Thank you for your method. My husband is now saying to himself “Where would I look for it first?” and throwing trash away after a couple of years of me throwing trash away and taking it there now. We don’t even get past that question and it has made a huge difference.
I had 5 children. (Now adults). Back when they were little, I had one washer/dryer in the basement. To get caught up on laundry, I would periodically go to the laundry mat. Now I have no children at home but I have the large capacity front load washer & dryer! You can get twice as much done in relatively the same amount of time. ❤
I’ve been selling things for a year and it is A LOT of work. I am behind in remodeling plans because I’m spending time selling. The garage sale was exhausting. Ive miscalculated shipping many times and dealt with dozens of flakey Facebook people. I’ve started donating more and more and it is very freeing.
I find your videos so helpful and there's always a gem that I want to put on a billboard in my home. "Somebody giving you money for your clutter is not free money. You work for it."
I am pregnant with my 5th child, my oldest is almost nine, and I also cook everything from scratch. First trimester I was nauseous and also did not like to look at the kitchen, so it was always a mess. What finally put me back on track was my family came to visit and cleaned all my counters and basically reset the space. Since I was feeling better, I was able after that to keep the kitchen under control. By no means perfect, but functional. So, if you and/or your husband or another helper can deep clean the kitchen once, then simplify your meal rotation for this season. I brown ground beef 4 lb at a time and freeze in portions, and when I make meatballs for spaghetti, I make 5 lb. And freeze most of them (can also be made with gravy and mashed potatoes). But give yourself grace: toddlers and babies are high maintenance. Fortunately, they also love simple food, and will probably not object to their favorite dinners on a frequent basis. Also, 5 minutes doing dishes when you can helps.
Living this life. Just gave birth last week and it was such a hard year! So much prep ahead helps! I saw in my journal that I prepped 15lbs of pork tenderloin a year ago this week. We make sausage in bulk, cook and freeze. Beef brisket is a great make-ahead. Pork butt: cook, portion out, and freeze (or pressure can!). Prepping stuff ahead helps so much! Last trimester I had awful debilitating nerve spasms and I WISH i just broke out the prepped postpartum meals then. But I’m glad I have so many things ready to go now! And yes, grace and more grace! There is no eternal value in a perfect home. I’d rather leave the mess when I’m in the thick of it and the kiddos need me emotionally (even though sometimes the kitchen mess feels easier to deal with than little kid emotions and needs!)
@@kellyclemmer9715 Ha! No kidding. The kitchen mess is definitely easier! Congratulations on your new baby! When my last was born I remember my super amazing, wonderfully observant husband knowing exactly when to order takeout. He'd just say, can your dinner plan keep? Let's get pizza tonight. Not a usual thing for us, but oh! The relief to let him come to my rescue like that was wonderful. Sometimes we need to let go of trying to do everything.
@@katie7748 100% stole from Ruthann aka my other mother who doesn’t actually know me ❤️ such a great thing to tell myself about everything as I go through this life raising little immortals ❤️
For all who are having a hard time with laundry. A few things that have worked amazingly well for our family of 6. 1 is to have a hamper in each bathroom and 1 child is in charge of emptying it each day. In our laundry area(we have a basket for each load: colors, whites, towels) 2 is to do a complete load everyday. Wash, dry fold. Then each person has their own personal cloth/canvas hamper in the laundry area and their clothes go in that till Sunday. Then whatever is in the hamper is put away and empty for the week ahead for clean clothes. 3 is that around 10 each child has a hamper in their room and they start doing their own laundry thats in the hamper once a week to help prep them for knowing how to do it as an adult I understand some people don't have large laundry areas etc but this has been an absolute game changer for us as a big family and very rarely does anyone run out of clothes and if they need something they can just go look in their hamper to get something they are looking for
The idea of the 5 min pickup itself being a container is a huge revelation for me. I usually stare at a space for a while and muse on my organizing strategy for fitting the container, but the concept of being able to declutter the whole house in 5 minutes definitely changes things. In my large house, that means I can put away only 10 things each day if I am quick with each item. That means I need to not have to stare at a space I am putting something back in (like my medicine cabinet) to decide which shelf within the container this item is going on. It has to be immediately obvious AND easy to put away. A container HAS to have more open space for that to be possible. 😮 I will practice on it in hotel rooms when I have already limited myself to the size of my suitcase (unlike my home, which is not yet at the container-limit goal).
10:32 I think she was saying, she doesn't NEED or WANT the items but feels guilty getting rid of them. (Not necessarily a clutter issue or an out of control issue.) My answer to her would be: When you feel the need to keep it "just because you can", stop and think how MUCH someone else would be elated to "find" this item at a local thrift shop, or be "given" the item if you donate to a church or shelter. Maybe that will shift your thinking...
I went through a smaller Doom box that have taken me years to address, and did it so quick because of what you are teaching! It took me more time to take 3 pictures then to clear the entire box taking it there now. Most went to trash.
For the new wife/mom: I know it's easier said than done, especially with babies and toddlers, but clean as you go. Use the 2 minutes here, 5 minutes there, 20 minutes there...when you can, of course...while food is cooking, to do some dishes, wipe the counters, etc. Take advantage of slow cooker, skillet, soups n stews, and sheet pan meals. I know the struggle of finding recipes and meal ideas that fit your/your family's health/dietary needd, but it can be done. Allrecipes, Taste of Home, and countless other sites have a gazillion recipes you could try. Plus loads of people here on yt. And like Dana said, see if you can simply use less dishes. And make/freeze things in advance as much as possible. A final tidbit that I wish I'd heeded earlier in my mothering...teach your children to help as soon as they're able. Be patient with them. Don't expect perfection. (See Charlotte Mason for extra help) It can be frustrating and it will take time, but it's so worth it. They'll need these skills as adults anyway so why wait? Best of luck to you and I hope this helps...if you see this anyway ❤
I know this won't work for everyone, but one of the most successful routines I've ever established in my house is having a separate laundry day for everyone. My daughters learned to do their own laundry between 11 and 14 years of age, and had their assigned day. I did the rest, having a day set aside for towels and linens, as well. Now there are three of us, including my daughter with special needs. She gets Wednesdays, I get either Tuesday or Thursday (whichever works best that week), and my husband gets the weekends. Again, I know this isn't practical for everyone, but one thing I've always loved about it is that I don't have to gather up everyone's stuff and then sort it all out again and get it to all the different rooms. It never gets mixed. For what that's worth to anyone here. 😊
We have a cart in our laundry room with 3 canvas "hampers" suspended in it: dark clothes/towels & sheets/whites. The first one gets full almost daily, but my rule is whichever one is fullest gets washed next. I do one load every day. It's easy for me because our laundry room is in the hall between the primary bedroom/bathroom and the kitchen. I can be in the kitchen & listen for the rinse cycle or go put the washed load in the dryer in the midst of cooking. Super convenient! It's just about keeping those hampers under control for me. We don't have space in the small laundry room for piles on the floor. The space I have is the space I have!😊
It's the same thing, to me, as "take it there now." Because "there" is the same thing as "away." Again...to ME. I tell myself both every day and both work wonders. Also, if I find myself not wanting to, I remind myself, "Dude, it'll take you two seconds. Just do it." Now if only I could get myself to stop taking my glasses off randomly and then setting them down random places only to forget where I put them 30 seconds later...and "take it there now" or "put them away"...they have a home, but when I take them off to blow my nose or read fine print or something, I just...kinda...put them down close to me then continue on my way. I don't put them on top of my head (which I can't do anyway), they don't get hooked into my shirt collar...just set down the closest surface. And then I forget to put them back on until the blurriness annoys me too much, so then I'm stuck searching, half blind, for them. And, of course, I can't SEE to find them so I employ my children to help me. Sigh. I have got to figure out how to stop doing that. Edit: typo
While listening to you I'm going through my pantry. I go through it every year and wipe down and tidy the items. I also write it down so I can meal plan from the list aswell. I'm also preparing to declutter Christmas items I don't use and my office is in major need of help.
Omg 😂 I literally said out loud without missing a beat “to pee in” haha I have heard my grandmother say that phrase so many times 😂❤ Also Thank you for these videos
To the lady with the sister's pictures. Do you have another relative willing to take them? Did your mom leave any inheritance to use & hire someone to locate your sister and send them to her? Could you take them somewhere where someone could scan them to a disk or thumb drive that is easier for you to keep? Sounds like it meant something to your mom, so would be nice if you could get those pictures to your sister and I think you'd feel better about it.
For meal prep-Chicken breasts in the Instapot and then shredded in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. This hack has made a huge difference for me.
Re: the woman with the photos of her estranged sister...use a box or other storage container that you have room for. When she does come around, you can tell her that your mother asked you to hold onto this container so that you could return them to your sister. Yes, this is a white lie, but when she comes around, this will let her know that her mother cared about her enough to keep these photos and that you care enough to have followed your mother's wishes. "Is this all there are?" You reply, these are the ones that were special to her. This is softer than saying you only kept what you had room for which could be misinterpreted to be this is all the space you are worth.
I feel for the lady who cooks everything from scratch and her kitchen is an almighty mess. Same here, plus I don't like frozen stuff, so most of the time I cook single meals all from fresh ingredients. For me it's worth it for nutritional reasons. Good luck with keeping the good practice! 💜
Just wanted to say, if you are "helping" family members declutter and downsize and especially if you are the child, it can be very draining emotionally. If it's possible, I would gift them a few sessions with one of Dana's Coaches. Step back, and let an outside person, with zero attachment to their overwhelming stuff, show them Dana's proven methods and tools to get it out of their house.
Re: sister’s pictures; send them to a service that can transfer to computer storage card/s. Takes up only a small amount of space!! Use any money from the estate. In the long run you’ll feel better and get back hours of your life!!
I believe she uses streamyard, and in streamyard you can select a chat comment and it puts it on screen, so it is limited to the 250 characters of a chat comment. You can do banners too, which is what she does with pre-submitted questions. That said, there are lots of other options with similar functionality that is cheaper than streamyard now that they raised the rates, so you might want to look at different options as they seriously got away from simplicity which was originally a core principle and made it easier to use.
Also Doom Box, Doom Basket, Doom Drawer, etc. This often happens (to me, anyway) before a move, when guests come over either expectedly and it's stuff that just hadn't gotten to or unexpectedly, on a day that I can't stand looking at stuff so I just chuck it all in a box and put it somewhere I can't see it...Doom is the bane of my existence. I've got dozens left to go through yet from this last move. We're moving again in less than 2 years and I am *DETERMINED* not to take a single one with. They *must. all* get gone through before then. I can't keep dragging this crap around to "deal with later." It's an anchor around my neck and I'm sick of drowning. Procrastinators unite! ................tomorrow LOL
Thank you for your method. My husband is now saying to himself “Where would I look for it first?” and throwing trash away after a couple of years of me throwing trash away and taking it there now. We don’t even get past that question and it has made a huge difference.
I had 5 children. (Now adults). Back when they were little, I had one washer/dryer in the basement. To get caught up on laundry, I would periodically go to the laundry mat. Now I have no children at home but I have the large capacity front load washer & dryer!
You can get twice as much done in relatively the same amount of time. ❤
I’ve been selling things for a year and it is A LOT of work. I am behind in remodeling plans because I’m spending time selling. The garage sale was exhausting. Ive miscalculated shipping many times and dealt with dozens of flakey Facebook people. I’ve started donating more and more and it is very freeing.
Speaking of (not) using every dish in the kitchen, I’ve started writing on a baking recipe which size bowl to use for each step. It has been helpful.
I find your videos so helpful and there's always a gem that I want to put on a billboard in my home. "Somebody giving you money for your clutter is not free money. You work for it."
I am pregnant with my 5th child, my oldest is almost nine, and I also cook everything from scratch. First trimester I was nauseous and also did not like to look at the kitchen, so it was always a mess. What finally put me back on track was my family came to visit and cleaned all my counters and basically reset the space. Since I was feeling better, I was able after that to keep the kitchen under control. By no means perfect, but functional. So, if you and/or your husband or another helper can deep clean the kitchen once, then simplify your meal rotation for this season. I brown ground beef 4 lb at a time and freeze in portions, and when I make meatballs for spaghetti, I make 5 lb. And freeze most of them (can also be made with gravy and mashed potatoes). But give yourself grace: toddlers and babies are high maintenance. Fortunately, they also love simple food, and will probably not object to their favorite dinners on a frequent basis. Also, 5 minutes doing dishes when you can helps.
Living this life. Just gave birth last week and it was such a hard year! So much prep ahead helps! I saw in my journal that I prepped 15lbs of pork tenderloin a year ago this week. We make sausage in bulk, cook and freeze. Beef brisket is a great make-ahead. Pork butt: cook, portion out, and freeze (or pressure can!). Prepping stuff ahead helps so much!
Last trimester I had awful debilitating nerve spasms and I WISH i just broke out the prepped postpartum meals then. But I’m glad I have so many things ready to go now!
And yes, grace and more grace! There is no eternal value in a perfect home. I’d rather leave the mess when I’m in the thick of it and the kiddos need me emotionally (even though sometimes the kitchen mess feels easier to deal with than little kid emotions and needs!)
@@kellyclemmer9715
"No eternal value"
Do you watch HomesteadingWithTheZimmermans, by any chance?
And congratulations!!
Edit: typo
@@kellyclemmer9715 Ha! No kidding. The kitchen mess is definitely easier! Congratulations on your new baby! When my last was born I remember my super amazing, wonderfully observant husband knowing exactly when to order takeout. He'd just say, can your dinner plan keep? Let's get pizza tonight. Not a usual thing for us, but oh! The relief to let him come to my rescue like that was wonderful. Sometimes we need to let go of trying to do everything.
Amazing taking care of so many little ones. Take good care of yourself. ❤
@@katie7748 100% stole from Ruthann aka my other mother who doesn’t actually know me ❤️ such a great thing to tell myself about everything as I go through this life raising little immortals ❤️
For all who are having a hard time with laundry. A few things that have worked amazingly well for our family of 6. 1 is to have a hamper in each bathroom and 1 child is in charge of emptying it each day. In our laundry area(we have a basket for each load: colors, whites, towels) 2 is to do a complete load everyday. Wash, dry fold. Then each person has their own personal cloth/canvas hamper in the laundry area and their clothes go in that till Sunday. Then whatever is in the hamper is put away and empty for the week ahead for clean clothes.
3 is that around 10 each child has a hamper in their room and they start doing their own laundry thats in the hamper once a week to help prep them for knowing how to do it as an adult
I understand some people don't have large laundry areas etc but this has been an absolute game changer for us as a big family and very rarely does anyone run out of clothes and if they need something they can just go look in their hamper to get something they are looking for
The idea of the 5 min pickup itself being a container is a huge revelation for me. I usually stare at a space for a while and muse on my organizing strategy for fitting the container, but the concept of being able to declutter the whole house in 5 minutes definitely changes things. In my large house, that means I can put away only 10 things each day if I am quick with each item. That means I need to not have to stare at a space I am putting something back in (like my medicine cabinet) to decide which shelf within the container this item is going on. It has to be immediately obvious AND easy to put away. A container HAS to have more open space for that to be possible. 😮
I will practice on it in hotel rooms when I have already limited myself to the size of my suitcase (unlike my home, which is not yet at the container-limit goal).
10:32 I think she was saying, she doesn't NEED or WANT the items but feels guilty getting rid of them. (Not necessarily a clutter issue or an out of control issue.)
My answer to her would be:
When you feel the need to keep it "just because you can", stop and think how MUCH someone else would be elated to "find" this item at a local thrift shop, or be "given" the item if you donate to a church or shelter.
Maybe that will shift your thinking...
Loving these lives Dana!!
I went through a smaller Doom box that have taken me years to address, and did it so quick because of what you are teaching! It took me more time to take 3 pictures then to clear the entire box taking it there now. Most went to trash.
For the new wife/mom:
I know it's easier said than done, especially with babies and toddlers, but clean as you go. Use the 2 minutes here, 5 minutes there, 20 minutes there...when you can, of course...while food is cooking, to do some dishes, wipe the counters, etc.
Take advantage of slow cooker, skillet, soups n stews, and sheet pan meals. I know the struggle of finding recipes and meal ideas that fit your/your family's health/dietary needd, but it can be done. Allrecipes, Taste of Home, and countless other sites have a gazillion recipes you could try. Plus loads of people here on yt.
And like Dana said, see if you can simply use less dishes. And make/freeze things in advance as much as possible.
A final tidbit that I wish I'd heeded earlier in my mothering...teach your children to help as soon as they're able. Be patient with them. Don't expect perfection. (See Charlotte Mason for extra help) It can be frustrating and it will take time, but it's so worth it. They'll need these skills as adults anyway so why wait? Best of luck to you and I hope this helps...if you see this anyway ❤
My laundry day is determined by how full the hamper of dirty clothes is. Everyone in the family uses that same hamper for clothes so it fills up fast.
I know this won't work for everyone, but one of the most successful routines I've ever established in my house is having a separate laundry day for everyone. My daughters learned to do their own laundry between 11 and 14 years of age, and had their assigned day. I did the rest, having a day set aside for towels and linens, as well. Now there are three of us, including my daughter with special needs. She gets Wednesdays, I get either Tuesday or Thursday (whichever works best that week), and my husband gets the weekends.
Again, I know this isn't practical for everyone, but one thing I've always loved about it is that I don't have to gather up everyone's stuff and then sort it all out again and get it to all the different rooms. It never gets mixed. For what that's worth to anyone here. 😊
We have a cart in our laundry room with 3 canvas "hampers" suspended in it: dark clothes/towels & sheets/whites. The first one gets full almost daily, but my rule is whichever one is fullest gets washed next. I do one load every day. It's easy for me because our laundry room is in the hall between the primary bedroom/bathroom and the kitchen. I can be in the kitchen & listen for the rinse cycle or go put the washed load in the dryer in the midst of cooking. Super convenient! It's just about keeping those hampers under control for me. We don't have space in the small laundry room for piles on the floor. The space I have is the space I have!😊
Take it there now is so helpful!
Congrats on new book
I'm the person who has to constantly tell myself, "Don't put it down, put it away."
It's the same thing, to me, as "take it there now." Because "there" is the same thing as "away." Again...to ME. I tell myself both every day and both work wonders.
Also, if I find myself not wanting to, I remind myself, "Dude, it'll take you two seconds. Just do it."
Now if only I could get myself to stop taking my glasses off randomly and then setting them down random places only to forget where I put them 30 seconds later...and "take it there now" or "put them away"...they have a home, but when I take them off to blow my nose or read fine print or something, I just...kinda...put them down close to me then continue on my way. I don't put them on top of my head (which I can't do anyway), they don't get hooked into my shirt collar...just set down the closest surface. And then I forget to put them back on until the blurriness annoys me too much, so then I'm stuck searching, half blind, for them. And, of course, I can't SEE to find them so I employ my children to help me. Sigh. I have got to figure out how to stop doing that.
Edit: typo
Had to tell myself this a couple times yesterday 🤔but it worked!
It's similar to "take it there now" 🤷🏻♀️ doesn't work for everything in my house, but yesterday's stuff had a home.
While listening to you I'm going through my pantry. I go through it every year and wipe down and tidy the items. I also write it down so I can meal plan from the list aswell.
I'm also preparing to declutter Christmas items I don't use and my office is in major need of help.
Omg 😂 I literally said out loud without missing a beat “to pee in” haha I have heard my grandmother say that phrase so many times 😂❤ Also Thank you for these videos
To the lady with the sister's pictures. Do you have another relative willing to take them? Did your mom leave any inheritance to use & hire someone to locate your sister and send them to her? Could you take them somewhere where someone could scan them to a disk or thumb drive that is easier for you to keep? Sounds like it meant something to your mom, so would be nice if you could get those pictures to your sister and I think you'd feel better about it.
For meal prep-Chicken breasts in the Instapot and then shredded in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. This hack has made a huge difference for me.
Re: the woman with the photos of her estranged sister...use a box or other storage container that you have room for. When she does come around, you can tell her that your mother asked you to hold onto this container so that you could return them to your sister. Yes, this is a white lie, but when she comes around, this will let her know that her mother cared about her enough to keep these photos and that you care enough to have followed your mother's wishes. "Is this all there are?" You reply, these are the ones that were special to her. This is softer than saying you only kept what you had room for which could be misinterpreted to be this is all the space you are worth.
Still working through the crafty playlist and loving it!
Dana Thank You so much great advice. I hope to get your new book
I have kids and husband that don't put it away. I try to put things away instead of down but can be hard with an almost 2 month old
Planning to preorder soon
Oh, tackle- it Tuesday.
Whoops, I thought you said Chocolate Tuesday!!!!😂
I could get on board with that.
Me too!!!🎉
I feel for the lady who cooks everything from scratch and her kitchen is an almighty mess. Same here, plus I don't like frozen stuff, so most of the time I cook single meals all from fresh ingredients. For me it's worth it for nutritional reasons. Good luck with keeping the good practice! 💜
Just wanted to say, if you are "helping" family members declutter and downsize and especially if you are the child, it can be very draining emotionally. If it's possible, I would gift them a few sessions with one of Dana's Coaches. Step back, and let an outside person, with zero attachment to their overwhelming stuff, show them Dana's proven methods and tools to get it out of their house.
Re: sister’s pictures; send them to a service that can transfer to computer storage card/s. Takes up only a small amount of space!! Use any money from the estate. In the long run you’ll feel better and get back hours of your life!!
?? How do you so quickly have a short version of a ?? to show on-screen when the ?? is submitted while you are "on air"??
I think she has an assistant
I believe she uses streamyard, and in streamyard you can select a chat comment and it puts it on screen, so it is limited to the 250 characters of a chat comment. You can do banners too, which is what she does with pre-submitted questions. That said, there are lots of other options with similar functionality that is cheaper than streamyard now that they raised the rates, so you might want to look at different options as they seriously got away from simplicity which was originally a core principle and made it easier to use.
???what to do when you have multiple bottles of different shampoo with an inch or so in each bottle?
Combine them. It's all just shampoo. Make a mixed shampoo of several kinds.
If you don’t like them, use them to clean the toilet or tub. It’s basically soap.
Container concept. Put away the ones you want and throw it the rest
@sarahwhite8194 Yes, I turn them upside down so the last little bit slides down to the top of the bottle and then I combine them.
Is $94 the sale price?
Yes.
What is a Doom Pile?
"DOOM" stands for "didn't organize, only moved". I don't know anyone who hasn't created a million of these piles, they're always a trap! LOL
Also Doom Box, Doom Basket, Doom Drawer, etc. This often happens (to me, anyway) before a move, when guests come over either expectedly and it's stuff that just hadn't gotten to or unexpectedly, on a day that I can't stand looking at stuff so I just chuck it all in a box and put it somewhere I can't see it...Doom is the bane of my existence. I've got dozens left to go through yet from this last move. We're moving again in less than 2 years and I am *DETERMINED* not to take a single one with. They *must. all* get gone through before then. I can't keep dragging this crap around to "deal with later." It's an anchor around my neck and I'm sick of drowning.
Procrastinators unite!
................tomorrow LOL
@@katie7748 ...tomorrow...haha
I think she could just mail the pictures to her sister and eliminate the need for storing them.
28:00 ✨🌷✨
💕🤗
Even nudists need a towel to sit on most places!
😂🤣😂💯