[PODCAST 257]: Squashing the Fear of “Out of Sight, Out of Mind”

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Before we get started today, I just want to share a couple of beautiful stories we received from our community members:

Tonja shared this:

And Dione shared this:

Having clear space makes such a difference, but sometimes there’s a fear that the things we move off of our flat surfaces won’t be accessible to us when we need them. Today we’re diving into how to solve that concern, and I want to provide a few case scenarios.

Let’s say that you need to do the following three things:

• Call Rose at the phone number listed on her business card sometime Friday
• Mail a big envelope sometime in the next 20 days
• Finish a big project at work by Tuesday (that has screen shots, files, and papers all over your desk and computer desktop)

Currently, the way you might remember to do these things is by setting the related items (the business card, the big envelope, and the project-related papers and files) on some flat surface in your home or office–and all over your computer desktop.

It’s comforting to see them all out in front of you, right?

But now imagine someone comes and hides them. Maybe they put them in a stack in another room because they needed to set something ELSE onto this space.

How do you feel when you come back and see that the items are gone?

Are you freaking out because you’re sure you’ll forget to do those things?

“Out of sight, out of mind” is a real thing. That’s why people pile things up all over the place.

But today I’m going to show you how you can have clear, flat spaces – without worrying that you’ll forget anything.

This out-of-sight, out-of-mind challenge is dear to my heart because I spent years laying things out in neat, organized piles and then “reviewing” those piles for tasks to do.

I could never walk around my home with a calm, quiet mind, because everything was “telling me something.”

On a more personal level, my mother passed away from Alzheimer’s several years ago, and I witnessed her declining memory for seven years. Out-of-sight, out-of-mind was her every day. In the early stages, I went to her house for a full day while Eric stayed home with our children and helped organize her whole room–putting clothes, cards, towels, etc. neatly in drawers and boxes. I came back a week later, and everything was out again.

If it wasn’t right in front of her, it didn’t exist.

But living with clutter and piles is overwhelming to many people, so I want to share a few techniques that can help. Essentially, these are new habits that will replace the habit of “constantly scanning our piles.”

Habit #1: Check lists instead of flat surfaces.

• The lists need to be few in number (see the daily/weekly/as needed sections of our STEP Diagram and pay attention to the Calendar, Next Actions List, Tiered Projects List, and Routines List).

• The lists need to have only a few things on them. (Long lists don’t get done–learn to plan less than you think you have time to do and then have “next in line” lists ready to go.)
• The lists need to be trusted (meaning you don’t use them “sometimes”).

Habit #2: Put items in logical places–and, if there are associated tasks or projects, record the locations of those items so you can easily find them.

• The book “It’s Here…Somewhere” taught me to keep items close to where I would use them. Sounds obvious, I know, but I had never even heard of that concept. Once I implemented it, my kitchen, for example, had “centers” for lunch-making, baking, etc. When you’re organizing, focus on “centers of activity” and not just container size/type of material.
• Julie Morgenstern wrote a great book called “Organizing from the Inside Out” that taught the same concept. If everyone takes their shoes off 10 feet from the place you actually have the basket/shoe holder, then move the basket/shoe holder there. If everyone drops mail in a certain space, create a mail center there, etc. Work with the flow of the household!
• When you’re working from a task list or projects list, you don’t want to spend time looking for things. With the written task/project, simply note where you will go to find the grouped support materials. For example, I will soon be sorting my parents’ papers, journals, and keepsakes. There are two projects on my Next-in-Line Projects List in the family section related to that sorting. My dad’s bins are in the garage, my mom’s bins are in my office closet. I simply make a note, so when the time comes, I won’t have to look all over the place and try to remember where I put them.

Habit #3: Stop the Dropsies

• That was my mom’s term for what we did at the front door with all our stuff!
• When you get home from a busy day, with a car load of things, take just a moment to empty the car, bring things in, and put them in their appropriate places.
• This doesn’t just happen. We need to reserve energy for this. (Get home when you still have 20 minutes of energy left…)
• When you have to stop working on something mid-project, clear the space, put it where it makes sense, and note the location, if needed/desired.

These 3 habits might take a little time to implement, but you’ll notice over time that your mind will feel calmer when your surfaces are flat. You won’t be panicked because you’ll know that everything is in a logical place–and, as you use your whole STEP Command Central, the tasks and projects will come to you when it’s the right time.

Let’s go back to the tasks we discussed earlier:

• Call Rose at the phone number listed on her business card sometime Friday — Put this on your calendar as a flexible task for the day. (Keep that list short!)
• Mail a big envelope sometime in the next 20 days — Add this to your Errands List and put it in the car so it’s ready the next time you are out.
• Finish a big project at work by Tuesday (that has screen shots, files, and papers all over your desk and computer desktop) — Put this on your Current Projects List–and perhaps schedule time to work on it between now and Tuesday. Keep all related items in your Support Materials (paper cubbies or digital project manager/digital file manager).

And you don’t have to be a mean person to make this happen if you have a busy family life. Someone made a comment recently that people who have clean houses are uptight and cranky with their families. I don’t believe that needs to be the case at all. Some of my family members prefer to have things out on their desks and personal flat surfaces, and I don’t go around making them move everything, but we do keep the main surfaces of the home clear. It feels better to all of us, and it’s simply a matter of creating new habits.

Hope this is helpful! Please share your comments, suggestions, and questions below! (I’m so excited for you!)

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