Latest / More Organised Less Clutter / 249. How I cut my daily decisions in half with 4 signature habits
Transcript
- Narelle King: Welcome to More Organized Less Clutter, a podcast to empower individuals and neurodivergent families with practical, realistic tools to create a more organized, sensory-friendly, clutter-free, and intentional home that works with your lifestyle and brain, not against it. I'm Norelle King, a professional organizer and neurodivergent mum who understands the unique challenges of family life. I help people just like you simplify your space. Build sustainable organizational systems and create more breathing room physically and mentally. Every fortnight you'll hear solo episodes and guest conversations filled with practical strategies on decluttering, home organization, routines for neurodivergent families, mindful living, and how to build a home that feels safe, calm, and functional. You'll walk away with actionable takeaways you can implement even if you only have 10 minutes to spare. Ever stared at your wardrobe or opened the fridge and thought, hmm, I have nothing to wear and there is nothing to eat, even though both are completely full. If you're like me, you're just tired of making decisions. Today we're talking about signature habits and simple rules that quietly remove decisions from your day. If you're exhausted by tiny choices all day long, and if you feel like you're Brain is buzzing by 3 p.m. from a million decisions. What should I do? Then this episode is for you. Thanks for joining me for today's solo episode of More Organized Less Clutter, where I'll be sharing signature habits and simple rules that quietly remove decisions from your day. I want to start with like a simple equation. So there are many tiny choices which equal mental clutter, which equal less energy. for important things. And then you have decision fatigue. Most of us think of decision fatigue as something that happens with like big life decisions. But decision fatigue happens daily, especially with neurodivergent folk. You know, the big life decision, should I change jobs? Should I move? Should I start that business? But that fatigue often comes from tiny, repeated everyday choices. What to wear? What to eat, what to cook, what to buy for that present for your son's friend's birthday, what to order at a cafe, which workout do you do? Which email do you answer first? Each one of these small decisions adds up. So think about your typical day. So you wake up in the morning and you think, What should I wear? Maybe should I do some exercise before I eat my breakfast? Then it might be What am I going to have for breakfast? What do I need to pack for lunch? What's the best way to get to work? What is the timetable if you're catching public trans public transport? What should I reply to this text message I got last night? What should I do then for dinner? Plus, add in all those other ones that you may have if you also have kids that you're managing in the morning, and that is a whole lot of decision making. And it's actually no wonder that you're feeling overwhelmed and wiped out. It's because not because you're lazy or unmotivated, because your brain has been doing all that micro work all day long. So this episode I want to ask a really simple question. What if you just had a few choices? Not zero choices and not a boring life where there's no choices, but just fewer decisions in areas that you don't need your creativity so you can have more energy for the ones that you do want to make a decision about, the bigger ones. And that's what we call signature habits and even simple rules. So I'm going to go through a few different ways that you can think about signature habits and simple rules in your life. So I have four ideas of signature habits or simple rules that you could implement in your life. So number one is what is the one default outfit for each situation you have? So when you're going to work, have you got a few different things that actually maybe go together? And this is sort of like your default work options. I do for work, I have ⁓ jeans and the souk pants that I wear for work, and I have a couple of t-shirts and then a couple of jumpers that match for each of those. Depending on the pants, whether they're the black pants or whether they're jeans. So for me, it's that one default option for certain reoccurring events. So work is reoccurring every day for me, and having almost like a uniform really helps to reduce the decisions. I'm not standing there going, what should I wear? Even down to shorts and leggings that I go and do exercise in and I walk or go to the to yoga in, they are a default option. That I go straight to. Maybe you would have a default thing for going to the school run and it might be your pajamas underneath a trench coat and a scarf thrown on. Or maybe it's for meetings that you have a particular look. And instead of asking, what should I wear every single time? The question disappears. The rule is then making the decision for you. So there's less friction when you're getting dressed. That means it's quick and almost automatic. It is automatic for me now for my exercise. as well as for my work days. And I do find then on the weekend I do so much harder to make decisions because there's so much more that I can choose from. Less delay. So you're not going to procrastinate going to the gym because you know exactly what outfit you're going to be wearing. It's easier just to show up. It means that there's just less excuses. So if the you know the leggings are your default, you're going to just put them on straight away and grab a t-shirt. It means that you're going to have a clearer wardrobe. Over time, you keep what you actually wear instead of what you might wear. And it's not about perfection. It's about removing one micro decision from your day. So think of one activity you do weekly that you could have a set uniform or a default option for. It could be the gym, exercising, maybe it's going to school, drop-off, might be going to daycare drop-off, or it might be a class or a hobby that you do regularly. Have a think and maybe come up with one uniform. Idea two is categories for menus. So instead of deciding from every recipe in the world, decide on categories for each day of the week. This has been fantastic for my family, but also for myself. So I'm not thinking what are we going to have for dinner? I'm actually thinking it's Monday. That means until you night. What's the Italian thinking that we're going to have on Monday night? So some of the categories that I've used over the years, and they do change because it depends on what night you were getting home. It depends on the activities we were doing after school. Even when the kids were playing sport regularly, we sort of had more like pastor Italian night was on a Tuesday because they played sport Friday night. So some of the ideas are Mexican. It could be Asian inspired, barbecue, grill. Easy meals, leftovers or a freezer night, fun takeaway night, maybe roast or a family favorite. So it within that category, you can still be creative. So for example, if it was a tone, you could have pizza, pasta, risotto, noki, a big salad with facasha, so many options. With Mexican, it's like tacos, burrito bowls, ⁓ nachos, so many options again, and you can be really creative. Same with Asian. stir fries, curries, noodles, fried rice. These are all the things that we have within our. So I actually have them written out and that way that when I say it's Italian, people can just go and have a look and make a decision as to which one we already have the ingredients for or also what they feel like. Now the benefits is that the grocery shopping has become so much more simple and I know the types of ingredients. So I actually have those base ones in our cupboard so that The list is pretty easy to make each week. It also means that there's no what's for dinner question. The day of the week already narrows it down for us. And so if we haven't got organized, at least we know, okay, Tuesday taco night, what ⁓ or Tuesday Mexican rather than taco because not everyone in our family likes tacos. It means that there's less waste because we're just repeating categories. We're more likely to actually use what we buy. And Also, it's easier to get everyone in the family involved in it, is probably the reason I started it many years ago, maybe 10 years ago. And it means that my kids were involved and they would list under each category their favorites, and they would choose once a week one meal. So it's so much easier than starting from scratch. So yourself, you could think of three themed dinner nights that would suit your family. It could even be something like, Meatless Monday or as I said, Taco Tuesday, or stir fry Wednesday, Slow Cook Sunday. There's so many different options. Now, ID three is categories for clothes. So instead of giving activities the uniform, you could give each day a clothing category. Now, obviously with my job, I can't really do that to the same state as what I would have done when I was teaching. This was one I really liked doing when I was teaching. So when you're not starting with a blank Slate every morning. You already decide the type of clothing for that day. So how it would look would be say Monday skirt day, Tuesday, pants day, Wednesday, dress day, Thursday, jeans day, Friday, fun day. So if you have a theme and then that's that vibe, it could even be instead of being so specific about that, it could be Monday is comfortable but polished, Tuesday is bright colour, Wednesday is layers. Thursdays all natural tones and Friday's fun accessories. So when you wake up, you're not asking what should I wear for my entire wardrobe. It's like it's skirt day. So which skirt do I feel like wearing? So the benefit is reducing that what should I wear loop in your head. You're already cutting down those options. Maybe it helps you to notice the style that you're doing, because you're actually then working out. Actually, I don't have any skirts. That's not going to work for me, or I only have one skirt, and I don't actually really like wearing those. So it may help you to refine your actual wardrobe. It's definitely helped me with my shopping, so future shopping, you're just more likely to look at what the weekly rhythm is instead of that is random pieces. And it makes getting dressed just so much easier and quicker when you're choosing from a category and not your entire wardrobe. So maybe think about for you two days of the week. Decide on a clothing category that would work for you. Maybe it's that Monday pants, Friday fun day, and just start small and see if that's the option for you, or it might be like mine, which is more of a uniform for my activities instead. The final idea is signature things. So this is one of my favorite is I have signature things. A signature is your go-to choice that removes the decision making. It's the thing that people start to associate maybe with you, and it also just helps to lower the pressure. So you could have signature gifts, signature clothes, signature drinks, ⁓ even signature routines. So for me, signature gifts, so you think of one gift you almost always give. It might be like a candle that you love, a beautiful simple book you keep giving, a voucher. for a favorite local restaurant or cafe. For me, there is a couple of things that I have adopted and one of them's a book, this beautiful book that I have been giving to some friends. Also for 50th last year, we were also giving a voucher for a particular jewelry place that has recycled jewelry, which has been fantastic and people have really appreciated that gift as well. It might be the signature clothes. This is your go-to outfit for most events. It could be a dress that always makes you feel, you know, put together. Maybe it's a blazer and jeans combo that's best for you. I know for myself I love wearing jeans, so that would definitely be my signature thing. Jeans, t-shirt, maybe even a shirt. I might add some jewellery just to make it dressier, or maybe it'll be my shoes that'll change to make it just a little bit different, but still it is generally jeans is one of my signature outfits that I wear. Maybe it's a matching set. looks intentional. And then the next one is signature drinks. So this is one is actually really helpful. I have a default drink when I go to a cafe and it is a English breakfast tea with almond milk. And preferably I would like that in a pot, but some days it's only comes in a cup and it's just the tea bag. So it might be non-alcoholic, it might be you also an alcoholic drink. It might be your favorite coffee and how you have it. But when you walk into a cafe or bar, you're not scanning the whole menu every time. You just order your signature drink. Or unless you're really feeling ⁓ adventurous, then you might choose something different. But you have that signature option to start with straight away. I know even for my kids, they do. They have signature drinks, like a a juice, particular juices that they both will go to, or it's like a hot chocolate. So signature drinks help again, like reduce those decision making It makes it just obvious and you create that recognizable you. So people start to even maybe know what you like and your tastes and stuff. It's less stress. You're not going to make that perfect choice every time, but you know that that's something that you're going to enjoy. It eases the perfectionism. Good enough and it's done before you then have your standards about what the actual thing should have looked like or should be. And it just makes life simpler. So think about your signature gift or maybe a signature outfit or a signature drink and just think about which one of those you'd like to do as your action. So let's just do a quick recap. Tiny choices add up and they drain your energy. So having things like a default outfit for certain situations just simplifies getting ready. Having meal categories. gives you variety within the structure, but also makes that what's for dinner so much easier every day. Maybe clothing categories by day. So shrink that decision space each morning and just have a category for each day. And the final one was our signature gifts, outfit and drinks. So it becomes your go-to choice that reduces decision making and maybe also just expresses who you are. You don't need a perfectly organized life You just need a few simple rules and signature habits that quietly remove decisions from your day. Thanks for listening to More Organized Less Clutter. If you try one of these ideas, a dinner theme, a clothing category, or a new signature drink, I'd love for you to jot it down and share them with someone else. This is going to then help you to be accountable for it. And then share it with me on social media so I can see some of these amazing ideas. Thanks for listening to More Organized Less Clutter. If you find yourself wasting precious time searching for misplaced items and wishing for a more organized life, then you need my 5-minute declutter ebook, the ultimate guide to quick and easy organizing solutions for a clutter-free and happy home. Forget about spending months commaring your house. These fun solutions are designed to give you immediate results in under 5 minutes. Head over to Simply Happy in the resource section and download your free copy and start seeing results in minutes. I'd like to acknowledge the Wotherong people of the Kulin Nation on which this podcast is recorded as the traditional custodians of the land. I pay my respects to their elders, past, present and emerging.