April 13, 2026 • 29 mins
Spring cleaning isn’t just about your home—it’s about resetting your mindset. On this episode of the Tudor Dixon Podcast, Tudor sits down with organizing expert and author Whitney English to tackle the overwhelm of clutter, chaos, and busy family life.
From tackling messy closets and craft rooms to managing kids, creativity, and everyday distractions, Whitney shares practical strategies to simplify your space without sacrificing warmth or personality. They discuss the power of starting small, building momentum through “quick wins,” and why decluttering is a continuous process—not a one-time fix.
Tudor and Whitney also dive into deeper themes like perfectionism, procrastination, and the balance between structure and creativity—especially in a home filled with kids and activity. Plus, they explore how faith, mindset, and even mental health play a role in staying focused and creating a home that fosters connection, not stress.
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by your space—or your schedule—this episode offers practical tips and a refreshing perspective on how to create a home (and life) that works for you.
Follow Clay & Buck on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/clayandbuck
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
While you're listening to the Tutor Dixon podcasts, and it
is officially spring, and oftentimes in spring we feel like
it's time to clean out our houses and declutter and
get rid of all the stuff that we don't need.
And if you are anything like me, in my house,
we have a massive amount of stuff that we don't
need and we've kind of like over the years, we
haven't moved for twenty years, so over the years we click,
(00:23):
I see Whitney who is with me. Her face was
went like, oh my gosh, that's a nightmare and it
is actually not moving is a disaster. I love our house,
but it just is like a place that collects craps.
So I needed help with this and we found an expert.
We have Whitney English with us. She's an organization design
and decluttering expert and also a creator of incredible art.
(00:45):
Because I was going through your Instagram page, Whitney, and
I was like, I want to be you and your
house is like so inviting and lovely, and I feel
like I walk in my house and it's chaos. I
have four kids and I blame them, but we really
are just like there's stuff, there's stuff.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Help me well, I can try.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
I think that I wrote a book about organizing because
it is a battle that I also feel like I
constantly fight. So I'm hesitant to step into the role
of expert, but I'm happy to like talk about it
and brainstorm it and you know, give people suggestions for
things that have worked for me.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
One of the things that I saw you saying is
start on something small and then you kind of feel
like you've accomplished things. And I do think that that
is my problem, is where I'm like, Okay, now I'm
going to take on this giant.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
We have this craft.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
We call it the craft closet, and it is we
just did this last weekend. But I thought it was
going to take me a few hours, and then it
was days of and then it's all over the place,
and there's this moment of feeling like, oh, this is
so overwhelming. What if we have to live amongst us
all over the place? And eventually we got it all
(02:01):
cleaned up. But how do you get to the point
where you bite off small, small bites and then you go, Okay,
I'm conquering.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
The big thing for me.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
The uh, well, there's that idea of you've heard like
productivity experts say eat the frog, for like, get up
and do the hardest thing first, And for me, that
just requires too much willpower to get started. I need
these little, tiny dopamine hits that will build momentum along
the way. And so I just got back from a
(02:33):
pretty much a three week art show. I was in Roundtop,
Texas selling my art showcasing it for three weeks. Everything
is in the entryway, I mean, it's my stuff is everywhere,
little tiny like boxes, piles of stuff. The way I'm
going to tackle that is one box at a time,
and each and I just I just remind myself that
(02:53):
I'm going to get a dopamine hit when I get
to the bottom of one box, even though they're like
thirty boxes in the entryway that have to be unpacked
and something has to be taken to its home and
put away. And so that's my answer to that is
just it's okay to do like the small things first
and it builds that dopamine hit over.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Time that keeps you going.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
I'm glad you're saying that, because I totally assumed. I'm like,
we're gonna get on here and she's gonna be like,
well you know, I just can't stand to see a mess,
so I have to have it all cleaned up right away.
And I'm like, that is not my personality is because
there's so there's so much going on. And I also think,
you know, when you're a working mom and you come home,
I mean, I get home at five, the kids have
(03:37):
already been home for an hour. They are you know,
I'm constantly after them like I'm sorry, did you just
eat a bag of chips? And then think like, Mom's
gonna come and throw this bag away? Why do I
need to throw this bag away when the maid is
going to be home from work.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
In an hour?
Speaker 1 (03:53):
You know?
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Do you have that? I mean, am I the only
person that has that?
Speaker 3 (03:57):
No? I have three kids. And I was there's a
coffee table behind me. I was sitting there talking to
a friend right before this podcast interview, and I looked
in front of me and there are four coffee cups
on the coffee table. It's like, all from this morning,
I just went to my bedroom. This is my own fault.
This isn't my kids. But I I drink my coffee
(04:21):
well well into noon, like I all morning long.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
It's a slow, long habit.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
I have I just pick up a coffee cup and
took a sip, and I realized it was yesterday's coffee
cup because I had.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Not taken Oh, okay, that makes me feel better.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
No, it's it's a constant it's never done. Decluttering is
never done. This idea of making room for things that
matter in our heads, in our visual like in our environment,
like the things that we see. It's a constant process.
There's like a in the book I wrote Organized First
(04:59):
Deck or Right Second, I talked about editing and how
it just never it just never stops. I mean you
you just you have to have a party to get
it like maximum edit point. It's like writing a book
or a blog post or something. You just have to
edit until you have to hit publish. And then throwing
a party or hitting publish, You've edited all you could.
(05:19):
It's the best it possibly can be, and then it's
just gonna start building up again over time. And Yeah,
the conversations with my kids feel incessant, like can you
please throw away the cookie wrapper? The you know, clean
up the you know they my kids are teenagers, so
they're making their own coffee in the mornings and like
(05:40):
clean up the coffee grounds.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Maybe I literally I was just saying I had this situation.
There's one of and that she'll know when she listens
to this. One of my kids is like the queen
of this. And I walk into the room the other
day and I have a room where I have a
bunch of plants, and behind the plant I see a glass.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
I'm like, oh, Sarah, glad.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
And we don't leave glasses on tables in our house
beacause we have a cat and she absolutely loves to
bat them off and watch them break. It's, oh my gosh,
somebody left a glass there. But I don't even know
how long it was there, and I can't tell you
what was in it. But the memory of pouring it
down the drain is going to cause PTSD the rest
of my life, you know.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
And I'm like, I want to make you.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Have to pour this down the drain, But that is
so that is just and I feel like that's a
constant effort with kids. But I also think that as
things build up, there is there is this you have
to stay on top of it. And this is where
I feel like I didn't do that because I just,
you know, put the toys in the basement, and well,
(06:43):
the floors that we live on, will keep kind of
decluttering those as we go. But then I go down
to the basement and I think, Okay, there's stuff we
need to let go of.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
How do you make that decision?
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Because we do I also have I have this problem
and my kids have this problem where it's like I
might use that, but I'm not going to I'm not
going to let it.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Go, right.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
I think it's helpful to think about the life cycle
of a thing and not.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I guess the opposite of that would.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Be the maybe I'm going to use this in the future.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Have I used it? Has it served its purpose? Can I?
Speaker 3 (07:21):
And I've done this with my kids since they were little,
But can we say thank you to that thing for
the service that it's provided us and then put it
in the trash? Can We practiced this with their art
when they were really young, because you know, a kid
draws a picture and they like want to hang on
to it for forever, and you're like, no, this is
a really good picture. Now we can take a picture
of the drawing with our phone, so that helps a
(07:41):
little bit. But it's almost like having a closing ceremony
for like a little tiny funeral for this thing, like
we are going to say thank you, this thing has
served its purpose, and then we're going to pass it along,
whether that's the trash can or maybe a good will
box or something that just how do we move it
along in its life because it's not serving us just
(08:04):
sitting there collecting dust.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
That so there is a contrast out there for everybody,
every parent out there and for grandparents who are looking
at our generation and going why are you keeping this stuff?
There is kind of this movement to be like, keep
your kids things and make your kid feel good about
all of their art.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
And so when my girls were in elementary.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
School and that's when the heavy art is coming home,
I'm starting to get content on social media because they
know everything about your life, right, so I'm starting to
get this content that's like you can frame your kid's art,
or you can send us a picture of their art
and will make you a great, big framed piece of
their art. And I'm going to tell you there was
a moment where so embarrassing. There was a moment where
(08:45):
I was like, well that would be adorable.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
I should have this, And I'm.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Like where would I put this? Why am I even
how am I getting sucked in? I am a marketer's dream. Literally,
I go to the grocery store in the same orange
juice that I see every week is in a different contator.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
I'm like, that looks good. I think it's the same,
you know. So I see this and I think, oh,
that would be so cute. How do you stop yourself
from adding more chaos?
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Because I feel like there is a push to keep cluttering,
keep adding chaos to your house.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
And I think even in the decluttering space, people are
marketers are trying to sell us solutions to problems. And
the problems that we're having is the problem is too
much stuff. And so we go to Target and we
buy bins and boxes and things and we bring them
home because we think that they're going to make us
more organized. Honestly, I think that the best answer to
that question is practice being resourceful. Don't go buy anything.
(09:40):
I mean, I mean, just stop, just stop buying. I mean,
I know that is so hard for some people to do.
Sometimes I think it probably takes more willpower to just
not buy this stuff than it does to come home
and start to organize it. But I think that there
is I think our kids are losing resourcefulness as a trait,
(10:04):
as a skill, as a character quality. We are by
just buying another solution air quote solution to their problem,
or even just for ourselves. I think we're showing them
that buying something is the answer instead of using our
own ingenuity or critical thinking skills to create a solution
(10:24):
or invent something. Like there's an ingenuity that comes along
when you say I'm not going to spend any money
on this, but I still am going to solve this problem.
And there's probably stuff in your basement that could help
make some of that happen.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Yeah, oh absolutely, I mean and I look at that,
and I also think this space has been used for
such a long time.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
And like I said, my house is twenty years old.
So when I look through, I just see this needs
to be freshened up.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
And there is this overwhelming moment where Okay, I got
to take everything out of here to freshen it. But
you say that's what you should do to design and
to redesign your space, or to design your space if
it's new, you have to move everything out right, Explain
how you work that through in your mind.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
You go get a laundry basket, and you do you
just take everything out. You just literally hide it and
not hide it. But we don't have any cabinets in
our kitchen. We have an unfitted kitchen. I did it
because I thought it was going to be fashionable and affordable.
It would be very beneficial if there was a cabinet
(11:31):
and I could put the spices in it and just
close it. We have shelves in sort of a pantry
area behind our kitchen where I can go put those things.
But sometimes it's beneficial for me just to go through
the kitchen and just take everything off the kitchen counter.
So just take it all off, go put it in
the pantry where it can be stored on wire shelves
very simply, and then one by one we can take
(11:52):
those things out as we need them.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
But yeah, I.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Mean, I don't think there's anything wrong with I've heard
I've heard it called quieting a room too, like just
this idea of like taking everything out and just sitting
in it. And then the fun thing about this process
is when you start to introduce things back into it,
whether they're old things or new things, they start to
feel fresh and new, and you start to be able
to appreciate and enjoy them again.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
And I love that benefit as well.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on
the Tutor Dixon Podcast. There's been this mindset in the
last few years that to make your space, to declutter
your space, you have to be a minimalist and there's
nothing and I've never I didn't grow up that way.
My mom had a very traditional house and it wasn't
(12:39):
like we were cluttered with knickknacks, you know, but there
were you know, decorations and things. And I feel like
the next generation, well sort of the generation below me,
was like, we want nothing. We want just very straight lines, nothing,
no lace, Like it has to just be very everything
has to look very clean. And to me, those sterile
(13:00):
spaces are not comforting and homie up to other people,
they are.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
So is there is there kind of a balance. Is
there a change? Do you see a change.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Back in design at all that we might be getting
back into like those traditional bigger couches and homie feeling.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Absolutely we are that.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
I mean, I think we see those giant swings culturally,
not just generationally. I think different things happen in our
in our lives and collectively that you know, if we
grew up at a very traditional home, maybe there is
going to be sort of a pendulum swing to minimalism.
But then maybe something happens in someone's life and they
(13:39):
they lose a loved one, or they find themselves in
need of a comfort source, and they think, well, let's
go put a lace tablecloth on top of this. Let
me pull out my grandmother's china and start to reuse it.
I think that it's important to I've been through different
different swings in my own design, and there are things
that there are things that I wish I had hung
on too. Interestingly enough, I had this painting from my
(14:03):
grandmother that was a duck painting, and I was like,
I just don't think we need duck paintings anymore. This
is back in the twenty tens. Now they're duck paintings.
Everybody wants a duck. But if I found a good
will painting, a duck painting at the Goodwill, it'd be like,
oh my gosh. Anyway, I gave it to my cousin.
It's great, it's still in the family. But I think
(14:23):
that sometimes it's okay to put things in an attic
that might have sentimental value in the future. It's hard
to be selective about what those things are, so, you know,
trying not to throw out the baby with the bathwater,
But I don't. I think the pendulum, I think that
too far one direction, too far the other direction. We
have to learn how to like live in the tension,
in the middle, in the messy middle. And I think
(14:45):
that as humans, we were so driven by narrative that
we're racing towards resolution. And sometimes I think learning to
live a balanced life means living in a little bit
of clutter, but then also taking the time and effort
to just stand up and go get rid.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Of some stuff.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
At the same time, I think what you're saying to me,
it reminds me of a book I read. I think
the book was called Bittersweet, and it was a book
that I read at a really critical time where my
kids were babies. Everything was very chaotic, and the author,
John anichulis yes, yes, she also had little kids at
the time, and was making the point like, if you're
(15:29):
not inviting people to your house, regardless of the mess,
and there's not a fellowship around you, then really.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
You're missing out.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
And I think so often we live in a society
where we're racing toward the goal, but we don't actually
know what the goal is. It's like we've got if
I could just get here, if I could just get here.
But really the journey is that's the whole part of life.
That's life, you know, the journey of getting to whatever
the next goal is has to be enjoyed, to be savored.
(16:01):
And when I hear what you're saying, this idea of
like keeping the things around that have meaning and knowing
what's important, but also living it, living in this space
and not letting the space get to the point where
you are shutting other people out or shutting shutting life out,
because you know, we sometimes our house is chaotic.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
I have four kids, we have a million kids.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
In the summertime, our house is just filled with other
people's kids.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
It's totally full.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
And sometimes I look around and I think, oh my gosh,
I can't believe other people's kids are here in our
house is like insane, And then I remember her words
of like this is these are the times living it. Fellowship,
enjoy those spaces together, regardless of whether somebody left a
wrapper out and there's you know, books piled up on
the desk and everything else.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
One hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
I've actually been to Shanna's house and experience some of
her hospitality, and.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
I love that.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
I love what you described about all these kids at
your house in the summer. I love the idea of
throwing the doors open. I also have been known to
tell neighbor kids to kindly pick up after themselves. So
I don't think there's anything wrong with maintain you know,
asking the people who come to your house, especially kids,
(17:23):
to participate in maintaining certain standards, even if they are loose.
I think that's important for kids too. But yes, I
am all about.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Nothing.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
I always say if a guest spills a glass of wine,
I will toss them a dishchewel and I just say
nothing can be more precious than you are by your
furniture on Facebook marketplace, so that the wine spills don't matter,
you know, and and let people know that they do.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
It's interesting because at this time, I do think in
this season of spring, we feel this tremendous pressure. We're
kind of like, especially in Michigan, we're climbing out of
the snow, We're coming out of the winter days, and it's.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Like those long, those long dark times.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
You know, days are very short in the winter and
have you don't see the sun very often, and then
suddenly you get a few peaks of the sun and
you go, oh, it's getting warm.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
It's that time.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
It's everything's starting to sprout again. It's that time to
make a change. The world is changing, life is starting again,
and we should make that change in our house. And
I think sometimes that can't put you into a little
bit of a funk also because you can get overwhelmed
by that. And I see that in my girls, especially
where they have like these big feelings of I'm going
(18:43):
to clean out the closet. And in the spring, the
church is always like we have a big, a big
clothing drive, bring all your clothes, and then they get
overwhelmed because they have play practice and basketball and soccer
and blah blah blah, and everything builds up and then
they end up a little disappointed. So when you talk
to families and you're talking about those small bites, how
(19:06):
do you break that up amongst kids and parents.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
I think that it's important for my kids to practice
critical thinking skills, and in order for them to do that,
I think they need safe places to make their own decisions.
So I I don't think I invented this and you
might have done this. But sometimes I'll say, like we're
going to do a ten minute tidy, Like I'm going
to set a timer for ten minutes, and I look
at each kid and I say, what are you going
(19:32):
to go tidy? You know, pick an area, what are
you going to go do? It always kind of like
fizzles out at the very end. They get very distracted,
very easily. But I think the exercise of setting an attention,
deciding what you're going to go do, and then going
(19:52):
and doing your best effort is important. Sometimes last spring break,
I actually got into my daughter's room and I was like,
we have got to It was bad. It was really bad,
and it builds up over time. I don't think there's
any way to keep it. You know, if you do
a deep declutter, I don't think there's any way to
(20:14):
keep it deep decluttered. It's just gonna build up. So
we have to teach our kids that practice of clearing,
clearing the space visually and mentally.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
That's so that is that isn't the biggest challenge with
especially my one child that tends to just love to
explore and be artistic and do whatever, but then struggles
to get everything back on track. But when I look
at your Instagram page, for example, when I look at
your house, it seems like there's still a lot of creativity.
(20:51):
There's a lot of ability to have fun and play
and craft and all of those things. To me that
there's a very important balance between that. Like I said that,
here we are on the journey. The journey is experience,
and the journey is kind of that freedom of being
able to figure out who you are. And a lot
of times I do feel like that's through art. My
girls are oftentimes they sing. I don't sing. They are
(21:14):
great at singing. They sing together and they'll sit in
the family room and they'll all harmonize and sing together.
But they love to also paint, So we get the
big tablecloth out and we pull everything out and we paint.
How do you make sure there is that balance of
I think sometimes you can be so rigid about things
have to be perfect all the time that you can't
(21:35):
learn to get there, and then that can sometimes have
the opposite effect with family members.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Yeah, it really can.
Speaker 3 (21:42):
I grew up with perfectionists parents, and I have a sister,
and I think that our response to that perfectionism was different.
Mine was to go very creative.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
I have.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
Very okay leaving the craft project out on the table.
The rest of my family is not. My sister took
the opposite direction that I did, and everything is very
wrapped up with the tidy little bow. The project is finished.
We're calling it done.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
We're moving on.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
And for me, the answer to that comes back into
that just are we living in the moment? Are we
speeding towards perfection which is not achievable on this side
of heaven, or are we saying, you know what, it's
okay that there's a mess on the dining room table
for a day, and then also recognizing within myself that
(22:42):
probably my tendency might be to leave that mess there
a little bit longer than some other people might be
okay with and reaching into my will and practicing discipline
and saying we're going to pick it up. Even though
it feels like the project isn't done, even though it
feels like the painting is still in progress. It is okay.
(23:02):
I have a pile of paintings in progress. I mean
that is just that, it's just something that I have
had to realize as an artist is that sometimes you
can't finish a painting in one sitting. You know when
it's done, but it's hard to know when that moment
is until it is, and then you're like, it's done.
And so there's a lot of rotation through that. And
(23:23):
I do appreciate the challenge that comes with, like how
how do I organize this creative process. I love a system.
I love to I have a very analytical creative mind.
I think that comes from having an engineering father, where
I love using resourcefulness to create solutions for the messes
(23:43):
around me. That's another so I also will look at
that as sort of a creative outlet as well.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on
the Tutor Dixon podcast. On the way to school today,
I had this conversation with my one daughter. I was like,
you are very good at procrastinating and finding a million
other things to do. And I know that feeling. You know,
(24:10):
it's not unique to her. I can understand that, and
I said, honestly, sometimes that's fine, and sometimes you know
it's not fine, and that's something that you have to
work through on your own. You really have to push yourself,
and that's something and honestly, that's something that you can
call on God with prayers. And I told her that's
(24:31):
I've done that too, you know, when I'm like, I
have all these deadlines to hit, and I know my
tendency is to, you know, push back or go over
and get distracted here and start making some dessert we
don't need, and then I'm off track and I know
I'm never going to get to the next thing. You know,
I'm like that focus. God can get you there you
(24:53):
you need, but you need to know that you need
to ask for it. And I think that's some of
the issues that we have when we get so busy
and we are caught up in the journey, that you
have to know when you have to step back and say,
I personally need to go, Okay, God, how do I
get to this next level? Do? How do I get
all how do I achieve all of this? How do
(25:14):
I get it all done? In my own power? If
I'm not leaning on you? Yeah, one hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
There's two things that I do for myself when I
find myself kind of I feel like when I start procrastinating,
I start spiraling mentally, Like I just start thinking through
overthinking stuff. So one thing I do is I focus
on finishing things. I mean, just this idea, and that's
(25:42):
back to me finding those little dopamine hits, like if
I focus on finish, If I focus on finishing things,
momentum will.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Take care of itself and I'm off to the races.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
Another thing that I do is take captive every thought,
focus only on true, good, lovely things, and beach and
repeat that practice in order to be transformed by the
renewing of my mind. That goes back to three scriptures,
and so I'll just I do that to kind of
(26:12):
like take hold of the mental spiral that I'm devolving into.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
And then the other thing that.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
I believe in. And I'm seeing one of my children
struggle with this is and I tried to avoid it
for a long time, is some people really do struggle
with ADHD or even depression or mild depression. And so
I think seeking medical clinical help and diagnosis should not.
(26:43):
I think that we need to do away with the
stigma around mental health. And just also like the judgment
and the criticism that sometimes I think we put on
each other when we're like, oh, look at her house
or her you are. You know, what battle is she
fighting that we know nothing about? And we have great
it's easy to compare yourself, right, you know, but but
(27:06):
can we have grace for that other person? And right
if we If we don't have grace for other people,
it's really going to be hard for us to have
grace for ourselves.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
But I don't want to.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
I don't want to get to the other side of
a conversation about decluttering without saying that. Sometimes even my
therapist will say, well, power is not enough. Sometimes you
need medication help to help get you there. And so
I would encourage people to not discount that avenue avenue
of as a resource as well.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
That's I agree.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
I've seen I've seen that get take hold in people's
minds too, and I do think that there is that
constant need to move to the next project, and then
you don't get that first one done, and there's that
inability to focus. So you also wrote a book, though,
so I want to get to that before we go.
You wrote a book. Tell us about the book.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
The book was called Organized First Decorade Second and I
wrote it because my editor said they were always looking
for an organizing book, and I wanted to write a
book about home.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
So I wanted to take.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Just the needs of a publisher and then my personal practices,
which are a little bit divergent, and really I just
wanted I wanted to write a book that talked about
how do I, as a creative person, live with three
kids and practiced grace in a regular home on an
(28:39):
everyday basis. And so I tried to weave narrative and
tried to tell stories and just talk about different experiences
that we've had as a family and share how there's
tips andrics and all that stuff. But I almost sometimes
I'm like, organizing tips are just I mean, they're all
the same at the end of the day. I think
what's what makes my book different is the stories that
(28:59):
I've woven into that.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
I love that and it's been great talking to you.
I totally relate to everything you're saying. Whitney English. Thank
you so much for coming on the podcast. Thank you
Tutor absolutely, and thank you all for listening to the podcast.
As always. For this podcast and others, you can get
it wherever you get your podcast, the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, Rumble,
or YouTube at Tutor Dixon. Just make sure you tune
(29:23):
in and go off now and have a blessed day.
While you're listening to the Tutor Dixon podcasts, and it
is officially spring, and oftentimes in spring we feel like
it's time to clean out our houses and declutter and
get rid of all the stuff that we don't need.
And if you are anything like me, in my house,
we have a massive amount of stuff that we don't
need and we've kind of like over the years, we
haven't moved for twenty years, so over the years we click,
(00:23):
I see Whitney who is with me. Her face was
went like, oh my gosh, that's a nightmare and it
is actually not moving is a disaster. I love our house,
but it just is like a place that collects craps.
So I needed help with this and we found an expert.
We have Whitney English with us. She's an organization design
and decluttering expert and also a creator of incredible art.
(00:45):
Because I was going through your Instagram page, Whitney, and
I was like, I want to be you and your
house is like so inviting and lovely, and I feel
like I walk in my house and it's chaos. I
have four kids and I blame them, but we really
are just like there's stuff, there's stuff.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Help me well, I can try.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
I think that I wrote a book about organizing because
it is a battle that I also feel like I
constantly fight. So I'm hesitant to step into the role
of expert, but I'm happy to like talk about it
and brainstorm it and you know, give people suggestions for
things that have worked for me.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
One of the things that I saw you saying is
start on something small and then you kind of feel
like you've accomplished things. And I do think that that
is my problem, is where I'm like, Okay, now I'm
going to take on this giant.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
We have this craft.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
We call it the craft closet, and it is we
just did this last weekend. But I thought it was
going to take me a few hours, and then it
was days of and then it's all over the place,
and there's this moment of feeling like, oh, this is
so overwhelming. What if we have to live amongst us
all over the place? And eventually we got it all
(02:01):
cleaned up. But how do you get to the point
where you bite off small, small bites and then you go, Okay,
I'm conquering.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
The big thing for me.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
The uh, well, there's that idea of you've heard like
productivity experts say eat the frog, for like, get up
and do the hardest thing first, And for me, that
just requires too much willpower to get started. I need
these little, tiny dopamine hits that will build momentum along
the way. And so I just got back from a
(02:33):
pretty much a three week art show. I was in Roundtop,
Texas selling my art showcasing it for three weeks. Everything
is in the entryway, I mean, it's my stuff is everywhere,
little tiny like boxes, piles of stuff. The way I'm
going to tackle that is one box at a time,
and each and I just I just remind myself that
(02:53):
I'm going to get a dopamine hit when I get
to the bottom of one box, even though they're like
thirty boxes in the entryway that have to be unpacked
and something has to be taken to its home and
put away. And so that's my answer to that is
just it's okay to do like the small things first
and it builds that dopamine hit over.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Time that keeps you going.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
I'm glad you're saying that, because I totally assumed. I'm like,
we're gonna get on here and she's gonna be like,
well you know, I just can't stand to see a mess,
so I have to have it all cleaned up right away.
And I'm like, that is not my personality is because
there's so there's so much going on. And I also think,
you know, when you're a working mom and you come home,
I mean, I get home at five, the kids have
(03:37):
already been home for an hour. They are you know,
I'm constantly after them like I'm sorry, did you just
eat a bag of chips? And then think like, Mom's
gonna come and throw this bag away? Why do I
need to throw this bag away when the maid is
going to be home from work.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
In an hour?
Speaker 1 (03:53):
You know?
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Do you have that? I mean, am I the only
person that has that?
Speaker 3 (03:57):
No? I have three kids. And I was there's a
coffee table behind me. I was sitting there talking to
a friend right before this podcast interview, and I looked
in front of me and there are four coffee cups
on the coffee table. It's like, all from this morning,
I just went to my bedroom. This is my own fault.
This isn't my kids. But I I drink my coffee
(04:21):
well well into noon, like I all morning long.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
It's a slow, long habit.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
I have I just pick up a coffee cup and
took a sip, and I realized it was yesterday's coffee
cup because I had.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Not taken Oh, okay, that makes me feel better.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
No, it's it's a constant it's never done. Decluttering is
never done. This idea of making room for things that
matter in our heads, in our visual like in our environment,
like the things that we see. It's a constant process.
There's like a in the book I wrote Organized First
(04:59):
Deck or Right Second, I talked about editing and how
it just never it just never stops. I mean you
you just you have to have a party to get
it like maximum edit point. It's like writing a book
or a blog post or something. You just have to
edit until you have to hit publish. And then throwing
a party or hitting publish, You've edited all you could.
(05:19):
It's the best it possibly can be, and then it's
just gonna start building up again over time. And Yeah,
the conversations with my kids feel incessant, like can you
please throw away the cookie wrapper? The you know, clean
up the you know they my kids are teenagers, so
they're making their own coffee in the mornings and like
(05:40):
clean up the coffee grounds.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Maybe I literally I was just saying I had this situation.
There's one of and that she'll know when she listens
to this. One of my kids is like the queen
of this. And I walk into the room the other
day and I have a room where I have a
bunch of plants, and behind the plant I see a glass.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
I'm like, oh, Sarah, glad.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
And we don't leave glasses on tables in our house
beacause we have a cat and she absolutely loves to
bat them off and watch them break. It's, oh my gosh,
somebody left a glass there. But I don't even know
how long it was there, and I can't tell you
what was in it. But the memory of pouring it
down the drain is going to cause PTSD the rest
of my life, you know.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
And I'm like, I want to make you.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Have to pour this down the drain, But that is
so that is just and I feel like that's a
constant effort with kids. But I also think that as
things build up, there is there is this you have
to stay on top of it. And this is where
I feel like I didn't do that because I just,
you know, put the toys in the basement, and well,
(06:43):
the floors that we live on, will keep kind of
decluttering those as we go. But then I go down
to the basement and I think, Okay, there's stuff we
need to let go of.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
How do you make that decision?
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Because we do I also have I have this problem
and my kids have this problem where it's like I
might use that, but I'm not going to I'm not
going to let it.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Go, right.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
I think it's helpful to think about the life cycle
of a thing and not.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I guess the opposite of that would.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Be the maybe I'm going to use this in the future.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Have I used it? Has it served its purpose? Can I?
Speaker 3 (07:21):
And I've done this with my kids since they were little,
But can we say thank you to that thing for
the service that it's provided us and then put it
in the trash? Can We practiced this with their art
when they were really young, because you know, a kid
draws a picture and they like want to hang on
to it for forever, and you're like, no, this is
a really good picture. Now we can take a picture
of the drawing with our phone, so that helps a
(07:41):
little bit. But it's almost like having a closing ceremony
for like a little tiny funeral for this thing, like
we are going to say thank you, this thing has
served its purpose, and then we're going to pass it along,
whether that's the trash can or maybe a good will
box or something that just how do we move it
along in its life because it's not serving us just
(08:04):
sitting there collecting dust.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
That so there is a contrast out there for everybody,
every parent out there and for grandparents who are looking
at our generation and going why are you keeping this stuff?
There is kind of this movement to be like, keep
your kids things and make your kid feel good about
all of their art.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
And so when my girls were in elementary.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
School and that's when the heavy art is coming home,
I'm starting to get content on social media because they
know everything about your life, right, so I'm starting to
get this content that's like you can frame your kid's art,
or you can send us a picture of their art
and will make you a great, big framed piece of
their art. And I'm going to tell you there was
a moment where so embarrassing. There was a moment where
(08:45):
I was like, well that would be adorable.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
I should have this, And I'm.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Like where would I put this? Why am I even
how am I getting sucked in? I am a marketer's dream. Literally,
I go to the grocery store in the same orange
juice that I see every week is in a different contator.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
I'm like, that looks good. I think it's the same,
you know. So I see this and I think, oh,
that would be so cute. How do you stop yourself
from adding more chaos?
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Because I feel like there is a push to keep cluttering,
keep adding chaos to your house.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
And I think even in the decluttering space, people are
marketers are trying to sell us solutions to problems. And
the problems that we're having is the problem is too
much stuff. And so we go to Target and we
buy bins and boxes and things and we bring them
home because we think that they're going to make us
more organized. Honestly, I think that the best answer to
that question is practice being resourceful. Don't go buy anything.
(09:40):
I mean, I mean, just stop, just stop buying. I mean,
I know that is so hard for some people to do.
Sometimes I think it probably takes more willpower to just
not buy this stuff than it does to come home
and start to organize it. But I think that there
is I think our kids are losing resourcefulness as a trait,
(10:04):
as a skill, as a character quality. We are by
just buying another solution air quote solution to their problem,
or even just for ourselves. I think we're showing them
that buying something is the answer instead of using our
own ingenuity or critical thinking skills to create a solution
(10:24):
or invent something. Like there's an ingenuity that comes along
when you say I'm not going to spend any money
on this, but I still am going to solve this problem.
And there's probably stuff in your basement that could help
make some of that happen.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Yeah, oh absolutely, I mean and I look at that,
and I also think this space has been used for
such a long time.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
And like I said, my house is twenty years old.
So when I look through, I just see this needs
to be freshened up.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
And there is this overwhelming moment where Okay, I got
to take everything out of here to freshen it. But
you say that's what you should do to design and
to redesign your space, or to design your space if
it's new, you have to move everything out right, Explain
how you work that through in your mind.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
You go get a laundry basket, and you do you
just take everything out. You just literally hide it and
not hide it. But we don't have any cabinets in
our kitchen. We have an unfitted kitchen. I did it
because I thought it was going to be fashionable and affordable.
It would be very beneficial if there was a cabinet
(11:31):
and I could put the spices in it and just
close it. We have shelves in sort of a pantry
area behind our kitchen where I can go put those things.
But sometimes it's beneficial for me just to go through
the kitchen and just take everything off the kitchen counter.
So just take it all off, go put it in
the pantry where it can be stored on wire shelves
very simply, and then one by one we can take
(11:52):
those things out as we need them.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
But yeah, I.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Mean, I don't think there's anything wrong with I've heard
I've heard it called quieting a room too, like just
this idea of like taking everything out and just sitting
in it. And then the fun thing about this process
is when you start to introduce things back into it,
whether they're old things or new things, they start to
feel fresh and new, and you start to be able
to appreciate and enjoy them again.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
And I love that benefit as well.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on
the Tutor Dixon Podcast. There's been this mindset in the
last few years that to make your space, to declutter
your space, you have to be a minimalist and there's
nothing and I've never I didn't grow up that way.
My mom had a very traditional house and it wasn't
(12:39):
like we were cluttered with knickknacks, you know, but there
were you know, decorations and things. And I feel like
the next generation, well sort of the generation below me,
was like, we want nothing. We want just very straight lines, nothing,
no lace, Like it has to just be very everything
has to look very clean. And to me, those sterile
(13:00):
spaces are not comforting and homie up to other people,
they are.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
So is there is there kind of a balance. Is
there a change? Do you see a change.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
Back in design at all that we might be getting
back into like those traditional bigger couches and homie feeling.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Absolutely we are that.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
I mean, I think we see those giant swings culturally,
not just generationally. I think different things happen in our
in our lives and collectively that you know, if we
grew up at a very traditional home, maybe there is
going to be sort of a pendulum swing to minimalism.
But then maybe something happens in someone's life and they
(13:39):
they lose a loved one, or they find themselves in
need of a comfort source, and they think, well, let's
go put a lace tablecloth on top of this. Let
me pull out my grandmother's china and start to reuse it.
I think that it's important to I've been through different
different swings in my own design, and there are things
that there are things that I wish I had hung
on too. Interestingly enough, I had this painting from my
(14:03):
grandmother that was a duck painting, and I was like,
I just don't think we need duck paintings anymore. This
is back in the twenty tens. Now they're duck paintings.
Everybody wants a duck. But if I found a good
will painting, a duck painting at the Goodwill, it'd be like,
oh my gosh. Anyway, I gave it to my cousin.
It's great, it's still in the family. But I think
(14:23):
that sometimes it's okay to put things in an attic
that might have sentimental value in the future. It's hard
to be selective about what those things are, so, you know,
trying not to throw out the baby with the bathwater,
But I don't. I think the pendulum, I think that
too far one direction, too far the other direction. We
have to learn how to like live in the tension,
in the middle, in the messy middle. And I think
(14:45):
that as humans, we were so driven by narrative that
we're racing towards resolution. And sometimes I think learning to
live a balanced life means living in a little bit
of clutter, but then also taking the time and effort
to just stand up and go get rid.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
Of some stuff.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
At the same time, I think what you're saying to me,
it reminds me of a book I read. I think
the book was called Bittersweet, and it was a book
that I read at a really critical time where my
kids were babies. Everything was very chaotic, and the author,
John anichulis yes, yes, she also had little kids at
the time, and was making the point like, if you're
(15:29):
not inviting people to your house, regardless of the mess,
and there's not a fellowship around you, then really.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
You're missing out.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
And I think so often we live in a society
where we're racing toward the goal, but we don't actually
know what the goal is. It's like we've got if
I could just get here, if I could just get here.
But really the journey is that's the whole part of life.
That's life, you know, the journey of getting to whatever
the next goal is has to be enjoyed, to be savored.
(16:01):
And when I hear what you're saying, this idea of
like keeping the things around that have meaning and knowing
what's important, but also living it, living in this space
and not letting the space get to the point where
you are shutting other people out or shutting shutting life out,
because you know, we sometimes our house is chaotic.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
I have four kids, we have a million kids.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
In the summertime, our house is just filled with other
people's kids.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
It's totally full.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
And sometimes I look around and I think, oh my gosh,
I can't believe other people's kids are here in our
house is like insane, And then I remember her words
of like this is these are the times living it. Fellowship,
enjoy those spaces together, regardless of whether somebody left a
wrapper out and there's you know, books piled up on
the desk and everything else.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
One hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
I've actually been to Shanna's house and experience some of
her hospitality, and.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
I love that.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
I love what you described about all these kids at
your house in the summer. I love the idea of
throwing the doors open. I also have been known to
tell neighbor kids to kindly pick up after themselves. So
I don't think there's anything wrong with maintain you know,
asking the people who come to your house, especially kids,
(17:23):
to participate in maintaining certain standards, even if they are loose.
I think that's important for kids too. But yes, I
am all about.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Nothing.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
I always say if a guest spills a glass of wine,
I will toss them a dishchewel and I just say
nothing can be more precious than you are by your
furniture on Facebook marketplace, so that the wine spills don't matter,
you know, and and let people know that they do.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
It's interesting because at this time, I do think in
this season of spring, we feel this tremendous pressure. We're
kind of like, especially in Michigan, we're climbing out of
the snow, We're coming out of the winter days, and it's.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Like those long, those long dark times.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
You know, days are very short in the winter and
have you don't see the sun very often, and then
suddenly you get a few peaks of the sun and
you go, oh, it's getting warm.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
It's that time.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
It's everything's starting to sprout again. It's that time to
make a change. The world is changing, life is starting again,
and we should make that change in our house. And
I think sometimes that can't put you into a little
bit of a funk also because you can get overwhelmed
by that. And I see that in my girls, especially
where they have like these big feelings of I'm going
(18:43):
to clean out the closet. And in the spring, the
church is always like we have a big, a big
clothing drive, bring all your clothes, and then they get
overwhelmed because they have play practice and basketball and soccer
and blah blah blah, and everything builds up and then
they end up a little disappointed. So when you talk
to families and you're talking about those small bites, how
(19:06):
do you break that up amongst kids and parents.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
I think that it's important for my kids to practice
critical thinking skills, and in order for them to do that,
I think they need safe places to make their own decisions.
So I I don't think I invented this and you
might have done this. But sometimes I'll say, like we're
going to do a ten minute tidy, Like I'm going
to set a timer for ten minutes, and I look
at each kid and I say, what are you going
(19:32):
to go tidy? You know, pick an area, what are
you going to go do? It always kind of like
fizzles out at the very end. They get very distracted,
very easily. But I think the exercise of setting an attention,
deciding what you're going to go do, and then going
(19:52):
and doing your best effort is important. Sometimes last spring break,
I actually got into my daughter's room and I was like,
we have got to It was bad. It was really bad,
and it builds up over time. I don't think there's
any way to keep it. You know, if you do
a deep declutter, I don't think there's any way to
(20:14):
keep it deep decluttered. It's just gonna build up. So
we have to teach our kids that practice of clearing,
clearing the space visually and mentally.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
That's so that is that isn't the biggest challenge with
especially my one child that tends to just love to
explore and be artistic and do whatever, but then struggles
to get everything back on track. But when I look
at your Instagram page, for example, when I look at
your house, it seems like there's still a lot of creativity.
(20:51):
There's a lot of ability to have fun and play
and craft and all of those things. To me that
there's a very important balance between that. Like I said that,
here we are on the journey. The journey is experience,
and the journey is kind of that freedom of being
able to figure out who you are. And a lot
of times I do feel like that's through art. My
girls are oftentimes they sing. I don't sing. They are
(21:14):
great at singing. They sing together and they'll sit in
the family room and they'll all harmonize and sing together.
But they love to also paint, So we get the
big tablecloth out and we pull everything out and we paint.
How do you make sure there is that balance of
I think sometimes you can be so rigid about things
have to be perfect all the time that you can't
(21:35):
learn to get there, and then that can sometimes have
the opposite effect with family members.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Yeah, it really can.
Speaker 3 (21:42):
I grew up with perfectionists parents, and I have a sister,
and I think that our response to that perfectionism was different.
Mine was to go very creative.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
I have.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
Very okay leaving the craft project out on the table.
The rest of my family is not. My sister took
the opposite direction that I did, and everything is very
wrapped up with the tidy little bow. The project is finished.
We're calling it done.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
We're moving on.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
And for me, the answer to that comes back into
that just are we living in the moment? Are we
speeding towards perfection which is not achievable on this side
of heaven, or are we saying, you know what, it's
okay that there's a mess on the dining room table
for a day, and then also recognizing within myself that
(22:42):
probably my tendency might be to leave that mess there
a little bit longer than some other people might be
okay with and reaching into my will and practicing discipline
and saying we're going to pick it up. Even though
it feels like the project isn't done, even though it
feels like the painting is still in progress. It is okay.
(23:02):
I have a pile of paintings in progress. I mean
that is just that, it's just something that I have
had to realize as an artist is that sometimes you
can't finish a painting in one sitting. You know when
it's done, but it's hard to know when that moment
is until it is, and then you're like, it's done.
And so there's a lot of rotation through that. And
(23:23):
I do appreciate the challenge that comes with, like how
how do I organize this creative process. I love a system.
I love to I have a very analytical creative mind.
I think that comes from having an engineering father, where
I love using resourcefulness to create solutions for the messes
(23:43):
around me. That's another so I also will look at
that as sort of a creative outlet as well.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on
the Tutor Dixon podcast. On the way to school today,
I had this conversation with my one daughter. I was like,
you are very good at procrastinating and finding a million
other things to do. And I know that feeling. You know,
(24:10):
it's not unique to her. I can understand that, and
I said, honestly, sometimes that's fine, and sometimes you know
it's not fine, and that's something that you have to
work through on your own. You really have to push yourself,
and that's something and honestly, that's something that you can
call on God with prayers. And I told her that's
(24:31):
I've done that too, you know, when I'm like, I
have all these deadlines to hit, and I know my
tendency is to, you know, push back or go over
and get distracted here and start making some dessert we
don't need, and then I'm off track and I know
I'm never going to get to the next thing. You know,
I'm like that focus. God can get you there you
(24:53):
you need, but you need to know that you need
to ask for it. And I think that's some of
the issues that we have when we get so busy
and we are caught up in the journey, that you
have to know when you have to step back and say,
I personally need to go, Okay, God, how do I
get to this next level? Do? How do I get
all how do I achieve all of this? How do
(25:14):
I get it all done? In my own power? If
I'm not leaning on you? Yeah, one hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
There's two things that I do for myself when I
find myself kind of I feel like when I start procrastinating,
I start spiraling mentally, Like I just start thinking through
overthinking stuff. So one thing I do is I focus
on finishing things. I mean, just this idea, and that's
(25:42):
back to me finding those little dopamine hits, like if
I focus on finish, If I focus on finishing things,
momentum will.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Take care of itself and I'm off to the races.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
Another thing that I do is take captive every thought,
focus only on true, good, lovely things, and beach and
repeat that practice in order to be transformed by the
renewing of my mind. That goes back to three scriptures,
and so I'll just I do that to kind of
(26:12):
like take hold of the mental spiral that I'm devolving into.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
And then the other thing that.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
I believe in. And I'm seeing one of my children
struggle with this is and I tried to avoid it
for a long time, is some people really do struggle
with ADHD or even depression or mild depression. And so
I think seeking medical clinical help and diagnosis should not.
(26:43):
I think that we need to do away with the
stigma around mental health. And just also like the judgment
and the criticism that sometimes I think we put on
each other when we're like, oh, look at her house
or her you are. You know, what battle is she
fighting that we know nothing about? And we have great
it's easy to compare yourself, right, you know, but but
(27:06):
can we have grace for that other person? And right
if we If we don't have grace for other people,
it's really going to be hard for us to have
grace for ourselves.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
But I don't want to.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
I don't want to get to the other side of
a conversation about decluttering without saying that. Sometimes even my
therapist will say, well, power is not enough. Sometimes you
need medication help to help get you there. And so
I would encourage people to not discount that avenue avenue
of as a resource as well.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
That's I agree.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
I've seen I've seen that get take hold in people's
minds too, and I do think that there is that
constant need to move to the next project, and then
you don't get that first one done, and there's that
inability to focus. So you also wrote a book, though,
so I want to get to that before we go.
You wrote a book. Tell us about the book.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
The book was called Organized First Decorade Second and I
wrote it because my editor said they were always looking
for an organizing book, and I wanted to write a
book about home.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
So I wanted to take.
Speaker 3 (28:14):
Just the needs of a publisher and then my personal practices,
which are a little bit divergent, and really I just
wanted I wanted to write a book that talked about
how do I, as a creative person, live with three
kids and practiced grace in a regular home on an
(28:39):
everyday basis. And so I tried to weave narrative and
tried to tell stories and just talk about different experiences
that we've had as a family and share how there's
tips andrics and all that stuff. But I almost sometimes
I'm like, organizing tips are just I mean, they're all
the same at the end of the day. I think
what's what makes my book different is the stories that
(28:59):
I've woven into that.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
I love that and it's been great talking to you.
I totally relate to everything you're saying. Whitney English. Thank
you so much for coming on the podcast. Thank you
Tutor absolutely, and thank you all for listening to the podcast.
As always. For this podcast and others, you can get
it wherever you get your podcast, the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, Rumble,
or YouTube at Tutor Dixon. Just make sure you tune
(29:23):
in and go off now and have a blessed day.
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