The Story Behind 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.

About the Uncluttered Life, Inc.

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.