Latest / Uncluttered and Unfiltered: The Podcast For Women Over 50 / JANUARY IS GET ORGANIZED MONTH, SO CHRISTINE IS ANSWERING YOUR QUESTIONS!

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JANUARY IS GET ORGANIZED MONTH, SO CHRISTINE IS ANSWERING YOUR QUESTIONS! · Uncluttered and Unfiltered: The Podcast For Women Over 50

0:04
Welcome to Uncluttered and Unfiltered, the podcast urging
0:08
you to let it go and don't look back, with nationally acclaimed
0:12
professional organizer Christine Stone and self-proclaimed Hot
0:17
Damn Mess radio and TV personality Eden Kendall.
0:24
Welcome everybody to uncluttered and Unfiltered and Happy New
0:29
Year. Happy New Year 2025.
0:32
I'm ready. Are you ready?
0:33
I am ready. I think a fresh start is a good
0:36
feeling and this is the time of year you can figure out what you
0:41
aim to achieve and some of you aim to get more organized.
0:45
That's probably why January has been named Get Organized Month.
0:49
This is the time when your intentions are really good.
0:52
Yes. We'd like to help you with that.
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So obviously I'm not the person to help you.
0:57
This is me. Even Christine Stone,
0:59
professional organizer, is very interested in what it is that is
1:05
causing you a little stress in your life, what things you want
1:09
to address in the coming year. So we asked you, we have a, a
1:12
Facebook group called Ladies uncluttered and unfiltered
1:15
ladies only Facebook group. You join it and there's a post
1:18
there where you can comment and let us know the things that are
1:23
troubling you right now and have you would love to get some help
1:26
with them. So yes, we're going to do an
1:28
episode now where we address some of these things.
1:30
We'll do a second episode 2. We'll do Part 2.
1:32
And then also throughout the year, we will be consulting this
1:35
list. So don't feel unseen or unheard
1:39
if you don't hear about your comment in this episode, please.
1:43
First of all, I want to start off by saying I have read every
1:46
single one of them. Ladies, you are amazing.
1:49
That's all I'm going to say. And I've even read the comments
1:52
other ladies have made on some of the posts because I love to
1:56
hear some of the advice you're giving each other.
1:59
So I was really impressed with how many people really were
2:03
brave enough to share their struggles.
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It's. A phenomenal community.
2:07
It really is and you guys impressed me, so if I don't get
2:11
to yours today, it'll definitely be in another episode.
2:14
So like she said, I heard and I have seen all of these and keep
2:18
them coming because if this is something you guys really need
2:21
help with, we want to help. Exactly.
2:24
I'm here to play the role of you who needs the help because
2:28
Christine has organized me many times and that sounds like it
2:32
didn't take. But we've done different areas
2:34
and sometimes it slips the that's what happens.
2:37
That is a natural thing to have happened over years.
2:40
You need to just to judge things up a little bit.
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And that's what she's been doing for me.
2:44
Yes. So, so let's start.
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You've got a list here. Yes, it's a nice list.
2:49
Why don't you just tell us who it is and what their comment is
2:51
and what you how you want to respond?
2:54
OK, so the first one is Chris. Coincidentally, I'm struggling
2:58
with time to get stuff done. Getting organized for me would
3:01
require at least two people to keep me on track.
3:04
My husband is no help, which I hear that all the time.
3:07
I'm sure you do all the time because I deal with this on a
3:12
regular basis. People often think I have a
3:14
magic wand to make things just magically happen.
3:18
And for someone like this, when you're struggling to get stuff
3:22
done, number one, you definitely need someone who's going to come
3:26
help motivate and inspire you to do it.
3:28
If you cannot hot for a lot of people cannot afford to hire a
3:32
pet professional organizer. Although they're different
3:35
organizers that have different rates, so some of them are very
3:39
reasonable. So you really need to do your
3:41
homework and check around if you have an organized friend,
3:45
someone who loves helping with organization.
3:49
Next, it's so important and you're going to hear me say this
3:52
a lot. Don't start before you have a
3:54
game plan. If you don't have a game plan,
3:57
don't start. Because so many times people
4:01
start to get rid of things and then they go, OK, I just moved
4:04
it from one place to another. I where am I putting it?
4:07
Where am I getting rid of it too?
4:10
Then people come in your house, your husband and we'll pick
4:14
through it and want to put it back.
4:16
So when I say game plan, your game plan is you're going to
4:19
start with one area at a time and make sure that's totally
4:23
completed. So don't start with a major huge
4:27
project. Start with something small and
4:30
have your ducks in a row. Are you going to take it
4:32
somewhere? Are you going to consign the
4:34
items? What are you going to do with
4:36
them before you even begin? Because I will tell you, I walk
4:41
into a lot of houses where people had the best intentions
4:45
to start the whole organization process and it didn't go well
4:51
because there was not a plan in place.
4:54
So that's what I would tell her. And when you really are serious
4:58
about getting organized, you don't rely on a husband, a
5:02
family member, because they're emotionally attached to the
5:06
items and nothing will get done. Ladies, I'm telling you, if you
5:10
wanted to really get done, have someone who is not emotionally
5:15
attached to the items you're getting rid of, which would be
5:18
someone not in your family. So that's what I would say for
5:22
Chris. That is such a big important
5:26
thing to remember that starting small.
5:29
One junk drawer, 11 cabinet. One because I've.
5:34
Done this. I will take before BC before
5:39
Chris, I would take everything out of everywhere in the
5:43
kitchen. Now I've got a disaster on my
5:46
hands and I don't know where to put anything because I don't
5:49
know where everything else is going to go once I've taken the
5:52
spot up. So one place at a time.
5:55
And also, if you take all the glasses out or those Yeti cups,
6:00
whatever, and then your husband walks in the door and it's in a
6:03
box and he's what are you doing with that?
6:06
And you're like, it's old, it's cracked.
6:08
It's this, I can hear all these excuses.
6:11
I like it. I got that in such and such time
6:14
I was. Playing golf 25 years ago?
6:16
No. I can't believe you'd get rid of
6:18
that. No, it's not going.
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And then the arguing starts. Just avoid it.
6:23
Avoid that from even happening. I'm telling you so.
6:27
I'm that person in my house. My husband will do these purges
6:30
and I'm like let me look through everything first.
6:32
When he probably if he would have put it in the car, I would
6:36
have not. Exactly.
6:37
Five years maybe, I'd ask for. It exactly.
6:40
Maybe. So now I'm moving on to Beth.
6:43
I am struggling with the emotions that come from
6:46
decluttering. I start, I get overwhelmed by
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how much there is to do. And the reason why I wrote this
6:52
one down is because that's what happens.
6:56
You have such emotions attached to your things that to even
7:02
start, it gets you get nervous, you get anxious, you, you get
7:07
like frustrated. It doesn't need to be that way
7:11
because if you give the items that you don't use, you don't
7:15
love and most importantly, you don't have room to store and you
7:19
give them to somebody else who really needs them, would really
7:23
use them and maybe has really the the areas to store them,
7:28
whether it's a friend, a sister, your kids, whatever.
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Getting rid of items doesn't have to be so dramatic and so
7:37
sad if you really figure out that you're giving somebody else
7:41
something. A lot of times I donate items to
7:44
the homeless shelter. They love them, love them.
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It's almost like they're getting something totally brand new.
7:52
So whatever you donate someone else, it's new to them.
7:57
It's not old, so that's part of how you get away from the
8:03
emotional part of it. You have to rework your brain
8:06
into not thinking that it's a sad time, It's an emotional
8:10
time. It's really a happy time because
8:13
when you're done, you're going to be so relieved and happy and
8:17
glad that you let these items go and that somebody else will be
8:22
using those items. And if it's junk or trash, you
8:25
shouldn't miss it anyway. If it's not going to be donated
8:29
or consigned, you shouldn't be missing something that's meant
8:31
for the garbage. So.
8:34
I came across a collar, a little Christmas collar with a red bow
8:38
on it that Sky our dog used when she was a puppy and it doesn't
8:42
fit her anymore. And I thought, if I give it up
8:44
and we ever get another puppy at Christmas, they won't have a
8:47
collar that is. It's crazy.
8:50
It is great. There's probably a small dog in
8:52
my neighborhood that could wear it tomorrow, or not now, but
8:55
next year we're recording this at a time where they could.
8:58
But also, that's a good point and let me tell you why there's
9:02
the Humane Society that you can donate old towels and sheets.
9:07
They they would love old collars, old leashes.
9:11
Really start doing your homework, like I said previously
9:14
on where is this stuff going? And you won't feel bad about it.
9:18
You'll feel like you're helping somebody else instead of getting
9:22
rid of your stuff. Because you don't second guess
9:24
yourself when you do a good deed.
9:26
No way. So instead of looking at it as I
9:28
gave something away, look at it as shall I do this good deed?
9:32
So that's something too. OK, so now we have Caitlin and
9:36
it's you would think, well, you're just repeating this.
9:38
But the part I like, she says decluttering.
9:41
I just have to go room by room, which that part I did and get
9:44
rid of stuff and not hold on to crap and move it to a different
9:48
room, which that's the problem. You don't move it to a different
9:52
room. I've started, but it's
9:54
overwhelming and time consuming. So here's the thing.
9:57
I'm not going to lie to anybody out here, it is time consuming.
10:01
When you finally decide to declutter your home, it is not
10:04
something you do in 15 minutes. It's very rare.
10:08
Number one, I could do your house in a short amount of time
10:12
because number one, I've been doing it for years.
10:15
Number two, I'm not attached to anything, but you personally
10:18
would not be able to take your whole entire house and do it at
10:22
one time. So she is on the right track by
10:25
going room to room, but where is she?
10:27
What she's doing is shuffling crap.
10:30
I'll say that from room to room, which is really going to be.
10:34
Very frustrating to not do that. I see what you're saying.
10:41
She's currently doing that. She has to stop.
10:42
You're right, that is very much just procrastination, right?
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And when you move, like people will say, I don't need to
10:51
declutter, I just need to organize.
10:53
And I always say then you're not going to be happy when I leave
10:57
because we're just shuffling stuff around.
11:00
We're moving stuff. You're not really doing a
11:03
thorough job if you don't get rid of some items.
11:05
You don't have to get rid of anything.
11:07
But to really appreciate having a professional come in, you have
11:11
to purge and then organize. So she's on the right track that
11:15
you have to start small and take room by room.
11:18
But listen, Caitlin, have a game plan and then start your room by
11:24
room and block off the time. Set a timer like like Eden does.
11:28
She's the timer queen. I'm a timer gal.
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And set a timer. Say I'm going to give my or put
11:34
it in your calendar. OK, on Saturday for one hour, I
11:39
am going to declutter the guest room or I'm going to declutter
11:43
my bathroom. Give it an hour.
11:45
Have the garbage can ready to get rid of stuff.
11:48
Really, really take everything step by step.
11:52
OK. Carrie, Carrie and Kathleen I
11:55
put together because Carrie's issue was her desk drawers and
11:59
Kathleen was Home Office organization and Kim was Home
12:04
Office space shared between a day job, a side hustle, and she
12:09
has a shedding dog. Now I can help with everything
12:11
but the shedding dog because my dog sheds incredibly and it
12:14
drives me crazy. Home Office organization.
12:17
That became a huge issue during Covad because everyone was
12:21
working from home and a lot of people are still working from
12:25
home. I work from home a lot so I
12:27
totally get the struggle. The first thing you do with
12:31
anything just get your shredder out and shred any paperwork you
12:37
no longer need. A lot of stuff is digital now.
12:40
We don't have the paper problem we used to have.
12:43
So really clearing out all the old paper clutter.
12:48
Check how long you've had your bank statements and get rid of
12:52
them. If you have a lot, put them in a
12:55
huge banker's box, Bring them down to one of the big box
12:58
stores, UPS shreds, Staples, Office Depot, they all have
13:03
shredding. I personally myself once a year
13:06
on the thirty 30th, 31st, I go through my entire office with my
13:12
banker's box, put everything in there and then I go and I bring
13:16
it to one of those stores to shred because a personal
13:19
shredder. Sometimes you'll just burn it
13:21
out and it takes forever. Don't waste your time.
13:24
Then figure out what are you lacking in that office.
13:29
Do you need shelving? Do you need drawers?
13:33
Do you have a closet in there that you can convert like my
13:36
closet? My office is a file cab, a short
13:40
file cabinet, and a file cabinet that's just drawers.
13:43
I have shelving above those, but I created that.
13:47
I made that because that's what I needed.
13:50
We did a built in bookcase. You got to figure out what
13:54
you're missing, and a lot of people in an office is shelving
13:57
and drawers. One of the things you did early
13:59
on, we had just started the podcast and we had a listener
14:04
ask you about an office where her kids all do their homework
14:07
and she uses it as her office. And this wasn't something you
14:10
would recommend in every situation, but you suggested the
14:13
most incredibly creative thing, and that was bringing the desks
14:17
into the middle of the room and lining all four walls with
14:20
shelves. Yes, yeah, because you have to
14:23
use the space like she was saying, she is a day job and a
14:26
side hustle. You have to keep those separate
14:29
or else they get mixed up and it gets stressful and frustrating.
14:33
So really figure out what you need in order to create and you
14:38
don't have to spend a lot of money.
14:40
You can go to IKEA and get an inexpensive bookshelf.
14:43
You don't people think I can't afford that.
14:45
You can afford it if you do 1 little thing at a time.
14:50
You don't have to create the whole thing all at once.
14:53
For desk drawers, it's just so imperative to purge and have
14:57
drawer organizers. If you don't have drawer
15:00
organizers, you open that drawer and it's things that are just
15:04
thrown in there. I also am a big believer and
15:08
desktop collators to have your files on your desk that you use
15:14
all the time, pending items, bills to pay, orders placed, and
15:18
then also having a file box that you can move from place to
15:22
place. I have had mine, I have two of
15:24
them and they're amazing. You've really just have to look
15:29
at the space and really think how can I use this to work to my
15:33
advantage? OK, Julie is up next.
15:37
Julie, I think speaks for a lot of us in a lot of situations and
15:41
that is struggling to just get motivated.
15:44
It's a new year, so I hear you, Julie.
15:49
A lot of people that is their struggle is they just can't get
15:53
motivated to do it. And the reason I think people
15:56
can't get motivated to do it is because there isn't a reason to
16:00
get motivated to do it. A lot of my clients, which I've
16:03
told you all this before, there's a reason they call me
16:06
and they're downsizing, They're renovating a house.
16:10
They just had a baby, they got a divorce.
16:13
They're they just became a widow or a widower.
16:16
There's always a reason. So you may not be motivated now,
18:01
but trust me, everybody out there, there will become a time
18:04
when you don't have a choice. You won't have a choice.
18:08
And I've seen it all the way up to 90 year olds going into
18:12
assisted living, going from a big huge house into they need a
18:17
bed, a dresser, that's it. And so eventually, at some point
18:22
in your life, this stuff has got to go.
18:25
So why not do it when you're at a place in your life that you're
18:29
not being forced to do it? You know what always motivated
18:33
me to purge? Not the way that I purge now
18:36
that I know you, but neighborhood community garage
18:39
sales. When you knew there was going to
18:41
be one, it had a date, and then you suggested scheduling
18:46
donation pickups. So it's on your calendar.
18:49
Then now you have a deadline all created it.
18:53
Think where you can donate this stuff a church if you go to
18:57
church, churches love having those type of drives.
19:01
You could do any place that will take your stuff.
19:05
Also estate sales if you have antiques, if you have China and
19:09
crystal estate sales love this stuff.
19:13
So if you're a parent has died and you're like, what am I going
19:17
to do with all this stuff? Call an estate sale company and
19:20
they will come set up an estate sale for you.
19:23
I, I think there's just so many options.
19:25
People need to really do their homework and not get
19:29
discouraged. Let's talk about how that works
19:31
because I have. I've been to some estate sales
19:34
and at first I didn't quite understand what was happening
19:37
and why is that different than a yard sale.
19:39
With an estate sale, this company comes in and they take a
19:43
piece of the action. Yes they do.
19:45
But they're the ones who are there selling.
19:48
You're not going to have to to be in the house while everything
19:52
that your mother loved is walking out the front door with
19:55
some stranger. It's happening on your back.
19:59
You can turn around and donate your profits to charity if
20:02
that's what you think Mom would want you to do.
20:05
But also, what a lot of people don't realize about estate sales
20:08
is they sell everything. They sell the vacuum cleaner,
20:14
they sell the dishes, they sell the glasses in the cabinet, they
20:20
sell everything and they don't want you to be bothered with it.
20:23
They don't say, OK, now clean out your cabinet, put everything
20:26
they come in and do all, all of that for you.
20:30
So you don't need to get rid of anything before you call an
20:33
estate sale. They'll tell you what they will
20:36
and what they will not take. And so then you're only left
20:39
getting rid of the stuff they will not take.
20:41
So really it's an amazing thing if you have enough stuff to do
20:46
an entire house. That's the the route I would go
20:50
if it was an entire home. OK.
20:55
So now we have Kimberly. She has a long story, but I'm
20:58
just going to get to the end of it.
21:00
A lot of people, first of all, had a scrapbooking, arts and
21:04
crafts kind of issue, paints and papers and paint brushes, and
21:11
didn't want to throw or give away anything because they might
21:14
need it in the future. And she said she's not that type
21:18
of person that she wants to buy it again.
21:21
I have a very hard time with this and I need advice and help.
21:24
So here's the thing I first of all I love people who are crafty
21:28
because I am not. I don't have a crafty bone in my
21:32
body. So I get the struggle if you are
21:35
an artist or you like to paint as a side thing.
21:39
But if you are going to keep it you need to keep it organized.
21:44
If not, you need to let go of it and donate it to a homeless
21:49
shelter or a kids you know, area that they could use your paint
21:53
brushes in, your paint that's in good shape.
21:55
Your local elementary school. Yeah, an elementary school, and
21:58
nowadays teachers will take anything that's in good shape
22:03
because they need it. They don't have the funding to
22:05
get the stuff they need. So if you have like unopened
22:08
paint brushes or paint you never use or crafts because they use
22:12
crafts all the time in the lower School, that's where you want to
22:16
be donating those items and they'll be so appreciative.
22:21
What I find funny is I don't want to get rid of anything
22:25
because I what if I miss it? What if I miss it and I don't
22:30
want to have to go buy it again? And one woman said I did miss it
22:35
and I wished I wouldn't have gotten rid of it and now I have
22:39
to buy it again. When I tell you that is so rare
22:43
that someone misses something, I can't even tell you what happens
22:48
is you end up getting rid of things when you're in a hurry to
22:52
get to move out, to go into another area of your life.
22:57
Then you just throw out everything without even thinking
23:01
about it because you're in a hurry.
23:04
So I've talked about this so many times.
23:06
If you know you're going to move or downsize or move into an over
23:11
55 community, whatever it is, or a condo from a house, don't wait
23:18
until the week you're moving because you will throw out stuff
23:21
because you're like, Oh my God, I've got to be out in a week.
23:25
And so this will help you prevent from throwing out things
23:30
you want that you just tossed. So really give yourself, I
23:35
always say at least six weeks before you move, at least six
23:40
weeks if you can do longer and start the process room by room.
23:45
But if we're talking about things like let's say it's
23:47
special scissors or a certain kind of glue or this or that,
23:51
and you're like, what if I decide later in a year, 2 years,
23:55
that I want to do a project and then I have to go and rebuy it?
23:58
Look at that expense as the rent you've paid on the more space
24:02
you got for the year that it was not in your house.
24:04
Because holding on to something, I don't know why the human brain
24:08
does this, but holding on to something that's, for example, a
24:12
craft or a hobby item will just make you not interested in doing
24:16
that item, that craft or that hobby.
24:19
You just have to. If it's worth doing, you'll put
24:21
the work in and do it. I was telling you I was at my in
24:25
law 65th wedding anniversary and there was a woman there who who
24:29
heard I was a professional organizer and had said the thing
24:32
everyone says, Oh my God, I need you.
24:34
Which great, that makes me feel. And she has an antique French
24:39
set of iron pans like pots and pans.
24:45
And she has a convection stove, not gas.
24:47
And you can only use these type of pans on gas, but she's kept
24:52
them for years and years in her garage and everything else is in
24:58
her garage. And this is my point.
25:01
She could sell those are amazing pans that someone else would
25:06
want. But keeping everything in a
25:09
garage that you're not going to use because you may need it
25:12
someday and you don't have to repurchase it.
25:14
If you really sit and think about what you're saying, it
25:17
sounds not because you're taking up space and you're not
25:21
entertaining, you're not having people at your house, you're
25:24
avoiding everything because you can't deal with cleaning
25:29
anything out. And so you're not living your
25:31
life, you're just not living the present.
25:33
You're so worried about getting rid of something that you're not
25:37
living in it today and enjoying your life and it's just no way
25:41
to live. I can tell you that.
25:42
And I know from experience, because when people get rid of
25:46
things and I leave, they are so happy, so happy.
25:52
So I, I hope we've answered this question.
25:56
Like I said, I don't have a magic wand, but I know that if
26:02
it's something you need to repurchase other unless it's a
26:05
couch, it's not the end of the world.
26:08
And I really don't think you will miss what you have let go
26:12
of. I've never really heard of that
26:14
in all the years. I've been doing this for 15
26:16
years. So I, it was a rare thing, but
26:19
that's why I wanted to mention it because you got to talk about
26:21
everything. And so we have Elaine every year
26:26
I start off with January with cleaning, organizing one thing
26:29
every day. On a tough day, it may be a
26:30
purse shelf or a drawer, just one thing every day.
26:34
Elaine, you're my new best friend.
26:35
Can I just say that I. Love that philosophy.
26:38
And that's why I did this one, because she didn't have a lot of
26:43
stuff, but she made such sense. On a weekend.
26:46
It may be something more ambitious, a closet, a row of
26:49
cabinets. But every day I find time for
26:51
one thing. Additionally, when I sit down at
26:54
my laptop or even on my phone, I delete and unsubscribe to at
26:59
least 15 things before doing anything else.
27:02
Let me tell you, Elaine, you're is seriously just.
27:05
She's music to my ears. Oh.
27:07
Elaine. Ditto with everything Elaine
27:10
said it it. See how she's doing it though?
27:13
So manageable. Room by.
27:15
Room so you know that we that's a whole other thing and we've
27:20
talked about it here and there but yeah, it's the clutter
27:22
everywhere. It's digital clutter too.
27:25
I loved that. Thank you, Elaine.
27:27
Yeah, and what's funny is every single day for 5 minutes, I get
27:32
my coffee, I sit at my computer with my phone next to it, and I
27:36
unsubscribe to all some things that have come in that the junk
27:40
mail hasn't caught. I delete my junk mail and I make
27:44
sure everything's off my phone 5 minutes every day.
27:49
Because nowadays you have to do it every day because the amount
27:52
of spam that comes in and people are exhausted from it.
27:57
They're exhausted from it. So anyway, photos I I didn't
28:02
write the name down, I'm sorry. But photos I'm going to read
28:07
what she said. Those are tough.
28:08
I started scrapbooks for my girls when they were babies and
28:11
have yet to finish them. They now have children of their
28:13
own. My goal is to work on them in
28:15
the new year and give them completed albums for Mother's
28:18
Day. Another thing I love, although
28:20
like I said, I'm not crafty. Each kid had one page and then I
28:24
took out the pictures and threw the scrapbooks away.
28:26
So good for her. I have no more excuses.
28:29
I've gained my office space back and I'm semi retired with a
28:32
little more free time now. I've also realized I don't need
28:35
to not document every single event of their lives too.
28:39
I think this still might have been Elaine.
28:41
Anyway, another shout out. Amazing.
28:46
I love it. She's saying how she's gained
28:48
space back in her home. She's retired.
28:52
I love it. Love it.
28:54
It's amazing to do these type of things in small little batches
29:01
As you mentioned earlier though, because photos will drain the
29:06
life out of you if you do what I did the first time.
29:10
I tried to organize them, which is take them all out.
29:14
And I tried to even do that thing where you photograph each
29:17
page and it separates it up and puts it in the cloud and
29:19
everything. And let me tell you, that is
29:21
something I like your boxes methods.
29:23
We do have an entire episode if you want to go back and scroll
29:26
through about Christine's tried and true organization of photos
29:32
method. It's phenomenal.
29:34
One thing I can tell you for anyone out there listening
29:37
that's over 50 knows about paper photos, the old school photos.
29:43
And in my opinion, and I have a client I'm working with right
29:46
now and photos is the thing I'm doing the box method.
29:50
And if you don't do something simple, you'll never do it.
29:55
You'll never do it. So getting the lids that are
29:59
sealed to do no bugs, no mildew can get inside of them.
30:03
And sorting by children and sorting out and labeling the
30:09
boxes, sorting whatever way you want to sort it to make it work.
30:13
We did one box that was specifically Christmas because
30:17
we like to be able to. Then we know it's a set day.
30:19
Everything else was by I name, friends, extended family, each
30:25
child. But when we did the Christmas,
30:27
that was intentional because we want to be able to see
30:29
everything. You could see a progression
30:31
there. You can see a year by year, same
30:33
date, same theme and it has worked really well for us.
30:38
And that's the thing about photos.
30:39
Get different size containers. If you have stuff already in
30:43
albums, just put all the albums in one of the containers and
30:47
label them family photo albums. Don't try to go through each
30:51
album and it's too stressful. I wish I would have done that.
30:55
That would have been a lot easier.
30:56
But it was also a very fun family activity to have all the
30:59
boxes out and have the kids there.
31:01
This was this year and everybody would just, I had them all in
31:04
the dining room table and everyone would pick up photos
31:06
and they would just walk around and put him, put them in the
31:09
right box. And I said duplicates got to go
31:12
because Once Upon a time you got that second photo free and you
31:15
don't need to. And you're so lucky because you
31:18
had your kids there and your husband to help you.
31:20
A lot of people, their kids live out of state, so they can't come
31:24
and help them. So that's where putting just the
31:26
photo albums in a bin and labeling it family will come in
31:30
very handy. So also, and no one likes to
31:34
talk about this and I get it, believe me.
31:36
But God forbid something happens to you, how does anyone know
31:41
what anything is, where anything is?
31:44
If you don't label things, if you don't say Christmas photos
31:48
or each child's name, you want to make, in my opinion, things
31:54
that's a very traumatic time for your children.
31:57
You want to make selling your stuff, getting rid of your
32:00
stuff, taking your stuff is easy as possible for your kids.
32:05
You don't want them to go, God, this is going to be you come do
32:09
it. No, you do it.
32:10
You like a match? Yeah, yeah, you get the
32:13
dumpster. No, you get the dumpster.
32:16
So anyway, we're going to do a whole nother episode because we
32:20
had so many and I didn't get a chance to get to all of them,
32:24
but we will put up another one so you guys can comment under
32:29
that one on what do you need help with in 2025 in order to
32:35
get your life organized love? That so much so if you are not
32:39
yet knowledgeable about our Patreon page, that's where a lot
32:41
of the videos from Christine organizing me live.
32:44
So hang on, you're going to hear an announcement at the end about
32:48
all of the ways that you can be a part of our community.
32:51
But remember, if you have things that you no longer love, you no
32:54
longer need, you no longer use, you no longer have room for, you
32:58
can let them go. And please don't look back.
33:02
Thank you so much for joining us for this episode and before we
33:05
wrap up, here are a couple of ways you can support us and stay
33:08
connected. First, we invite you to join our
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33:13
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33:18
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33:41
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33:44
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33:46
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