Clutterbug - Real-Life Hacks and Tips to Declutter, Organize and Clean your Home Fast - Your Organizing Style - Is it Nature or Nurture? | Clutterbug Podcast # 45

Episode Date: April 8, 2018

The way you organize your enveryday used items can transform how you live. A more funcational home means more time, less effort and much more happiness. But how do you REALLY know your organizing style? Is the way you organize Nature or Nurture?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey guys, welcome back to the clutterbug podcast. Thanks so much for tuning in. Today we're going to talk about the difference between your right brain and the left brain and what that means when it comes to organization. And I wanted to talk about this because I was approached by Women's World Magazine. They wanted to do an interview. They are doing an article series about organization based on your brain type. And if you haven't heard of this before, your right hemisphere of your brain, so the right side, side of your brain controls your cognitive skills like creativity, emotion, intuitiveness, that type of thing. And the left side of your brain contains those analytical thought processes. So mathematics, logic, things like that. So there is a theory out there that that woman's world

was also on board that right-brained people. So creative people tend to be messy and not organized and left dominant brain people people who tend to be mathematical logical analytical tend to be neat and tidy and good at organization while that theory makes sense in theory the truth is it really doesn't work in the real world and i didn't want to insult them but i want you to think about people in your life that you know those analytical people those those people who are really good at math or science, those engineers in your life, it doesn't necessarily mean that they're neat and organized people. And in the same sense, it doesn't mean that someone who is creative, the writers, the artists, are necessarily messy people. And I know for myself, I'm definitely, I'm an emotional

roller coaster. I am definitely like a right-brained person, but I don't like visual stimulation. so I don't like to have clutter all over the place. It really causes me anxiety. And I know my husband, who is an engineer and a really left-brained person, he, it tends to pile, make piles everywhere and have lots of clutter that can build up. So I can't say that you can put someone in my experience anyways into just two categories based on that. I think it's a great concept and maybe even some people obviously would fall into that, but it goes deeper. And I want to talk about is it nature or is it nurture? So when I, for me, what I've met in my experience, there are four categories. There are people who crave visual abundance.

There are people who just like to have their things out where they can see them and use them and do they get anxiety to put it away, whether it's subconscious or not. And then there's people who really need visual minimalism. They need to have not, I'm not talking full minimalist, like with just like one plant in a stark room, but they don't want to have their papers out. And they don't want to have a lot of pictures on the wall or, or have a lot of stimulation visually. And then there are people who really are meticulous and like things put away in a proper place, in a proper way and like to set up detailed organizing systems. And there are people who, even though they may aspire for that, or like the idea of a detailed organizing system,

they just can't use it. It's not they couldn't, but they're not going to on a daily basis. It's if it takes, you know, five minutes to put something away, they're not going to. They'll do it later. And I definitely fall into that category. So is it nature or is it nervous? Is that something that I was just born or is it because my mom was like that? And the truth is I'm not sure. But I can say that after years of trying, setting up systems when it comes to my paper that were really detailed, I never used them. I wanted to. I may even have used them for a couple of days, but when it comes to everyday used items, I need a really simple and fast organizing system or I'm just going to pilot to do it later.

But that being said, even though I'm technically, I guess, a right-brained person, I'm creative and I'm super emotional, I don't want a lot of visual stimulation. I like things hidden away. I don't want to see everything, even though that's something that you would think of when you think of a traditional artistic person. So, yeah, think about the style. So how do you know what you really are? How do you know, if you are the way you are, if you take a look at your house, because your parents

were like that, because your spouse or your family that you're living with now is like that, or what are you really? And I think the real answer to that is to look at what system is working for you. So what system in your home are you just able to maintain without really a lot of thought? is it your fridge and all the you know papers on your fridge are those the ones that you don't forget about because you can see them is it your closet is it your linen closet where you've put some baskets you're able to maintain that simple organizing system is it your filing cabinet are you really able to keep up with that and put things away meticulous in there or a toolbox or whatever it is

think about these systems in your home that you're really able to maintain and then think about the systems that you're struggling with and you're probably going to see a really clear indicator of why you are the way you are. My mom was definitely a classic ladybug. She was a person who loved visual simplicity. She didn't like clutter at all, but she shoved in every closet and drawer like I do. And am I the way I am because she was my mom or because this is just the way I was born? And like I said, I've tried changing. I've tried being a more meticulous person for years, and I wasn't able to change that. But then I think about my stepmom, and her mom is a classic B, really meticulous, really wanting things in a certain organized way, does everything properly, but loves visual abundance.

Every single surface covered with collections, Royal Dalton, and cherished teddies and picture frames, and just a ton of visual abundance, but really, really neat. And my stepmom, when she got her own home, obviously, and became a parent, she emulated that style. She had floor-to-ceiling glass bookshelves filled, filled, filled to the brim with knick-knacks and collections and memorabilia. And now she is trying to change. She wants to go for a more minimal feel in her home. And yet when I visit her,

I see the organizing systems that are working for her are those visual systems. So I don't want to say that because you're a visual person and you love visual abundance or a visual abundance works for you, that you need to have a home filled from bottom to top with things and knick-knacks. Perhaps you too want to embrace a more minimal home, but that doesn't mean your organizing systems should be minimal. When I visit my stepmom, I see that her doctor's notes and her reminders are all over her fridge and she if she has to remember something she'll use a sticky note and put it on the kitchen counter the bills that need to be paid are left out on the counter where she has to see them and so i really think that's her natural style she's meticulous

but she's visual and again that doesn't mean that she needs her home to be filled from bottom to top with with knickknacks and things like that but it does mean that when it comes to those everyday items that she uses she really should look to a more visual system and i see this too in her kitchen she has these cupboards that have glass doors and it's so funny i've been to her home and watched her you know using the cupboards and one side of them is a closed cabinet door and the other side is glass and she'll when if she's getting a drinking glass she'll actually walk around to the glass side to open up to grab a drinking glass subconsciously because it's visual so this is exactly the type of system she should probably be implementing when she if she ever redesigned her kitchen

she should have those clear glass cabinets for her dishes and her glasses that she uses every day because she's just more drawn to that she she's drawn to that she she's drawn to that open visualness. Maybe she needs open shelving. So you're kind of getting the idea of the difference and the different style. So if you're still confused about what your style is, I really want you to, again, take a look at your home and see what's working and what isn't. And don't think that because, you know, you're a bee or a butterfly

that you have to live in a mess and have things all over the place. It just means your everyday used items should be a little bit more. visual for you and either detailed or easy to use. And if you think you're a cricket or a butterfly, it doesn't mean that you have to live in a home that's stark minimalism. What it means is that your everyday used items should probably be put in either a simple or a detailed system that's more out of sight and less visual. I love the idea of a big command center when you first walk in my home with bulletin boards, with calendars, all color-coded for the kids different activities, and every kid's a different color and grown-ups.

And I've seen these beautiful command centers on Pinterest, and I've pinned so many boards of them. But when I try to implement that thing in my home, that visual bulletin boards and pegboards and things like that, it causes me anxiety. I love the idea of being a visual organizer, but I can't have it in my house. home. I don't use it and it causes me stress and anxiety. I'd rather have it on my phone or, you know, um, on a little file folder on my desk that I can access that that hidden simple system works much better for me. So discover your organizing style today and when you see this woman's world interview come out in the magazine talking about the right and the left hemisphere of the brain

and how you can really base your style on that, I want you to know that that's just a portion. And it definitely does go a little deeper. And I'd love to hear your thoughts. Is it nature or is it nurture? Are we born this way? Or is it a learned behavior when it comes to organization from our parents? Thank you guys so much.

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