The Deep Tidy continues - Steps to date

The Deep Tidy is a process and I am glad to report that I am largely keeping it up, in my own way.

The "study" is tidy once or twice a week. Deeply Tidy! Desks clear and everything in its place.

The Next Step is The Deep Organisation
Where I not only collect all the objects and papers associated with one topic together but I actually get them classified and organised into some kind of order

In the meantime I can summarise my activities as

1) Know who you are
2) Understand yourself
3) Understand others
4) Understand the career cycle APE - Acquire skills, Perfect skills, Exploit skills
5) Make space in your life
6) Be completely tidy
7) Be completely organised
8) Make more space in your life
9) Make more time in your life
10) Clear up loose ends

I am, for the first time in many years, hovering around the 6),7),8) mark

I am not completely tidy but getting there. I am developing a tidiness instinct. I still have loose ends left over from January or earlier, but at least most are this year.

Finally, I cleared up one from Five years Ago - I have finally had a piece of research accepted for publication that I did five years ago.... with a lot of help from my friends! At least it will now go on permanent record in a peer reviewed journal and it brings to an end my dealings with the DSN. Or at least this phase of the relationship.

The next step is working out where I am meant to be going next
Seven areas

I - Tidy up and organise - still working on the organisation
II - Matrix psychology - ebook + presentations
III - Finance and money - Accounts + investments sorted
IV - Marketing and websites
V - Health - calm, diet, core strength and running
VI - Occupational Health Well and Working
VII - Voluntary Work, Stands to Reason

As it says in the song
"Nothing is going to stop me now"





Copyright Dr Liz Miller 2008

The Deep Tidy to Deep Restructure

The Deep Tidy has worked, I am losing fewer things and finding other things within a few minutes. The surface of my desk makes a regular appearance, and in most rooms, I know the colour of the carpet. Nonetheless this is not enough to make an impact on the world! If the next ten years is to be different from the last fifty, something has to change.

Now that the debris is clear, I see the problems go deep. If the products of my mind are to bear fruit, my mind needs more than a Deep Tidy, it needs a Deep Restructure. Just like a failing business, it needs better Systems.

Systems are the backbone of a business. When someone buys a business, they buy the Systems to achieve results. Without effective Systems, everything is done as though for the first time, like the man with no memory. He makes no progress, Ground Hog day follows Ground Hog day. Bad systems are like bad habits. My life is full of bad habits, from ignoring bank statements to throwing my clothes in a heap and occasionally removing the smelliest items to the washing machine. Being tidy has helped get rid of my worst excesses, but more is needed. If tidiness is next to Godliness, I need more than a divine intervention.

I spent this afternoon in Deep Thought. How do I see the world? What do I want to achieve? What does all of this mean? Is this a sacred cow or a cowpat? What is the most useful way to organise my life and the budding business that is now my life. As I set out in my new business, Well and Working Ltd, I need Systems. Those Systems need to work at all levels, from where I store my paper clips, to how I organise my computer files, to where I keep my books and papers and how I structure my thinking. There is no room for compromise in a Deep Restructure.

The bookshelves took the first hit. As I rewrite medicine (http://doctorbloggs.blogspot.com), I do not want to become bogged down history, thus existing medical textbooks have been banished to the basement. From now on, everything not relevant to the success of the business goes in the basement. Organisation and Classification are the foundations of an effective and efficient System. A place for everything and everything in its place.

I have always prided myself on being a free spirit. Nonetheless, success depends on a submitting to a System, albeit to one of my own making. Unless the harness is on and and working, nothing will go anywhere. The purpose of the Middle Start, is to have an impact as big as Julius Caesar had on the Roman Empire. The Deep Restructure is about developing Systems, that, in the words of Occupational Health, give "Full and Effective Service".


Copyright Dr Liz Miller 2008

The Deep Tidy IV

The Deep Tidy continues


My place has become a Zero Tolerance Zone. I have taken to heart William Morris' 'Have nothing in your house that not either useful or beautiful' and everything is on the line. Even the cats are only here by the skin on their teeth. Madam, it is true could never be anything but beautiful. She is, in Matrix Psychology terms, a Sensitive Individual. Her appearance is her. She does not need a mirror to know she is beautiful. She is beautiful, whatever she does she does it with elegance, cuteness, and grace. She is a perfect cat, charming, companionable, and a pleasure to have around.

On the other hand, her sister, Georgie could not care less about her looks.
Georgie has to be brushed daily. If I forget, her fur goes into dreadlocks, she vomits a hair ball and looks like a Rastafarian. But Georgie is 'not bovvered'. She may lick one or two hairs into place, but only after ten minutes brushing and the hard work is done. Georgie is a straight forward cat. She knows her rights. It is best if visitors do not sit in her chair. She eats whatever there is and looks like one of the sheep from a Victorian picture of farm animals. Although Madam is beautiful, Georgie is useful. If I had mice, Georgie would catch them. When I want to work, Georgie sits on the keyboard. At night, Georgie requisitions the bed. Georgie is a Robust Individual.


Madam and Georgie do not like visitors. Nonetheless, they occasionally take a shine to someone. Georgie has fallen in love with Ray, to the extent I call him the cat whisperer. She sits for hours on his lap, while he does double handed stroking and gets left out of the conversation. Ray is gentle and appreciative, sensitive and people focussed. Her System X opposite, a Social Sensitive. If she had a choice, she would pack her bags and move in with him. Madam, on the other hand, a Sensitive Individual, is in love with Naz. Naz is dynamic, she understands people, and a natural organiser. Confident, entertaining and charismatic, Madam is putty in her hands. Naz is Madam's System X opposite, a Robust Social. Luckily neither Naz nor Ray are in the market for cats.

The Deep Tidy is merciless. Today I put out five bags of rubbish. My place is like the Tardis. Over the course of the Deep Tidy, I must have got rid of well over 50 black bags, made half a dozen trips to the tip and deposited umpteen items in the local Oxfam shop. Regardless, the place is still overcrowded and the stuff keeps coming out. Somewhere, someone is making this stuff and hiding it in my house. It is no longer like lancing a boil, it is more like draining a fistula.
However today, I looked around my study and the place felt lighter. It may not look tidy yet, but there are cracks of carpet showing through the undergrowth of paper. The surface of the desk is definitely made of glass, and the ceilings no longer bow under the weight of memorabilia stored in the attic.

By the end of the week, I will have been through everything I own at least once, and slimmed it down to essentials. More 'pitosuction' may be necessary before I can pass the Feng Shui test, but it is moving in the right direction and most importantly, I feel so good about it!!
For more pictures go to http://www.nicolaslattery.com/1363/13351.html


Copyright (c) Dr. Liz Miller http://www.drlizmiller.co.uk

Copyright Dr Liz Miller 2008

The Deep Tidy

I am sure I am not the only human on the planet with too many things! - yes, everywhere I look in my overlarge house are things, my things, the cats' things, other peoples' things and things I have been given. Each one is a little distraction, a memory, a failed project, a reminder of something I haven't quite finished or meant to do.

William Morris said 'Have nothing in your House that is not either useful or beautiful'

I am following a programme called The Deep Tidy. The Deep Tidy is a Zero Tolerance Zone. It allows nothing that is not either useful or beautiful. Where there is overcrowding, decisions are based on utility and aesthetics.

I have just spent an hour on one drawer which is largely full of sewing kits. I used to collect sewing kits from all around the world. As I rarely even so on a button these days, this collection is pointless. Nonetheless, it took me an hour or more to tear myself away from them and the other trivia in the drawer. An hour well spent? definitely! I have an extra drawer in my life, and a sense of satisfaction that may become addictive.

The Zero Tolerance Zone extends to computer files, which have now been placed in neat categories and folders, Career, Financial, Social, House, Business, Education, etc. Each major category has subcategories, Social divides into Friends, Addresses, and Financial divides into Accounts, Investments, and so on. I have deleted every file I no longer need and forced everything else into a category.

In truth I have a large back up drive, with all my back up data archive, so should I become desperate for a deleted file. The drive at 8x4x2" takes up no space at all, and in the meantime my computer space is clear. I also have a box for items to which I am too attached to get rid of, a singing dog from my niece, cards from my best friends, and a piece of Mammoth tooth, a birthday present from the Cheetah in my life.

This blog bears witness to the petty triumphs and disasters of my life, as do blogs everywhere. By giving them a place in cyberspace, it gets those insignificant details out of my life and lets me get on with the important things, like The Deep Tidy and setting up the Foundation. Someone once said to me 'if you spent less time updating blogs, you might have got your book written' but she was always a bit of bitch! I have done both, the book is written and looking for a publisher, it has been a reciprocal process.

The Deep Tidy is essential environmental hygeine. Over the coming months, I am going to keep you posted as to how my financial fortunes change, so that you can see how I did it. How one person got rich, very rich.

'The Secret' and all the other 'wish upon a dream' ideas which stir up excitement and greed are bollocks. The only people that get rich from those schemes are the people selling them. They are variations on the 'How to make Instant Money' schemes- 1) send £10 to the above address 2) put an advert in the paper that says 'How to make Instant Money' 3) give out above advice. The latest schemes are all about 'How to Make Money on the Internet' - Answer 1) send £10 to the above address 2) set up a website advertising 'How to Make Money on the Internet' 3) give out the above advice

I have started with a Deep Tidy in preparation for the Foundation. Watch this space, I am documenting everything I do on this journey, so that other people can follow or not, or just take the steps that are best for them. Your legacy starts with you, have nothing in your mind, on your computer, in your cupboards and in your house that is not either useful or beautiful and preferably both. Begin to step into the zone of Peak Performance.


http://www.drlizmiller.co.uk/

Copyright Dr Liz Miller 2008

If Tidiness is next to Godliness........

Do you ever feel like you do not know where anything is? and you end up buying two three or more of the same thing because you cannot find the first??? The Deep Tidy is the Time-Rich, Cash-Poor answer to the age old problem problem. The Cash- Rich, Time-Poor answer is to buy another, a third or even a fourth. But, if it has not already done so, in the long run that approach will drive you crazy

When was the last time you got fed up with your stuff? just too much of it, and it is everywhere. "Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink". Wardrobes full of clothes and nothing to wear. If you or I are going to sort the world out, we have to get clear about one thing. And that is we have to start by sorting out ourselves. Once you have been through everything you own, you will almost certainly be as surprised as I was to discover how much of it, you can throw away. What is the point in having two tubes/packets/boxes of something you use once every six months? It just means your house is as cluttered as your head

I would like at this point to say I feel free as a bird, but even a shallow tidy, you know there is always another layer. The Deep Tidy means that over the last six months I have touched almost everything I own at least once. It does not mean it is sorted out, just put into piles. But I can close the doors and drawers of my cupboards and come back to the details when I am ready. At least I know there are no unseen monsters lurking in their depths. I can finally start to relax in my own home. If Tidiness is next to Godliness, I am entering holy orders!

The Deep Tidy III

The first phase of the Deep Tidy is almost done. There will be pictures.

The first phase of the Deep Tidy meant going through everything I own and throwing away everything that was not useful or beautiful. I have made the odd mistake, but luckily no one has died.

One major trick is getting organised, putting the remaining things in some kind of order so I can reasonably find them again.

I have always had serious trouble getting organised. Diaries have been a nightmare. The struggle has been finding one I can bond with and use for more than a few days. I have tried tiny diaries, long thin diaries, big page a day diaries, A5 diaries and tiny week to view diaries. I lose them, forget to fill them in, have two or more going at once. It has taken me almost five years of concerted searching to finally bond with a style of diary. For over a year I have used an A4, week to view, hard backed diary. I have ignored people who say, that's big, that doesn't have much space and how do you carry it around. The A4, week to view, hard back diary is a major pillar in my Deep Tidy.

I have also struggled to find a way to organise my paperwork, folders, files, boxes, books, cupboards have successively failed. Oxfam have recieived a steady flow of filing systems over the years. However finally I have discovered a way to make hanging files work for me and even though I have three drawers of hanging files, I am using them!

Finding a system of organisation into which to shoehorn the surviving mess has been a key to the success of the Deep Tidy. Organisation is categorising and sorting. Everyone organises themselves differently, and the Deep Tidy simply means you find the system that suits you best. By contrast, everyone in time management, management training, office work is saying, do it this way, do it that way. The answer for me, has been to do it my own way. If only I had had the courage to invent my own system years ago. Hanging files go hang!!

In the final stages of the Deep Tidy, it becomes important to keep the place tidy, and that requires constant discipline. The Dog Whisperer says about dogs, exercise discipline and affection, in that order. I am finally learning to do that for myself. I have to be my own pack leader, my own owner and my own dog. I delegate things to myself on a regular basis. And I am now developing a zero tolerance policy for mess of all kinds.

There is still a bit more work. But perhaps for the first time, I have finally organised myself in a way that suits me. The house has become increasingly weird, it will never sell or rent to anyone else, so it looks like I am stuck here.

The Deep Tidy II

The Deep Tidy continues. The purpose of a Deep Tidy is to get everything tidy. It is like preparing for death. Tidying up your affairs so your relatives do not have to do it. The Deep Tidy is a preparation for death. As someone said 'the good thing about old age is that it doesn't last long'. Another way of looking at it 'Have nothing in your life that is not either beautiful or useful'.

A place for everything and everything in its place, but I first have to get rid of everything I don't need. Everything that I do not need has to go, either given away or thrown away. It is hard, sometimes it takes an hour or more to tidy a single drawer, getting rid of lipstick I never wore, wrong coloured eyeshadow and spare pairs of uncomfortable shoes. My house has risen three inches on its foundations since I started.

I have struggled for years with my administration and bank statements. If I cannot organise my own money without having a panic attack, I am not going to get rich. Years have gone by without opening a bank statement.

Amazingly, I never had my identity stolen and no one defrauded my account. It was fine until I decided I wanted to get rich. That was where the 'Fly by night' schemes came in and I lost many thousands of pounds. The wounds are still too sore to go into details. However being scammed has desensitived me to money when years of therapy, counselling and coaching never helped.

The Deep Tidy has been going for some months and it is gaining momentum. This time last year, my own paperwork and mess overwhelmed me. I had bookshelves lining the walls of every room in the house and it was still a mess and unsurprisingly I did not know where anything was. I am entering the zero tolerance phase. I have gone through everything I own in the last six months. I have rid of at least a bag of rubbish a day. Some days I manage six or more, other days I don't manage any. If I buy something new, I try to balance it by getting rid of something else. As they say in government "The process is continuing". I never want to experience such a build up of entropy again.

System X is made up of Fractals. A fractal is a pattern with a common design. A fractal can be multiplied a thousand times or more without losing its underlying structure. The Fractals of System X constantly reinterpret the ways in which we understand the world.

The Fractals of System X constantly bring in new ideas, ready for the Deep Tidy to sort, classify, keep and develop them or throw them away. The purpose of the Deep Tidy is to make room for the Fractals of System X to grow and develop.

The Deep Tidy works like the good fish on the coral reef and the birds on the back of the rhinoceros. It keeps the parasites, fleas, trivia and rubbish at bay, which would otherwise clog up and suck the life out of the Fractals of System X.

I realise I want more than money, the money will follow. After all if it was easy to be rich, we would all be rich. Was Julius Caesar the richest man in Rome? No, but he is Rome’s most famous son and still has more influence on the minds of schoolchildren, than any individual businessman or woman alive today.

System X is setting the fires for a change in biology, medicine and psychology. The Deep Tidy is making room for the Fractals of System X.

The Middle Start is under way.