Press | Hack Decks™
Written by Danica Carson, Co-Owner and Creator of Hack Decks™
Danica Carson, creator of Hack Decks™, specializes in creating simple and effective ways to help others live their lives with less stress and more enjoyment. Focusing on pain points such as getting organized, becoming a mother, going off to college, coming up with fresh ways to connect, Hack Decks™ provides a shortcut to a happier, easier life.
My name is Danica Carson, and I am the creator of Hack Decks™. Hack Decks™ are a unique line of thoughtfully conceived prompt cards designed to simplify life and reduce daily stress. Each deck focuses on a transitional period of life to help people stay organized and focused during these changes. For example, when becoming a new mother (New Mama Deck) or going off to college (Dorm Deck), we offer suggestions to ease the transition. Each deck has a keen eye on organization and adjusting to a new environment or phase of life, which is influenced by our home organizing company. Hack Decks™ is owned by The Uncluttered Life, Inc., a boutique home-organizing company based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas.
The Uncluttered Life, Inc. strives to make organization a top priority during life interruptions, changes and transitions that happen to everyone. And we work to reduce what overwhelms so many. In our home organization business, for example, we optimize what a client currently owns and loves, declutter the rest, and improve home flow efficiency and function. Organization is a place where many people tend to feel overwhelmed. The Uncluttered Life, Inc. strives to make organization a top priority during life’s many pivotal situations. For this reason, we developed our flagship product, Declutter Deck®. We will expand our decluttering line in 2025. We currently see the need to help people in other transitional periods such as when downsizing or combining households.
The mission of Hack Decks™ is simple: live a happier, more fulfilling life by skipping the struggle that comes with everyday living. Using crowd-sourced wisdom and the experience of experts in their field, each Hack Deck™ is designed to “coach” users by offering prompts that encourage a proactive approach to life. In other words, working smarter rather than harder. Each prompt, like during the decluttering process, is a small piece of a larger task. In total, this creates a cumulative effect. As we say at The Uncluttered Life, “inch by inch, it’s a cinch.” In other words, we avoid overwhelming the user with our single task prompt cards. One small task (the deck is made up of 52 prompts) increases the likelihood of use and consistency and builds upon progress. Frustration with everyday annoyances, like needing to clean out your closet, become easy because the large project is broken into bite-sized pieces that are manageable and can be done in under an hour.
How Hack Decks™ came to be
I graduated from University of California, Berkeley with a major in Media Studies in 2015. The major is an interdisciplinary study that combines fine art, history, psychology, modern media, and social science. The major was right up my alley.
Since I was a little girl, I have had a passion for art, especially painting, photography, graphic arts and home design. It wasn’t until my late 20’s, however, that I began to fully appreciate and understand the impact visual clutter has on me. In other words, too much visual stimulation, like clutter, raises my stress level and makes it difficult for me to focus and stay on task. It not only happens to me, but it also happens to many people, especially women. For this reason, I decided that if I were struggling, others were, too. I used my art and psychology background to create decks of 52 cards that, I hoped, would help people find a new approach to things that overwhelmed them.
Clutter, mental health, and cortisol levels
I know I’m not unique in this respect. Articles and studies ranging from WebMD to Neuroscience News cite examples of the way overstimulation and clutter trigger stress and anxiety. Even Stanford and The National Institutes of Health (NIH) have written about this link. In fact, clutter leads to both poor mental and physical health because of an increase in cortisol levels. I decided to take this information and turn it into something that would not only help me, but also help others.
While these studies put the association in scientific and medical terms, I can say from my own experience that I feel the effects of clutter. Clutter stresses me out, and I’m sure it stresses out a lot of other people, too.
Getting married and having too much “stuff”
As I was in the throes of getting married, I realized something about myself that I had never known. The small apartment I shared with my husband-to-be in Southern California was a trigger. As the wedding invitations went out, and gifts from my registry arrived, I found that I had nowhere to put these generous and thoughtful presents. I know, it’s a first world problem, but this first world problem affects a lot of people. I’m sure it affects people worldwide. Not having enough space, feeling cramped, disorganized, and out of control overwhelmed me. It’s a common thing I hear when helping people organize their homes.
In that small apartment I began to feel claustrophobic. The more the doorbell rang with deliveries from Amazon and Crate and Barrel, the more my anxiety grew. As time went on, I began to feel fatigued and less productive. It was then that my mom, Cathy, a KonMari (Marie Kondo) Certified Master Organizer with decades of organizing experience, came to my rescue.
The two of us spent three days in my apartment with her experienced eye for clutter and rolls of trash bags, packing my car and hers with bags for either recycle, donation, or trash. Suddenly, I felt motivated, inspired, and energized in my space again. I was more productive, much less stressed and overwhelmed, and excited to put my new things away. One thing became very clear to me, and I took to heart something my mom had taught me for years: the more you have, the less productive you are. Luckily, I had the help of my mom. With a sigh of relief, I was able to integrate my gifts into my home, letting go of things that no longer served me, and making space in my tiny apartment for change. Better mental and physical health followed.
Clutter and stress
I cite the articles (above) to validate the relationship between clutter and stress. As explained, clutter leads to stress, and both poor mental and physical health. This is because clutter increases cortisol levels, especially in women.
What I found in myself is that it is difficult to concentrate when there is too much “stuff” everywhere. This means on countertops and under cabinets, in the pantry and especially in closets. Clutter accumulates, and because of this, it’s often difficult to let down, relax, and breathe. The more we accumulate, the bigger impact it has. I believe that these studies explain the recent focus on decluttering, minimalism, and the need for home organization companies.
One thing we know, for sure, is that it shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg to help with this problem. But it does because hiring a home organization company is expensive. This puts organization out of reach for many people. Those who struggle with mental health, ADHD, panic attacks, just to name a few, all need help getting their space in order. An organized, flowing, efficient life makes a world of difference for just about everyone. For this reason, and because we believe decluttering and organizing should not just be for those who can afford this improvement, we developed Declutter Deck®. Declutter Deck® is an affordable deck of 52 prompt cards that takes the “Where do I start?” out of home organization. We will get to this in a minute.
Add a baby and a pandemic
Two years after we married, my husband and I welcomed a baby boy. A month before his birth and at the very beginning of the pandemic, my husband accepted a job in the DFW area. Job offer in hand, we focused on our future and uprooted, eventually making a move from Southern California to Texas.
My husband’s job offer came at a hard time. The world was in the middle of the pandemic. Before giving notice of our move to his then-current employer, he was working from home in a space designed to be a dining room. In other words, in our 600 square foot apartment we now had the three of us and our cat, tons of baby equipment and furniture, and my husband’s work-from-home office. Personal space was non-existent. Further, complicating the issue, the baby and I had to remain quiet during the day because my husband was on round-the-clock conference calls. To put it mildly, there were too many things and too little space in those 600 square feet. It must have been the same way for many people during the days of quarantine. I was going stir crazy.
Simultaneously, the pandemic blurred the line between work life and home life. The dynamics of work shifted, and people found themselves at home for months on end. The need for a home office that wasn’t the kitchen table became a real necessity. And the mounds of paperwork and computer equipment that suddenly invaded not only my home, but many others, became a reality of life. Where were we supposed to put all these things? I think a lot of people found themselves asking the same question. The need for home and office organization became a must.
Don’t move things that you’ll just throw away when you arrive
Having the family that I do, and the fact that my brother and his wife were already living in Texas, my parents decided to move close by to be near both my brother and me in DFW. For them, moving from an organized home, was easy. My mom has always practiced Swedish Death Cleaning, meaning that she will never burden us with leaving cleaning out her home and life to my brother and me. It is truly a gift.
I, on the other hand, had a different experience. Moving from a tiny, disorganized 600 square foot apartment with a two-week-old baby was hard. In fact, it was so hard that the movers had to pack us. I arrived in my new home with boxes full of nonsense that I never intended to bring with us in the first place. One rule I learned: Never pay to move something that you will just throw away once you get to your destination. It’s a huge waste of time and money. Declutter first. It eases the transition for everyone. And makes unpacking that much easier.
The Uncluttered Life® during and after the pandemic
Prior to the pandemic upending all our lives, and while living in Southern California, my mom and I started The Uncluttered Life, Inc. The Uncluttered Life® was originally created to help people organize their homes using the KonMari Method™, made popular by Marie Kondo’s books and Netflix series. My mom had trained in Santa Monica, CA in the summer of 2019.
Because of her years-long love of decluttering and organizing, she quickly rose through the ranks to become a Certified KonMari Master Consultant. A KonMari Master is the highest level as deemed by this program. It is the culmination of 1500+ hours of tidying and organizing and very few organizing companies within the United States have this distinction. Having worked alongside her, I learned very quickly how to apply this method, among others, to our business.
Partnership with inspired closets DFW
As we grew our business in Southern California, taking on clients for in-home organization and teaching them about organization with seminars and lectures, the pandemic hit. Suddenly, we were no longer able to enter people’s homes; organizing became virtual. On an international level, even the KonMari Method™ had to adjust to this change. Instead of organizing in a person’s home, as seen on the Netflix series, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, all tidying and organization became virtual. As a company, we were still able to help people throughout the United States get control of their home organizing, however, it had to be by Zoom or FaceTime. Most often we received requests to help people define the blurred line between work and home. During the pandemic, it was a time of change, but also opportunity.
This deep change carried over into our business in several ways. First, we moved to Texas in between Dallas and Fort Worth. And, because we brought with us a unique skillset, we established a partnership with Inspired Closets DFW. Deneé Locke, owner of ICDFW loves helping families make positive changes in their homes and businesses for a more organized way of life. As a result of our partnership, clients who purchase a $10,000 or more built-in space (closet, pantry, garage, mudroom) receive the gift of four hours of our organization services. The partnership works so that not only does a client build out a space that helps them function better, but their items are also put away and styled to fully maximize their investment.
Organizing has a domino effect
And we learned something else. Organizing one space in a house has a domino effect. Clients often wanted more help but were unable to allocate resources to do an entire home. We also realized that organization should not be available only to those who can afford to hire a professional. In fact, because cost is so often a factor, we learned that people were often desperate for help but could either not pay or were frankly embarrassed for us to see how they lived. This lack of organization, however, keeps people from being able to improve their lives. The improvement can be in the form of running a better household, keeping kids on track in school, pursuing a better job or education, or dealing with the effects of ADHD. Whatever a person’s circumstances, organization can help in ways people never dreamed possible.
Organization, too, is often the missing link in mental health, helping to reduce stress and simplify life. For this reason, we developed Hack Decks™, a way to incorporate life hacks into transitional or difficult times in a person’s life to improve and sustain good mental health practices. Our decks include Date Deck®, Declutter Deck®, Dorm Deck, New Mama Deck, and Random Acts of Kindness Deck. Declutter Deck® was Hack Decks™ flagship product.
What is Declutter Deck®?
Declutter Deck® is a prompt card deck of 52 “hacks” to help people declutter and organize their homes. Prompts are easy to follow, broken into thirty-minute increments (maximum is one hour), and guide you through your entire home organization process. From the deck of cards, just pick one several times a week, and perform the prompt. It’s that easy. Examples include working through your broken mugs, cleaning out your linen closet, or picking things off your bedroom closet floor and putting them back where they belong. Done consistently, the deck touches every major living area that tends to get cluttered and never returned to organized.
We have worked with hundreds of people to help them declutter and organize their homes. We know where the pain points are, and how many people give up before they even start. Originally given as a “thank you” gift exclusively to our clients, we now offer this deck for sale on our websites.
The transformation a person or family can make with this simple card deck changes a person or family’s living space. It stops the stress. It stops the arguing. It stops the blaming. It creates harmony for all members living under one roof.
And we created this because at The Uncluttered Life, Inc., we believe that cost should never be a barrier to improving both mental and physical health.
What’s coming next from Hack Decks™?
We are in the process of creating decks to address more pain points, especially those that occur because of clutter and a lack of organization. These include our Downsizing Deck™, Digital Decluttering Deck™, advanced versions of our Declutter Deck®, and more. Our focus is to get you in a mental and physical space that makes you feel at ease and productive and leaves the feelings of being overwhelmed at the door. I don’t know about you, but when I open my computer to thirty tabs and hundreds of emails, I want to close it and call it a day.
Why not a book? Why a deck of cards?
There is one basic reason for this decision, and that is because cards can be chosen and put back if that prompt doesn’t make sense to you that day, you are overwhelmed and need something easier to do, or you’d like to repeat the process once you’re finished. The goal is to pick a card and perform the task within thirty minutes, and at a maximum one hour. Should you have only thirty minutes, tackle a little prompt. Have extra time during the day? Pick another card. Not in the mood for that card on a particular day? Put it back in the deck and choose another. Once you have performed all 52 cards, shuffle and start again or gift it to a friend. The objective is to avoid making people feel overwhelmed. This increases productivity, consistency, and progress.
A deck of cards that focuses on mental health is a game-changer
We are all struggling with something in our own little corner of the world. Some of the most difficult times are during transitional periods or when change occurs. Young adults stress about starting college. For that reason, we offer Dorm Deck to help with good mental health practices. It’s tough to bring home a new baby from the hospital. People ask how they can help. Give them the deck of cards and ask them to do one task. Clutter pits family members against one another. Use the Declutter Deck® to get life organized and flowing smoothly. Date Deck takes the boredom out of being married for twenty years or reallocates the “having fun” task out of the hands of one person and “Delegates to the Deck®.” And lastly, our Random Acts of Kindness deck removes the thinking that many people find hard when trying to do something kind for others. It offers suggestions that are easy, inexpensive, and create good will. It’s a great gift to give a classroom of young children (or older children, for that matter). And it strives to make the world a better place.
Try one of our Hack Decks™ to see how much less complicated and overwhelming life can be. There is something in our line for everyone. And watch for our new decks that will continue to improve your life. Delegate to the Deck® and find time for more meaningful, rewarding ways to spend the moments of your life. As Annie Dillard says, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing.” Overwhelmed life? Or calm, happy and peaceful? The choice is yours.
Featured articles
Since moving to Texas in 2020, The Uncluttered Life, Inc. has been voted a Reader’s Choice All-Star” by Arlington Magazine, and has been featured in Living Magazine, Voyage Dallas, Shoutout DFW, and Marie Kondo’s KonMari “Meet the Masters.” The Uncluttered Life, Inc. and Hack Decks™ were also recently featured in an Architectural Digest article and in several Real Simple Magazine articles.
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Read more from Danica Carson
Danica Carson, Co-Owner and Creator of Hack Decks™
Danica Carson is the Co-Owner and Creator of Hack Decks™, a line of prompt cards designed to simplify life and reduce stress. Hack Decks™ is owned by The Uncluttered Life, Inc., a boutique organizing company based in Dallas-Fort Worth specializing in optimization, efficiency, and home function. The flagship product, Declutter Deck®, was created as an exclusive tool for clients, to get and stay organized in all aspects of the home.
Meet Cathy Orr
By Bold Journey
We were lucky to catch up with Cathy Orr recently and have shared our conversation below.
Cathy, so many exciting things to discuss, we can’t wait. Thanks for joining us and we appreciate you sharing your wisdom with our readers. So, maybe we can start by discussing optimism and where your optimism comes from?
My optimism comes from an internal feeling I have that life is about improvement, making things better. A great example of this is our Declutter Deck® from The Uncluttered Life, Inc. Declutter Deck® helps people get control of the clutter in their lives. It helps them streamline the process of decluttering by using little chunks of their time on a weekly basis to focus their attention on one area of their home. By working through our prompt decks of 52 cards, people declutter their homes and living environments in no time at all. As a result, people’s attitudes about their lives change. They improve. People feel more optimistic about their lives.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am a Master Certified KonMari Consultant. That means I have over 1500 hours in-home organizing experience as taught by Marie Kondo. I love her method because it makes sense to me. She is logical in her thought process. I prefer to live an uncluttered life, and for this reason, I am able to work through her system with our clients.
I have been organizing for over twenty years. During that time, I’ve also developed many other styles of organizing. I choose the best of all the methods I’ve learned and help clients overcome their mountains of clothing, unnecessary things that get in the way of progress, and even deal with some emotional causes of clutter.
At The Uncluttered Life, Inc., a company I co-founded, we have introduced a prompt deck called Declutter Deck®. Declutter Deck® is a prompt deck of 52 cards that addresses all the main areas of a person’s home that need decluttering. We are in the process of developing additional Declutter Decks® that are very focused on a particular demographic.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I am a highly organized person. That is my most impactful characteristic when it comes to our company. I also am a very hard worker, and for this reason, I get a lot done. Because I am organized and focused, and give a project my all, I find that I can accomplish a great deal in a short amount of time. I also have a very streamlined lifestyle, and don’t easily get distracted.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
My favorite book is Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston. This book changed my life. It is about the way clutter impacts our energy. It’s worth the read. In fact, I read it every year around the Chinese New Year. It is an older book, but the message is still very relevant to me.
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Announcing Our New Partnership
We are proud to announce our partnership with Alta Daily in the DFW Area!
About Alta Daily
Alta is a personal style companion that simplifies the daily decision of what to wear, offering stress-free outfit suggestions based on your preferences and daily activities.
Alta is your personalized fashion companion on a mission to simplify your style choices. Named after the Latin word for "elevated," Alta acts as your daily style copilot, making the often stressful task of choosing outfits a breeze. In a rapidly growing $185 billion US apparel e-commerce industry, Alta stands out by streamlining your online shopping experience with tailored suggestions based on your unique preferences. With its AI-driven capabilities, Alta not only optimizes your closet usage but also serves as your helpful shopping assistant, ensuring your purchases fit seamlessly into your existing wardrobe. As Alta evolves, it aspires to become more than just a fashion tool, aiming to curate a lifestyle that enhances your daily experiences.
Social Media
Website: https://www.altadaily.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/altadaily
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@altadaily
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/altadaily
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10 Simple Storage Hacks That Will Cost You $0
We are honored to have our first Hack Deck produced to be featured in Architectural Digest article by . Here is an excerpt:
When you get the urge to deep-clean a closet—or rip everything out from underneath the sink and start fresh—you might also feel compelled to buy some organizing accouterments. As far as storage hacks go, clear plastic bins are a perennial favorite for decluttering enthusiasts who want to create Insta-worthy displays, but beyond that you may have noticed there are more than a few rolling storage carts and back-of-the-door pocket organizers on the market to choose from.
Resist the temptation to add containers and shelves to your shopping cart. Instead, consider all the ways you could tidy up your home without spending a dime. Ahead, find 10 storage hacks from organizing experts that don’t cost a thing.
1. Convert an old wine bottle rack into a water bottle organizer
Have a wine rack that’s been languishing in the basement, or one that’s collecting dust in the corner of your parents’ kitchen? Repurpose it for something more practical: storing your vast collection of water bottles, say Danica Carson and Cathy Orr, founders of The Uncluttered Life blog and creators of the Declutter Deck, a set of organizing prompt cards.
Stanley cups and Hydroflasks alike can easily slide into the spaces previously reserved for wine bottles, bringing harmony to the cupboard that once sent aluminum bottles ricocheting out every time it was opened.
Click HERE to see the rest of these helpful tips.
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Daily Inspiration: Meet Danica Carson
Local Stories with VoyageDallas
Today we’d like to introduce you to Danica Carson.
Hi Danica, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I graduated from UC Berkeley. In 2020, right before lock down my husband got a job here in DFW. I was pregnant with our son, Rowan. The country went into lockdown, and being pregnant, we didn’t want to risk traveling, so we bought a house remotely in May and moved in July 3rd.
Hack Decks came about from another business my mom and I run. We have a professional organizing company called The Uncluttered Life. We have extensive experience in organization – complete with a Master Level distinction in the KonMari Method (Marie Kondo’s method). I came up with our first deck, Declutter Deck®, as a way to help our clients stay organized and for other people trying to get organized. Not everyone has the budget to hire professional organizers, but that shouldn’t be a barrier to having an organized and functional home. We distilled all of our knowledge into Declutter Deck® to come up with mini-organizing prompts to help people who don’t know where to start or what to do to get their homes in order.
After launching Declutter Deck®, I decided to create our second deck, Date Deck®. My husband and I used to do something fun and new every weekend, and with lockdown and being new parents, we weren’t getting to do that much. Not to mention, we were in a new state, and we had no idea what there was to do or where to go. So, I put 52 of my favorite types of dates that we used to go on down on paper and turned them into date idea prompts, and we slowly got to know the area and fell in love with DFW. The best thing about Date Deck®, in my opinion, is that it removes the work associated with having fun. No endless scrolling or trying to figure out what to do. Just a simple prompt to guide you on your date adventure. It removes the pressure and mental fatigue that comes with having an endless list of things to get done and wanting to maximize your personal time.
We also recently launched Dorm Deck, a deck designed to help college freshmen thrive during their first year of college.
Next month, we will be launching our New Mama Deck. This deck is so close to my heart, and I can’t wait for it to come out. It’s all about taking care of yourself after you have a baby so that you can enjoy this stage of life instead of getting through it. Mama matters, too!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, definitely not smooth. Though, I can’t imagine it ever is for anyone starting a business. We had to fight for trademarks and copyrights, change the name of some decks, and even company! But here we are, and we got everything we needed.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I have always been very design-oriented. I studied design and was even an art major for a while before switching to an interdisciplinary major. I always found being creative to be very fulfilling. I’ve worked in social media and built websites, and I truly enjoy it. When covid started, everyone started organizing their homes, and I ended up getting into something I call “decor-organizing.” All that means is that I like to make functional organization pretty. I use decor to hide organization or enhance it. That’s how I ended up a professional organizer. We have recently been awarded the Decorganize trademark, and I'm very proud of that.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out.
You’re never going to know everything you need to know. Just start and figure it out as you go. You’ll make mistakes, but you’ll learn.
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Conversations with Cathy Orr
Local Stories with VoyageDallas
Today we’d like to introduce you to Cathy Orr.
Hi Cathy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have always been interested in home organizing in one form or another my entire life. I was on the organizing bandwagon long before “spark joy” or any of the current trends in organizing were a “thing." In fact, my background in anthropology was probably my lead-up to organizing. Cultural anthropology focuses a lot on classifying things/people/behaviors into categories. My mind just thinks like this.
I became a Marie Kondo consultant in September 2019, and since that time have risen from the “green” level to Certified Master. A certified Master is the culmination of client hours equal to 1500+ hours of organizing. In fact, I have many more than the 1500 required for this certification. I have been organizing, in one form or another, for the past twenty years.
I look at home organizing and what Marie Kondo calls “tidying” as a way to make sense of your life. Life is chaotic, and keeping things straight makes all the difference in the world. That means instead of your things looking like hodgepodge, your life flows. You know why you own what you have and why you have it. The rest is just clutter and a distraction. Of course, there are always those few things that you just need to keep, but they are secondary to surrounding yourself with only the things that make you happy. I believe that a person’s environment should reflect who they are now rather than who they used to be or hope to be someday. This actually brings our clients a lot of happiness and peace.
There are 22 Marie Kondo home organizing consultants in the state of Texas. Of those, there are seven who are in the local DFW area. Of those, I am one of two Certified Masters who works locally in the DFW area. I work with my daughter, who has been the recipient of years of organization training by me. To say that efficiency and productivity run through our family is an understatement.
In addition, I hold two master’s degrees, one in Medical Anthropology and another in Health Policy and Law, from UC San Francisco. I have worked in the healthcare field, directly with Medicare and State agencies, and as a Patient Advocate. I am, for that reason, considered a medical paperwork expert.
I can help seniors who are downsizing or with medical bill organization. In other words, I know what medical information/bills to keep, discard, pay and what is not their responsibility. I have also volunteered both for the State of California and Texas for HICAP, which is the free Health Information, Counseling, and Advocacy Program of Medicare. I’m trained in Medicare policy from the legal/medical perspective at UCSF and am able to guide seniors in figuring out medical paperwork messes. This is especially helpful for adult children of seniors who may need direction when closing out an estate or assisting an aging or ill parent. I understand the medical nuances of healthcare billing.
A businesswoman at heart, in 2019, I launched The Uncluttered Life, Inc., an organization company with my daughter. We taught people the Marie Kondo organization technique, organized homes, and built our business in California. In 2021 we moved the business to Texas when we decided, after the pandemic, to be closer to family.
After seeing a shift during the pandemic, with my daughter, we recently launched a line of prompt cards, including one called Declutter Deck®. Declutter Deck® prompt cards are sold individually on The Uncluttered Life, Inc. website (www.theunclutteredlife.com). These easy-to-perform card prompts (52 in each deck) help people get and stay organized after we organize and leave their space. Or individuals can tackle the job themselves without our help in short, 30-minute blocks of time. After working through the 52-card deck, their home is completely organized.
We also have a sister site, Hack Decks™ (www.lifehackdecks.com). On our Hack Decks™ site, we offer a number of similar prompt card decks that help with life hacks to simplify life’s transitional times. Whether it’s having a baby or going off to college, these prompt decks provide inspiration for keeping life as simple as possible during challenging times.
There is a theme that runs through everything we do. Simplify life. Lessen what makes you feel overwhelmed and fatigued. These decks, and our home organization service, provide more time to do the things you love. Too much “stuff” holds you down. We try to ease the pain points you may be feeling by maximizing your time without doing any extra work. It’s just that simple. And, as a bonus, all of it helps improve mental health.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
For sure, the pandemic was a struggle. We had gone from working in people’s homes to being unable to do that. For this reason, we developed an online organization product or virtual organization. With our online product, we can work virtually with clients to help them get their lives in order. We typically work with a client once a week, provide incentives to keep them moving, organization assignments, and help them pick out organization products. Then, virtually, we help them organize their homes and put everything away.
Because of the pandemic, we also thought that it would be important for people to be able to do things on their own. For this reason, we developed prompt decks. In particular, Declutter Deck® was good for people during the pandemic. That’s because people realized that their homes were simultaneously their living and workspace. The lines became blurred, and a lot of people had trouble relaxing at home. They always felt “on” and overwhelmed. Since the pandemic social distancing has eased, we find that a lot of people are still working from home. This virtual organizing option is great for those who have limited time and/or a limited budget. We try to make everything we do affordable, and this is particularly so.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am going to speak about my daughter in this section since I believe that she helps us distinguish our services from others. My daughter is an art major from UC Berkeley who comes with tremendous design experience. For that reason, we are not only able to organize a space; we are also able to make it beautiful. In other words, when we leave, the client has the “look” that so many people want. We can style an area (for example, a closet) to make it look like it’s right out of a showroom. This is a particular talent that she has. In tandem, we work particularly well together. I come with more of the organization background, and she comes with that design eye. The two meld beautifully.
For me, I was in the healthcare field for years, and I love paperwork. When we go into a person’s home, paperwork is a tough go for many. The saying goes that a single piece of paper takes up very little room. But, because people are so afraid to throw things away, they keep everything. And then, paperwork becomes monumental. Piles upon piles.
I am able to sort through that type of thing – the mounds of dreaded paperwork. I’ve done that for many people, and they are just so relieved once I leave. In fact, I’ve gone through boxes and boxes of paperwork, some of which requires a very keen eye. I am able to make sense of it all. And I also enjoy the process.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Marie Kondo and the KonMari organization deserve credit. They brought those of us who have always loved organizing into the mainstream. And they have given us a platform to help others.
In addition, Marie Kondo recently partnered with a company that helps make the most of a client’s wardrobe using AI. We will be participating in this unique concept that has the look and feel of shopping at Nordstrom, for example, using your own clothing. The concept will appear in Vogue and launch during New York Fashion Week. We are thrilled to help bring this to people in the DFW area.
I also love Karen Kingston, who was one of the pioneers in the field of organization and energy. Her book, Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui, is a huge inspiration to me.
I credit my yoga teacher for showing me Kingston’s book years ago and helping me understand energy flow. Energy gets stuck when you don’t discard and move things. I understand this on a very deep level.
I also thank my clients who have allowed us into their homes. It’s scary for people to go through their things. We absolutely understand that. And we appreciate that they are willing to take the risk to let us help.
And we also thank Denee from Inspired Closets DFW, who has allowed us to partner with her and her designers to organize closets after their installations on qualifying purchases.
Especially, I credit my daughter for her hard work, insight, and vision. She is a true talent.
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Meet Danica Orr
Stories by Bold Journey
Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Danica Orr. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Danica, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
Our sense of purpose comes from helping people. We designed Hack Decks™ to help people overcome their feelings of anxiety when approaching new situations. For example, when young people are going off to college, they may have anxiety about meeting new people, getting adjusted to a new city, or living with someone new. We designed a line of cards called Hack Decks™ that addresses a number of these kind of topics. Our decks include Date Deck™ for people who may be new to dating, or are trying to develop a deeper connection with someone. This deck also takes the chore out of finding new and different things to do on the weekend. Further, we designed Declutter Deck® to help people who may be downsizing, have trouble getting a handle on their clutter, or are combining households. In addition, we offer the New Mama Deck for first time moms. This deck helps new moms figure out how to juggle the demands on their time with a newborn. And, lastly, we have our Random Acts of Kindness deck. This deck is to help communities come together, bring kindness to a classroom, and show gratitude and compassion to others.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am a mom of a three year old little boy. He is the light of my life, and part of the reason behind Hack Decks™. My son was born during Covid, and we had just moved from Southern California to Texas. I was unfamiliar with the area and unable to get out to explore my new surroundings. In California, I used to go out every weekend with my husband to learn about a different part of the city, either Los Angeles, Orange County or San Diego. When I got to Texas, I had to relearn fun spots and now, with a baby in tow.
I decided that it would be a good idea to market Date Deck so that when people could finally get out again, they had new ideas about what might be fun to do in their city. I’m a pro at finding different and unusual things to do on the weekend. It keeps the spark alive in my marriage because it triggers the dopamine response that doing something new does to our brains. The problem is that it is exhausting to look for new things that often. For that reason, I decided that others would probably like to outsource their dating ideas. From there, the idea just grew.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The three qualities are creativity, a good design concept, and dedication to the concept. There is really nothing like Hack Decks™ out in the marketplace. There are motivational or inspirational cards, but nothing to help overcome an anxiety-producing situation. We break our decluttering, for example, into bite-sized pieces so that someone can actually declutter an entire house on their own schedule. The Declutter Deck® cards, too, help people with ADHD because they keep a person’s process and mind focused. We understand that there are many people out in the world who just don’t know where to start with home organization, for example. We want to help them.
My partner and I also own a home organization business called The Uncluttered Life, Inc. My partner is a Marie Kondo Certified Master, which means that she has over 1500 hours logged in the KonMari Method® of in-home organization. So, a lot of our knowledge is based in very practical, hands-on work.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
We are always looking for people to collaborate with us. We are especially interested in working with mental health professionals who encourage people with ADHD to become their best selves. Our Declutter Deck® is a great tool to help people get in charge of their lives and focus their attention at home. We think many people would benefit from using our Declutter Deck®, as well as many of our other decks.
A school, for example, would be a great partner for our Random Acts of Kindness Deck. Our deck is 52 cards of great ideas to help build community and teach others about compassion and gratitude. Anyone who thinks that their school, foundation, or community center would benefit from a collaborative project is welcome to get in touch with us. They can reach us at hello@lifehackdecks.com or hello@theunclutteredlife.com. We are also available to private label our products.