Unscramble the Shambles: Julie Morgenstern

A CLOSET JAMMED with Gap tees. A PDA packed with commitments. A desk drowning in papers. Everyone has areas of their pad (or life) where they slob out. Clean-up-your-act queen Julie Morgenstern will be at the National Book Festival on Sept. 27 discussing her book, "When Organizing Isn't Enough: SHED Your Stuff, Change Your Life," ($24, Fireside). We chatted with her about purging everything from old shoes to too many after-work drink dates.

» EXPRESS: What is it about stuff? Why do we gather so much of it?
» MORGENSTERN: Each of us has stuff that anchors us, and that quantity varies from person to person. Some people need a ton of stuff to feel grounded and anchored; they feel better when they're surrounded. There are other people where much less anchors them, but there's an amount.

» EXPRESS: Define clutter.
» MORGENSTERN: Anything obsolete that's taking up space or time in your life that doesn't fuel you or energize you or move you forward.

» EXPRESS: Why is it so hard to let go of things?
» MORGENSTERN: We get attached to the very quantity of stuff we own, regardless of the value of individual items. We feel like we're disoriented if we have less.

» EXPRESS: Does everyone have some kind of clutter in their lives?
» MORGENSTERN: Absolutely. Our lives change. We're constantly evolving. What's relevant today could so easily be not relevant in a few months or weeks. When things change, we don't necessarily stop in that moment to dump things that aren't relevant anymore.

» EXPRESS: Do people have a harder time getting rid of things in a bad economy?
» MORGENSTERN: I think the opposite is true. With the economy being bad, people want to get rid of the waste and clutter in their lives so they can get to what is most important and function better. They want to learn to live with less and have access to what is really important. It's a catalyst and a motivation for people to get down to their essentials.

» EXPRESS: How can being disorganized negatively affect you?
» MORGENSTERN: Being disorganized really keeps you from achieving your goals. You can't move quickly; you're stuck looking for your keys or looking for your checkbook. Being disorganized costs you a lot of time, a lot of stress and, actually, a lot of money. When you can't find what you need, very often you get another one.

Being overwhelmed by clutter makes people feel very depressed. They feel defeated, like they can't move forward. They can't think. They're not energized.

» EXPRESS: You'll be traveling to D.C. for the National Book Festival. Have any good packing tips?
» MORGENSTERN: I pack by outfit, and it just works. Then you're not packing a wardrobe where you can have options and have to put things together and decide. You end up needing to pack way more then. Once I'm on a trip, I don't want to have the stress of "What am I going to wear?" I love having that thought through ahead of time. It saves a lot of time on the ground.

» EXPRESS: Do I really need that huge purse or that fancy cell phone I see on TV or in a magazine? Won't they clutter up my life?
» MORGENSTERN: Anything you buy, you need to ask: What am I going to get rid of to make room for this? What is this replacing? Why do I need this? Do we need all the extras? Do we need all the bells and whistles? The answer is you probably don't, unless that bell or whistle makes you say, "I have been wishing for something like that, and someone finally came up with the answer." The need should drive the purchase rather than the purchase driving the need.

» EXPRESS: Which celebrity seems to most need your services?
» MORGENSTERN: Lindsay Lohan and Amy Winehouse, who seem to be stuck. They're clutching to some pretty big-time and habit clutter in their lives that is distracting them from making their greatest contribution and fully utilizing their talents and really having purely fulfilling days.

» EXPRESS: Change is a big theme in this year's presidential election. What does the next president need to do to truly clean things up?
» MORGENSTERN: The idea of theme is important. What's the next chapter of our lives as Americans? We need a new chapter, and it needs to be defined for us.

Written by Express Contributor Beth Luberecki
Photo courtesy of iStock Photo