenda Avadian, MA, has been dealing with clutter since age eight--that's forty-six years. "I've struggled with letting go," she says. "I've tried letting go of things, but what if I need to refer to that 1970's National Geographic article on Yugoslavian protocol?" Brenda has authored nine books, served as a university professor, executive coach, corporate consultant, caregiver, and national speaker. She traveled 2,000 miles to clear out her parents' home--filled with her father's collection of "spare parts for everything" and all the free stuff her mother amassed after saying yes instead of saying no. "It amazes me what occupies our lives. We come into this world with nothing. We leave this world with nothing. Yet we spend a significant amount of our lives with things," she says. It wasn't until Brenda began caring for her father and going through his STUFF that an eighty-five year-old sage's question got her mind out of the clutter: "Where do you want to spend your time, with things or with people?" STUFFologist Eric Riddle has been a lifelong packrat. He believes: I would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Since age eleven, he's been dealing with his parents' clutter and hisown--that's thirty-seven years. Working in customer service and sales gives Eric a deeper view of human nature... that our clutter issues demand unique answers.Clutter is a reflection of life and recent events led Eric to face theclutter in his own life: - After his eldest daughter, Jackie, moved out of the house and got married, Eric realized that his home didn't need to be a storage unit for his grown children. - Eric learned how to keep things cleaner and better organized from middle daughter, Beth after her stint in the Army. - When his wife, Susan, and youngest daughter, Maggie, needed to practice pool for a cancer fundraiser, the whole family helped clear off the pool table. Eric believes that getting your mind out of the clutter is an ongoing process.