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The Psychology Behind Clutter

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The Psychology Behind Clutter

white couch on wooden floor

Over the years, we’ve found that clutter and disorganization in a home is often a source of embarrassment for our clients. It’s time to change that mindset! You are not defined by your messy pantry or the garage you can’t fit your car into. Most of us have an abundance of reasons why we haven’t gotten a handle on our clutter (yet!)—whether it’s time, ability, a family member who tears through freshly organized spaces like a tornado, or one of many psychological reasons for holding onto the clutter. In this blog, we unpack five of the most common psychological causes for accumulating clutter and share helpful strategies to move past them.

Fear

Fear is one of the biggest obstacles to letting go of excess items. Many people worry that getting rid of items with sentimental value will cause them to forget the past. Others fear that if they part with an item, they will eventually regret their decision. This fear of future regret can paralyze a person as they are attempting to clear out the clutter. Another way that fear shows up in decluttering efforts is when people are afraid of what other people (both living and those no longer with us) will think about our choice to part with an item. Understanding what you are afraid of is the first step in figuring out how to navigate this extremely powerful and controlling emotion.

Sentimentality

Objects can hold sentimental value even if you no longer want or need them. Maybe you are holding on to an object not because you love it, need it, or use it, but because you simply remember where you got it. Or maybe you have something that is broken beyond repair—but because a loved one gave it to you, you feel like you should keep it. But would the person want you to hold on to the broken thing? Will you really lose your memory of the person or your connection with them if you get rid of it? Are there ways to hold on to the memory of the person or the experience (perhaps through photos, conversations, or journaling) that can strengthen the memory without taking up space? Remember that the past is stored in memories and photos—not objects.

Safety and Comfort

Most people have a strong psychological pull towards safety and comfort—and some of us focus on objects as the source of that safety and comfort. This sometimes stems from childhood scarcity, or even just hearing stories about the scarcity experiences of others. You can see this play out when people have extras of seemingly everything on hand, including items that would be a stretch to need multiple versions of. For these folks, it feels like a risk to get rid of something you might need in the future. What if there is another pandemic and you need 700 rolls of toilet paper? What if you suddenly lose or gain 10 pounds and need those clothes that haven’t fit in a decade? It’s okay to have a cushion to make yourself feel secure, but if your extra things are making it impossible to make room for the people and activities you love, it might be time to let go of the excess.

Indecision and Procrastination

Think about decisiveness as a continuum. On the one end, you have people who quickly make a judgment on something and then never look back. On the other end, you have people who hem and haw about every last decision. Perhaps they are writing extensive pro and con lists—or maybe they are just refusing to make a decision. Clutter is often just a sign of indecisiveness. Instead of making a decision, you just put the item in your closet or shove it back in a drawer. Do you have any DOOM piles in your home? DOOM stands for “Didn’t Organize, Only Moved.” These are stacks of papers or a box of items that you move around, but don’t actually confront. The first step toward handling your indecision is understanding that your indecision is what’s stalling your progress! Bring in a trusted (and opinionated!) friend to sit with you and help you sort through your stuff. Use our tried-and-true method to help bring clarity to what you should keep and what you can let go.

Depression and Anxiety

While most of the psychological reasons we’ve discussed so far are common and not concerning, it is important to note that sometimes an inability to deal with clutter is caused by depression, anxiety, and other more serious conditions. If that sounds like that might describe you, we encourage you to show compassion and care for yourself by reaching out to a trusted professional.

As you think about where you are in your organizing journey, we hope that learning about the psychology behind the clutter will help you self-reflect—and then make an action plan. And if you ever need help simplifying your Hive, you know you can call in the Bees!

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The Seven Organizing Profiles

seven organizing profile icons

Over the last decade, we have spent thousands of hours working closely with clients as we untangle the chaos in their lives. Our Bees recognize that in order to get to the heart of a clutter problem, we need to understand what is preventing folks from getting and staying organized. We developed the Organizing Profiles to give our organizers (and you!) a head start in figuring out the relationship between you and all of your stuff. You can find out which profile most closely represents you by taking our short Profile Quiz! Understanding the relationship between you and your clutter can BEE the first step toward finally taming the disorganization in your home.

1The Space Giver

Space Givers are people who frequently give up their storage space for others. Whether it’s keeping a few crates for your sister, letting your neighbor store their excess in your shed, or allowing your grown children to keep all of their memorabilia in their childhood bedroom even though they now own their own home, Space Givers have a hard time saying no to requests for storage. For Space Givers, the clutter relationship is not with the items, but with the owners of the items.

If you are in the habit of prioritizing others’ needs over your own, it can be a challenge to give yourself permission to reclaim your space. But if you want to get control of your clutter, you will need to have conversations with the owners of the items you are storing to make a plan and timeline for when they can reclaim their stuff—so that you can reclaim your space!

2 The Memory Keeper

Memory Keepers tend to be deeply sentimental and nostalgic, and they hold on to items as a way of preserving family history and precious memories. They worry that getting rid of an item that has emotions attached to it will erase the memory—or that they’ll feel guilty about letting things go that have sentimental value. For Memory Keepers, the clutter relationship is not with the items, but with the memory they represent.

If you are a Memory Keeper, try to remind yourself that if everything is special, then nothing is special. Give yourself permission to hold on to those items that are most meaningful to you, and let go of those things that you feel obligated to keep but bring you no happiness.

3 The Money-Minded

If you are the kind of person who hates throwing away things because it feels wasteful, you just might fit into this category. Our Money-Minded folks are cost-conscious and try not to spend money—even on things that really need an update. We find that they often feel guilty getting rid of unused items, so they hold onto things on the off-chance that someday, somewhere, somehow, they’ll be able to put the items to use. For the Money-Minded, the clutter relationship is not with the items, but with the money that was spent on them.

If this describes you, ask yourself if you would truly miss the item if it was gone—how often do you actually use it? If you don’t still love, need, or use the item, it’s okay to let it go. Maybe you can even sell it to recoup some of its cost!

4 The Just-In-Caser

Are you one of those people who other people turn to in an emergency—the neighbor that has every conceivable tool in their garage or appliance in their kitchen? Do you hear yourself consider getting rid of something but then decide to keep it just to be on the safe side? If you are always planning ahead for hypothetical needs and wants, you might be a Just-In-Caser. For our Just-In-Casers, the clutter relationship is purely circumstantial, not personal.

As we like to tell our clients, “Store things at the store!” Do you really need to stockpile items that aren’t relevant in your life right now? When was the last time you actually needed that 16th folding chair or the gourmet sandwich press? Prioritize your time, money, and space for your current reality rather than what might happen.

5 The Acquirer

Do you find yourself picking up items simply because they’re a great deal or because something caught your eye in the moment? Acquirers love shopping—it’s fun, exciting, and rewarding. But sometimes, the joy comes from the act of acquiring rather than from the actual items themselves. This can lead to an overwhelming amount of stuff that doesn’t always have a clear purpose or place. For Acquirers, the relationship is not with the items, but with the thrill of the hunt.

If you’re an Acquirer, try to focus on quality over quantity. Before bringing something new into your home, ask yourself whether you really need it or if you already own something similar. Being mindful about what you buy can help you enjoy the thrill of the hunt without accumulating unnecessary clutter.

6 The Crammer-Jammer-Stacker

Your home looks neat and tidy—until someone opens a drawer, a closet, or (heaven forbid) the garage. Crammer-Jammer-Stackers are masters of the quick clean-up, tucking things away wherever they’ll fit. While this method might make a space look organized, there’s usually no system in place, which can lead to frustration when trying to find things later. Over time, this type of clutter can become stressful and overwhelming—even if it’s mostly out of sight. For Crammer-Jammer-Stackers, the clutter relationship is burdensome and overwhelming.

If you suspect you might be a Crammer-Jammer-Stacker, ask yourself whether this system is working for you! Is your system wasting your time and money and causing you extra stress? Instead of stashing things wherever they fit, try to tame the chaos one space at a time. That will allow you to feel a sense of calm, not dread, when you open that drawer or closet.

7The Aspirer

Aspirers are dreamers. They have big plans for the future—whether it’s learning to paint, taking up golf, or starting that strength-training program your friend told you about. Because of this, they tend to accumulate items that represent their future selves rather than their current reality. If your house is filled with unopened craft supplies, unused gym equipment, or stacks of books waiting to be read, you might be an Aspirer. With Aspirers, the clutter relationship is not with the items, but with the potential that those items represent.

If you think you might be an Aspirer, give yourself grace. It’s utterly wonderful to have aspirations and goals, but it’s also okay to change your mind. Before holding onto something indefinitely, ask yourself whether holding on to the item makes you feel inspired or guilty? Instead of keeping physical reminders of who you want to be, consider creating a vision board or a goal list—and hold off on purchases until you have blocked out the time and mental energy to begin!

Understanding your organizing profile can be the first step toward creating a home that feels more functional, peaceful, and you. The key is recognizing the patterns that keep you stuck in clutter and making small, intentional changes that help you take control of your space. And if you ever need help simplifying your Hive, you know you can call in the Bees!

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The Sweet Rewards of BEEing Organized

Not a day goes by that we don’t see or hear about some sort of trendy new life hack. But we know that we have the ULTIMATE life hack—the process and habits to help you live an organized life! The research is in and it’s crystal clear that getting and staying organized has immense positive effects on almost every aspect of our lives. We have worked in countless homes across the country and have witnessed first-hand the transformation of our clients’ well-being when they finally tame the chaos in their lives.

While the benefits of getting organized are too numerous to count, we can put many of them into four major buckets: Happiness, Time, Health, and Financial Rewards. Let’s dig deeper!

The Happiness Reward

The simple truth is that when your home is well-organized, your happiness increases. People with organized homes report feeling less stressed and a deeper sense of satisfaction about their home. In fact, research by a team at UCLA found that excess clutter causes people to feel stressed out, anxious, and depressed. Whether it’s avoiding the panicked search for missing objects or enjoying the sweet serenity of walking into your bedroom and finding everything in its place, the effects of a decluttered space are both proven and profound. In addition, those folks who maintain an organized living space tend to have fewer interpersonal conflicts AND keep their social connections strong by being able to confidently invite the people they care about into their home. Putting the effort into getting and keeping your home organized will give you the boost of happiness and well-being that you deserve.

The family of four making dinner together

The Time Reward

The less time you spend looking for things, the more time you have for the people and activities that matter the most to you. Not only can you easily find what you are looking for, but an organized space also reduces irritating distractions so that you are more efficient with all of your tasks. Picture yourself cooking a meal in your kitchen. If you are working with an organized refrigerator, pantry, and spice rack (or better yet, a meal plan!), you will quickly see what ingredients you have to work with and what should be used up first. And if your countertop is clean and your utensils are where they should be, your cooking will go faster and more smoothly. No clearing off space to make room for your cutting board, searching multiple drawers for your favorite peeler, or wasting food hidden in the back of the fridge. No getting distracted by the stack of mail on the counter, take-out sauce packets stashed in random places, and not one, not two, but THREE open containers of ketchup in the fridge. When your space is organized, every movement you make is more efficient—and it all adds up to a huge amount of time that you can bank for more important things each week. An organized space saves you time by letting you focus on the task at hand and reducing the time you spend dealing with barriers that are just slowing you down!

Open drawer with organized eating utensil

The Health Reward

We all deserve to live long and healthy lives, but our cluttered lifestyles are putting up roadblocks to make it harder. It sounds dramatic, but it’s true! When your bedroom is the storage room for everything you don’t know what to deal with, study after study shows that the quality of your sleep declines. When your living room is too cluttered to safely unroll a yoga mat or do a jumping jack, you have one more barrier that keeps you from adding a quick workout to your routine. When your kitchen is chaotic and cluttered, are you really going to prep healthy lunches for the week or experiment with new recipes? An organized home helps knock down countless barriers to building healthy habits that will benefit you for a lifetime.

The Financial Reward

The fourth Sweet Reward of getting and staying organized is all about money! How many times have you been unable to find something that you know you’ve already purchased (a charger? softball socks? cumin? bug spray?) and so you have to buy it again? Each and every duplicate purchase wastes your money in addition to your time. All this extra stuff has to end up somewhere, which is why nearly 40% of Americans rent storage units at an average cost of about $2,000 per year. Think about how getting rid of your excess clutter can help you reign in your spending in other parts of your life. Getting organized can help you stay on top of bills and deadlines which can help you avoid all sorts of late fees and other penalties. And getting a handle on the minimalist mindset we wrote about recently can help you reduce impulse purchases and be more thoughtful about what things and experiences deserve your money.

So there you have them—the Sweet Rewards of BEEing Organized! Hopefully, this reminder gives you the motivation you need to make some long-lasting changes. But if you ever need help simplifying your Hive, you know you can call in the Bees!

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Making the Minimalist Mindset Work for You

Open drawer with pack of napkins

Minimalism?! Isn’t that when people randomly get rid of all of their stuff and promise to never buy anything again? Or where people completely deprive themselves of every possible indulgence and impulse? And don’t you need to have all-white walls, zero decorations, and only wear reclaimed clothing?

Take a deep breath and suspend your skepticism for just a few short minutes! In this article, we are talking about the minimalist mindset—a way of thinking that can help you be more intentional about what you purchase, what you keep in your home, and how you spend your time and money. We are talking about intentionality, NOT deprivation! We are talking about one (very flexible) method of prioritizing your space, time, and money to elevate the things and people that matter the most to you.

What is the minimalist mindset?

One of the founders of the modern minimalism movement, Joshua Becker, describes minimalism as intentionally living with only the items that support your purpose. In other words, the minimalist mindset can help you focus on what’s most important to you rather than becoming distracted and bogged down by excess things, events, and obligations. The idea is to focus on finding joy and contentment with what you already have, rather than mindlessly pursuing the latest consumer trend on Instagram. The minimalist mindset encourages you to make purchases with purpose, rather than impulse. And instead of just living with the clutter around you, a minimalist mindset can help you see with more clarity what you can part with to make more room for what matters to you.

What are the key benefits of minimalism?

If you’ve been following Bee Organized for any length of time, you know that clearing away your clutter has numerous benefits, including:

  • increasing your happiness and feelings of well-being while reducing your anxiety
  • giving you more of your most precious resource—time—by reducing the amount of time you spend looking for lost objects, cleaning and dusting, and trying to be productive amidst the chaos
  • improving your physical and mental health by removing hiding spaces for dust and allergens, reducing stress, improving sleep, and much more

Adding a minimalist mindset to the mix can help you save precious financial resources by encouraging you to be more thoughtful before making purchases. Focus your purchasing power on those items and experiences that match up well with your life priorities—and save yourself from the headaches that come with impulse purchases.

Practical steps to get started!

There is no single correct method of bringing more of a minimalist mindset into your life. In this section, we’ve rounded up a few of our favorite pieces of advice for wrapping your brain around this new way of thinking:

  • Take some time to assess your current lifestyle. Ask yourself what feels cluttered either physically or mentally. Is it your bedroom? Your social calendar? Your shopping habits? Whatever part of your life is causing the most angst is the best place to start. Then you can use that successful momentum to keep rolling into other parts of your life!
  • Use our famous Power Purge to make instant headway on clearing the clutter out of a specific space. Remember to start small so that you don’t get overwhelmed!
  • Practice mindful consumption in whatever way works best for you. Don’t just add things to your literal or virtual cart. Stop and consider whether you need this item, whether you have something already that would fit the bill, where you will keep it, whether you will still be glad you bought it a month or a year from now.
  • Try a 30-day declutter challenge, where you conscientiously remove something from your home every day for a month. Or make a pact with yourself that every item you bring into the home must be matched by two items that you remove from the home.
  • Get rid of your duplicates! In our experience working with clients, homes tend to accumulate multiple versions of the same things beyond any point of reason—think extension cords, vases, charging cords for obsolete technology, grocery bags, travel mugs, baseball caps, and more.
  • Embrace quality over quantity. How many times have you bought multiple of something when you only need one because it seemed like a good deal? The goal isn’t to ban all incidents of buying multiples—it’s to normalize the idea of stopping and actually thinking about whether buying extra is a good use of your money and storage space. Does it match with your priorities for your life?

What is standing in your way?

We know that it can feel overwhelming to start the minimizing process. If you haven’t made any attempt thus far to organize or declutter your home, looking around at all that you’ve accumulated can stop people in their tracks before they even start. We hear this a lot, which is why we rounded up our best advice for getting started into a five-step process.

We also know that it’s difficult for many folks to adopt a minimalist mindset because we are living in an age of consumption like no other! We are constantly bombarded on our various screens and in real life with social pressure to buy, buy, buy—whether we need the items or not! Find confidence in your own choices about how you want to spend your money, and what items you want to invite into (or out of) your home.

As you get started, understand that decluttering can be a very emotional process. Even objects that only have negative feelings attached to them (like guilt or stress) can be difficult for people to dismiss from their home. This recalibration of your emotional relationship with things takes time and practice. Give yourself grace as you work toward prioritizing the things, people, and experiences that bring you the most joy.

Remember that YOU have ownership over your life and your priorities, and therefore YOU get to have a major say in how objects and clutter and consumerism take up space in your mind and home. Make a plan to bring a more minimalist mindset into the new year—and if you need help simplifying your hive, you know you can call in the Bees!

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Reset, Recharge, Reuse!

January falls at such a complicated time. It’s a time of hope and excitement for the new year and all of the events and opportunities that will unfold. And for many of us, it’s a time for a bit of belt-tightening as we tally up the expenses and extravagances of the last few festive weeks. January is the perfect time to reset your home for the new year, recharge your social battery (and bank account), and find ways to reuse what you already have.

Reset!

Now that the excitement of the holiday season has come to a close, it’s time to reset your spaces to prepare for the months ahead. You’ll need to find new homes for the gifts you received, pack up your holiday decorations, and attempt to get back some semblance of order in your home after the gauntlet of travel, celebrations, and house guests. If you need a reminder about our reset philosophy, take a peek at our recent blog post on the subject!

As you are resetting your home, it’s also time to reset your budget. You are not alone if you spent a bit more than you intended this holiday season—in fact, 70% of Americans report that they go over their holiday shopping budget. This is the sign you are looking for to get back to your regular spending patterns! As you restore order to your budget, remember that getting and staying organized is a fabulous way to keep your budget in check.

Recharge!

While the holiday season brings joy and connection, it can also bring loads of stress. According to research by the American Psychological Association, nearly 90% of Americans feel stressed during the holidays. Be mindful of saying yes to social engagements in January—many of us have overtaxed our social battery with travel, houseguests, and holiday celebrations.

In addition to recharging your social battery, look for ways to recharge your bank account! Some of our clients swear by a No Spend January, while others look for different methods of righting their financial ship. One simple way is by challenging yourself to eat primarily from your freezer and pantry for the next month. Itemize what you have and build your meal plan each week accordingly—now is the time to find a recipe that uses up a few cans of those garbanzo beans you’ve been hoarding or that flank steak that’s just chillin’ in the deep freeze. You can even experiment with plugging your ingredients into a recipe match maker to help you use what you have without running to the grocery store.

Reuse!

We know we say this a lot but it’s worth repeating: You don’t need to buy a bunch of gimmicky items to get yourself organized. Most of the products out there are going to just add more clutter rather than help you remove clutter from your homes! Reuse what you already have and don’t forget to take advantage of neighborhood free groups on Facebook (just search for your city’s name and the words “Buy Nothing” to find your local group).

There are so many ways to extend the life of items that have already been purchased. What if this is the month you actually collect the various clothing items that need to be mended (a stuck zipper or a fraying hole or a fallen hem), googled the closest alterations shop, and expanded your closet without adding new items? Or what if you and a few friends sorted through your closets and got together to swap clothing (or decorations or dishes!)? Not only do you get a few new-to-you items, but you also make progress in ushering excess clutter out of your home.

We hope the patterns you establish at the beginning of this new year help you make room for the people and activities you love in the coming months. And, as always, if you’d like that expert touch in helping you streamline your home, you know you can call in the Bees!

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Saying NO to Holiday Perfection Means Saying YES to What Matters!

Bee Organized Gift card

A central part of the Bee Organized mission is to help you simplify your life so that you can carve out time and space for the people and activities that mean the most to you. No month is more fully jam-packed than December with its infinite activities, shopping, chaos, and pressure for perfection. As you think about the dozens (hundreds?) of tasks before you this holiday season, we want you to consider whether you really have to do it ALL! In fact, we’ve brainstormed the following list to help give you permission to let go of some of the holiday chaos.

Nine Things You Have Permission to Say NO to this Holiday Season

  • Giving ALL the Gifts. For many people, this is the first place to look when you are trying to streamline your holiday season. Think about ways to cut back or simplify your shopping and giving. Maybe this is the year to focus on giving experiences (think tickets and memberships) instead of objects. Perhaps this year you can give group gifts to couples and families on your list instead of multiple smaller items. Maybe instead of finding unique gifts for every teacher and party host, you buy several copies of one great gift (assorted teas? a fancy cookie tin? a seasonal candle?) that would work for a variety of folks. You have permission to simplify gift-giving in whatever way makes the most sense for you this year! For more simple gift giving inspiration, check out Feel Good Holiday Tips.
  • Every Single Social Invitation. Some holiday get-togethers fill you with joy and connection … and some are utterly exhausting and bring nothing but stress about what to wear and what to bring as a gift for the host. But you don’t have to go to everything you are invited to this holiday season. You have permission to only go to the events that feel right to you—and send your regrets to the rest.
  • Holiday Cards. Some of us relish the tradition of picking the perfect card design, writing out addresses, sticking on dozens of stamps, and depositing a large stack of holiday cards in the mail. If this is you, keep sending the cards! But if it’s just one more thing taking precious hours when you are already short on time, skip it this year. Send an email instead or just post your cute family photo on social media. You have permission to let it go (and spend that $0.73 per stamp on something else!).
  • Outdoor Lights. Elaborate lighting displays can add excitement to your street—but for some of us, they are just one more thing to buy, manage, maintain, and store. What if you didn’t precariously stand on a ladder to clip your lights onto your gutters? What if you didn’t spend precious time trying to untangle lights and replace broken bulbs? For less than $10, you can get a string of battery-powered LED lights—you have permission to wind them around a wreath for your front door and call your outdoor decorating complete!
  • The Traditional Tree. There is no rule that you have to buy a live Christmas tree OR drag your artificial tree up from the basement every single year. The internet is jam-packed with ideas for untraditional and simple Christmas trees—whether you simply decorate a houseplant you already have, use a strand of lights and ornaments to create a 2D tree on a wall, or come up with something uniquely suited to your home and personality. If you do opt for a traditional tree, you have permission to leave some—or most—of your ornaments in their storage container.
  • All of the Decorations. If you’ve managed your own home for more than a few years, odds are that you’ve collected more decorations than you have the time and energy to deal with. You don’t have to adorn every vertical and horizontal surface of your home with decorations! You hereby have permission to just choose a handful of your favorite—or most meaningful—decorations to display this year.
  • Elf on the Shelf. More power to you if you have the time and mental space to creatively position the elf each night after your children go to bed. But you don’t have to! If you love this holiday tradition, then carry on. But if you haven’t started it yet—or you are wishing you never had—you have permission to tell your kids that there is an elf shortage this year and that you are lucky to have such good kids year round so the shortage won’t affect you!
  • All the Baking. If you have big plans for baking this holiday season, make sure you revisit our blog about getting your kitchen ready for the holidays. But do remember that just because one of your parents or grandparents baked 24 different types of cookies each holiday season doesn’t mean that you have to. You have permission to pick your favorites (either to eat or to make) and save the rest for another year.
  • Homemade Everything. Of course people love and appreciate homemade gifts, whether you’ve crocheted a scarf or poured a candle. And they love homemade food, too—from a jar of jam to an elaborate meal for your entire extended family. But not everything that you can make is worth your precious time. You have our permission to make just those things that bring you the most joy to give to the people who would most appreciate your labor of love.

This holiday season, give yourself permission to let go. And if that doesn’t work, listen to us! You have OUR permission to set aside some of the holiday pressure this year … and every year. And, as always, if you find yourself in over your head, you know you can call in the Bees!

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Organizing Your Kitchen Will Help You BEE Ready for the Holidays

Organized kitchen Pantry

The holiday season is getting close—and with it will come the whirlwind of cooking, baking, cleaning, decorating, hosting, and more! For most of us, the kitchen is the center of our busy Hive, and it’s a place that takes on extra responsibility during the holiday season. As you count the days until your first holiday festivities, you can help your future self by purging, restocking, and organizing three prime areas of your kitchen.

Recipes and Cookbooks

If you are like us, you have recipes in every conceivable form—emails, bookmarks in browsers, handwritten recipe cards, print-outs of aspirational recipes, and cookbooks upon cookbooks. Before holiday cooking and baking begin in earnest, think about finally getting a handle on your recipe situation. As you tackle your recipe collection, the first place to start is by taking a hard look at your cookbooks. The most optimistic version of yourself might have bought most of your cookbooks—or perhaps you’ve received cookbooks over the years as gifts or family heirlooms.

The first step, as always, is to use our famous Power Purge to sort through the cookbooks and recipes that are just taking up space. Look through your cookbooks and take photos of any promising recipes before clearing the books out of your kitchen.

Consider moving to a completely digital recipe organization system. Some of us have had excellent luck using Google Drive to keep our recipes organized—whether it’s a spreadsheet of links to recipes from all over the internet or a series of folders where you keep photos and PDFs of recipes sorted by category. We know of some folks who make it a policy to always email themselves recipes with very clear (and searchable!) subject lines.

If you have a variety of recipes on paper and don’t feel compelled to scan them into the digital world, think about using a binder to organize and preserve your recipes. You can use clear plastic sleeves with pockets to protect handwritten recipe cards from drips and splashes. Use a three-hole punch on your recipe printouts and a few tabs to divide your recipes into appetizers, desserts, holiday favorites, and more.

There is no one right way to organize your recipes, so feel empowered to adapt our strategies to fit your needs, usage patterns, and emotional connections.

Spices and Seasonings

When was the last time you spent some quality time tending to your spices? How many of them have long expired, never been used, or have lost their aroma? Before the holiday cooking begins, get your fragrant seasonings organized!

Before you start organizing anything, you need to discard those spices and seasonings that are too old to be useful. While most experts agree that it’s safe to use expired seasonings and spices, you should toss anything that is clumping or just smells off. Pinch a bit of the spice between your fingers and rub them together—if there is little or no fragrance, it’s probably time to replace that container.

Once you are down to those containers of spices and seasonings that are still in good shape, be honest with yourself about which ones you will foreseeably use in your cooking. If you are an adventurous chef who regularly experiments with new types of cuisine, your spices and seasoning needs will be much broader than someone who limits their cooking to tried and true recipes and styles.

Think about what organizational style will streamline your cooking. If you use a wide variety of spices, alphabetizing the containers could save you time searching when you are whipping up a new dish. Some folks have better luck with keeping their top 5 or 10 spices in easy reach, while they store the remainder in a container or cabinet. Spice racks, drawer inserts, or spinning trays can all help you make the most of your space. Whatever way you decide to organize your spices, make sure they are clearly labeled and in a cool, dark place when possible.

Finally, think about those recipes that you make during every holiday season—whether it’s cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving or black-eyed peas on New Year’s—and make a list of herbs and spices to have on hand before the cooking commences!

Baking Ingredients and Tools

The final area to give yourself a holiday head start is with your baking ingredients and supplies. Essentially, you need to take inventory of the supplies you will need for your upcoming baking, whether you are making cornbread for Thanksgiving stuffing, pumpkin pies, or the whole range of Christmas cookies, candies, and other sweets. To begin, take EVERYTHING out of the baking section of your kitchen so that you can see what you have, what is expired, what tools need to be refreshed, and which ingredients need a re-stock. Check through our list to help prompt your memory about what you might need in the next few weeks of festivities:

  • Flour: All-purpose flour, cake flour, bread flour, gluten-free flour if needed
  • Sugars: Granulated sugar, powdered sugar, brown sugar (dark and light), other natural sweeteners like honey or maple syrup
  • Dairy: Butter, eggs, milk, buttermilk, heavy cream
  • Flavorings: Vanilla extract, almond extract, cocoa powder or chocolate chips, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon
  • Other key ingredients: Shortening, vegetable oil, baking powder, baking soda, yeast, cornstarch
  • Supplies: Parchment paper, food coloring, sprinkles, cookie cutters, muffin/cupcake liners

Take a close look at your baking equipment too. If your favorite spatula has taken a beating or you notice your loaf pans are too scraped up to release properly, think about ditching and replacing them before you are up to your elbows in flour!

We hope getting your kitchen whipped into shape now will give you more time to do the things that bring you joy during the holidays! And if you get stuck somewhere in the process, you know you can always call in the Bees to get you back on track!

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Simple Steps for a Clutter-Free Garage

Pictures of bicycles hanging in a garage

For some people, the garage is an afterthought—just a place to toss anything you don’t want in the house or to precariously stack every bike helmet and soccer cleat the kids have outgrown. But what if, instead, your garage worked for you? Giving some time and thought to what you store in your garage—and how and where it’s stored—can help make your home safer, more livable, and more functional!

Step One: The Power Purge

Did you know that 25% of homeowners have so much clutter that they can’t fit a car in their garage? Don’t waste your time organizing things that shouldn’t even be taking up space. Your first step—and it’s a BIG one—is to part with your excess items. We know this can feel overwhelming, which is why we have spelled out exactly how to tackle this project in our Power Purge blog post. Remove items from your garage that you no longer need, are broken, or are remnants of some forgotten project you don’t intend to come back to. Once you’ve cleared out the excess, you will have a much easier time organizing the rest.

Step Two: Sort into Zones

The most efficient way to organize your garage is to group similar items together into zones that make sense to you. Not only will this help you find items when you need them, but using zones can also help every household member know at least the general area of where to put things away. You’ll need to tailor your zones based on your needs and climate, but here are a few common zones to get your wheels turning:

  • Sports equipment
  • Pool/Beach toys
  • Gardening supplies
  • Tools and hardware
  • Seasonal decorations
  • Auto maintenance
  • Camping gear
  • Cleaning supplies
  • Recycling and trash
  • Snow removal

Step Three: Go Vertical

Once everything has been sorted into logical groups, you can figure out which storage areas in your garage make the most sense for each category of items. The one piece of advice we cannot say enough is to KEEP THE FLOOR CLEAR! Invest in shelving, hooks, wall-mounted baskets, and even overhead storage racks to maximize your vertical space. If you are like most homeowners, your garage troubles began with a ring of clutter stacked around each wall. Getting everything off the floor and onto walls and shelves will do more than anything else to make your garage more efficient.

Step Four: Safety Check

The garage is home to so many tools, liquids, and other substances that need to be stored safely. As you finalize your amazing work of organizing your garage, take a few minutes to double-check for potential hazards. Start with these main categories, but also keep an eye out for other hazards that are unique to your situation:

  • Blades—Make sure anything with a blade (whether a large chop saw or a box cutter) is securely stored and out of reach of kids.
  • Liquids—Lighter fluid, antifreeze, pesticides, paint thinner and other potentially hazardous—or just messy!—liquids need special attention to make sure they aren’t at risk of being knocked over or grabbed by little hands.
  • Tipping—If you are lining your walls with shelves full of heavy things, ensure those shelves are firmly secured to the walls to prevent tipping. Triple-check the security of any heavy items stored or suspended above your head.
  • Tripping—Walk the perimeter of your garage and look for potential tripping hazards. Make sure all exits from the garage are accessible.
  • Fire extinguisher—Every garage needs a fire extinguisher. Make sure yours is current and easily accessible—not on a high shelf behind a hundred other things!

Cleaning out and organizing your garage definitely isn’t easy, but it’s oh-so-worth-it in the end. And if you get stuck somewhere in the process, you know you can always call in the Bees to get you back on track!

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The Wonders of a Weekly Reset

photo of inside of the kitchen

Imagine it’s Monday morning. You’ve got a jam-packed week ahead of you with a million different events and obligations. What if you look around your house and see that everything is in its place? And what if your fridge and pantry are fully stocked with a meal plan at the ready? And what if you glance at your calendar and see every single opportunity and potential conflict listed so you have a full picture of who needs to be where and when? You are starting to get the picture!

One of the best things you can do to manage the chaos each week is to let the magic of a Weekly Reset work for you. Dedicating a couple of hours each week to systematically restoring order to your home can save you stress throughout the week—and can help you set aside some of the mental load that goes with keeping your busy life buzzing along.

As you think about what you should include in a Weekly Reset and when to get it done, consider the ebbs and flows of your week. For many of us, it makes the most sense to work through our Weekly Reset on Sundays, but do what feels right to you. Read on for a few of the key areas we like to include in a Weekly Reset, but feel free to ignore the sections that don’t make sense for your unique life or to add in areas that will set you up for success each week!

Whatever your Weekly Reset looks like to you, make sure you have a checklist for each area so that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel each week.

Kitchen Reset

The kitchen is arguably the most important space in the home, and taking the time to reset it each week will save you time, money, and frustration. Here are a few tasks we put at the top of our Weekly Reset list:

  • Fridge, Pantry, and Freezer—Take a few minutes to scan each shelf for spoiled food, items that need to be used sooner rather than later, and inspiration for your meal planning this week. Toss out anything that needs to go, put anything that’s out of place back where it belongs, and add missing staples to your shopping list. We recommend keeping a running shopping list that your whole household can access so that as things run low, they can be added to the list.
  • Countertops—Return appliances, food packages, and other items to their storage places, sort through mail and other paperwork, and deal with those items that tend to stack up near the sink, like water bottles and travel mugs.
  • Meal Planning and Prepping—Meal planning is the key to eating well on a budget, with minimal waste, and without the daily drama of figuring out what’s for dinner. Once you’ve finished your Calendar Reset (below), you will have a much better idea of how many meals will need to be prepared this week, how many people will be eating, or whether any of the meals need to be super quick or eaten on the road. Some of you might also find that meal prepping, in addition to meal planning, will help your household have the best possible week. Prepare individual servings of grab-and-go healthy snacks, layer salads in mason jars, create homemade Lunchables, and divvy up leftovers into microwave-safe containers for quick work lunches.

Calendar Reset

We sometimes wonder how we would get anything done without a shared Google calendar. Between work and school, social gatherings, quality time with the extended family, rehearsals and practices, volunteer activities, and community events and opportunities, we are guessing your lives are as full as ours are! It’s a blessing, to be sure, but it’s also a lot to manage. That’s why you need to include your calendar in your Weekly Reset tasks. Make sure you chat with every member of the family so that everyone’s activities are accounted for, including:

  • Regular work shifts as well as irregular work events
  • School days, field trips, tutoring, dress up days
  • Extra-curricular practices, games, rehearsals, performances, lessons
  • Family and social events, birthdays, get-togethers with extended family
  • Infrequent obligations like oil changes and dentist appointments

As you are filling up your calendar, don’t forget to block out time for things that are important to your wellbeing but tend to get left behind, like scheduling in time for exercise or a date night with your sweetie.

Laundry Reset

As you prepare for the week ahead, you not only need to be sure that you have the regular clothing and linens for the week, but you also need to be ready for any special clothing needs. After you’ve updated your calendar, you will have a better handle on whether and when you need specific uniforms, dress clothing, costumes, or favorite outfits for the week. The goal is to avoid those last-minute searches for a missing jersey, spirit day outfit, or the need to do a midnight load of laundry to wash that irreplaceable clothing item for the next morning!

Household Reset

Just because YOU are the one reading this blog doesn’t mean that YOU are the one who has to reset the whole house! Get everyone involved in figuring out how they can set themselves up for success each week. This will look different for every home, but here are a few ideas to get your started:

  • Reset your own bedroom, closet, dresser, and nightstand
  • Make sure bathrooms are stocked with whatever they need: shampoo, toothpaste, toilet paper, and other items
  • Clean out your email inbox and other places where you receive messages
  • Do a quick cleanout of your purse, briefcase, or backpack

The Weekly Reset is key to restoring order to your home and life before the next week begins. Taking the time to prepare for the week ahead can help clear your mind as well as your home. And, as always, if you need help developing a Weekly Reset routine that works for you, call in the Bees!

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Buzz into Better Book Organization

If you are a book lover, you know the optimism and excitement of cracking open a new book. Whether it’s an author you know and love, a recommended read from a friend, or your book group’s latest selection, every book you open is an opportunity to connect with and learn from the wide range of human experience.

Americans buy roughly 700 million books in print each year from booksellers—not counting the many more volumes purchased at book fairs, at author events, and through local used book sales! In fact, 25% of Americans own more than 100 print books—and even more in digital formats.

We’ve put together our best advice from the Bees on how to know when to let go of old books, what to do with the books that no longer need to stay in your collection, and how to organize the rest!

There Are NO RULES in Book Organizing.

The most important rule of book organizing is that there are no rules in book organizing. You don’t need to organize your books like the library does or your bookstore does or your mom does. Organizing your books is a very personal choice, and what works for one will not work for all.

Each book in your home entered your collection for a reason. Maybe the you from 20 years ago adored the author, or you inherited a collection from someone you love, or you bought a parenting book (or 10!) to read when you have more free time. If you’re like us, you have many books that you’ve never read and never intend to read. And if you are like us, some books in your collection are a direct connection to your heart, either because of who gave them to you or how they make you feel.

As you think about your collection of books, reflect on whether you truly need to hold on to every book you have, and consider how the books you keep might do a better job of serving you and your home.

Letting Go of Books

You may come to realize that you have more books than you want or need in your life. We hereby give you permission to let go of those books that are taking up space without giving you anything in return. If you are struggling with the process of sorting through your books to select what to keep and what to let go of, remember that the Bees have developed a tried-and-true process for that!

For book lovers, the idea of throwing away a book is an abomination! Luckily, there are so many places and organizations that would love to acquire the books that you are ready to pass along. Here are a few of our favorites:

  • Little Free Libraries: More than 150,000 Little Free Libraries can be found all over the country—no library card required. Anyone is welcome to drop off or pick up a book to keep. Find the closest ones to you by using their library locator map! You can drop off a few books from your collection while keeping an eye out for new-to-you books that you would love to read!
  • Public Libraries: Most public libraries appreciate donations of gently used books. While some books might be added to their regular collections, others will be sold at periodic book sales to raise money for library operations and activities.
  • Book Drives: Keep your eye out for charities, schools, and international education nonprofits who might be collecting used books. Everything from textbooks to romance novels can find a second life!

Now that you’ve found new homes for the books you are willing to part with, it’s time to think through how to organize the volumes you are keeping.

How to Organize Your Books

The most important question to ask yourself is what organizational style will best serve you? If you rarely or never refer back to a book on your shelves, you can feel free to organize your books aesthetically. But if you are the kind of person who needs to be able to find a specific volume, you will need to use a more systematic approach. Here are a few of the most common ways to organize home libraries.

  • Topic or genre: Create separate sections for categories of books, just like you’d find at your local bookstore. Gardening? Nonfiction? Travel books?
  • Alphabetically: If you have a large collection, a simple way to organize them is alphabetically by either the last name of the author or the title of the book.
  • Color: Arranging books by the color of the spines can make for a strikingly beautiful display in your home—whether you put them in rainbow order or just chunk them together for bright bursts of color.
  • Size: The shelving you are working with may play a role in choosing how to best organize your books. Consider separating hardcover and paperback books, if it works for you. This can help you maximize space and make the different heights of books less jarring.

Whether you organize for aesthetics or for functionality, keep in mind these key ideas:

  • Use vertical space. Consider using vertical stacks of books in addition to the typical horizontal display you’d see in a library. The variety can be more efficient in using space and be more attractive to the eye!
  • Include breathing room. If you can, leave some empty spaces on the shelves through the selective use of stacking or book ends.
  • Incorporate other objects. Think about tucking a few framed photos, houseplants, and other treasures among your books.
  • Rotate your books. If you have limited shelf space, you can keep it fresh by rotating books in and out of storage whenever you have the whim. There is no rule that you must have all of your books displayed at the same time!

Remember our most important guideline of all—there is no single right way to do this. These are YOUR books, in YOUR space, and you can organize them in whatever way feels best to you. And, as always, if you need help organizing your books—or any other space—call in the Bees!

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