Best of This Organized Life: Why Your Clutter Keeps Coming Back (And How to Fix It) | Ep 448

Hey friends!All summer long, we’re bringing back some of our most-loved episodes from the This Organized Life archives—because let’s be honest, good conversations deserve a second (or third) listen.

This week we’re talking about your clutter and why it keeps coming back. During this episode you'll learn five common reasons clutter keeps returning and how to keep it in check including:

• Lack of Systems
• Impulse Purchases
• Not Decluttering Regularly
• Emotional Attachments
• Too Much Stuff, Not Enough Space

Breaking the clutter cycle takes intention, but with these strategies, you can set yourself up for long-term success. Remember, it’s not about perfection, but progress. By making small, consistent changes, you can reclaim your space and peace of mind.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to This Organized Life. If you're a mom, wife,
or coffee lover seeking advice on how to reduce clutter
and reclaim time, look no further than your host, Laurie Pillau,
Founder Simply Be Organized and author of hot Mess, a
practical guide to getting organized. For a lot of people,
clutter is their dirty little secret, but it doesn't have
to be. Each week, we will share practical tips, chat

(00:22):
with experts, and provide strategies on how.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
To keep you organized.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
I hope that by sharing our stories you feel a
little less alone and more empowered to tackle the areas
that are holding you back. So let's get started, and.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Everybody, and welcome to today's episode of This Organized Life podcast.
I'm your host, Lori Palau, so happy that you're here.
We have a really fun episode today. I really really
like this topic, so I'm excited to chat with you.
But before we get into that, if you're listening to
this in real time, we're in October now, kind of

(00:58):
wrapping up, getting ready to for that like end of
year wrap up, and I've recently been getting a bunch
of questions in our comments and excuse me on the website,
asking if I do any anagram coaching or typing sessions,

(01:18):
and the answer is yes. So I've actually been doing
a bunch of I just promoted a ton on the show,
but just to let you know, I do a bunch
of speaking to different groups and organizations all about the
anagram and specifically the anagram and clutter. So we kind
of start I can customize it. But in a nutshell,
if you're listening and you're like, oh, I'm thinking about

(01:39):
doing a workshop for my team or you know, hosting
something for like a group or an organization that I'm
a part of, and I thought that, I think that
it might be something that's useful. Basically, there's a few
different iterations and they can all be customized. But we
start with a high level overview of the anagram and
the nine types, and then from we type into how

(02:03):
each type can perceive struggle with different types of clutter.
So we talk about the physical stuff, we talk about
emotional clutter, we talk about calendar clutter and the mental load.
So we really are looking at how that shows up
in our life and in our relationships. And really the

(02:25):
goal with this is to bring self awareness and to
allow you to have better communication tools and strategies and language,
with your team, with your group, with your spouse, with
your kids. So if this is something if you're either
listening to this and you're an event planner or again

(02:46):
you're looking to book speakers for the end of the
year or even into twenty twenty five, and this is
something that you think might bring value, we have a
link on our website. I'll drop it in the show
notes for you to just fill out an intake questionnaire

(03:07):
and we will be in touch and find out a
little bit more about kind of what you're looking for,
what your goals are, and you know what your price
point is and we'll get back to you on that.
So just wanted to put that out there. It is
something that we've been getting a lot of requests for recently,
and I love that because I love talking about the
enneagram and I love helping people use it as a

(03:27):
conduit to improve their relationships and also not beat themselves
up when they are struggling with a particular area of
clutter and organization. So anyway, that's it. But let's get
into today's episode, because, like I said, it's really going
to be fun and I'm calling it five common reasons

(03:48):
that your clutter keeps coming back, and more importantly, how
to fix it. So we're going to go through each
of these and again think about different scenarios as I'm
reading this, where one or more of these might show
up in your life. So right, I'm going to kind
of just go right in. So the first reason that

(04:12):
your clutter might keep coming back is that you don't
have the right system. So a lot of times people
think that tiding up or just even hiring a professional
organizer is going to just solve their problem. But if
you don't have the right system, or you don't have
any system, then your clutter is going to keep coming back.

(04:34):
And I see this a lot when people are like,
I tidy up every day, but I still have this
incoming mail problem, or I can't get ahead of the
laundry because it's always you know, bottlenecking. A lot of
times it's not that you even have too much stuff,
which surprises a lot of people to hear, but it
really could be that you just don't have the right

(04:55):
system in place. I actually had a console with a
client several months ago, and laundry was a really big
issue for her. In particular. That was like one area
and she's like, no matter what I do, it just
my laundry room's a mess. I can't tell what's clean
and what's dirty. And it was just this ongoing thing
that really really stressed her out. Not only was it

(05:17):
resulting it's a physical clutter, but it was something that
you could tell was like eating at her. And when
we broke down, not just looking at the physical space
of like, oh, here's a great place to store your
laundry basket, but when we really peel back the layers,
what we uncovered was that the system she had wasn't

(05:40):
really effective for her. So she did have a system,
it just wasn't a great system for what they needed
in their family. And so then adjusting that, making some
tweaks and adjustments can really be a huge game changer.
So the number one pitfall is again not having the
rights to the way to fix it is really peel

(06:03):
back what's working and try to figure out where the
breakdown is because a lot of times that is what's telling.
So there you go, and keep it simple, guys, that's
the thing. Whatever the system is. Oftentimes the reason why
systems fail is because they're too complicated. So keep it simple,
all right. The second reason why clutter keeps coming back

(06:28):
is impulse purchases. Now we've all, i think, at some
point or another I'm raising my hand as well, been
subject to an impulse purchase, whether it is we are
physically in a store. I mean back in the day
before we were all online shopping. I mean, that's what
would happen. I'd be at the store and I'd be

(06:50):
at Bebatha Beyond and notoriously there's something on an end
cap that is well, I'm on the checkout line. I'm like,
oh my gosh, this is speaking my name. And or
you see you know, something online and that pops up
now in your Instagram feed and you're like, how did
I live my life without this? And so we have

(07:10):
a tendency and it's so easy because now it's just
a top of a button and before you know and
it shows up at our door. These impulse buys and
add to clutter because we're making that emotional, like quick
rash decision, right, we're not really thinking about it. So
what can we do now? This is where it gets

(07:30):
to be a little like uh wanh wahlah before you
click buy. And I've had to do this myself first
of I'll take a pause and really think about is
this something I need? This is just something I want?
And the second thing is where am I going to
be storing this said object? Right? Where's this thing going
to live? Because oftentimes we'll buy something and I see

(07:52):
this a lot guys around the holidays, when you'll be
buying like Christmas decorations or or Halloween decorations, and you're like,
oh my god, this is great, I love it, and
then when it comes time to like put it away,
you're like, oh no, I have nowhere to store this thing,
or this is like weird to put away. And so

(08:14):
those are those types of things. If don't just think
about how I'm going to use it, but where is
it going to live when I'm done with it? I
think that's a really big thing. Now. Again, I'm not
a huge like militant when it comes to one in,
one out, but if it is something that you really
really want, I want to make sure again go back

(08:36):
to the storage. Like, if we are going to buy
this thing and it is something that we're going to
use and love and enjoy, that's fine, But does something
else have to go in order for us to have
space for that so just think about that, all right.
So the third thing, the third reason why your clutter

(08:58):
keeps coming back, is you haven't worked decluttering and organizing
into your routine. And as much as I would love
to say that organizing and decluttering is a one and
done thing, it's just not. It's something that needs to
be worked in to your lifestyle, especially if we're talking

(09:20):
about like your everyday places. Like yes, if you have
a storage unit that you're getting rid of, you're going
to declutter it once. It's going to be done and
then you're going to not come back to it again.
But for your everyday spaces that you live in, life happens,
and so much like eating healthy, working out, these are

(09:41):
these are lifestyle changes that we really need to be
making so that we can keep that clutter at Bay.
I would love to say we get rid of it,
but things are always going to creep up. Things, emails
are going to creep up, extra stuff is going to
creep up. We're gonna have like things coming at us

(10:01):
that are even you know, to the best of our ability,
is gonna you know, they're just going to show up.
But it's what do we do with it? And how
do we get back on track. So if we fall
off the wagon because we're in a busy season and
we don't have time to sort the mail, or we
don't have time to put the laundry away, we don't
have time to fill in the blank, and we let

(10:23):
things kind of pile up for a short amount of time,
we need to be able to go back. But the
longer that you wait, the harder it is. So if
you can start to figure out little bits, right, you're
not I'm not saying you're gonna have to dedicate four
hours a week to decluttering. But if you're like, hey,

(10:44):
every night before we go to bed, we're going to
just sweep up all the toys, We're going to sweep
up all the dishes and you know, get the run
the dishwasher or whatever that looks like. Or we're going
to complete a load of laundry from start to finish.
All those little things really add up over time. And
so as opposed to just saying, okay, decluttering is this

(11:07):
thing that we do at springtime and then maybe one
other time a year. Then it becomes overwhelming because you've
left everything to become this one big mountain. As opposed
to just kind of chipping away a little bit at
a time. And it's really good to like set that
example for the little humans in your family so that

(11:30):
they can do it too, all right, guys, So the
fourth reason why your clutter keeps coming back is because
of emotional attachments. You know, we talk a lot about
that when it comes to emotional clutter here at this
Organized Life, and we say that emotional clutter usually stems

(11:52):
from either guilt or fear. And in the case of guilt,
a lot of times that comes with sentimental sentiment, like
sentimental things. I feel badly about getting rid of things.
And this could be a parent who feels bad about
getting rid of things that represented their children when they
were younger. It could be somebody who a loved one

(12:14):
who has passed away, and you feel bad getting rid
of things because this physical stuff is the last remaining
like tangible like physical manifestation that you have of this
or representation of this person. And so this is hard
because you when we make decisions with emotion, we are

(12:36):
clearly not using logic and rationality to make that. And
so when you come at somebody who's struggling with emotional
attachments with like affect of like you don't need this,
you already have and other you know, purses or whatever
it is, the response isn't going to resonate because you're

(12:58):
looking at logic versus emotional And this kind of goes
back to where like the whole Enneagram conversation where we
have to be able to get on the same page
so that we're speaking the same language. One of the
things if you're somebody that is tends to lean towards
that emotional attachment and you people know who you are,
right and I'm not saying that's to shame you. If

(13:18):
that is something that you struggle with, and I know
that that struggle is real, I want you to really
work on finding some boundaries, setting some healthy boundaries so
that you don't feel that you're being deprived of holding
onto things that matter, but you're also not crossing over

(13:38):
to the other side where you feel that you have
to keep everything and so having whether it's an external
accountability partner or a physical space like you don't only
fit this many things in the space, I think setting
those boundaries are really really going to be helpful. So
I would I always recommend selecting a few meaningful things

(14:02):
that represent that person that time that that matters, and
anything that you can do to reduce the amount of
physical footprint that you have. So maybe that might require,
you know, digitizing your kid's artwork. So like, for example,
I'm in the middle of doing a project for one

(14:25):
of my long term clients, and I don't think she
listens to my show. So I'm going to tell you
what it is. But I took pictures of all of
her kids' artwork. She's got fins of her kids' artwork,
and I took pictures of them. And I'm going to
have scrap books made with each of the kids from
like kindergarten through like eighth grade. So she's got two

(14:48):
that are still younger, so they're not quite done. But
her older ones are in high school, so they're not
really bringing in like arts and crafts projects anymore. So
I'm going to take them and I'm going to digitize them.
And so hopefully that'll mean is once she receives that,
that'll give her the per mission and the freedom to
want to let go of the physical stuff because we

(15:09):
already have them organized in bins, but I want to
get those bins away. We don't want to hold onto them.
It's just taking up enough space. So digitizing that also
like for older people that and I'm not in a
like I'm not a paid sponsor, but I think it's
called like the Skylight calendar or one of those digital

(15:30):
photo frames where you could just upload photos right to it.
They're great for reducing in physical clutter. Again, if you're
somebody that likes to scrap book and do that kind
of stuff, I think that's great. Or even if you
don't want to get super crafty and you don't have
a lot of time, just corralling stuff into like a

(15:50):
memory box I think is great, you know, just so
that they're just you don't have like loose photos every
in every which place, put them in or letters or
clippings or whatever it is. Have it all in a
in a like some sort of a scrap up memory
box memory bin is what I call them. But really
I think the key is paring down and just being selective.

(16:13):
You don't need to hold on to everything. I think
it's a matter of just finding what those pieces are,
setting those boundaries, and sticking with it. Okay, the fifth
one why your clutter keeps coming back is you just
it's a math issue. You just have more stuff than
you do space. And this is a tough one people,

(16:34):
But in some ways it's a little bit freeing because
I've been into many clients' homes that despite their best attempts,
and they've done expensive built ins and bought all the
air quote right products, they still can't keep their stuff organized.

(16:56):
And at some point we need to have that hard
look at them and say, are we just trying to
cram too much stuff into one space? There's only there's
only so much room in this closet, there's only so
much room in this pantry. So even if we have
streamline hangers and shelving and cubbies and all of this

(17:19):
stuff and pull out drawers, it's always going to end
up being disorganized if you have an over consumption of goods,
And so the question becomes how to avoid that is
having that honest conversation of this is what my space
can hold. And for some people that might be less

(17:41):
than ideal. But I see this oftentimes when people are moving.
I see a lot with college kids. You know, they're
moving from their home, childhood home into an apartment or
a dorm or wherever it is, and they have to
bring a limited number of things, and they're used to
have a lot of room to spread out, and so

(18:02):
now you need to make some really tough decisions and choices.
So what is that going to look at? And what
do I need to pair down? And what do I
really what am I going to miss? You know, because
I think we have we all tend to have a
lot of things because of convenience. But really, if you
are in a situation where you have to make some decisions,

(18:22):
think about what are the things that I would really
miss if they weren't there. What are the things that
I might be able to borrow if I need it.
What are the things that I use so and frequently
that like, I really don't think I need it? Those
are some of the questions that you might want to
ask yourself. I always say also focus in on like
quality over quantity. So get yourself, you know, a couple

(18:46):
good pairs of you know, boots, or a couple of
good pairs like invest in a few really good pairs
of genes that you like and look good on you,
as opposed to having like ten cheap pairs. You know,
think quality over quantity and be realistic about what your
home can hold or what your space can hold. And

(19:09):
sometimes if we have blinders and we're not good, it's
helpful to bring somebody in, whether that is a friend
or a professional. You know, my family jokes that I'm
like the master of spatial relations, Like I can look
at a space and see what is like what can
fit there comfortably without it becoming overcrowded, and feel like

(19:33):
it's the space is cluttered. But not everybody has that.
That's one of my weird little superpowers. So if that's
something that you need help with, like, just ask. It's
not it's it's better to ask than to just continue
to beat yourself up about things or think that you
don't have the right system in place, because maybe the
system's fine, it's just the amount of stuff that you have.

(19:56):
So again, those are the five things. I'm going to
run through them again really quick. Five coming reasons your
clutter keeps coming back. One you don't have the right systems. Two,
you do impulse purchases. Three you're not decluttering regularly, it's
not part of your routine. Fourth, you struggle with a
lot of emotional clutter, so you have emotional attachments that

(20:18):
stands in your way. And the fifth is that you
have too much stuff and not enough space. So we're
going to link in the show notes, we'll have all
of the different recommendations that we have, so check that out.
And again, if you are not already on our email list,
definitely get on that. Excuse me, there's a link in

(20:40):
the show notes. We send a weekly digest, a weekly
recap of what our episodes are, plus if there's anything
else happening, and that way you can just easily from
your phone or from your laptop or wherever, you can
read our transcripts or the blog. If sometimes that's helpful
to learn it a different way, not just hear it

(21:01):
or see it, but to actually read it. I hope
this has been helpful, and I'm really excited to move
into the fall. We've got some great guests and topics
lined up. So if you're not already subscribed to that,
follow subscribe button wherever you're listening, and until next week,
I'm Lloyd Blaube's out. Thanks for tuning in. If you'd
like this episode, please spread the love and share it

(21:23):
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Organized Life Podcast, and if you'd like to connect with us,
you can head on over to our website at simply

(21:43):
the letter, B Like boyorganized dot com, which is filled
with tons of resources, including free downloads, checklists, links to
our amazing organizing partners, and all of our digital offerings.
I'll see you next week for another episode of This
Organized Life