The Clutter Conversations
A podcast for anyone who has ever dealt with clutter, personally or professionally.
The Clutter Conversations
Navigating College Prep: Embracing Change and Streamlining Life
Preparing to send our oldest child off to college has thrown us into a whirlwind of emotions and logistical challenges. Jason and I open up about our personal journey through this major transition, sharing both the heartwarming and the hectic moments. You’ll hear firsthand how we’ve tackled packing, organizing, and setting realistic goals, including our decision to shift the podcast to an every-other-week schedule to better manage our time and stress.
Our Sunday routine has become a cornerstone in managing the chaos of everyday life. We dive into how dedicating this day to household chores and planning for the week helps us stay ahead of car troubles, financial hiccups, and even unexpected rodent guests. Balancing work with leisure, we emphasize a proactive mindset and the strength of teamwork in keeping our home running smoothly and harmoniously.
For those with ADHD tendencies—or anyone seeking to streamline their life—we share practical strategies that have revolutionized our routines. From designating specific spots for essential items to the lifesaving convenience of grocery delivery services, you'll find tips that make home organization and shopping more manageable. We also explore our "app" strategy: assess, plan, and partner up, showing how prioritizing tasks and leveraging community support can make life’s complexities more manageable. Don't miss out on joining the conversation in our "Clutter Conversations" group on Facebook, or reach out via email for more tips and support.
For more information or to schedule a FREE consult call with Katie, be sure to check out KCH Organizers!
Hey everybody, welcome back to the Clutter Conversations, a podcast for anyone who's ever dealt with clutter personally or professionally. I'm your host, Katie Hochschauer. I'd like to think that I'm not alone when You're not.
Speaker 2:I'm right here, oh, literally across the table from you.
Speaker 1:You are there.
Speaker 2:I thought you were going to say you magnificent son of a. Oh, okay.
Speaker 1:Oh, I was not, because I was really like three words into the podcast episode and I just jumped on in. I'm sorry that I didn't introduce you before. Unbelievable I really.
Speaker 2:Maybe you need a little you know shout out in the actual introduction, because I don't know, sure feels like you, like to be a part we should do a programming note before we jump into the episode, however, please because I don't even know what that is initially this is going to be a weekly podcast, and then what's it called? Life happens, oh, and we thought you know what. It's a much better idea and it's going to be a lot easier for us to be consistent if we make it every other week yeah, so that's. That's where we've landed. That's's why you didn't get an episode last week and two weeks prior, I think.
Speaker 1:Yeah, something like that. I think it's a good goal for us to be aiming for.
Speaker 2:I think it's realistic for us now to do it every other Friday.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm really glad that you brought that up, because the topic that I brought up that I thought of for today is strategies for when life is too lifey.
Speaker 2:Is this the equivalent of calling your school like Schoolie McSchoolface?
Speaker 1:Or.
Speaker 2:Boaty McBoatface for your new water vessel.
Speaker 1:Riz Toilet or something.
Speaker 2:I don't know. I've never heard Schoolie McSchool. I don't know.
Speaker 1:I don't. I've never heard Schoolie McSchoolface Don't want want me, he's, he's going to want want me. Yeah, all right, you get three of those per show.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow, ok, that's more than I got on my old show. So, great, let's do it.
Speaker 1:All right.
Speaker 2:Carry on.
Speaker 1:That's one.
Speaker 2:There is no grace period here.
Speaker 1:So, as I was saying before Jason so kindly reminded us that he is also in the studio is that I don't think I'm alone in life, sometimes getting too lifey.
Speaker 1:And what do I mean by that? I mean when things feel like they are just coming at you a million miles an hour, that things aren't slowing down. And I know, as we're recording this, our kids have been in school for less than one week, and I was already. I mean, I'm in therapy and I've been talking with my therapist about knowing that that transition from the dog days of summer to the hustle and bustle of school that I know that that transition can be very difficult and I just kind of wanted to have strategies and to tune in and be aware, even before it happened, that I knew life was going to start lifing up like big time right. So I wrote down a list of some of the things that have been lifing so hardcore for us recently, and this is why I'm glad this is not a solo episode, because I think I don't have a full list of the things that are happening right now. So these are my examples of how Jason and my lives are lifing right now we are upside down, turn crazy upside down.
Speaker 2:Are we moving from west philadelphia?
Speaker 1:oh to uh bel-air I'm gonna have to listen back to that, because usually I hear the song lyric but gotcha that one. You, you, just, you just took that one away from me.
Speaker 2:But okay, go ahead.
Speaker 1:Um, so we are packing up our oldest child to move off to college and we leave in two days and as this is uh airing, yeah, we will be on on the road, yeah we sure will.
Speaker 1:Um oh. So we're packing up our oldest. We already did kind of a pre-pack of her at the beginning of the summer because she was a camp counselor so she was gone all summer. We live in a three bedroom house and our youngest didn't want to share a room with our middle anymore, so we just went ahead and did an initial pack of Faith our oldest before she left for summertime. So this was okay. Now we're actually leaving. What are we actually taking?
Speaker 2:Yeah, she's only been back for 10 days from summer camp, exactly.
Speaker 1:So that's one thing that has been taking over not only my time, because I want to do it well. I mean, she's sharing an apartment and it has a kitchen and everything. So she has some kitchen supplies they have some basic kitchen supplies, but really her bedroom is turning into an XL twin and the room that's underneath and the walls that are next to it. She's sharing one small room with no closet space with two other people, so the organizer in me is like let's do this thing.
Speaker 2:Which is why I will be at the nearest tap house.
Speaker 1:No, that's totally fine, actually. Well, no, I'm going to tell you to hang stuff and I'll be like it's going to go here.
Speaker 2:I'm going to dad the hell out of it. Yeah, I know you are, but I'm ready to let you do your thing with our daughter.
Speaker 1:Well, so this is one of the things that I've been doing in life is that we have since she's been back for 10 days, we have done about an hour at a time, but that hour at a time is at her capacity, that she can stay focused and stay like. This is not her favorite thing to do. She'll love unpacking and getting everything all pretty on the other end, but this side of things, this is totally my jam and you could see her just gloss over Packing sucks. Well, she's never done it before. She didn't know how to pack a box and freaked out at the beginning of the summer and I picked up the box that she packed and I shook it very minimally and it's like cl'm, like oh Lord, okay, so we're going to redo this guy, all right. So one of the lifey things we're packing our oldest to move off on her own. I've been.
Speaker 1:Now that school is back in session, I am working on a little KCH organizers marketing push where we're restructuring some things and bringing new services and it's super exciting, but it's also a big time suck for me. The kids are back in school, which means and my Jason is working full time again, so that means I'm in charge of all drop offs and pickups and, in about a week and a half, all of the school extracurriculars. So all of that, you know, needing to be in a place on time, needing to show up for my clients and my kids and my home and my dogs all of those things are a part of this. Get me off of the. I wonder what's the?
Speaker 2:stop the world.
Speaker 1:I want to get off yeah, something like that also, I didn't make the list but why would you make the list? Because I'm your husband well, you're, I mean you're, I'm gonna get to that part you listed to the dogs and I'm like man? Well, that's because you're off at work and you're taking care of your big boy self and I'm so proud of you. It's so nice to see you taking such good care of yourself. You didn't call me because a bee was in your car today, so I'm really proud of you, oh God, that's a whole other story.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we'll talk about that at another time. Also, jason and I are currently having some not great car issues and that's big financial conversations, and it's frustrating to have cars at our disposal that are becoming more and more disposable.
Speaker 2:Questionable at best.
Speaker 1:So that's just one of those things that it feels too adulty sometimes and you're just like ugh. And another adulty thing and a homeowner cross that we have to bear is like so many other people right now are dealing with rodents in our house.
Speaker 2:Not in our house, but in our crawl space and in our attic Under and above.
Speaker 1:Yeah, under and above, and it's just like it's. It's a problem so and it ain't cheap everybody no, it's super, it's not, it really is not. And so, as I, is there anything else that you can think of that we've been lifing? Just that's kind of running in the background, is what I wrote it down as that. Those things are just happening well, I don't, I mean.
Speaker 2:How much do you want to pull the curtain back?
Speaker 1:Oh, I don't know. I mean, do you guys want the curtain pulled back? Let's, let's, let's test the waters. All right, I'm going to spit at you If if it's inappropriate. Again, I would like to anything.
Speaker 2:I want to spit at you for We've actually done, I think, a really good job on our Sundays is our family work day, but it's not like it's from sunup to sundown. No, we don't live on a frigging farm, yeah, all right. So because I've gone back to work full time, my job is not freaking demanding, but I'm also a homebody. I like to be home. So not being home stresses me out. So I like to come home and come home, and not come home and mow the lawn. So we reserve all those kinds of things for Sundays. And what's worked out really well is doing a job for I don't know, 45 minutes an hour, whatever. There's no time stamp on it, which I appreciate. Yeah, you accomplish something and then you sit down, play a video game, read a book, watch the race, whatever, yeah, and then, oh, I got to do this other thing and it's breaks and work all day long. But the way we have structured it, it's not stressful. But the way we have structured it, it's not stressful.
Speaker 1:But it's also hard to keep up with stuff throughout the week. Oh, I love that you said keeping up with, because that is literally what's written on my page. I actually said. This is what makes me feel like I can say I'm keeping up Okay.
Speaker 2:This is my list of-. I don't like keeping up, I like being ahead.
Speaker 1:Well, here's the thing. Let's talk a little bit about this Sunday thing that we do, okay, so Sunday, I understand that there may be some listeners out there that the first thing that they do is that they go to church, and that's great. That is not something that our family is doing right now. Um, and I like to see Sunday as we're setting up our week, where we know school is going to be busy, we know that we have these extracurriculars, we know Jason is going to be gone, we know I'm the only driver that can get people to and from, I know that I'm going to be working, I know that I have all of these other things that are running in the background, know that I have all of these other things that are running in the background.
Speaker 1:So Sunday is that one day that's like let's make sure that our sheets are washed, let's make sure that our laundry is done, let's make sure that we have a basic dinner plan for the week and who's going to cook what. So I have my keeping up list, the things of what I feel like you're doing. Pretty good, you are keeping up with life. Not that I feel like I'm drowning. It is great. Those Sundays feel like we're getting ahead a little bit, like we usually do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't. I don't. I don't feel like Sundays are, are, are. Keep up. I if, like you're describing, it feels like setting yourself up for a good week, because when I get home on Mondays I don't come home to an absolute train wreck. Nobody likes to come home to that which.
Speaker 1:I would be the train wreck. Let's be honest, it's less about the house and more about how I am approaching the house and approaching the kids. And like, if I am working on Monday and I have a client and then I have to do all the school pickups and drop-offs and then I have to make dinner, that is a parent's life, right, that is what we do. But if you came home and I was feeling behind the eight ball like I'm not keeping up, then that is a problem for the whole family, right. If mama ain't happy, ain't no one happy, kind of thing.
Speaker 1:My mom used to have a sweatshirt that used to say that I kind of want to make one myself. I'm sure I can find one on Amazon, anyway. So this keeping up, the thing about Sundays, about getting ahead, is we usually pick one non-keep up project and we've been doing this Sunday with consistency for about a month and two of those weeks. We have two huge fruitless mulberry trees in our front yard and they're big and beautiful in the summertime and then they start to drop leaves, you've got a giant pain in the butt.
Speaker 1:Yes, they are a big pain in the booty. But we just got a pole saw, and so we have been chopping from each of the trees, just given a little bit of trim. We only have so much room in our green bin, so we break that task up. We did one tree one week and then the next Sunday. So we break that task up. We did one tree one week and then the next Sunday. We didn't do the trees.
Speaker 2:We washed all three of our dogs, which we have two huskies and an Australian shepherd.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a process, that's an all day thing, yeah, and we don't take them somewhere, we don't pay someone to do it, we do it ourselves. So that, like that, is a project we aren't going to do every week. It's not something that needs to be a part of the routine, just so we can be like oh that's right, we did trees this month and we did dogs this month and maybe next month we don't have to do trees. We'll probably still have to do trees.
Speaker 2:No, it's usually a couple times a year, but the problem is because we didn't have the right tools. Yeah, that makes it harder. It does make it harder and if you keep up with it, they don't get, as you know, 15 feet long, and it's an easier job with the tool we have now. Yeah, so setting yourself up for success with the right tools is a huge deal.
Speaker 1:I mean that's what I do in all of my sessions. I try to set my clients up with the right tools, meaning the right structure, the right, you know starting point, that then they can have take a little time to maintain and keep up but not have it be an entire green bins's worth of upkeep. Are you guys following that whole logic where it's trees and organizing at the same time?
Speaker 2:We're organizing our tree limbs.
Speaker 1:I mean, we're organizing our schedule really Okay. So this notion of keeping up when I look at the list of the things that are running in the background, I know that we are moving this weekend, so that is going to fall off. That is not going to be a thing that I'm going to keep having to do. We have Jason and I had a really great conversation multiple conversations, in fact about our car savings plan, because we want to buy a new car instead of repairing our old ones, and we had some conflicting opinions and, if you've heard it on the podcast before, we paid off almost $80,000 in debt and haven't been in any kind of debt, except for the house, since 2012. 11., 11., 11.
Speaker 2:December of 2011.
Speaker 1:Yep, you're right, okay.
Speaker 2:I have that recorded, you're right. Yes, yeah, I'm going to make that my freaking ringtone.
Speaker 1:Okay, so now you only get two of the womp womps.
Speaker 2:I'll give them up. I'm done for the day. That's all I needed. I'm good.
Speaker 1:So we have this plan for saving for the day. That's all I needed. I'm good. So we have this plan for saving for the cars. We have a pest appointment in the works. I made some phone calls today and have the initial appointment, so that is as far as I can go on that project. Our laundry gets done on Sundays. There's not this big mountain and I'm having to rush to get a work shirt or undershirts for Jason. Just having the laundry done, washed and folded and put away feels like such a big win and the fact that I get it done. Usually now that we do Sundays, I get it done twice a week. Sundays are for sheets and towels and then one personal load of laundry and then I do one other personal load throughout in sometime in the week, usually Wednesdays or Thursdays. The kids rooms are cleanish, I'd say.
Speaker 2:They'll be cleaner when Faith is gone.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love her very much, she's such a messy kid, oh my God. The kid's a slob. She's such a messy kid. Oh my God, the kid's a slob.
Speaker 2:She's such a messy kid.
Speaker 1:You can say slob right, it's okay.
Speaker 2:I don't know, she's a slob, I love her Dearly, dearly. I will miss her. She is a little pig penny.
Speaker 1:Like you know, let's all have a moment of silence for her upcoming roommates.
Speaker 2:That's long enough.
Speaker 1:The kitchen and the kitchen counters are fairly clean. There's a couple of things that are spread out here and there, but we have instituted long ago, um a responsibilities, daily responsibilities for the kids, which includes doing the dishes, the dishwasher and the dish rack, and so the other stuff feels more manageable because I'm not also having to do the dishes. Do you know?
Speaker 2:what the big difference between what we're doing now and what we did last school year. What the the kids don't come home again that I've seen and dump all their crap on the table or on the counters. They each have their own room now. That is huge so they take their nonsense to their room and that takes out half of those little bombs. Easily Agree, Easily Agree. Our dining room table has been since you relocated some of Faith's stuff that was on the table for weeks.
Speaker 1:With like a line of dust around it guys Like it was there for way too long. It was there for a long time.
Speaker 2:We don't use the table a lot. We were organizing the stuff to you know, with the plan of getting her packed up and moved out, but our table has been clear for like a week and a half, two weeks now, and it stayed that way. Yeah, I can't remember the last time it's been like that.
Speaker 1:So one of the things that's in terms of like habit I um in in terms of the habit stuff is that I have actually had two full work days where I've spread out on that kitchen table while you were at work. Did you know that? No, I did not. That's because I have committed to myself, to you, to that freaking table, that when I get up from my workday I'm putting everything away, that even if we're not using the table, I put everything away. And not only does that make me feel like, okay, my workday is done and I can move into mom mode, that it's very satisfying to look at that table and I put a new tablecloth on it and, like we don't usually have a tablecloth, and so I kind of styled it a little bit and it just feels, it feels nice and it's just something so small and I have been able to keep that clear and the kids have a place for their things to go. So when I see it there, I'm like johnny, moving along, moving along so when you're working with clients, do you?
Speaker 2:because you you've worked with the a spectrum of of folks right, it runs the gamut, yes, people who just need help maintaining, people that are chronically disorganized. You know the whole, the whole kit and caboodle he's learning things, guys, it's so fun do you have a like? Do you encourage them? Would you encourage the listeners to the show to have a a dining room table or a small space that is reserved for clear?
Speaker 1:do you know what I mean?
Speaker 2:because it's kind of like. I don't know who it was. Somebody was given a commencement speech and it was a guy in the military, a general maybe, and he said make your bed. Yeah, I remember that guy that's such a great.
Speaker 1:And we have been making our bed.
Speaker 2:It's the internet these days, so people are going to tear him up and tear him down, whatever, whatever. But he's got a good point. You've you've accomplished something and you're starting from this spot, so do you do that with your, with your clients?
Speaker 1:when I go in and I am able to clear a space, because that is not always the case that I walk into and there is a cleared flat spot of some kind.
Speaker 2:I would assume there is not.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when I leave a space and it is clear because now the things that were on the table have either been put away or a home has actually been found for them. That's a phrase that I get all the time. I just want my things to have a home. So if we don't have, I like to call the space that we live in our real estate. So if, like today, I'm in a kitchen, I created real estate, storage real estate by adding a bunch of shelves on there. So and we went all the way up to the ceiling with shelves it's so awesome In an apartment. She can take it with her wherever she wants to go.
Speaker 1:I'm so excited Guys check out my socials because I'm making a video for it, so that's going to be so good, anyway. So when I talk about that real estate, I tell people to protect their space. So we've gotten them to this nice start spot air quotes on the radio this nice start spot where you can see that it can be cleared. You can see that it can be, things can be put away, they have a place to go. Now, and it's the habit and the commitment to yourself and to your space to make sure that those things get put away, and I'm not 100% about it. We all know that. Well, you guys might not, but the guys across from me certainly does.
Speaker 1:It's a little bit of the ADHD where if it's away, it's completely away, it's gone. But if I'm training myself to make sure that I go to the same place, like I have in our pantry, it's kind of a pantry hack. We have a kitchen cabinet or not a kitchen cabinet. I'm sorry. Whatever, it's an Ikea cabinet that has like gliding doors and then a couple of bookshelves on top of the. Did you just have an idea?
Speaker 2:No, oh, sorry yeah.
Speaker 1:Dang it. Does that count as one of your little things? Dang it, all right, so well. Jason did just get an email, not an idea, an email, anyway. So, and then these bookcases on top of this cabinet, and I trained myself to put. My computer is there, my charging cord is there, and on the lip of the cabinet, in front of the bookcases, I lay out my planner. I have a paper planner. It's one of those five and a half by eight or whatever, the executive size planners.
Speaker 1:I don't know if it's in my purse and I leave that there with my pencil that I use in my planner. And I know if I need to find my planner it's either in my purse, because I'm going somewhere, or it's. It's there and that's where I'm storing it. So when I need to find it I'm not searching all over the place. So I am training myself to make sure that when I've used these things for work, when I've spread out on the kitchen table, that when I'm collecting the things to put away, they go in my little mom slot in the pantry. When I get a new bill that comes in, it goes in the little bill holder in the pantry. And I know when I go to sit down to do the bills, exactly where I'm going to collect those things. I don't have to find them from four different places. Everything is drawn together. So can we get back to my keeping up?
Speaker 2:Yeah, please go for it. Okay, what's next on your hit list?
Speaker 1:I have two other things that are helping me feel like I'm keeping up in the world, and we already kind of mentioned one, which is those weekly responsibilities for the kids. Those are. It's so great to not nag them. Just if you want more time on your phone, have you done all of the jobs on your list that you are able to do?
Speaker 2:Give me a sec complain pretty often about about the kids and their screens, and and I know that we are a bit of an anomaly because our kids, although they have entitlement tendencies, they, they do do work. So, please, parents, hear me uh, I don't care how old your kid is. If they can walk, they can do work. Now I'm not saying have your two, your toddler, out there mowing the freaking lawn, but it you know, at the end of the day you can teach them our blocks. Go here. Yeah, it's a 30 second job.
Speaker 1:You're laying in the groundwork we did give our two-year-old a dust buster for her birthday. I mean, my mom was like well, we can get her one of these like little play cleaning things. I was like why, if she's gonna clean, like, make her actually clean. And she loved it too. Yeah, like, give this kid a swiffer. She can get her skinny little arms underneath the couch easier than I can. Wow, wow, but no, for real we had our kids start emptying the dishwasher. At four years old, just a silverware.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but it instilled that peace that says you're a part of this family and we help each other. Yes, I mean, they're also teenagers and they just don't want to do anything. Like. I got my kid a shirt that says please don't make me do anything, and she'll wear it strategically, which I appreciate.
Speaker 2:It's not just all the time she's going to wear it on Friday.
Speaker 1:Oh, I know she's going to do all the things.
Speaker 2:Nope, she's going to wear it on Friday. Mark my words.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, we're going to check back in on that. This is a barbecue shelf thing in on that guys barbecue shelf thing. Okay, and it's gonna. It's getting. It was a drawer, but it's fine. Shelves and drawers are different things. We're gonna talk about that on a different podcast, so all right this okay, that's two so I my last thing that I can really honestly say.
Speaker 1:That's helping me keep up and feel pretty good about things. And this is not sponsored by Costcocom, guys, guys, it's not like Amazon. So I used to go to Costco once a month and it was a big ordeal. You guys get it right. You have to go, push that big heavy cart with stupid people leaving their cart in the middle of the way. I used to homeschool the kids and I had to take all three kids with me to Costco and push that big stupid cart around and with the toilet paper and all this stuff.
Speaker 1:So one of the best things that came out of COVID is all of the grocery delivery becoming more of a norm. And I'm not saying that I just place a Costcocom order because I'm like I just don't. I don't. I feel like I want to have these things just right delivered to my door right now. I didn't actually need them, but I felt like I should be doing a Costcocom order. No, I'm still doing it when we actually need a Costco order and I just don't want to spend the time doing that. And I love how it says every time I place an order it says you just saved an hour with Costcocom I was like, oh, bullshit, I saved like three hours. Are you kidding me? Just not having to ask my family to go out to the car to lug the stuff back and forth is like saving me 45 minutes at least.
Speaker 2:I have never complained about that.
Speaker 1:No, you never have. Thank you, you don't complain about much in the way of me asking you for help. Like, let's just be very, very honest about that. He's a winner, guys. Anyway. So Costcocom, I don't do just regular grocery store, I don't do Safewaycom or anything but Costcocom specifically, I don't do just regular grocery store, I don't do Safewaycom or anything but Costcocom specifically for same day delivery. I was at the grocery store with Josie yesterday, is that when we got the order? Yeah, yesterday you weren't even home. I got the order, or we were at the grocery store and she wanted Cheez-Its for school and usually I'd get that at Costcoco. But I didn't want to lug my tired booty all the way to costco and all of the costco things, and so I was walking through luckies and actually was placing a costcocom order as we were. I was like if we can get it today, I will spend eleven dollars for four times as many Cheez-Its as this $6 box at Lucky's. I'm like that's a lot of.
Speaker 1:Cheez-Its. It's a lot of Cheez-Its, but she's also going to go through it Like, let's be real, oh yeah, so anyway. Costcocom the other thing I want to say is that I spend so much less. I spent less, guys.
Speaker 2:Less than $200 for my Costcocom order this week Is that just because you pick up more stuff when you're there, because things jump into my cart.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's on sale. Oh, we haven't had that in a while. Oh those shorts. Oh those shoes. Oh oh oh, I actually make that noise at Costco. It's very weird.
Speaker 2:People are like. I have no doubt in my mind.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, weird people like I'm sure I have no doubt in my mind. Yeah, yeah, so if you haven't done it already, I do suggest that you it explore it if you're into like that kind of a, that kind of a shopping trip. But don't over shop, don't buy something. Just because you're shopping for something, wait to place your costco order and have someone bring it to you. It's glorious, prices are a little bit higher, but again, I only spent. I spent less than $200. I easily would have walked out spending $400, $500.
Speaker 2:Your time is worth money 100%.
Speaker 1:My sanity is worth even more than that.
Speaker 2:I've been telling Justin that for years your sanity is worth, has a dollar amount've been telling Justin that for years your sanity has a dollar amount. Figure it out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I started this podcast episode by saying strategies to use when life gets too lifey. We've talked about a couple of strategies, but I wanted to give you guys this is a little clever Katie going on here here and I've never actually done one of these things where what is it called? When you have the first letter of each thing, it's called something mnemonic. Is that what it is? And it spells a word. I mean, this does happen to spell a word yes, it's a mnemonic okay.
Speaker 1:So a mnemonic device? Yes, okay, for like studying, and yeah, okay. So first this should I give the mnemonic, the total mnemonic, or should I have them? No, okay guys. The strategy is that there's an app for that. Oh, no, but wait, what does app stand for? It stands for assess, plan and partner up. What Do you have?
Speaker 2:like a bomb drop on there, I thought you were going to do app stands for application and your strategies were so long Like dude you got to clear this kind of thing with the producer before you just drop this kind of a nonsense thing.
Speaker 1:Well, this is not nonsense, guys. No, the app I get, that's fun. There's an app for that. Oh, hang on there you go I mean I okay, all right, I'll take it good, because that's what I've got.
Speaker 1:Carry on we're gonna have to explore some new sounds. Okay, so we've we've talked a little bit in the course of Jason and I talking about how we're lifing our lives. We've talked a little bit that assess. I wrote down all of the things that are happening right now in our lives, all of the crazy, all of the things that are taking up brain space, all of the things that are taking up our money, all of the things that are taking up our time, all of the things that are taking up our space. I wrote them down, all of those things that are working in the background. So, once you've written things down and, like I said, we paid off almost $80,000 in two years and the first thing we did was we wrote everything down everything we owed, wrote everything down everything we owed and everything we spent on, and we assessed what that looked like. And then we made a plan. We made a plan for how we were going to spend our money. I made a plan for how I was going to deal with packing up our oldest to move, how we were going to transition to school and extracurriculars. I had a plan. I knew what it was going to look like on my schedule before it even happened.
Speaker 1:This is one of the ways to build a plan, and keep in mind that I've been doing this for a very long time. I am very practiced at this and this is one of the things I discuss with clients in coaching is that we make a plan that is applicable to you, to your family, to your goals, to your life, to your needs, to your problems, and we start working on your plan and we start working on your plan. So with a plan, you don't do it once and be like I'm done. I did a budget, I did a budget once. That was the greatest day in 1994 that I did that. Oh my gosh, I've done a budget before. Yeah, no, you didn't. So you have to review and refresh on a regular basis, whatever your plan is, because when things fall off of your running in the background, like this move for our kid, when something rolls off of the calendar, I can either use that time for something else or maybe I have more time to take a nap or clean out my garage, which is actually on my schedule in the next couple of weeks. So we're going to check in on that too. Guys, I need accountability, which leads me to the second P in. There's an app for that.
Speaker 1:You partner up. I don't care if it's your best friend, I don't care if it's a sibling, I don't care if it's a spouse, I don't care if it's a paid professional. You I don't care if it's a sibling, I don't care if it's a spouse, I don't care if it's a paid professional. You find somebody else that is not in your head and you talk to them about it. Sometimes they can support you space as you and you are getting shit done. You're crossing some things off. That is a service that professionals offer is body doubling or co-working, where you are both working at the same time. Where I'm not, you know, knitting a sweater and you're doing your taxes, it's we are both being centered and productive in the same way. That is also something that can benefit people.
Speaker 1:So I just the reason that these things are so, so important the assessing, the planning and the partnering up is because we are not in a vacuum. We are not alone, even if you are listening to this in your car alone, and sometimes Lord knows. I've been married for almost 20 years. I have three kids. I have a great network of people around me and I know that I have felt very alone in things before, and that is one of the most important things to get from this is that you don't have to feel that way. You don't have to feel alone when all of these things keep coming at you, coming at you.
Speaker 1:And the reason I was inspired to do this today, this topic today, was because I was running behind getting the kids to school and I walked out of our garage where our large freezer is, and I'm already running behind, we're having car problems, so I had to switch from one car to another and then I lost the keys to one of the cars. So I was kind of like, and then I walked out and our big freezer door was left open overnight and I very nearly lost it. And I sent Jason a text and I was like this happened and this happened, and this happened and this happened. And he's like whoa enough. And I was like no, he said dude, stop. I'm like there was an expletive oh, I know oh, I know, um, but he's like dude, stop.
Speaker 1:And I was like that's exactly how I feel, just stop. But I felt so good that I had somebody that I could be like. All of this is happening and I don't even know.
Speaker 1:I can't go back in time and make the freezer not be left open and a bunch of food be defrosted and have to be tossed. I can't go back in time and not have lost my keys. I can't go back in time and find a way to fill up the tires before they look too flat to drive on Like. I can't do those things. So with this plan and with this routine and with this very complete assessment, I would say, of the things that are taking up life, assessment, I would say of the things that are taking up life, that's how I manage.
Speaker 2:When life is too lifey is I partner up, I make a plan with a thorough assessment I almost think that the sec, the first p, the plan it should be plan slash, prioritize is that part of planning is prioritizing, because you can't do everything you can't yeah, like we were. You're talking about our finances and our car issue and we've got the the rodent thing going on and it can be so overwhelming and so expensive.
Speaker 2:Okay, we have to figure out what comes first. What comes first and then, just like we did with the getting out of debt, you attack one thing yep, and there's a. There's a great I can't remember the author's name, but I read this book years ago called the one thing, and it's all about that. Focus on one thing, and it's. It was so helpful to have a plan and be like, yeah, all this other stuff's going on, you know what? I can't control all of it, but I can control this one thing right now. Yeah, so I'm going to solve that problem, yeah, and then we'll see where we are after that. I'm not going to let all this other crap run away with me. I'm going to do that one thing to the best of my ability, and then I'm going to take a freaking break, yeah, and then I'm going to come back like our Sundays, yeah, like our trees.
Speaker 1:We're going to do that one thing and we're going to feel like you know what? That was a great Sunday, we did that thing and we're not going to have to think about that for a little while and that feels so good. Guys, I want you guys to write down. I said, guys, you guys, that's so silly. Anyway, I want you guys to write down some of the things that are running in the background for you and see if you can make an assessment about what should come first, what's most important? What can you do away with altogether? What can you delegate or do away with? That is another great podcast episode. Speaking of other podcast episodes, guys, I want to hear from you about what you want to hear about. So join me on the Clutter Conversations over on the Book of Faces. That's Facebook, if you don't understand the language that I speak, but I would love to hear from you guys. You can also email me, katie, at KCHorganizers, the letters KCHorganizerscom. I will see you guys on the flip side. Thanks for joining us, thank you.
