alt.recovery.clutter FAQ

Alt.Recovery.Clutter FAQ
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Archive-name: alt-recovery/clutter
Last-modified: 2006/09/26
Expires 2006/10/26
Version: 12.07

09/6 Checked website links.
02/06 Thanks to Don Saklad for suggestions on reorganizing the
LiveJournal communities listing.
02/06 Unclutter list replaces Decluttr list
02/06 Thanks to Don Saklad for catching a dead link.
3/05 Inactive LiveJournal community deleted.  Thanks to Don Saklad for
catching it!
1/05 Changes:  Information on San Francisco area self-help group
updated.
Thanks to Jeri Dansky for checking links -- something I should have
done long since!

If there's something you think should be added, please let me know.
If you see something which needs changing, please let me know.

alt.recovery.clutter is a place where people who have cluttering as a
problem can discuss methods of dealing with it, share Experience,
Strength and Hope, recommend books on decluttering (and ways to keep
them from becoming part of the clutter) and get contact information for
self-help groups. alt.recovery.clutter is not affiliated with any
organization, nor does it speak for any organization.

Q: What is clutter?
A: "Clutter is anything we don't need, want, or use that takes our
time, energy or space, and destroys our serenity.  It can be outgrown
clothes, obsolete paper....We may be selective in some areas, but not
in others. Objects may be strewn about or wedged into drawers; neatly
stacked or stowed in storage." The Twelve Steps of Clutterers
Anonymous, CLA WSO Literature Committee, approved February 1996.

Q: Is cluttering a real problem?
A: Anything that can get you evicted, get your children taken away from
you, keep you from inviting people into your home, get you charged more
by retailers and the tax authorities because you can't find the
paperwork needed to pay them on time, is a real problem.

Q: Does cluttering go together with ___?
A: Clutterers are more likely to have one of these: clinical
depression, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Obsessive-Compulsive
Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  But none of these
invariably goes together with cluttering; and cluttering doesn't
invariably go together with any of them.

You may want to also try one or more of these email lists:

DitchThatClutter@yahoogroups.com.  To subscribe, send any message to
DitchThatClutter@yahoogroups.com.  This seems to be the liveliest one
just now.

The Unclutter list (unclutter@yahoogroups.com) has replaced the
Decluttr list.  To join:  If you don't have a Yahoo account, send an
email to unclutter-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.  If you do have a Yahoo
account, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unclutter to subscribe.

Freecycle is a set of local mailing lists for people who have stuff to
give away and people who want stuff.  At http://freecycle.org there's a
directory of local Freecycle mailing lists for every continent except
Antarctica.

LiveJournal (http://livejournal.com) communities listed as interested
in decluttering:
anticonsumerex - Financial Freedom Shall Be Ours!
http://livejournal.com/community/anticonsumerex
clean_gweep - Do not mess with the Gweep armed with the broom.
http://livejournal.com/community/clean_gweep
clutterers_anon
http://livejournal.com/community/clutterers_anon
flyladies - Flyladies and Flybabies Community
http://livejournal.com/community/flyladies
frugaluxe
http://livejournal.com/community/frugaluxe
it_all_goes
http://livejournal.com/community/it_all_goes
organize - Let's Get Organized
http://livejournal.com/community/organize
organizedlife - Organized Life
http://livejournal.com/community/organizedlife
pagans_fly
http://livejournal.com/community/pagans_fly
stonesoupswap
http://livejournal.com/community/stonesoupswap
goal_posts; focus is on overcoming procrastination
http://livejournal.com/community/goal_posts

Organizations for clutterers

If you can't find a local group, call your local self-help phone number
(if you can't find it easily in the phonebook, ask your local library
for help finding it).

If there's an organization or local meeting not listed here which you
think should be, please let me know. I'm also interested in people's
experiences with groups.

Where a phone number is given, please call first to make sure the
meeting is still at the time and place given.

Clutterers Anonymous World Service Organization:
http://www.clutterersanonymous.net phone: (310) 281-6064; recording,
you can leave messages.  CLA, PO Box 91413, Los Angeles, CA
90009-91413.  CLA East:  (866) 800-3881, http://www.claeast.org.  Twin
Cities MN info: (612) 821-3934 or dsgood@iphouse.com. 12-Step group.

There's now also a Clutter-Anon group (for families, etc. of
clutterers) in Southern California.  If you're in that area, or want to
set up a local meeting, get in touch with them through CLA's WSO.

Messies Anonymous: 5025 SW 114th Ave., Miami, FL 33165. 1-800-MESS AWAY
Quarterly newsletter $5 per year -- sample newsletter free. Internet:
info@messies.com. Website: http://www.messies.com  Uses the 12 Steps,
but doesn't adhere to all guidelines.  (Founder isn't anonymous.)

"If you write to the address for the newsletter and include your city
and state, you will receive a list of others in the area who have asked
for the same information OR the name and number of the person who has
organized such a group--if there is one. You will also receive as much
information and support as you might need if you want to start your own
group." Bonnie Rice
Change: You can now ask from the website.

Clutterless. http://www.clutterless.org Not a 12-step group, but uses
some things from the 12-step tradition.

If there isn't a group in your area:  Messies Anonymous has online
meetings, and Clutterers Anonymous may have one soon.  Clutterers
Anonymous has a phone meeting.

The purpose of http://meetup.com is to set up and help local groups of
many kinds.   Nowhere near all are active. Some Declutter meetups, and
one of the Messies meetups, look promising:

Northern Virginia Declutter Meetup Group Fairfax, VA
Toronto Declutter Meetup Group
Calgary Declutter Meetup Group
Cleveland Declutter Meetup Group
St. Pete-Clearwater Declutter Meetup Group
San Diego North County Declutter Meetup Group  Escondido, CA
Northern Virginia Messies Meetup Group
[Revised 05/04/05]
Note:  Meetup began charging a monthly fee to organizers in May 2005.
Some meetup groups moved elsewhere.  Some organizers dropped out, and
were mostly not replaced.  Others started collecting donations or
established attendee fees.

Passed on by Lori Burkart
'A Hoarders' and Clutterers' Support Group has been formed in San
Francisco and meets twice a month....

'The flyer reads:
"For Mental Health Consumers who have too much stuff and want help, the
San Francisco Mental Health Association's Consumer Housing Group
presents a Hoarders' and Clutterers' Support Group"

Subject: RE: Hoarders and Clutterers Support Group
From: "Mental Health Association of San Francisco" <info@mha-sf.org>
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 09:31:26 -0800

Dear Dan,

Our support group does still exist and meets the 2nd Mondays and 4th
Wednesdays of every month.  The time is always 6-7pm.  The location is
870 Market Street, Suite 622 S.F. CA 94102

However it is important to note that the suite location is subject to
change because of availability.  For that reasons please call first to
find out the suite number prior to arriving, or they will be a sign
posted outside of suite 928 advising of the location.

Antonio is the staff person who runs the group; please call him if you
have further question at (415) 421-2926 ext. 306
Thanks

Donice Carter
Office Manager/Executive Assistant
Mental Health Association of San Francisco
870 Market Street, Suite 928
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-421-2926 (phone)
415-421-2928 (fax)
www.mha-sf.org

Informal: Minnesota; around St. Louis Park/Edina/Golden Valley
--someone who can't currently get to the CLA meetings would like to
meet informally. Call Zola at (612) 921-4917.

Useful Books, etc.

Sandra Felton. THE MESSIES MANUAL: The Procrastinator's Guide to Good
Housekeeping
THE MESSIES SUPERGUIDE: Strategies and Ideas for Conquering
Catastrophic Living.
MEDITATIONS FOR MESSIES
Alcoholics Anonymous TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS
Don Aslett: Clutter's Last Stand, Not For Pack Rats Only, How do I
Clean the Moosehead?
Stephanie Culp: How to Organize, How to Simplify Your Life
Young and Jones, Sidetracked Home Executives (Warner 1981)
Young and Jones, The Sidetracked Sisters Catch-up on the Kitchen
(Warner 1983)
Young and Jones, The Sidetracked Sisters' Happiness File (Warner 1985)
Young and Jones, Get Your Act Together (Harper Collins 1993).
(....) SHE and GYAT can usually be found at large chain bookstores or
Christian bookstores (these are not "Christian" publications, per se).
the sisters themselves peddle a variety of SHE items.... Address is:
Sidetracked Home Executives, Inc.
P. O. Box 5364
Vancouver, WA 98668 [360] 696-4091
http//www.shesintouch.com
"Confessions of an Organized Homemaker" by Deniece Schofield.
(Publisher: Betterway Books, Cincinnati OH. The cover lists it at
10.99US, 15.99CAN, 7.99UK).
"Lighten Up! Free Yourself From Clutter," by Michelle Passoff, Harper
Collins Publishers, 1998.  ISBN 0-06-095265-2.

Fri, 23 Jan 1998
ttista
cleaning tools

I follow Don Aslett's book Is There Life After Housework. You can get
his catalog 1-800-451-2402. I use his mop, it's called a scrubbee doo.
really.

He explains how to use the right cleaning tools, and cleaning products.

[new: http://www.cleanreport.com/]

Sat, 11 April 1998
Mycala W Shaulis
Kitchen Web Link

http://www.123sortit.com/toc.html

It covers not just the kitchen, but virtually every room in the house.

Mon, 28 Jun 1999
Katrina Ancel
organizing Link

Thought I'd pass this one along..it is the Professional  Web
Ring...tons of info on getting organized at the home site, plus since
it's a ring they link to other sites on the topic..

http://www.organizerswebring.com/

Jeri Dansky <jdorganizer@earthlink.net>
Sun, 05 Dec 2004 15:51:49 -0800

While this is a ring of Professional Organizers, you might also want to
note the site of the National Association of Professional Organizers, at
http://www.napo.net/

Jeri Dansky <jdorganizer@earthlink.net>
Sun, 05 Dec 2004 15:51:49 -0800

Link doesn't work on this one - looks like it should be
http://www.wecosoft.com/geniescorner/index.asp instead:

Chore Genie is a shareware application that helps to schedule your
household chores, includes a menu-builder and a to-do list.... We offer
tips and worksheets for getting started, which can be viewed on our web
site at [see abovel.... We even have an email loop anyone can join by
sending me a request to GenieMail@wecosoft.com. The email loop has tips
for using the program as well as general topics for staying motivated,
getting started and anything else that is on topic. Anyone is welcome
to join!

alt.recovery.clutter
From: naomiy
[1] Found a neat web site! (Pun intended)
Date: Thu Aug 19 1999

Check out: http://www.organizedhome.com./

A bit advanced for some of us maybe, but there are lots of good
resources here!

--
Dan Goodman
All political parties die at last of swallowing their own lies.
John Arbuthnot (1667-1735), Scottish writer, physician.
Journal http://dsgood.livejournal.com
Links http://del.icio.us/dsgood
Blog http://dsgood.googlepages.com
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