 You have always done everything yourself. Moving, packing, unpacking, decorating, organizing your kitchen, the kids rooms, the garage, were all tasks that you pushed yourself to accomplish, never even thinking of asking for help. We are so distant from relatives today, and don't want to inconvenience friends, so we end up doing so much on our own. Marla the owner of I-Deal-Lifestyle was totally guilty of this push, push, push behavior. She prided myself on being the dynamo woman who could do it all. Looking back if Marla had known she could call on someone to help her get organized and situated she would have been dialing away. Prior to becoming a Professional Organizer Marla really had not been aware of the "profession". She saw a few shows about hoarding, and heard the term "Professional Organizer", but never thought of it in terms of a personal service that you could call upon. She explains "I thought the term Professional Organizer linked only to the serious hoarding situations." It wasn't until she retired as a Social Worker/Therapist and was soul searching to a new career, feeling completely turned upside down, and disorganized that Stone started searching out books on how to get organized. "I bought book after book, signed up for newsletters from Professional Organizers, and started plowing through the material." One day a message from a Professional Organizer out of England popped up on her email. All of a sudden it hit her, "I'm supposed to be a Professional Organizer." Marla exclaims "For heaven's sake I had been a very organized Clinician, keeping two offices alive for ten years, billing insurance companies, keeping track of clients and their lives, and helping others get themselves organized." It was a perfect fit for her, and explains "it felt like doing old fashioned "Social Work."" The old fashioned Social Worker, before licensing and all the rules and ethical boundaries, was a man or woman, who visited families in search of care, usually with a fruit basket. They were called "friendly visitors". They were hired by the family to come in and help other men and women get back on their feet. The "friendly visitor" would go into the home and help in any way possible to put things back in order. They would lift the person out of bed, help them get dinner ready or wash some clothes just to start the ball rolling again. It was the kindness, caring and nurturing ways of these visitors that brought life back into the family member who had been down and out. Organizers help empty nesters to single mothers get their lives organized. They help business owners and employees to increase productivity, with time management and where to put the cubicles or desks. They help with organizing kid's schedules, toys, papers, garages, pantry's, laundry rooms. The I-Deal-Lifestyle organizers take it to a whole new level which is called UBER organizing where everything that can be organized gets organized "to the bone." Professional organizing is the best luxury gift you can give yourself. The team at I-Deal-Lifestyle can organize your space in half the time of industry standards so you can literally organize every nook and cranny of your home and office in one - three days. The owner Marla Stone says it is like an "abracadabra moment." "To see the before and after pics of each job is like we have performed magic," Stone explains. Professional Organizers are the friendly visitors of today. We are there so you don’t have to push yourself to pack, unpack, move, clean out your garage, organize your kitchen, closets, decorate, do errands and shop if that is just not in the cards for you. We are there to teach you how to organize, coach you and fix up your house, simple. So stop pushing and call a local professional organizer and GET ORGANIZED NOW! Call Marla Stone at 949-709-7000 for a free 30 minute phone consultation. www.i-deal-lifestyle.com We also do Feng Shui and are Décor Specialists!! 
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  You want to be organized, that is a given. Getting organized, purging, editing, paring down, de-cluttering, and clutter free articles dominate the cover of every magazine. Minimizing is America's new favorite obsession. When you're in the minimalist state of mind you want to organize everything, and everyone. You want to declutter your spouse, the kids, parents, family members, and friends. You want to declutter bedrooms, clothes, knick knacks, supplies, bathrooms, kitchen, living area, garden, baby's room, sheds, storage, garage, limited space, kids, small children, car, drawers, pantries, cabinets, visitors, decor items. Paring down, by yourself, with family, and friends, will take three times as long, as having a professional organizer to help you. An organizer will guide you quickly and efficiently through the process of decluttering. Organizers will help you create space, and see space you didn't know you have. Also professionals will teach you how to maintain the home long term. You will see your home in a whole different light, through the organizers eyes. The joy of organizing, with a professional organizing crew, is how quickly your space will shift and change to accomodate what you own. You will be organized in ways you never imagined. Professional organizers help you with new interior design ideas, efficient ways to set up a desk, how to deal with mail, financial management, filing, business, paperwork, bills, creative storage, mind clutter, and what to keep, throw away or donate. The consequences of not being organized cause confusion, stress, loss of time, loss of items, and feeling overwhelmed. Clutter chaos causes lost items, taking too much time too find things, and a waste of money. Buying storage containers and organization tools, yet not using them becomes frustrating. Buying too much stuff on-line, and on sale, and buying the same things over and over becomes costly, and can border on "shopping addiction". Most people buy so much stuff yet they don't remember what they have. This buying cycle causes crazed feelings, fatigue, and disappointment. The result of being disorganized is misplaced documents, not getting things done on time, missing appointments, missing celebrations, bills, mortgage or rent not getting paid on time, poor credit, depression, anxiety, funk, worry and embarrassment. So getting organized is a good idea. Here are some tips to make organizing easier by understanding what gets in our way. How We Think What is on your mind? Kids, building an empire, laundry, cleaning, organizing, a recent new relationship, having no relationship, an argument, yesterday's lovemaking, a family member who is ill, the past, the future? Where ever your mind is you will be too. Your mind may be on certain challenges you are facing, whether physical, emotional and or mental. When you focus on decluttering you want to be clear about the goal of keeping things that are important, and discarding items that are useless. How We Talk I hear more people say "i need" today than any other two words in our language. "I need" to go shopping, to pick up the kids, to buy some shoes, to talk to my mother, to do my hair, to exercise, new clothes. I need, I need, I need!!! We are needling ourselves to death. Bottom line the only things we need are to breathe, eat, sleep, drink, have shelter, sun, and go to the bathroom, period. The other words in place of "I need" are "I have to". Means the same thing. "I have to" do this and "I have to" do that. Bottom line is you either want to do something, you don't want to do something, or you're not sure about doing something. It is that simple. Start saying "I will", and your goals become clearer. Unclear Values What do you value? Most people are stumped when I ask them this question, or they cock their head, and look at me as if I am asking them a question involving quantum physics. Funny enough, an old acquaintance, Dick Feynman, an expert at quantum physics, and the scientist who worked on building the atom bomb, and who solved the shuttle problem, once asked me "Marla, what is love?" I thought quick and hard and said "It is a feeling of passion, closeness that can sometimes feels so overwhelming it hurts, and a bond that never dies once it was there, no matter what". He loved that answer. Anyway getting back to what we value. Do you value family, friends, money, power, fame, fortune, relationships, art, travel, independence, autonomy, rest, sleep, solace, children, your looks, health, leisure time or religion, spirituality, creativity or yoga? What do you value? Until you figure out the top ten things you value, you will not be motivated to organize. Without knowing what you value doing in life, you won't know what to keep. For instance, if you value a new relationship, to get married and have kids, and your place is always a mess, and therefore you won't invite anyone over, do you really want to go forward in having a relationship, or do you value independence more? Figure it out and you will start to enjoy your top values more often. Marla Stone is owner of www.i-deal-lifestyle.com and the Clutter Remedy Expert. Call Marla, Professional Organizer, Lifestyle Coach, Business Coach, Décor and Feng Shui Specialist for a free 30 minute Lifestyle Consultation.  Is this one of your values? Organization skills are not learned, usually. You probably remember your mom yelling "clean up your room", but there wasn't an actual educational plan in HOW to "clean" or "organize" your room. Cleaning and organizing are two separate skill sets all together. Cleaning involves rags, solutions and those new floor cleaners that vacuum and steam all in one. Organizing is all about...well...organizing. According to the free Merriam Webster online, the word organize is synonymous with arrange, array, classify, codify, dispose, draw up, lay out, marshal, order, range and systematize, and the word organize antonyms are derange, disarrange, disarray, disorder, mess (up), muss (up), rumple and upset. No wonder people feel deranged when they are all mussed up. Organizing one's self would be the place to start if you want your space to look ordered, and for all the trash to be disposed of. The key word in the previous sentence is "if". People usually only want to get organized, when they want to get organized. Getting organized is not a mandatory law or one of the 10 commandments, so it only happens if you want it to, and most likely "if" the IRS is knocking on your door or your mother is coming to visit. No wonder people don't dream about their Ideal Lifestyle all that much...too busy being disarranged, disordered, rumpled and upset. The state of disarray can start to be the norm and the standard "lifestyle" nightmare. So the question is how does one get from disorganized chaos to organized order? Is it simple? Yes, organizing your self and space can be achieved. The first step is to want to get organized inside yourself. Self Organization starts with defining what your ideal lifestyle would look like. Jot down at least 30 concepts, ideas, or dreams you have about your "ideal" life. You might have to watch a few light comedies, or some action hero cartoons to start to get motivated, or remember what you did dream about when you dreamed, but you can do it. Think about what you value in life and actually write it down. Is it money? Is it a fancy car? Is it a lover? Is it better relationships or a better career? And whatever you do don't lie to yourself. It is damaging when people say "it doesn't have to be" that great of a job, partner, car or career. Saying "it doesn't have to be" is the way it will be. So if you say "she doesn't have to be that great looking", or "he doesn't have to be that smart", guess what? You manifested a not so hot or smart partner. How about, instead, saying "I want it to be....this way", and putting that into the universe. After you draw up and lay out what it is you want for your self, space organization is the next step. Since the outer is a reflection of the inner, your outer space will want to catch up to the new inner you. Space organization has been written about in 1000's of books, magazines, and now is taught on national television. Organizing a room or an entire home or business is just plain old planning, executing and physical labor, which you yourself can do, or you can hire someone else to do it for you. You will only want that outer organization, in your space, when you feel organized, and self realized on the inside. So go ahead and get started on living your Ideal Lifestyle Now! Write your list! Marla Stone, Ideal Lifestyle Expert http://www.I-Deal-Lifestyle.com  Organizing one's self if a big task that takes time and effort. Organizing one's space is a big task that takes time and effort. I don't know which one is easier or less frustrating or more valuable. I am pretty sure they go hand in hand. I do know there is a saying that says "the outer is a reflection of the inner". It is no mystery to me when I walk into a home or work environment or a friend's car that is piled up with papers, trash and STUFF that there is probably something going on inside that person either mentally, physically and or emotionally. It does not take a "rocket scientist" to know there is something going on creating the"cyclone" effect. I know all to well from my own environmental "hurricane effects", that my own "Disorganized Self" (D.S.) can create chaos and get in the way of my "Organized Self" (O.S.). I will start having an accumulation of piles of papers, collections of unnecessary items, wild and crazy clothing options, or duplicates of the same clothing item, and a sense of hopelessness and wonderment when looking at it all. My hopelessness comes from thinking about when I will have time to sort through everything, and organize it, and my wonderment comes from the wondering "how did it happen"? As I recall, I organized it the week before, so it should still be clean, correct?? I know that something is going on with me for the passionate chaos to perpetuate week after week, losing my abilities and techniques for on-going organization and order. I realize that "Outer Disorganization" (O.D.) is due to something with the inner self being off kilter. I know that I create O.D. when my lifestyle choices grow old and mundane, and I get stuck, frustrated and impatient creating and implementing new goals and dreams. I create the O.D. so I can focus on the STUFF, papers, confusion and my tropical storm path, instead of on the "major issues" of my life, like making real life changes, and resolving challenges. I realize that change and facing life challenges can be difficult, and then going forward with the changes, and working through the life challenges, can be like hitting a blizzard with a bikini on....cold and practically life-threatening. Knowing who I am, what I want and where I want to go can be daunting with thoughts twirling around and around like the Merry-Go-Round of my past. Knowing how to slow it all down, so there is calm and focus, and sorting through ideas, challenges, wants, desires and dreams can be confusing and scary. At the same time the change and challenge "tunnel" I must go through to get to the "new me" and "the new lifestyle" is an opportunity for growth and fulfillment. The first stage of reckoning with one's D.S. is to formulate an idea of your "ideal lifestyle". Whatever that means to you. Whatever you would love your life to look like, smell like, taste like and be like. This idea will begin to create your individual life picture. Creating a dream board, by cutting out all the pictures and words and symbols from magazines that represent your inner self, and gluing them onto a big cardboard can start you off. Making a list of your dreams and goals may help you become clear on your lifestyle image. Writing out a journal of ideas, thoughts, dreams and wishes will help you formulate your "ideal lifestyle". That is the first step to Self & Space Organization. My background as a Social Worker for 17 years, counseling 1000's of people, has led me to understand human nature. I love working closely with people and helping them learn to understand and love themselves better so they could be freed up in every way possible. After 17 years of sitting in the "therapist chair" I was glad to get my ARS up and running again. Being a Psychotherapist has its advantages, don't get me wrong. I was able to achieve so much in my 17 year career. I worked with the most extraordinary people, families, groups and colleagues imaginable. I worked with people that had debilitating challenges, Seniors, Children, Families and Individuals. I had a contract to see the Military Personnel from Camp Pendleton, and create interventions for PTSD and serious mental health challenges. I developed a Medication/ Treatment Alliance Program and still write articles pertaining to Serious Mental Health Challenges. All in all assisting people to become the best they can is my focus. I-Deal-Lifestyle is a Self & Space Organizationsm service where I can assist people in getting it all "straight"nd out! Orange County Professional Organizer helps you get your home, office, and business organized! We serve all of Orange County, Los Angeles, and San Diego. We also serve your area by special request. Please call 949-709-7000 for a free 30 min. phone consultation. Marla Stone Lifestyle Expert is featured in the Orange County Register as the clutter buster. http://www.ocregister.com/articles/stone-370146-says-carbone.html  Marla Stone, Lifestyle Expert
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 Here you will find an array of blog articles about decluttering your home, life and how to improve your business strategyMarla is known as the Declutter Your Strategy™ expert. Marla earned her BA in Psychology and a Master's in Social Work and is the founder of |
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