Second Cup: Start with the trash

Find momentum by making the easy decisions first

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is to start with the trash. If you are
tackling a huge cleaning or decluttering project, simply getting rid

(00:27):
of the trash can make it all seem more doable,
a strategy that is helpful in more broader contexts too.
Today's tip, like another this week, comes from Casey Davis's book,
How to Keep House While Drowning. This book is about
how to maintain an organized home even if you are

(00:50):
in a very busy stage of life, or if you
are struggling with mental challenges that make executive functioning difficult.
Davis notes that when you survey a mess or mound
of clutter, you are really looking at things in five categories.
There is trash, dishes, laundry, things that have a home

(01:16):
but aren't in their home, and things that don't have
a home. If you tackle one of these five categories
at a time, you will have a fairly functional space.
By the end, things might not be in rainbow order,
but the space will be functional and that is a
major win of those five categories. She suggests starting with

(01:41):
the trash, Get a bag, grab the stuff that is
clearly garbage, and get it out of there. I love
this suggestion because some stuff is in fact clearly trash,
like food wrappers, packages, things came in. For the most part,
it is not mentally challenging to figure out what is

(02:02):
trash now. Later on you might decide that many of
the items with no home are also trash, but that
involves more decision making. Decision making can be hard when
you are tired or depressed or anything along those lines,
but trash that is easier. You just grab and go,

(02:25):
and in many cases, by the time you have gotten
all the trash out of any given space, it will
look better. The bulk has been reduced, the stuff that
might attract pests is gone. With obvious trash out of
the picture, the next steps of cleaning won't be quite

(02:47):
so overwhelming. I find that this mindset, starting with the
trash can help with lots of big projects. Sometimes I've
written things that need to be quite a bit shorter
than my original draft. On the first edit, I can
start with the trash, throw away lines and the throat

(03:08):
clearing that all first drafts have. The work will get
more challenging later, but the first part is doable. Or
if you need to clean up how you are spending
your time, some things will be challenging. Should I focus
on this project at work or another? Do my kids

(03:28):
need more time? Or does my marriage need more time?
I don't know what the answer is to those questions,
but getting rid of the trash first, the mindless time
not spent in enjoyable ways, is going to help clear
things up at least a little bit. If you're trying
to clean up your finances, there might be big questions

(03:50):
of downsizing or looking for a different job, but you
can buy yourself at least a little breathing room on
the way there by getting rid of any expenditures that
are just garbage fees you forgot you were paying paying
too much for cell phone bills or insurance. Start with
the trash. We all face difficult decisions in life, but

(04:14):
when you get at least a few of the easy
ones out of the way, maybe the difficult decisions will
seem slightly less overwhelming, or maybe not, but at least
you'll have less trash, and that is often a good
in its own right. In the meantime, this is Laura,

(04:36):
Thanks for listening and here's to making the most of
our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

(04:57):
Before Breakfast pod that's b E the number four, then
breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me an
email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com that
Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks
so much. Should I look forward to staying in touch.

(05:21):
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