anything goes with emma chamberlain - my organizational routine, explained

Episode Date: October 10, 2024

i love organization. but now more than ever, it’s actually kind of toxic. I think people are over-consuming in order to make organizational content on the internet, and that the way people do it online is completely unrealistic. so today i’m gonna be sharing with you my organizational routine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nothing calms me down more than a video of a woman organizing her refrigerator with special containers. Nothing relaxes me more than a video of someone organizing their garage with labeled bins. Nothing brings me more peace than a video of someone restocking their skincare essentials alphabetically ordered in their medicine cabinet. Nothing brings me more joy than watching a time-lapse video of someone color-coding their closet rainbow. Red tops over here, purple tops over here. I love organization. And I will say, organization is something that now more than ever is actually kind of toxic, which is unbelievable because if you think about the concept, in theory, it makes life easier.

At best, it can actually be sort of therapeutic, like what could be bad about it? Because of the internet, I think organization has gotten a bit toxic. I think people are sort of over consuming in order to make organizational content on the internet. Doing like a spice jar restock. Okay, let me explain to you what this video looks like. This is a video of, let's say a mother of three, going to the grocery store and buying a bunch of spices and then basically taking these containers that are all matching containers that have labels for the cumin and for the black pepper

and for the mustard powder and for all these things. And then she takes the spice that she bought from the store in its perfectly good container and then puts it into her container that's the one that matches with all the other ones that she has so that when you open her little drawer, every single one matches. Okay? Listen, I get the temptation. There's something so satisfying about everything matching, everything looking aesthetically

pleasing. I did pay someone a few years ago to organize my home like this and it did not work for me. The added steps that it created in my life, I just, I couldn't live that way. It was kind of extra and wasteful, you know, like it just didn't make sense for me. Like I don't have the time to upkeep that. What I actually like about organization stuff, I like it when other people do it. I like watching other people do it.

I also like watching videos about how people organize their schedules, okay? I've watched like hour long videos on how people organize their planner, their Google calendar. But when I tried to schedule my life, like what I saw on the internet, I also found that it didn't work for me. And I was like, what?

Why does none of this actually work in real life? I'm a very organized person, I would say. And most people I know think of me as an organized person. However, the way people do it online for the most part is completely unrealistic. And I'm not saying that what they're doing is inauthentic because there's a good chance that that is something that's like a hobby for them.

They love it and it's actually something that they have the time to maintain. And not only just the time, but also the desire to maintain. Like I could find a way if it was a huge priority for me, right? But it's not. So I found something that I think takes the best

from the internet and nothing more. We can't overdo it. It has to be doable. It can be very discouraging when you compare yourself to all of the beautiful organization online. So today I'm gonna be sharing with you my organizational routine. This episode of Anything Goes is brought to you by Amazon.

I will admit, gift giving is not my love language. However, there are many people in my life who do care about gifts. Gifts is their love language. And so when it comes to gift giving, I love a one-stop shop. And that's why Amazon is so phenomenal because it truly is a one-stop shop and that's why Amazon is so phenomenal because it truly is a one-stop shop. I mean you can really find everything all in one place. Whoever

you're gifting for, there's something for them on Amazon. Shop early holiday deals from toys and fashion to home kitchen beauty and more at amazon.ca slash fall favorites. Let's begin with how I organize my schedule. As of right now, I use Google, Google calendar, Google docs, Google sheets, and then I use Notion. I don't even know how to describe Notion. Notion is like an application. It's basically like an aesthetically pleasing digital journal. I use Google for all the stuff that I need to share, and I use Notion for all of my personal stuff. I think it's important not to use too many different platforms.

It can be tempting to be like, I'm going to have a Google calendar, but I'm also going to have a physical planner, but then I'm also gonna have my bullet journal, and then I'm also gonna use Notion, but then I'm also gonna use the Notes app, but then I'm also gonna use this. I think it's best to keep it as slim as possible. So all I use is Google and Notion and that's it. The main way that I organize my schedule is on Google Calendar. I used to be somebody who was a physical planner type of person,

and I still love a physical planner, and at some point I do want to go back to it. However, I haven't found a way to, like, make it work right now. I like having everything digital because I never forget something, and then I'm like, fuck, I can't access my calendar, or I can't access my to-do list. I'm kind of addicted to the digital planning these days. And I have a main calendar, which is Google Calendar, okay?

Standard. I think it's phenomenal. Number one, I can share it with anyone. So like, I can share it with my mom. I can share it with people I work with whatever and Anytime I add something to my calendar, they're gonna see it The share ability of Google Calendar is great But also the fact that it's always with you on your phone

You can add to it on your phone at any moment that you want. It's user-friendly. It's easy. It takes Five seconds and everybody I need to have see it will see it What I add to my Google Calendar is anything that has a specific time to it. Either it's an appointment of sorts at a certain time or it's a meeting of sorts at a certain time, that's automatically going on the calendar. The second something's discussed, okay, even if it's not 100% confirmed yet, I have to put it on my calendar.

And what I'll do is I'll write hold next to it. Hold meaning like we're holding, we don't know if this is happening or not, but I have to write that down. Otherwise, I'm not gonna leave that open on my schedule and I might double book myself. The second a friend says, hey, we have a game night next Sunday, do you wanna come? I have to put that on my calendar or else I'll book myself. The second a friend says, hey, we have a game night next Sunday, do you wanna come?

I have to put that on my calendar or else I'll completely forget and I'll end up missing out on something that I care about. And I've noticed too that when it comes to Google Calendar, the key is to keep it simple. I've noticed a lot of people will color code stuff like appointments are red and travel is blue and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, right? Or like social time is pink,

but then social time with family is fuchsia. It's like, okay, relax. I can't handle that. I need to be able to be in conversation with somebody and add something to my Google Calendar. If it's too complicated, I'm not gonna do it. So that's why my Google Calendar doesn't look's too complicated, I'm not going to do it. So that's why my Google Calendar doesn't look aesthetically pleasing.

It doesn't look color coded. It doesn't look beautiful. It just says what the fuck has to happen and that's it. And honestly, that's what I recommend. And it's even the same thing if you're using a physical planner. If you have this big, beautiful planner and you have a different colored pen for every category of event, instead of being able to throw a little planner

in your bag with one pen, now you have to bring around this huge fucking planner with 10 different pens, the likelihood that you're gonna actually use it to its fullest, it's just, it's not gonna happen. And then when it comes to actually scheduling things out and making commitments to stuff, I've noticed that it's best to leave as large of gaps

in between things as possible because I'm the type of person that loves to like do a minute to minute sort of calendar. Like if it was up to me, I would do that. You know, I'm gonna wake up at this time and I'm gonna exercise, go to this workout class at this time and then give myself an hour and then I'm gonna go to this meeting

and then I'm gonna meet this friend for lunch and then I'm gonna, and there'd be no buffer room. I'd schedule things too close to each other and then I'd end up fucking everything up. I'm late to everything, I'm stressed out, I'm upset. It's always better to give yourself a buffer. So I have learned over the years that it's best to leave honestly as much time as you possibly can

in between commitments. And I also think too, being realistic with your scheduling, like not packing too much into one day and expecting that everything's going to run smoothly and unrealistically perfectly to a point where you'll arrive to everything right on time is healthier because something that's rewarding about scheduling out your day is the feeling of sort of control that you have when things work out. And if you schedule things down to the minute,

you're gonna end up disappointed. It's bad for morale. And it makes you not even wanna schedule your life anymore because you're like, this is impossible to complete. I'm a failure. And that's not the point of scheduling. Scheduling is supposed to make you achieve more, right? So if your scheduling is making you achieve less,

it's because you're either not on it enough and you're forgetting to write stuff down or you're too on it, you're doing too much and you're creating an unrealistic schedule for yourself. I almost think it's better to put less on your schedule, like put only the stuff that you have to do on your schedule, and then if you end up having more time, squeezing other stuff in, in that free time later,

and it's like a bonus. Okay, so that's for like my main schedule. When I'm feeling really overwhelmed, sometimes the Google calendar is not enough for me. I'm like, I actually need a daily to-do list. I need more structure. I need to check boxes for like every single little task. So where I personally make it is on Notion.

And I have a document that's like a daily to-do list and I can just fill that in whenever I want. And I don't use it every day. I only use it when I really need extra structure. Usually I'll use this really in-depth to-do list when I have like a new habit that I want to integrate into my life. Like I want to start reading 10 pages of a book a day and I want to start meditating. I don't like timing those things out as much. So I like to just have like a checklist that I can use

and like put those on the checklist and I'll get to them eventually. Again, I'm like saying this out loud and like this seems kind of like it's too much, but it works for me when I need more structure in my life. Another sort of to-do list that I keep is I have sort of a document of to-dos that have no real due date. They're just things that I want to do eventually. Like, oh, I want to brainstorm this project that I want to eventually execute in like two years. I'll like put that on my overall to-do list.

Or like at some point I need to get a new bookshelf for my bedroom. Or at some point I need to order a new camera battery. It's like little shit like that where I'm like, eventually I'll do that, but I'm not gonna add that to my Google calendar. Like I don't need to do that today. I'll do it when I get around to it.

I'll do it when I'm bored. And what's nice about having that list is that whenever I have like a free hour, I wanna keep being productive. Like I'm in the middle of the work day, but I have this like hour, I don't know what to do. I'll go to that list and I'll try to get something done from it.

So I have two to-do list documents that are just personal documents for me. So I have two to-do list documents that are just personal documents for me. One is my daily to-do that I use whenever I need structure in the day, and then I have my overall to-dos, which is basically a running list of stuff that I'll get around to eventually. And having those two lists, it is very helpful. When it comes to scheduling work-related stuff,

I just love a Google spreadsheet. Okay, I'll give an example. And actually, the example relates to the podcast, okay? I have the most amazing, satisfying Google spreadsheet for the Anything Goes podcast, okay? Basically, it's a spreadsheet that basically is a log of every single episode. And it has the date of every episode,

the title of every episode, whether or not I've recorded the episode, a link to the episode, it has all the information about the episode. So I can basically go and see like, how many more do I need to do this month? It's amazing, because I can also share it with my producer

and that helps me. So it's like when I first started my podcast, I didn't have any fucking document, all right? I would forget if I had recorded an episode for a given week and I would constantly have to check in with my producer at the time, like hey, do I have an episode for this week? Like I don't even fucking remember. And they were like, hey, do I have an episode for this week? Like, I don't even fucking remember.

And they were like, uh, ye, let me check. Uh, and then they would look, and they were like, uh, ye, no. And then it's like three days before I'm supposed to post an episode. And I'd be like, fuck, okay, I thought I did. And it was just a mess. And now I have this spreadsheet

that everyone has access to. Some people love spreadsheets, some people hate them. I'm pro spreadsheet, I really am. And like, I think that there's this sort of thing around a spreadsheet, like, do I really need a spreadsheet for this? Can I be honest? Almost everything can benefit from a spreadsheet.

I believe in using the spreadsheet as often as possible. Okay? Like, let's say you're scheduling a fucking potluck with your friends. I feel like I haven't heard the word potluck in like 10 years since like elementary school, but let's say you're planning a fucking potluck with your friends, okay?

And everyone's bringing a dish and you're gonna all eat together. How fun, okay? Who's bringing what? Who's bringing what? Oh, I don't know. Make a fucking spreadsheet. Now you're not going to have too many vegetables and not enough dessert and no protein. But oh wait, I thought you were bringing chicken. Oh, you solved by the spreadsheet. I just think

we should be using spreadsheets. Anytime you're feeling like, wait, I feel like this is clunky in my life. Ask yourself, could I spreadsheet this? And then beyond that, I'm somebody who likes to make outlines. That is what I love Notion for. Like for example, obviously I already mentioned my to-do lists. Those are on Notion, but I also have a podcast page where I outline podcast episodes. I have a YouTube page on there where I outline YouTube videos. I have a list of Chamberlain Coffee ideas that I add to whenever I have an idea. A book log of all the books I've read this year.

Workout routines written down. I have New Year's resolutions on there, even though I don't really believe in them, but it's kind of fun to do. I have a list of, this is kind of cringe, but it's also like, it's not cringe, it's, it's, but there's, okay, it's kind of cringe, I don't know. I have like a manifesting document

where I have all these things that I'm sort of manifesting, like things that I want to happen in my life. And you know, I'm in no rush, but whenever they come true, I can check them off. And then last but not least, I have a list of places like restaurants or hotels or clothing stores that I've found on my travels so that I can refer back. Like next time I'm in, you know, Austin, Texas, and I'm like, oh damn, like last time I was

in Austin, Texas, I went to this amazing restaurant. I can't remember the name. Well, now I never forget the name because I have it written down and I have an ongoing list of things that I find that I'm like really into that I really love that I don't ever wanna forget. So listen, I do love the feeling of having a notebook. However, I find that I just have too much stuff that I wanna write down.

And I feel like I just run out of pages in a notebook too quickly. Right now, doing everything virtual works best for me. But that is that. The only other part of my scheduling that is notable is my sort of weekly check-in, usually on Sunday night, although I'm not rigid about it. I'll go on my Google calendar,

and I'll basically sort it all out. I'll look at the stuff that's already there, right? Like, oh, okay, I have a meeting on Monday at this time and then I have this full day thing on Tuesday, whatever. Okay, and then I'll fill in my more personal stuff. Like, all right, I need to get my nails done this week. When can I do that? So I'll book that.

Or like, okay, this week, it makes sense for me to work out every day at like 7am or other weeks. It's like, all right, this week probably makes more sense for me to work out every day at like 7pm because you know what I'm saying? So I like take one day out of the week to fill in the blank spots with the stuff that I want wanna personally have in my schedule. And that is how I organize my schedule. I'm obsessed with my schedule. I honestly am at a place now

where I'm in such a good groove with it that it really does enhance my life. And everybody's gonna be a little bit different, but I really do encourage all of you to try to find your scheduling groove. It's so rewarding. But let's move on now to how I organize my spaces. Now, I do wanna say, because I mentioned earlier,

that I hired an organizer and they came in and they organized my house and they put everything in the little containers and they color-coded my closet and they did in and they organized my house and they put everything in the little containers and they color coded my closet and they did this beautiful job. And I was so, I am so grateful for that, but it didn't work for me. Now you're probably wondering, Emma, what happened?

Don't worry, all of the containers and stuff, I either ended up using them for other things. And then the ones that I didn't end up using, I donated and I feel good about it and it's fine. We move forward. I will not do it again. I'm not proud of it. Okay. I'm not proud of the fact that I got all these containers and shit to organize everything. And then I ended up just fucking ditching the whole strategy and just throwing it all out. I did not throw it all out though. I found uses for it. Okay. But it just, I didn't need it. I didn't ultimately need it and I regretted it.

However, I still do think I have a pretty organized home. It's not maybe as aesthetically perfect as it once was when I like paid somebody to do it for me, but it's completely functional and it's manageable and easy to upkeep. For years, I was so not organized and I couldn't figure out why. I was like, why do I constantly feel like

I'm living in chaos and I can't find stuff and there's just like shit in my drawers that like I don't even use anymore and I have like boxes of, I don't know, like stuff that I don't even know what's in that box or I don't even know what's in that drawer. Like I never felt like I had it all under control. I did not get it under control, I would say,

until I moved into my most recent home. And the only reason why things changed when I moved to this home was because I made the decision that I was gonna assess every single thing that I owned, organize every single space and put only the things that I need in this home. It was such a time consuming process, but it was so worth it. I truly do believe that it's impossible to keep an organized space

unless you have an organized space. You basically have to do the hard work, which means take everything out of your closet, reassess it, put it back in in an organized way. Like it's not like you can just, I don't know, like spend 10 minutes moving things around and now you have an organized closet. You have to do the dirty work.

But I also think that this is most obvious when it comes to like a full home, right? If things don't have a specific place that they go, then you're gonna be less motivated to put them back. You know what I'm saying? I mean, this is all common sense, but it's easy to forget when you've been living in your home in a certain way for years and years and years.

And you're like, why can I just not get to a place where my home is organized every day? It's significantly easier to keep an organized house when you have one to begin with. And I've noticed it's been pretty easy to keep my current home organized because I spent months organizing this house when I moved in.

Everything has a place. Now I will say it's a lot harder when you're not moving. It's easier when you're moving because all of your stuff is in boxes and you can assess every single object and item that you have with fresh eyes because all of your stuff is in boxes and you can assess every single object and item that you have with fresh eyes and to build a new organizational strategy from scratch

than it is to take what you know and what you've known for years and start from there. You basically have to do the same thing as you would do if you were moving. So for example, you're spending a full Saturday in your closet. Fuck it. It's the weekend. You're gonna put on a podcast or your current favorite album and you're just gonna get it done. Okay, my recommendation is to take everything out of your closet. I know it sounds ridiculous. Take everything out of your closet. Everything. of your closet. I know it sounds ridiculous. Take everything out of your closet, everything. Stare at it, make a plan.

As though you're moving into your closet for the first time again. You're like, all right, I'm gonna put my shirts here. I actually think I wanna hang my pants instead of folding them because I can't really see what pair of pant is what. Maybe I'm actually gonna fold my sweaters instead because all my sweaters are such different colors,

it's so easy to tell them apart. You make a plan and then you can ultimately put everything back. And when putting things back, you should be critically thinking about every single item. Do I wear this item? Do I use this item? If the answer is no, donate it.

One man's trash is another man's treasure. Donate that shit. Somebody else is gonna include it in their thrift haul, okay, or something. I will admit, this is a time consuming process, especially if you're trying to organize your entire house. You know, it's something that you need to be realistic with yourself about, like, okay, I can't do this overnight.

And I think it's best to break it down into chunks. Like, okay, this weekend on my day off, I'm gonna do my kitchen. Fuck it, I'm just gonna do my kitchen. And then next month, I'm doing my closet. And you know what, I might even, if I have time, do the bins that are under my bed. And then the next week after that, it's holiday break. I'm gonna spend three out of the seven days

doing the rest of the house. Like it's okay, like you have to break it down into small chunks or else you just won't be able to fathom it, but it is absolutely so worth it. One of the most overlooked parts of organization that's the most important in my eyes is the idea of functional organization. Functional meaning, okay, if I'm organizing my kitchen,

I'm gonna put the spices right next to the stove because when I'm cooking on the stove, sometimes I like to randomly add a little pinch of salt or a little crack of pepper. I'm not gonna put them all the way across the kitchen. In the drawer next to the sink, I should have my dish soap in my extra sponges. You know what I'm saying?

It should make your life easier. It should make things smoother. Another example is like in my closet, I have things organized not by color because it's like I don't need, that is too hard to maintain. I have things organized by length. I have a tank top section, short sleeve shirt section, long sleeve section. All of my sweaters are folded because I used to hang them, but they were too bulky and it was causing them

to stretch in the shoulders a little bit. So I ended up just folding all of those. All of my denim, I hang up. I can't tell jeans apart when they're folded. Stuff that's seasonal that I rarely touch, like bathing suits or like short shorts, like those are all going in the drawers. I don't need to have those out all the time.

Those are rarely getting worn. I live in Los Angeles. I don't wear warm clothes as often. So like my long sleeve stuff, it's closer to the back of the closet. Whereas my shorter sleeve stuff that I wear more often, those are closer to the front. And you know, it actually took me a long time

and I've reorganized my closet quite a few times, but now it's like everything feels right when I go in there and it's so easy to just find what I need and it just works. And as I said with the Google Calendar thing, like a lot of people wanna color code their Google Calendar. To me, that's complicating the Google Calendar and taking away from the ease of the experience.

It's the same thing with your home and with your spaces. If you overcomplicate things for the sake of aesthetics, it'll discourage you. I mean, at least that's what happened to me, right? Like with the spice jars, for example, like the perfectly labeled spice jars. Or like, let's say I would go through an oatmeal phase, right? And so I'd have like an oatmeal container

labeled all beautifully in my pantry. And then I'd sort of get sick of oatmeal and I'd be like, you know what? I don't really like oatmeal anymore. And then I'd have to like spend time soaking off the label so that I could put a new label on this container for like whatever my new food was gonna be. And like, I didn't really know what that food was gonna be.

And then also sometimes I would like buy something random. Like I'd be like at the store and be like, oh, I wanna buy a fun cereal. I don't have a container for fun cereal. Like, you know what I'm saying? It doesn't give you flexibility. It's good for like intense routine, but if you ever want to change up your routine,

having all these matching containers and stuff, it's just not necessary. I love bins. Organizing with bins, I think is great. Little drawer organizers, I love that. I think that's very helpful. Bins, like if you have space underneath your sink, for example, instead of just having products all laying out, like having a bin of all your extra soaps and then another bin of all your extra sponges under your sink, that makes sense to me. But taking your laundry pods, taking those

out of the container that you bought them in and putting them in a new container, it's just unnecessary and it adds an extra step. I don't think it's worth it. Another example I have too is wanting every hanger in your closet to match. So going out and like buying a bunch of velvet, beautiful hangers. Okay, number one, velvet hangers like are literally

the worst hangers on the planet. They look nice, but they have too much friction. Your clothes will never slip off of them, but then when you actually wanna take your shirt off the hanger, it's like a 30 second ordeal, which I'm so sorry, it should be a.3 second ordeal to take your shirt off the hanger. Anyway, the cheap plastic hangers that you've had

since you were fucking 10 years old, keep those. If you're gonna spend the money on any sort of thing like that, I would say drawer organizers and bins. Yes, I think those can absolutely be helpful and you can also reuse those a bazillion times and they don't add an extra step. Now, once your home is organized and this could take up to a year, I mean, it took me, I think, at least a year, like getting all my chords together and like figuring out what chord goes to what and like getting all my nostalgic photo albums

in the same area and like getting all my books in the same area. Like all that stuff takes a fuck ton of time, it does, but you attack it slowly but surely piece by piece and then cleaning up after yourself immediately is so much easier when things are organized properly. It's also easier to motivate yourself to clean up. You're excited to keep it organized. After I cook dinner, sometimes I'm like, oh, I don't want to do it. But then I look around and I'm like, you know what, it'll be so nice to wake up in the morning to a

home that I feel is organized. Let me just fucking do it right now. I'm like, you know what, it'll be so nice to wake up in the morning to a home that I feel is organized. Let me just fucking do it right now. I'm just gonna do it. It really helps to motivate. But it also helps to have a weekly organizational day. Like, okay, on Sundays, I'm gonna spend 30 minutes to an hour just reorganizing, getting everything back together.

It's also nice too to have a dedicated donation spot in your home somewhere, maybe it's in your garage, at the bottom of your closet, like wherever it is, where you can throw stuff that you're done with. Every time you come across something in your home that you don't need anymore, you can throw it in that bin. And then, you know, maybe once every few months, you take it to your local donation spot,

whatever, or you can let your friends and family go through it and take what they want. Every few months, it's very helpful to go through and throw away all stuff that's expired. It's also good to do that with makeup and cosmetics. Like if you are somebody who wears makeup a lot, it's the little things like that that help upkeep the organization. But I will say, it's different for everyone. So like me needing a weekly day where I sort of reorganize things might for you be 10 minutes per evening

of you reorganizing things. Or it might be spending an entire day every two weeks organizing things. Because I think being on it is how you don't let things go and have to start from scratch again at some point. Anyway, that's all I got. That's my organizational routine. For some of you who love organization, this might seem super mundane. For those of you who are maybe less into it, this might seem ambitious, but I will say organization brings a lot of value to my life and that's why I'm sharing my routine with you

because maybe you can take some of these habits and add them into your own life. That's all I have for today. Thank you all for listening and hanging out. If you did enjoy it, new episodes every Thursday and Sunday, find Anything Goes on Instagram and TikTok and social media in general, at Anything Goes,

find me on social media at Emma Chamberlain and find my coffee company online at chamberlaincoffee.com or at Chamberlain Coffee on social media. I love you all. I appreciate you all. You're all awesome. And I can't wait to talk to you soon. Okay, bye.