55. 15 Tiny Spots to Declutter for Big Relief

If decluttering feels overwhelming, the problem may not be how much you have — but where you’re starting. In this episode of the Downsizing Roadmap Podcast, we take a different approach by focusing on tiny, high-impact spots that quietly affect your stress and daily routines. Instead of tackling entire rooms or emotional categories, we walk through 15 small areas — like nightstands, entry drop zones, counters, and drawers — that can be cleared quickly and create immediate relief. These overlooked spaces often create constant friction in everyday life. Clearing them doesn’t take long, but it can make your home feel noticeably lighter right away. This approach is especially helpful if you’re downsizing, preparing for a move, or simply feeling tired of managing your home the way you used to. Pick one tiny spot today and give it ten minutes. The relief adds up faster than you expect.

Episode Highlights

• Why tiny cluttered areas create more stress than we realize
• How small, visible wins build momentum quickly
• Which everyday spots quietly drain energy
• A realistic way to start decluttering without overwhelm
• Why this method works well when you’re thinking about downsizing

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Let’s simplify, declutter, and create space for your next chapter—together!

Transcript

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Jodi Rosko 0:01

Welcome back to another episode of the Downsizing Roadmap Podcast with your hosts Jody Roscoe and Heather Fisher. We're talking about all things downsizing, from our own experiences with clients to guest experts. Let's make downsizing easier, one conversation at a time.

Heather Fisher 0:17

Hi, welcome to Downsizing Roadmap Podcast. We are talking today about 15 tiny spots to declutter for big relief.

Jodi Rosko 0:27

Like tiny. Yes. Like really tiny.

Heather Fisher 0:29

Yes. Our definition of tiny here, I think, is like one to three square feet of space. So very small but big impact.

Jodi Rosko 0:39

Yeah, and I think it's um that's because it really gets that momentum going. And it, you know, sometimes there's just areas in my house I know for sure that I feel like that bugs me, like when I walk by it or whatever. And it's not usually a huge area. It's like that that pile in the corner or that, you know, pile on a on a countertop or wherever.

Heather Fisher 0:59

Yeah, we just moved and I have a kitchen island for the first time in my life. And now I as soon as I was, you know, looking through and writing notes for this episode, I'm like, yep, it's that one square foot on the corner closest to the mud room. Like that I can tell you exactly what's on it right now, and none of it belongs in the kitchen.

Jodi Rosko 1:20

Well, and the thing is, since you just moved there, like that will become your habit of your dumping place or whatever that looks like, because like so you have to figure out where is my place? Like, if that's gonna be it, what what do I need to do to keep that organized, or if that's not gonna be it, like where is it? Yes, you know, yes, you're already creating your habits around.

Heather Fisher 1:40

I know, I know, it's bad, but I think I'm not alone. So if you're tuning into this episode, whether it's your kitchen island or you know, inside the front door or all of the other places we're gonna talk about today, um, they weigh on you in in much more um disproportionate to the size of the space, they weigh on your mind space much bigger because they're in the way of your daily life.

Jodi Rosko 2:05

Yeah, for sure. I'm Jody Roscoe.

Heather Fisher 2:07

I'm Heather Fisher.

Jodi Rosko 2:08

So let's talk about 15 tiny spots to declutter for big relief.

Heather Fisher 2:12

Yes, awesome. So um, you know, like we said, these are the the spots, they're not hidden, they're not deep in the basement or the actually the ones that are right out where you can see or like the areas that you use. Yeah, absolutely. They are affecting the things you do each day because they're in your visual line of sight, they're right there, they're um you know, close to all of the habits that we have, getting ready for the day, or picking up our house, or resetting at night, the kitchen, the the laundry room, all those big rooms that we're using all the time. How can we just do some small areas and change our our world actually?

Jodi Rosko 2:56

Yeah. Okay, so the first one is gonna be your nightstand surface. So, I mean, nightstands usually aren't very big, so the top of your nightstand, um, what is all on there? This can turn into a dumping place. Um, people will have things like their receipts from things because they empty their pockets, or you know, change, or um, books. A lot of people have a lot of books that you might have already read, or that you're unfinished reading, or that you're waiting to read, whatever that looks like is your pile of books there. Um sometimes it's medication or technical clutter stuff.

Heather Fisher 3:33

Lotions and one little small surface top can be full sometimes.

Jodi Rosko 3:41

And then you can't put your water down, whatever that looks like. So I mean, this is the last thing that you see at night and the first thing that you see in the morning, and it's a space that you use. Like, I mean, on mine I do have a little coaster, I put my water on it, and I do have um the charger for my phone, so like my phone gets charged there at night. Um, and I do have my current book, and that's pretty much all that I have on there. Um so a lamp. I have a lamp on it.

Heather Fisher 4:09

Yeah, I have some all the same, and uh I don't have a book up there. I keep have a drawer that has all the books of guilt that I want to read and haven't started yet.

Jodi Rosko 4:20

Well, and I'm not sure my book should be there either, like actually, because I think that they are getting dusty, like they're you know, yeah. I uh that's a habit I broke.

Heather Fisher 4:28

I used to always have like three or four books, and I'm like, who am I fooling? If I'm reading, it's not here because that puts me to sleep too quick.

Jodi Rosko 4:37

So And the stuff that I see that kind of um I if I don't clear off constantly will be on there are my hair ties, like because I'll take my hair down and throw the hair tie down there or things like that. But um, if you just kind of create a habit of um clearing that off in the morning with whatever you've put on there the night before, get rid of that water glass, you know, get rid of your hair tie. If you've brought your medication there, you know, like figure out where that should go. Um and and then if you get into that habit, it is really nice to have a clean surface there and feel I've that's one thing that I have pretty much handled, I feel like.

Heather Fisher 5:14

Yeah, and I think that a a solution, um if your nightstand has some drawers, they are probably filled with stuff that is not nightstand stuff. So you can or put some organization to the things you do want close by, uh a you know, tube of lotion or um, you know, extra reading glasses or whatever you need, but visually it's got a place and it's there handy if you need it, but it's not out all the time. So number one, I I think I'm pretty good at that one too.

Jodi Rosko 5:48

But I do think that what's in my nightstand drawers, like I don't think I've opened those drawers in forever. I have no idea what's in there, and it probably is all stuff that get get thrown away because it's been there for a long time.

Heather Fisher 5:57

Yes, the stuff we couldn't find a different home for gets tucked there.

Jodi Rosko 6:01

So if that's clear, it's gonna create calm um in the morning and at night and um you know support better sleep in just a calm environment. So okay, number two.

Heather Fisher 6:10

Number two is um the one foot of space in front of your washer and dryer.

Jodi Rosko 6:17

So I just cleaned this one off. I sent you a picture of it. So mine was actually on top of the washer and dryer. So I have this the front loading washer and dryers, and then it has the shelf on top of it. Um and there was just all kinds of ridiculous stuff up there, like dog collars, and just I don't know, it was just kind of a dumping ground for old socks. And I laid out all the socks and I told my family, like the they're they're going in the trash. If you have the you have the other sock to this, like this is what's happening right now, and we're done with all of these socks because I'll save them and they're all sad and alone. And so yeah.

Heather Fisher 6:53

I feel like it's when you're doing your laundry, that's a a project per se. That's what you're doing. And when there's clutter in the laundry room before you even start that project, you're like piling a project on a project, and it's it's hard to deal with that sense because it's all just jumbled and it's messy and cluttered and disorganized.

Jodi Rosko 7:18

Well, and you're cleaning clothes, like you're cleaning and it doesn't feel clean, and you're cleaning in a place that doesn't feel clean.

Heather Fisher 7:25

That's chaotic. So having um, you know, a picked-up laundry room with, you know, cabinets if you've got space for it, or decluttering what's on the shelves or on top of you know, the shelf on the front loaders, like you said, or making sure it's only the necessities and things that are uh, you know, not everyday use, have a home somewhere else that's actual storage and not just set down can really, you know, change how how it feels to do the laundry, which you do have to do.

Jodi Rosko 8:00

Yeah. And my front loaders are sit on a one of those those drawers, like a little pedestal. And I wasn't even really using the drawers. And so I put a little basket inside that thing, and the the homeless socks are gonna go in there, but like once a month we're gonna, you know, match them or they're gonna go. So we're not saving those for like years.

Heather Fisher 8:18

Yeah, yeah. So make your laundry more pleasant by picking up the space around it and keeping it that way.

Jodi Rosko 8:25

Yeah, detergent bottles. Again, change we'll we'll get here, but whatever's in the pockets, receipts and change, and you know, that seems to land in lots of places, right? But um, yeah. So clean that up and it actually that felt it felt really good, and it still feels good. So I've kept that clean for a few weeks. So that felt that feels good.

Heather Fisher 8:44

That's good. Um, number three, uh similar philosophy around this one. This is the under sink storage cabinet. We all have that cabinet that opens up, you have to deal with the pipe under there, so it's not really um like kitchen utensils for most people. I I don't know. I've it's for me, it's always been cleaning stuff or you know, the scrub brushes for for that. Um but again, since we just moved, I made a conscious effort like are these cleaning things for the kitchen or for clothes, you know, for the dishes, because uh it was a lot that you know, b bathroom cleaning products and stuff, they just ended up there.

Jodi Rosko 9:29

I think it gets shoved, it starts getting shoved in there. It's like, oh, it's a cleaning thing, we'll just put it under there, and it is like things that don't even need to be under there.

Heather Fisher 9:36

Yeah, so we have a lot more space when I kind of designated where everything needed to go. And it makes cleaning easier, it's in in reach. Um you don't need a lot of kitchen cleaning products.

Jodi Rosko 9:51

Yeah, so I um bought for under my sink because it gets deep back there, right? And then it gets joved in. So I had bought these kind of like little shelves that stack and they just kind of go in the front, and that's all that I have now. Like not there's not stuff back behind because you can't get to it anyway. And so I just kind of keep it in those little front ones, and it's the you know, spray dawn and like the spray for the counter and trash bags are in there, and you know, it's not like you said, it's not a ton of stuff that actually should live there.

Heather Fisher 10:21

Yeah, absolutely. So um uh when you don't have to fumble when you're doing the dishes and dig, and you know, if you just have your dishwasher pods or you know, your whatever you need for that and your dishwashing liquid for the dishes, uh you don't need a ton more under there, and it's just a different feeling.

Jodi Rosko 10:42

Yeah, it's easy to grab the things you need and um again the whole purpose of this is to make life feel simpler and less stressful and have to have like less decisions about everything. You just you know, it's just a few things and you just grab one and that's it, it's ready to go. Yeah, absolutely. Um in my we have also in my another on another sink, I have a um the cleaning, like, but it's in like one of the carriers, right? So and then it's all together, so you can just grab the carrier and clean and grab that room to room. Room to room. So that if that's what you need, if that's where your storage is for your cleaning stuff, is only under the sink in the kitchen, maybe that's a solution, and whatever fits in there is what fits in there, and we don't need more than that. Pick it, pick, pick what fits in there and you know, take that from room to room.

Heather Fisher 11:29

Yeah, I need one of those so I can go bathroom to bathroom. Yeah, it's really nice. Add it to my list. Yes. All right, next. Yeah, area number four.

Jodi Rosko 11:40

Uh and uh oh, sorry. Entry drop zone. So this is um we did this in our house too, um, one a few years ago, um, because my the keys would my car key, I'm not the best. I like I lose things, friends, I lose things. So um, so m we made a little like where you have hooks for the keys and that's where they go, and made a little drop zone. Um, and so it does get it does get uh messed up though, like if you just continue to throw things there. So you have to kind of continually clean that out.

Heather Fisher 12:17

Yeah, I think uh that those drop zone areas they get so out of control because you don't have those parameters on it. I know when that my kids were still living at home and younger, and we had um, you know, where we came in from the garage, they wanted to kick their shoes off there and go and which was fine and we had, you know, a little shelf they could put them on, but it was always my rule, like two pairs per person max, because what happens is you wear that one random pair of shoes and you kick them off and you're not gonna wear them again for weeks, but they sit there because that's where you take your shoes off. Or um, you know, being seasonal about what you have hanging on the hooks, if it's your you know, heavy winter coat, and you know, we're in Ohio, we have seasonal changes. If it's going i into April or May, and you don't need to look at that heavy winter coat for six months on those hooks and you know, five coats or whatever. Um, it's super convenient if you have space for this type of drop zone and it keeps it, you know, out of the kitchen, off the table, and and things like that. But um, you'd really have to be vigilant to have it be what you're truly using day to day and not just overload it.

Jodi Rosko 13:35

Let the mail pile up there and all of the things. So we've talked about mail before, and and n I would say 90% of the mail is junk mail anyway. Um, and so I would I always throw that away like the minute, like before I even, you know, from the driveway to the garage trash can. Yeah, it all I like sift through it and then it doesn't even come in the house. And then, you know, we have a specific spot that the bills go if we are getting paper bills. So much of it is online now anyway. But if there's something that's important that comes in the mail, it goes in one spot. And so if you kind of get yourself to create a drop zone that's gonna work like that, then clean that up and you know, continue it.

Heather Fisher 14:19

Yeah, it's such a a good feeling. I mean, typically that's the last spot you feel as you're leaving the house, you go through as you're leaving the house, and if it becomes a moment of flurry of like, oh, where's my keys? Where's my where's that other shoe? Where's this? You're you're taking all of that energy out of the house with you to wherever you're going, of feeling behind and you know, not quite put together. And if you're coming home and it's so stacked up, and then you're trying to bring, you know, whatever you're bringing in, your purse or something. There's not room, you're losing that feeling of stepping into what should be a retreat as you come home, like your peaceful place. So it can really set your emotional tone one of the areas on this list the most, I think.

Jodi Rosko 15:12

I agree, I agree with that. And and it saves you all that time. Like in our in our downsizing class, we talk about how much time we spend looking for things that we can't find. And if you create a drop zone that is really useful and your keys always go there, and you create that habit where you walk in the door, your keys go on that hook, maybe your shoes go under, whatever that looks like for you, and you just continually do that as a habit, you aren't searching the house for your keys, and you aren't like, oh my gosh, I'm late and I can't find this, that, or the other thing, which we and all know feels terrible. Yeah. Right? And this is how we started the episode. So you are saying like you had a drop zone that you kind of didn't like what was happening when you started in your new house, so now you have to figure out where it is and what it should look like.

Heather Fisher 15:53

Yes, well, our you know, mudroom cubbies being built this week. So we'll have an actual drop zone and per off the island. That's amazing. Yeah, yeah.

Jodi Rosko 16:03

Putting it on the kitchen counter is probably the worst, I feel like. Yeah. Make create a zone that's somewhere else if you can.

Heather Fisher 16:10

Um, because that I just think feels then you're trying to cook and all of the you know, whatever, and it just doesn't well, and you need that space in that moment of cooking or food prep, and so you stack, it gets moved from there to the like it's not an official resting spot.

Jodi Rosko 16:28

Yeah, not your eating table, not your you know, not your kitchen counter.

Heather Fisher 16:34

Yeah, those are the things that get shoved and pushed and stacked. So okay, area number five, uh the inside of your purse or your daily bag. Yeah.

Jodi Rosko 17:33

Yeah. This one. So I what I end up always is lots of receipts. I get a receipt, I shove it in my purse. I get a receipt, I shove it in my purse, and then you know, I'll be digging through and it's just full of receipts that are probably some of them I didn't even need to keep in the first place. If I go, you know, to McDonald's, I don't need to keep the receipt for it. Now, I mean, if you if that's a business expense or whatever's happening for you, whatever. But for the most part, there's there's receipts I do need to keep, but most of them I don't even need to keep in the first place. But then my bag just gets stuffed with that kind of receipts is probably my biggest one.

Heather Fisher 18:07

Yeah, I feel like there's been a little bit of a s a change happening where so many more places ask you, do you need a receipt? And I love being, I mean, yeah, there are cases when of course we do, but the little fast food yeah, like a couple dollars for something. I don't need that receipt, so no thank you. And yeah, um definitely I I think I've said it on past episodes, but years ago, you know, I'd have the larger purse, and then one day I'm just like, why am I carrying this stuff around? I mean, literally all day, every day. I'm lugging this bigger purse, and when I dug through it, it was like, you know, old bills still in an envelope that I had paid but just didn't f you know, it got tucked, and receipts, like you said, or you know, way too many packages of the tissues, or you know, just not like one supply of here's exactly what I want and need, just the overload, you know.

Jodi Rosko 19:09

Well, and I think be thoughtful about whether you need it and how often you use it. I think, you know, there's I think there's definitely um people who carry a lot of stuff around that they just don't really use all the time. Case of emergency. Yeah, yeah. Let's make a deal might happen, and I'm gonna have to pull out, you know, what have some crazy thing out of my purse. But um and I've gone into a much, much smaller purse just because I don't feel like I need all that, you know, to carry around. So um just a thought process on what your actual bag looks like, also.

Heather Fisher 19:43

Yeah, absolutely.

Jodi Rosko 19:45

But if you're just doing the quick and down and dirty and the 15 quick things, just um clean out the you know, pocket of the purse, clean out the receipts and whatever else is in there.

Heather Fisher 19:54

Yeah, absolutely. Um, number six, the bathroom counter corner.

Jodi Rosko 19:59

Just pick one Yeah, so not your if you're not your whole counter, if you have a bigger one or all the drawers in your bathroom. You can do those one at a time, one drawer or one little corner of the counter. But you know, a lot of people have all kinds of stuff on their counter sitting out all the time in the bathroom, which is, you know, lotions and um medication and stuff to do your hair and you know, all of the things. And so, first of all, just be super realistic. Are you using it? Is that like three lotions ago that you've now changed to the next one because you didn't think it worked and now it needs to go?

Heather Fisher 20:32

Yeah.

Jodi Rosko 20:32

Right? Or, you know, what are you actually using on a daily basis?

Heather Fisher 20:37

Yeah, I I'm I'm good in this category. My bathroom countertop is clear, ex you know, the soap um dispenser is up there, but that's it.

Jodi Rosko 20:50

And I think that is a function of how much storage you have in your bathroom, right? Yeah. So um I've had bathrooms that had uh very, very little storage, and my I current bathroom has more storage, but um I think you just need to if you if you really only have like kind of under the sink in your bathroom, um, then get some plastic bins that have little drawers in them and be very specific about what you're gonna keep and how you're organizing that. If you have a little bit more room, it doesn't mean you have to fill up every drawer though. Remember, we've talked about that. So um, but you know, it uh look at old makeup. Makeup does go bad, so you don't want to keep it forever. Um, you know, perfume samples that you aren't gonna use the perfume you decide you didn't really like that, or um out of date things that expire, sunscreen expires, there you know, there's stuff that expires, um, and definitely medication expires.

Heather Fisher 21:43

Yeah.

Jodi Rosko 21:44

And even band-aids, honestly, if you keep them too long, they're not gonna, you know, stick right and whatever.

Heather Fisher 21:48

So just kind of be cognizant of all the things that um I think um, you know, usually we're not uh proponents of just buying tons of bins and baskets and uh you know, just organizing things without really purging first and um downsizing those things. But I think some of these categories um that we're talking about today, once you've done that overhaul of what you truly need, um, you know, it's a great point you made about the storage options built in, um, you know, are not always there, but these are great places where once you've cleaned it out, you could buy something that fits for your space that adds that organization, but by default, because it's some sort of a drawer or a bin or a box, it puts a parameter.

Jodi Rosko 22:38

Yeah, you can only keep a certain amount as well because if you're deciding, hey, I don't want my counter to be full of this, I want to walk in and have a clear counter and be able to you know just have a few things on it then um you do have a parameter of your space that you have left to use and I promise you're not using it all you just aren't.

Heather Fisher 22:59

Yeah and once you've gotten down to what you are truly using you can get that basket or something that can visually tuck it away. It might still live on the counter but you you then once that basket's full we're not doing more and more it's time to look look back.

Jodi Rosko 23:17

Right. Okay uh the surface of your refrigerator door number seven um so I am not a person who has a lot of stuff on my refrigerator um like pictures and whatnot so um but that that is something that you know a lot of people do they put they put up either pictures or they put up like things that they want to remember like okay this is coming up and you know it's almost like a bulletin board.

Heather Fisher 23:43

Yeah right I'm not I'm not a person that puts a lot on my refrigerator either. Um I think that's just personality based but I think there's a um question to ask yourself you know what habit if you are a person that wants your reminders there or the pictures there at what rotation are you going to build the habit of pulling down the stuff that's expired, events that have already happened you know just making sure you're curating what's there. If you enjoy having family photos there, there's still room to curate down to a reasonable amount that you like so that it's not overwhelming you with just that clutter feeling.

Jodi Rosko 24:31

Because it is a visual I feel like that is a big um I want to say noisy like it's it's it's a it it is a um big noisy kind of look when you have stuff all over your refrigerator. And I will say like when we tell people to when they're selling their house to get ready I we want all of that off you know because when we take a picture it doesn't look great to have um all of that on the fridge. So my question for you is do you love it or is it just you know a ha habit you've created you ended up sticking something up there and then you stick something else up there and you know you got a magnet from the guy that it came for your H V A C and you just shoved it up there. Like is it purposeful or and you want it like that or is that just something that happened and now you just aren't paying attention to but it is visually affecting you.

Heather Fisher 25:22

Yeah. And I would say if you are the person that is like Heather Jody, I love it. I love seeing those things there are some suggestions to take a little bit of the noise and still get the enjoyment. I know I've been gifted magnets of our grandkids that are like you know a couple dollars at Snapfish or whatever, but the magnet is the photo. It's like a picture frame almost yeah it's just like printed on the full back of magnet. And so where I if I put a couple of those on you don't have the like and the magnet. Yeah the magnet too and the corners are flopping in the wind because it's not fully stuck and um or choosing you know buying and looking and buying a a a six pack of beautiful magnets or strong sturdy magnets and letting go of the pizza coupon magnet that you know the place is out of business you've had it so long or you know right those can reduce the clutter and still keep what you want up there if there are things that you really just enjoy having there.

Jodi Rosko 26:33

And I think that what just from our experience of being in people's houses so much, um what what I see when is that people have stuff up there and it's like a calendar from three years ago and whatever. So they really ha they just aren't looking at it anymore or haven't you know like it's not something that's oh my gosh that's really useful to me and I do use it all the time. If you do that's fantastic I'm not saying don't but I think that most of the time it just ends up going up and never coming down. So when am I doing that? Monthly am I looking at it quarterly am I looking at it what am I when am I looking at that and just being like hey this needs to yeah you know absolutely be looked at so all right number eight the floor space around your favorite chair this was my mom. She would sit and then there would be piles of stuff like that she was gonna work on or read or you know whatever those things were magazines, hobby supplies, blankets, your the remotes, you know like where how does that all how is that all sitting and what does that look like?

Heather Fisher 27:34

Yeah that was m my dad too and drove my mom crazy I'm sure um I I think that this again is adding in just a little bit of reset each day.

Jodi Rosko 27:48

Yeah.

Heather Fisher 27:48

Like you're going to you you know if you want to read the paper in your chair or your book or you know all the things that you do want in arm's reach when you're using you know that spot and and that's your place to relax. How do you reset when you get up it's the end of the day before you go to bed like okay today's paper goes in the garage because another one's coming tomorrow or you know I don't need six books. I need the one I'm reading. The one I'm reading you know what truly belongs and what's a remnant of something you were doing six months ago that just never found a home.

Jodi Rosko 28:26

Yeah.

Heather Fisher 28:27

Um and just being really cognizant of cleaning that up.

Jodi Rosko 28:31

I agree. Yep. Because that's your retreat space I mean that's where you're sitting all the time and to to try to relax or whatever that is and so that you don't want that to get piled up around and feel not calm.

Heather Fisher 28:44

Yeah. Yeah.

Jodi Rosko 28:45

All right your most nine your most used medicine drawer expired medication empty bottles dried up things you know whatever.

Heather Fisher 28:55

Yeah we've talked about this many times it just so much just gets the front row keeps moving back each time a new front row is added of new products or one's almost gone and you buy the new and you end up starting to use the new before you go before you decide every last drop and then you're never going to go back and you just and medication you know if you don't take it all and it expires let it go.

Jodi Rosko 29:23

You know just let it go. Because the key here is that you're finding what you need quickly and you're not having to sort through things that you're not using anymore to find the things that you are using.

Heather Fisher 29:33

Yeah and honestly if you're using medication for uh yourself or a family member um you know if you need pain relief or you need something the last thing you want is to be thinking oh yeah I have uh you know ibuprofen in there and somewhere you need it and you either can't find it or you take it and you don't get the relief because it expired ten years ago.

Jodi Rosko 29:56

I mean you which sounds ridiculous but seriously like if you haven't cleaned out stuff for a while you keep it way longer than you think. Yeah absolutely yeah absolutely okay number 10 one square foot of kitchen counter which is similar to the bathroom counter right it's just what is there and we talked about already we don't want a lot of you know mail and papers and chargers but even the kitchen too uh small appliances are you using them really are you using them?

Heather Fisher 30:26

Yeah I'm a big proponent of all of those in toaster underneath yeah toasters in a cabinet and the you know the um air fryer and the crock pots you know are in cabinet storage or basement storage you know on a shelf and just take them out when you know the only one I'd argue for is the coffee pot.

Jodi Rosko 30:50

Well yeah I mean if you're using it daily then absolutely and if you have toast every single day then it maybe doesn't make sense to have your you know get you know pull it out or whatever. But you probably aren't crock potting everything or instapoting everything or you know what yeah even your mixer and you know maybe that you're probably not doing that every day or your blender or what whatever your small appliances are that you have on the counter. If they're an everyday use of course keep it out use it you know do that but really think about what it is um your busiest corner and are you using that and is it being crowded by papers and other things that don't belong.

Heather Fisher 31:28

Yeah I think that um one trick you could do is just put you know small dots of painter's tape on everything on your counter and give yourself a timeline to you know two months or whatever and the first time you use it take that painter's tape off but if you get to the end of two months everything you know whatever that time frame is everything that still has that on it you are not using in your everyday life either get rid of it out of the house or decide when that oper you know is that a holiday thing is that a summertime thing and where else can I store this to free up my mental space by not looking at it every day.

Jodi Rosko 32:13

For sure. And that makes it easier to cook and it feels better and you have more space and it it all feels better. So okay your car console um like that middle part in your car.

Heather Fisher 32:26

I'm looking at you Jody Roscoe it's so bad.

Jodi Rosko 32:30

Oh it's so bad. So that again is like old receipts and um I don't even know what's in there.

Heather Fisher 32:38

I think it's hair ties and drinks that I you know need to take out every day and I definitely yeah I definitely had phases in my life where my car was much messier with kids and transporting them around and just being busy that I just didn't get it cleaned out. My husband is meticulous about that so I think he's taught me the better habit of like okay let's take this inside when we go in and and now it's become my own habit. Um but it is it's just peaceful if you have to be in your car to drive somewhere if it's clean and and fresh without all the stuff you know you can easily find what you need um you know some tissues or or whatever you don't have to dig.

Jodi Rosko 33:31

I think what you said is exactly the thing is that it's the habit. So in your car I think it's like look around when you you know park in the garage look around and what is it did you did you use tissues? Did you you know like whatever that is and it comes out every time with your with you and if there's a receipt that's there, whatever that is, like I that's the habit that I need to create around my car um is just it all has to come out as we get Mark Roscoe will be so happy if I have created this habit.

Heather Fisher 34:02

Yes well I give full credit to to Matt for creating it because I wasn't always that way but um now I am conscious of it and I do look around and just grab that stuff and um it it's just nice then when I get back in it is I agree with that. It's all cleaned out. Yeah.

Jodi Rosko 34:19

Okay number 12 the most opened junk drawer. Now I have you know I have thoughts about whether you even need a junk drawer or not because everything should have its place. And so you know the quote junk drawer is like the it's like it's requesting you to shove things in it. Don't go there. But there most almost everybody has one so what what is that? You know dead batteries, too many pens, you know they might all work but you know you get them from wherever and they just start accumulating and you have too many pens or random hardware that's like here's a screw that I don't know what it goes to or a charger that I don't know what it goes to or you know broken things go in there. You know so what is that?

Heather Fisher 35:06

Like and this is you know if when you live somewhere for a long time this is one that may have started out with good intentions. I think I agree with you that junk drawer it should be more defined than just everything random but there has to be a spot for the somewhat random stuff. So we all have it um but I think what happens is that it literally has no organization or no direction to the drawer. And so as soon as it's full you just morph the next drawer down and the next one like it spreads and you end up I think if this one resonates with you you probably have four or five junk spots or whatnot. So with many things setting a parameter and a little bit of organization around it you know if it's that drawer where you keep all the pens can you use a drawer divider you know or a something inside the drawer like only this many and it's not mixed with all the screws and the batteries and all of that and you know maybe get a battery organizer or you know a smaller here's extra keys or here's this and it's just a little more um known what's in there even if it's a collection of random and I think what happens with junk drawers and then you get them you know in different places in the house at you know but we what we we did do that when we moved into this current house is we we have an area where batteries go and that's the only area in the house the batteries go.

Jodi Rosko 36:41

And so because in the old house there'd be some of the junk drawer maybe some in my desk and some in Mark's desk and maybe the kids would have you know and so you don't actually know what you have and if you coordinate everything goes in one place if all the batteries are just there then we're like oh we know we need more double A batteries mm instead of let's go look at this place and this place and this place all over the house and whatever. And it actually makes it easier.

Heather Fisher 37:04

Yeah you know I um asked years ago for the like the as seen on TV the battery daddy and I mean small things really like you know it just lives in our laundry room you know on its shelf in the cabinet and you know it has a certain number of spots the more popular batteries have more spots whatever and so we know ahead of time when we're out of oh the you know double A are running low and we can stock up when we need them and there's nothing worse when you need a battery for something and for the um smoke detector and the D or those whatever those rectangle ones.

Jodi Rosko 37:48

Yeah and it's two in the morning because that's the only time they ever die. Yeah and you don't have the battery for it and you don't know where it is. You're looking all over the house for different ones.

Heather Fisher 37:57

Yeah or you can't do whatever you wanted to do that required new batteries without going to the store first. Yeah the remote stops working or if they're all over you might have them but you're gonna go to the store because that seems easier than checking 15 spots.

Jodi Rosko 38:12

So we have all been there but yeah I think it's yeah it's about organization and it's just about you know creating habits around how you're gonna handle different things.

Heather Fisher 38:22

And like things together.

Jodi Rosko 38:23

Correct. All right 13 the surface of your coffee table. This is another place where papers and books and um it's a theme. You're hearing the theme of what ends up landing all over the place whether it's on your kitchen counter or your nightstand or your coffee table or around your feet of your favorite chair they're really all the same kinds of things that usually end up um landing in these places. And so um when you when when you look at your house if if all of the surfaces have piles of stuff on it again that's another th another time it makes you just feel kind of a little bit nervous. Like your nervous system is affected by that whether you realize it or not it is happening. Yeah. And so um if you can have a a clean clean surfaces in your house it just makes the whole house feel um more calm.

Heather Fisher 39:16

I think the coffee table is one spot we see in many people's homes or I've seen in friends' homes where people think it needs to be full of decor and there's not a lot of empty space so you don't have room to utilize it for its purpose to put a drink in a coaster or whatever. And so it becomes like a tug of war in your brain like oh this isn't working and the reason it's not working is because it living as a clean space until you need to use it is okay. Yeah and less is more people have sometimes those stacks and things are put on there deliberately like oh it's yeah it's decor decor if I have my coffee table books and and things and uh life might be a little easier if it was just a clean surface until you needed it for its purpose. Yeah.

Jodi Rosko 40:10

Okay number fift fourteen is uh your pantry but just one shelf if we're gonna do things quick on this one it's one shelf at a time so expired snacks um duplicates stuff that's stale stuff you're not gonna eat um I literally just did my pantry too I've been busy because I've been in the mood I know been in the mood reset um and so um if it's expired we're throwing it away if it is going to expire in the next couple months and I don't think I'm gonna use it between now and then it's going to the food bank. Because I can buy it again, you know, if I end up using it but um you'll you'd have to check with food bank. Most of them cannot take expired food and so I would rather give it to them have them use what's needed now and me buy it again um you know if it's a can of something you know it's not super expensive in the first place but um I would rather have it be used than have it expire. Yeah absolutely so um just one shelf at a time just so that you feel but it you'll you'll be surprised at what what you can you you know how you can clean that out.

Heather Fisher 41:18

Yeah the pantry's another great spot for um like things together so you know what you have you know all your snacks in one spot your condiments you know your extra backup condiments or can goods or whatever keep it together so it's easier to at a glance see what you have um that really helps a lot.

Jodi Rosko 41:39

Yep. And then our last tiny space is the foot of the floor space at the where you're where the beginning of your closet is are your shoes all in a just jumble pile you know what what is the floor space of your closet look like right that front right that beginning front part of it.

Heather Fisher 41:56

Yeah that I pictured just the space under the hanging clothes. Right like what all has in there and yeah kicked off you know where you're standing into a big pile.

Jodi Rosko 42:07

Right is it purses that you're not using is it or bags that you're not using is it just piles of shoes and and the more you get back the more they're you're not using them you know you're probably using those first ones in the front and you're not using the rest of it behind. Is there laundry piles there? Is there a better way to organize some of that, you know, how your laundry works um have you shoved laundry to the where there's clothes that are need to go to donation or you know like stuff that isn't working for you and just pull that all out and figure out what it is.

Heather Fisher 42:38

Yeah get it out of the house if possible get it to the donation.

Jodi Rosko 42:42

Yep so um 15 tiny little spots you could do one every day for the next 15 days and your house would already look you know so much cleaner even though you haven't really dug into big storage spaces or you know all of that, especially if you're cleaning off the surfaces of your coffee table and your nightstand and the kitchen counters and your drop space and your you know kit your bathroom I mean if that all feels clean the whole house is going to feel totally different.

Heather Fisher 43:10

Yeah and it will give you the energy to tackle whatever the big project coming up is because the last thing you want to do is pull that project into a space that already felt overwhelming. Right. You'll never be able to get through and you'll you'll get yourself buried in that process.

Jodi Rosko 43:27

And I think you'll find that it doesn't take as much time as you think. Even though if even big projects don't take as much time as you think. If you can do one shelf of your pantry in like 10 minutes, you know, honestly like then you just realize hey I can handle this whole thing.

Heather Fisher 43:40

Yeah absolutely so if you guys need any resources please reach out to us through our website downsizingroadmap.com you can reach out and request our free downsizing guide. We can talk about some of that this stuff in there and we look forward to being back next week with a new episode. See you later. Thanks for joining us on the Downsizing Roadmap podcast. If you found this episode helpful be sure to subscribe leave us a review and share it with someone who might need a little downsizing inspiration. Have questions or ideas for future episodes reach out to us on our website www.downsizingroadmap.com. Until next time let's keep simplifying and moving forward