Clutterbug - Real-Life Hacks and Tips to Declutter, Organize and Clean your Home Fast - Why I chose the different CLUTTERBUGS to represent the different personality types | Clutterbug Podcast # 56

Episode Date: June 20, 2018

Joy, a subscriber, asked a great question about WHY I picked the bugs that I did to represent the differnet organizing styles! I thought I would answer that question with a podcast!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to the Clutterbug podcast. Today we're talking about not only the different organizing styles, but why I came up with the bugs that I did to represent those different styles. So thanks so much for tuning in. Actually, this is a response to Joy. Joy is a long-time subscriber and just a huge support that I have on the Clutterbug video. and the Facebook group and the podcast. So she asked, how did I come up with the different bugs to represent the different organizing styles? So I was going to type out this big,

long thing, and I thought, why not make it a podcast? Because there may be some other people out there who are interested as well. So if you're new to the podcast and you have no idea what I'm talking about, I used to be a complete slob. And I tried and failed multiple times to get organized. I tried, I bought the Freedom Filer. I tried following systems that I saw on Pinterest or whatever back in the day. I was watching a lot of HD TV and trying to copy systems that I saw there and I could never keep them up. I had no problem setting up the systems, but I just, I wouldn't use them. I thought it was too lazy. And eventually I stumbled upon a system that was less organized. So I call it macro organizing. Traditional organizing systems are really micro, so they're

detailed, like a filing system, or a binder, or something where you put things into smaller categories. For me, I just, I have ADD brain. I was not going to take the time to sort things to put them away. I was going to toss it or leave it where it was. So I had to set up systems where I could literally toss my things back into a huge bin that was macro sorted, like bills, instead of sorting all the bills into different category bills, like one for electricity, one for gas, you're getting the idea. And so I thought I was some sort of organizing genius, and I started helping friends and family after I got my own home organized, and then through word of mouth, I started working with clients. And eventually I discovered that even my easy system didn't work for everyone. And the tradition

system also didn't work for those clients and I went back to that old thinking of maybe they're just lazy, right? The same negative things I thought about myself and it was one client in particular where it was a light bulb moment because she wasn't lazy at all. She was a lawyer. She had her own law firm. For Pete's sake, she was like crushing life but she could not get her papers and her home organized. And I noticed that she was spreading everything out so it was really visual, even papers on the floor. And I realized she has to see her things. If it's out of sight, it's out of mind. So we came up with a system that had file folders that hung. We ordered them from an office supply place. And they're like a magazine style rack and they went from floor till ceiling. We put big labels on them. And instead of spreading

her piles on the floor, she put her piles basically up on the wall in this vertical organizer because horizontal's hidden was when you stack paper or you put things away even it's hidden and for a lot of people that causes really extreme anxiety and they forget about their things so vertical is visual we had to take advantage of the vertical space and create her a visual vertical system and that's when it kind of hit me that there were four different styles There were people who wanted to see their things and have it really detailed, like this lawyer. And there were people who needed to see their things, but still have those simple, simple systems. And there were people that like their things out of sight, hidden away, but wanted a really detailed system, like a traditional filing cabinet.

And then there were people like me who like things hidden away, but need simple. So there's four categories, I guess, in general. So how did I come up with the names? how did I come up with the different styles? So someone who is really visual but needs simple systems is a butterfly. And to me, I mean, this felt really obvious. First of all, I called my company clutter bug because I'm a clutter bug. I'm a total clutter bug bug. I like having stuff. I'll never be a minimalist. So I definitely wanted to give the different styles a bug name, obviously, to go with the name of my business that I was operating as a professional organizer. So a person who's

visual and like simple systems, I classified as a butterfly because a butterfly just like flutters from flower to flower. There isn't really a lot of rhyme or reason or structure to how they're getting the pollen. And they're obviously attracted to the most brightest and beautiful of flowers. They're visual. They're visual looking, but they're also attracted to visual things. But again, they're really, they need simplicity. They're not big on structure. And so that's why I, I chose the butterfly for the butterfly category, someone who is a visual organizer but can't have a lot of structure. It needs a really simple, simple system. And then that leads me to the other side of that. A visual organizer who likes structure and thinks really logically and likes details. And so I chose a

bee because a bee is really like methodical, right? They're obviously visual. They're attracted to flowers. The brighter, the most beautiful flowers, those are the ones they're most attracted to. But they really go about their day with more order and structure and they like the details. So that's why I chose them for a visual organizer who likes organizing abundance, who likes a lot of categories and a lot of detail to their systems. When it came to the ladybug, I had to pick a bug that I'm a ladybug so I like things to be really minimal and really beautiful. But if you opened up a closet or anything, it was like disaster zone, right? I mean, I would shove and hide and I'm a messy person, right? I just had everything shoved everywhere and I had so many other people, clients and family members who were the

same personality type. And so I chose a ladybug because a ladybug's exterior is beautiful and shiny and looks perfect, but when they open their wings, it's disgusting under there. It's like a gross, hot mess where their wings are. It's like, oh, my, my. God, close your wings. That's horrifying. And so that's obviously why I chose a ladybug. So a ladybug organizing personality type likes simplicity and beauty on the outside, but needs really simple, easy systems to contain the chaos underneath, to contain the crazy underneath. They can't be methodical. And that leads me to the last one, which is a cricket. And this one was really hard to come up with a bug name for. So a cricket is someone who likes visual simplicity. They're not so much

about the beauty as they are about the function, but they don't like a lot of visual distractions. They're also really logical, methodical, analytical, and they like perfection. So they like a detailed, complicated system. So I had to come up with a bug who was sort of hidden, but also really methodical, really detailed, which is why I chose the cricket. When I was a kid, I did a project on crickets and they, they rub their legs together to make this sound and it's methodical. It's a perfect symphony of sounds that only changes based on the weather. So they speed up and they slow down based on the temperature outside, but otherwise their song that they make is a perfect power. pattern. And a lot of cricket personality types are also auditory learners. The majority are

auditory learners. So that's why I chose the cricket. Not only is it a really, it's an auditory bug. It makes a sound, but it's a bug that really chooses perfection and it likes to hide, right? It likes to hide. You don't see a lot of crickets. They like to hide. So yeah, it's not the most beautiful bug. I know people who have that cricket personality type are like, why didn't you pick a cooler bug. I gave it a lot of thought. I really did. And I chose a bug that I felt was a really logical bug that that craved perfection, something that it didn't care about bright lights and flashy colors. But I love crickets and they're perfect. They really care about their methodical, they're logical, and they're perfect. And, you know, they're not into flashy visual things. So to me,

that was the perfect bug. So I don't know. I'm curious what you would have chose for the different personality types. And hopefully my explanation makes a little bit of sense. That's where it came from. Joy, I had to share that with you. And thanks so much for asking. That was a really cool question. And it was fun to answer. And again, if you'd like to post what you think of, what you think maybe some of the bugs should be called something different or your opinion, I'm really curious. So thanks again. and I'll see you guys next time.