Clutterbug - Real-Life Hacks and Tips to Declutter, Organize and Clean your Home Fast - Discover your Organizing Style & Clutterbug FAQs | Clutterbug Podcast # 88

Episode Date: April 9, 2020

Not quite sure what your organizing style is? In this podcast, I breakdown the 4 Clutterbug organizing styles and answer the most asked questions about the four styles.        You can find more Clutterbug content here: Website: http://www.clutterbug.me YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clutterbug TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clutterbug_me Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clutterbug_me/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Clutterbug.Me/   #clutterbug #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we're talking more about the clutterbug styles and my experience with different bugs with all of the different clients I've had. So thank you guys so much for tuning in. Today we're talking about the four clutterbug styles, which is your organizing style. If you're listening to my podcast in the past, you definitely know what I'm talking about. But if you're new to the podcast, let's talk for a second about the four different clutterbug styles. And what this really is is a tool for your organizational toolbox. So the clutterbug styles, it doesn't mean you necessarily have to be 100% one of these styles. It's a scale. You could be a little bit like this, but still have a little bit of tendencies for a different bug.

Also, it could be that at work or in different areas of your home, you tend to exhibit different organizing traits. And that's okay. For me, I'm 100% a ladybug, but I just wanted to talk about the four styles. and then I wanted to share some of the tendencies that each of the styles have that I've seen with clients, because maybe you can relate. Let's just break the four organizing styles down first by breaking it into two. You're either a visual organizer or you prefer things hidden. So visual organizers actually love to see their everyday things out where they can access them all the time. They're all about function. For them, it's out of sight, out of mind. So if they want to remember to pay that bill, they have to leave it out where they can see it. It even goes as far as a lot of visual

organizers, their favorite clothes, they don't love putting them in a closet and shutting the closet doors because subconsciously, and it is subconsciously, they are afraid they might forget about those things. So visual organizers tend to have things on top of their dresser or leaving the closet doors or kitchen cabinet doors open instead of shutting them when they're done using them. And again, that's a subconscious way of them being able to see their belongings. The other side of that are hidden organizers. And hidden organizers, obviously, they get stressed out by a lot of visual stimulation. They would prefer clear surfaces, everything behind closed doors.

They would prefer that they're bills that need to be paid go in a folder or in a basket. And even though they can't see those things, they still know that they're there. They're not forgetting things if it's out of sight. So you have visual organizers and hidden organizers. The other side of the clutter bug equation are micro versus macro organizers. So a macro organizer, they need fast, easy, really simple solutions. For them, it's more important that they can put their things away quickly, and they don't mind taking a few seconds to find things, say, going through a drawer or going through a basket. But for a micro-organizer, they tend to be detail-oriented people.

A lot of micro-organizers are perfectionists. For them, they want to be able to find and know exactly where everything is. They don't mind taking a few seconds to put something away. for them it's more important that they can find that thing when they need to find it. Microorganizers are more intentional about their belongings, which means they tend to pile things. They're going to do this later. They generally know where a lot of their things are and they will stop and take the time to put things away. When they take their shoes off, they'll stop and put them on the shelf.

When they take their coat off, they generally will stop and take the time to hang it up a closet. Whereas a macro organizer, they're just not thinking about it. It isn't that they're intentionally leaving messes. It's just that when they're done with something, their brain has already moved on and they're not thinking about putting that thing away. It's not even running across their mind, which is why they need fast and easy solutions that work with that natural tendency and they need their belongings to have homes where they naturally use it. So if they're done with a brush. They need the brush to go right there. They don't have to think. It just plops back into their home. So open baskets, lots of hooks, lots of organization that is macro,

which means it doesn't have a lot of sorting. A really good example is with paperwork. So if you have bills and you've just paid your bills, a micro organizer is going to put the visa bill in with visa and the electricity bill in with electricity. But for a macro organizer, it's much better for them just to have one basket for paid bills 2020 and they all just go in there because stopping and taking the time to put things away in a detailed manner just isn't in their nature. And so when you know if you're a visual or a hidden or a micro or a macro organizer, what that does is it allows you to look at your home a little differently. It allows you to look at those piles of clutter and that mess in your home and think, okay, why is that there? And how can I create a home

that's more suited to my natural tendencies so that I'm not leaving messes and clutter. Now, as I say that, let's break down some of the bugs and their natural tendencies that they have. I'm going to group bees and crickets together on this one because they're both micro-organizers. So I guess I should, I'm totally jumping the gun. A visual organizer that's a micro-organizer is a bee. And I call them a bee because bees are really methodical in nature. attracted to flowers, so they're really visual, but they never visit the same flower twice. They're very methodical, very detailed in the way that they forge for food, also creating their hive.

Everything that they do is sort of like mathematical perfection. So that's why I call visual microorganizers bees. Visual macro organizers, I call a butterfly. So again, they're really visual. They're attracted to flowers, which is why I chose that bug. They love bright colors. they're really visual, but the other side of that is they sort of flutter around. They're not really giving a methodical, detailed approach. They're just like a little bit here, a little bit there.

They're sort of fluttering around life, which is exactly how a butterfly organizer goes throughout their day in their home. Hidden organizers, I chose a hidden organizer that likes macro. I chose a ladybug. So if you're a ladybug, just like the bug, everything's usually very pretty and perfect on the outside. But if you open up a ladybug's wings, like underneath their shell, it's like jacked up crumpled wings, and that's a ladybug's home. So closets, under the bed, drawers, they're sort of like jumbled and crumbled and messy and cluttered. And that's because for a ladybug, again, they need fast, easy, simple solutions. So they tend to hide because they don't want to see their stuff.

They're hidden organizers. tend to just shove things in closet and toss things in willy-nilly, which creates a lot of mess. And then the last bug is a cricket, which is a hidden organizer, but they're micro-organizers. So they're a perfectionist. And I chose the cricket to describe this bug because crickets, they hide, right? You don't see a lot of crickets. But they are mathematical perfection to me. So a cricket, when they rub their legs together to make that beautiful song, it's actually

The actual, the beats are perfectly calculated and they only speed up or slow down based on the weather. So when I think of a bug and I think of perfection, I think of micro, I think of details, I think of a cricket, which is why I chose a cricket to represent that clutterbug style. Let's jump in now. Let's take a second and jump in to some examples of each of these styles. I'd like to take off the wall. But tonight I'm letting the go. I'd like to take a second to thank BetterHelp online counseling for sponsoring this podcast. Getting counseling was one of the best things I ever did for myself.

Honestly, it was like an investment in my mental health, in my sanity. And it wasn't that I was even depressed. I just felt like something was interfering with my happiness. Like there was a roadblock in my life. BetterHelp has over 3,000 U.S. licensed therapists all across 50 states, and there's more than just one way to get help. You can chat through text, chat, phone, video. It's completely up to you, and you can do it from the comfort of your own home. The best part is that it's really an affordable option.

And all of you listening, all my Clutterbug podcast listeners, get 10% off your first month using the discount code, Clutterbug. So why not get started today? check out betterhelp.com slash clutterbug to learn more. So I'm going to start by lumping in together bees and crickets just so we can talk about that micro-organizer, which again tends to be a little bit of a perfectionist. Some of the things that I see with both bees and crickets is one, they tend to pile until they can put it away perfectly later. So they tend to both of them procrastinate putting things away until they can set up

a perfect system until they have the time to make it really detailed or they're looking on Pinterest, they're researching the best way to organize something or they're waiting until they can buy or find that perfect solution, that perfect shelf, they have the money to redo their kitchen perfectly. And in the meantime, they tend to just, instead of embracing good enough, instead of being like, okay, this isn't perfect, but I'm going to do like a crappy job for now and make it perfect later, they tend to do nothing, delay that decision until later. And so procrastination when it comes to clutter organization is a huge issue for both bees and crickets. The other thing that I see when it comes to decluttering is both bees and crickets, they like to hold on to things

because of what if. What if I need this one day? What if I have to replace this? What if I waste money by getting rid of it. And so again, that's fear of making the wrong decision, which comes from that underlying perfectionism. The other thing that there's issue with is I want to wait until I'll hold on to my baby stuff, maybe until my sister has a baby one day, or a coworker, or I can find the perfect place or the perfect person to give it to. Or maybe I'll recycle this. Maybe I can turn this into something else. Someday I'm going to take those baby clothes and make a quilt. My father passed away.

I'm going to take all his old clothing and I'm going to turn it into a teddy bear for my mom. There's always this idealized version of what they're going to do with their stuff or what they could do with their stuff. That again is that fantasy version that comes from perfectionism, that perfect solution. and so that's one thing that both bees and crickets really struggle with. The other side of that is ladybugs and butterflies. Now, some ladybugs and butterflies tend to have a bit of perfectionism in there too, but usually it's like a wannabe perfectionism, right?

They want to do things perfect, but their natural tendency is that they're distracted by a lot of things. They get distracted by life. They have big, ambitious, amazing goals, but it's really hard. hard for them to look at those details that take them to that goal. They get distracted by the big picture and they fail to see those small details. So whereas being a cricket who are micro thinkers, they're planning and they're making lists and they're getting super detailed and that can get them caught up, sometimes ladybugs and butterflies, they're so focused on that end goal and they're dreaming of this big amazing thing that they want. They don't really see the steps to get there.

And so both have issues, both have their own set of complications and difficulties that they have to overcome. And with butterflies and ladybugs, I see a lot of, oh yeah, I forgot I had that. Oh my gosh. Oh, I can't believe I just shove that there. Like they're surprised by their own clutter or their own stuff because once they're done with something, they've literally moved on. They've moved on to the next bigger and better and cooler thing. and they're not even giving space in their brain to that old stuff.

So they tend to have just things dropped haphazardly. Now ladybugs tend to hide that stuff in closets, in spare bedrooms, under beds, and drawers. Whereas butterflies, because their visual, tend to just drop things as they go, which is why a lot of small children are butterflies. You see they have like a little trail, you know, you know what they've played with that day, or you know what they've had for lunch or whatever, because they've sort of left everything out. And that isn't that they're doing it on purpose.

It's that their brain has moved on. It has moved on. And that's why it's so important for those macro organizers, like butterflies and ladybugs, that we set up systems for where they're using their stuff. That's literally a big basket that has a label that is like, here's where your art supplies go. So they can just toss it all back in.

And yes, that means the paint. crayons and everything might be all put together in one basket which would make a cricket and a bee those micro organizers cringe oh my gosh that's horrible but that's what a macro organizer needs in order to put things away that's their jam that's what they need and so that's why it's so important to understand that not every organizing style is the same that it is not one size fits all that what works for one person does not work for everyone. And I know that you may be thinking, well, that's just laziness for a macro organizer. Why don't they just take the time to do that? They're not intentionally making a mess or not picking up after themselves. It really is that they just are not stopping

to think about the details of how to put this away, which is why we need to set up really simple systems. And absolutely habit has to come into play. Habit has to come. We have to come. We have to create new habits of putting those things in those new simple systems. But if we're setting up a complicated system, a new habit is not going to be enough. They're still not going to be able to follow through with a complicated, detailed system. So that's why I really am passionate about the four organizing styles, knowing your style, but even more than that, knowing your family style, really understanding how their brain works when it comes to your personal belongings and how they put things away. And setting up a system for success, working with their natural

tendencies. So yes, you're still going to have to train. Yes, we're still going to have to create new habits and it's going to be work. But it's going to be so much easier when you're working with your natural ability. So quick podcast today. Wanted to break down the styles again for you because I think, again, you may be overcomplicating it. You may be overthinking the four bugs style. I get a lot of emails every day from people who are like, I'm a little bit of this and I'm a little bit of that. If you really look at if you're visual or if you're hidden and if you're micro or your macro, not your fantasy you, but looking around at your space and really asking the real you, it could be a helpful tool.

to know what clutterbug style you're leaning towards in setting up systems throughout your home. Whether that's hooks instead of hangers inside a closet, whether that's open shelving for all of your stuff that otherwise you're just, you know, leaving on top of your dresser. We don't even have dressers in our home for our kids because my kids would never, they're so visual, they would never put their stuff in a dresser. They're also macro organizers. So dressers are pretty small dresser drawers. You have to fold things to put things away. And it was like, clothes were spilling out of them and nothing was ever put away properly. And so we opted instead for a big cube shelving with big labeled baskets where they can still toss their clothing away,

but have it go in a really visual macro spot. And just like that, we stopped having clothes clutter on the floor. One change in the tool that we used to organize clothing meant no more clothes clutter in my house. And so I want the same for you. I really want the same for you. So if you know your clutterbug style, you can go to Pinterest, you can go to clutterbug on Pinterest. And I have a board for each different clutterbug style where I've pinned lots of different ideas. So if you're not 100% sure still what bug you are, you can head over to clutterbug on Pinterest. And I have a board for cricket, one for butterfly, one for bee, and one for ladybug. And you can really see what you can. are and maybe that could help. So thanks again for listening and I'll see you guys next time.