Hi I’m Lorie Marrero, creator of the Clutter Diet book and online program. A reporter asked me recently if there were ways that people could think more like an organized person and have a more organized mindset. I have written some content about this before and there’s a chapter in my book about it. I wanted to drill down more and see what are the habits & ways of thinking about your environment and your space and your stuff that I do and other organized people do that maybe haven’t been conscious before? I thought really hard and I came up with five things that are part of how this all stays maintained better.
The first one is The Boy Scout Rule. When Boy Scouts go camping they’re told to leave the campsite better than they found it. Apply this to any space, any room in your house, your desk, have you left it better than you found it? When you’re walking out of the room, turn back around and take a look.
This leads me to the corollary of the Boy Scout Rule, which is what I call Clutter Goggles. Put the clutter goggles on so you can see what’s out of place. Then when you’re practicing the Boy Scout Rule and you turn back around into the room to look, you can see what’s on the counters, what’s on the floor. Don’t have clutter blindness, just notice what’s out of place. Take a few seconds to put something back in a drawer, hang up some clothing, and when you come back in the room the next time, it’s going to be ready for you to use and it’s going to feel better.
That leads to my third habit, Future Self. At first I was embarrassed to share this habit with people because I thought it sounded a little crazy. But lots of people have given us feedback on how much it helps them and they have adopted this into their own mindset. I think it helps a lot of people. I think of myself as two different people– my present self and my future self. My present self is the best friend of my future self. So I walk through a room and say, “You know, those dishes are dirty. I bet if I do those dishes my future self is going to be so much happier when she walks through here later. She’s going to be so glad that I did that for her and she’s going to be tired at the end of the day and she’s going to be so happy to have a clean kitchen.” That motivates me to do those favors for my future self and, therefore, keep everything much more maintained. And guess what, my future self loves it. It’s fantastic.
The other habit that I want to share is One More Thing. When you think you’re done and you’re tired and ready to quit for the day, whether it’s an organizing project or your work day, think if there is just one more thing you can do to give you a head start for tomorrow. Maybe that’s just sitting down and making a “to-do” list for the morning, or one more phone call, or emptying that dishwasher before you leave the house. Whatever that one more thing is, it can give you an edge and make you more efficient and productive and you can do more than you think you can.
The fifth thing I want to share is what I call the Heisman Habit. You know the Heisman trophy in football, the guy is posed like this and he’s fending people off. Have that attitude about what comes into your home. That comes into play with shopping habits-not buying things that you don’t need, and it also has to do with what you accept from other people, how much junk mail you’re getting, just everything that’s coming into the house, have the Heisman Habit about it and think through that. Go to our site and register and get a copy of our Clutter Prevention Wallet Reminder Sleeves that have the five questions you should ask before purchasing anything so that you can be more careful; when you get that little credit card out of the sleeve you will be reminded of that Heisman idea.
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