Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to start with the trash. If you are
Speaker 1: tackling a huge cleaning or decluttering project, simply getting rid
Speaker 1: of the trash can make it all seem more doable,
Speaker 1: a strategy that is helpful in more broader contexts too.
Speaker 1: Today's tip, like another this week, comes from Casey Davis's book,
Speaker 1: How to Keep House While Drowning. This book is about
Speaker 1: how to maintain an organized home even if you are
Speaker 1: in a very busy stage of life, or if you
Speaker 1: are struggling with mental challenges that make executive functioning difficult.
Speaker 1: Davis notes that when you survey a mess or mound
Speaker 1: of clutter, you are really looking at things in five categories.
Speaker 1: There is trash, dishes, laundry, things that have a home
Speaker 1: but aren't in their home, and things that don't have
Speaker 1: a home. If you tackle one of these five categories
Speaker 1: at a time, you will have a fairly functional space.
Speaker 1: By the end, things might not be in rainbow order,
Speaker 1: but the space will be functional and that is a
Speaker 1: major win of those five categories. She suggests starting with
Speaker 1: the trash, Get a bag, grab the stuff that is
Speaker 1: clearly garbage, and get it out of there. I love
Speaker 1: this suggestion because some stuff is in fact clearly trash,
Speaker 1: like food wrappers, packages, things came in. For the most part,
Speaker 1: it is not mentally challenging to figure out what is
Speaker 1: trash now. Later on you might decide that many of
Speaker 1: the items with no home are also trash, but that
Speaker 1: involves more decision making. Decision making can be hard when
Speaker 1: you are tired or depressed or anything along those lines,
Speaker 1: but trash that is easier. You just grab and go,
Speaker 1: and in many cases, by the time you have gotten
Speaker 1: all the trash out of any given space, it will
Speaker 1: look better. The bulk has been reduced, the stuff that
Speaker 1: might attract pests is gone. With obvious trash out of
Speaker 1: the picture, the next steps of cleaning won't be quite
Speaker 1: so overwhelming. I find that this mindset, starting with the
Speaker 1: trash can help with lots of big projects. Sometimes I've
Speaker 1: written things that need to be quite a bit shorter
Speaker 1: than my original draft. On the first edit, I can
Speaker 1: start with the trash, throw away lines and the throat
Speaker 1: clearing that all first drafts have. The work will get
Speaker 1: more challenging later, but the first part is doable. Or
Speaker 1: if you need to clean up how you are spending
Speaker 1: your time, some things will be challenging. Should I focus
Speaker 1: on this project at work or another? Do my kids
Speaker 1: need more time? Or does my marriage need more time?
Speaker 1: I don't know what the answer is to those questions,
Speaker 1: but getting rid of the trash first, the mindless time
Speaker 1: not spent in enjoyable ways, is going to help clear
Speaker 1: things up at least a little bit. If you're trying
Speaker 1: to clean up your finances, there might be big questions
Speaker 1: of downsizing or looking for a different job, but you
Speaker 1: can buy yourself at least a little breathing room on
Speaker 1: the way there by getting rid of any expenditures that
Speaker 1: are just garbage fees you forgot you were paying paying
Speaker 1: too much for cell phone bills or insurance. Start with
Speaker 1: the trash. We all face difficult decisions in life, but
Speaker 1: when you get at least a few of the easy
Speaker 1: ones out of the way, maybe the difficult decisions will
Speaker 1: seem slightly less overwhelming, or maybe not, but at least
Speaker 1: you'll have less trash, and that is often a good
Speaker 1: in its own right. In the meantime, this is Laura,
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod that's b E the number four, then
Speaker 1: breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me an
Speaker 1: email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com that
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks
Speaker 1: so much. Should I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts
Speaker 1: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.