The Rule of Three

Mary Anne Ivison  0:00  
The declutter queen with Avery Cundill,

Avery Cundill  0:07  
interested in decluttering, you are in the right place. With my help, you can move to a clutter free life in no time, one step at a time. It is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes a long time for us to create clutter. Therefore, it's only logical for it to take us a while to declutter, one step at a time. And you're going to hear that a lot from me, one step at a time later on in the show, I'm going to be joined by a guest who will have a question or a tip to share in a segment we like to call tea with the declutter queen. If you would like to join me for tea on the show, just head over to the declutter queen.ca. If you ever find yourself asking the question, when will I be done? Well, here's the truth. There is no Done. Done is when we have left the earth. I know a bit of a macabre answer, but it's true. Take it from someone who has chased clearing their to do list their whole life. It cannot be done. There is always something to do, and that's life. But the good news is that once you have a system in place for decluttering, whenever another project comes up and they will, you will skillfully, ably and happily be able to tackle it in no time. Today is all about the essentials, what you need to move through a successful decluttering of any kind. Think of it this way. Have you ever tried to put together a piece of furniture without tools? The answer is probably not as it would be impossible. So too would decluttering not be possible without the right tools to guide you through? And this is where the rule of three comes in. This system will be one that you may be familiar with already, perhaps by another name or reference, but I have always found this one invaluable. The rule of three is going to help you stay on track, and it will give you a system in which to work for all of your decluttering needs. So let's dive in. Whenever you are tackling a declutter job, you need three things, a garbage pile, a donate pile and a keep pile. I'm going to add a fourth thing also this time that you do need and it's time you I make sure that whenever you start to tackle a decluttering job, you have the time, otherwise you will be frustrated from the get go. And I can't tell you how many times I've spoken to people I just don't have the time. I started it and I couldn't finish. This is very, very common, so I would strongly advise you make sure you've got a nice pocket of time before you start any of these decluttering projects. Remember back when I talked about how it is important to completely empty any space you are planning on organizing or decluttering, this emptying will remain a constant when tackling most jobs, and so too will the rule of three in that you will apply this method to many, many tasks, and it will be of great assistance. I promise you that I like to use garbage bags of different colors to help keep everything straight. Maybe a black garbage bag for the traditional garbage a purple one for giveaway and a blue one for keeping it's up to you, but you get the gist. A place for everything, and everything in its place sounds like an organizational dream to me. So what's your homework? I want you to go out and purchase three boxes of garbage bags and make sure they are all different colors. They don't have to be purple or blue, but make sure that you've got three distinct colors. That's really all there is to do today. So consider this a light homework day, because, trust me, things are going to get interesting as we go along, but I can promise you this, each time you tackle a different area of your physical surroundings or other parts of your life, you will feel a tremendous sense. Of accomplishment, it will be literally as if you can breathe easier. I promise you, as we dive deeper into this journey of decluttering, I want you to take the rule of three with you, like a tool in your back pocket, always available to help you with any and every job you come across, the next time you are buying groceries or home goods, pick up these different colored bags so when you need them, you will be ready to go.

Speaker 1  5:35  
And now with the declutter Queen

Avery Cundill  5:40  
today, Sarah Burke, from the women in media Podcast Network, joins me, although she has a radio background, she is the founder of the women in media network, and thank you for agreeing

Sarah Burke  5:55  
to come on to the show. Sarah, anything to distract myself from all the work I have to do today. I love being a distraction. So I am living in GTA greater, Toronto area, and here in Toronto, having 685 square feet is a big deal. Okay, most people I know have less than that. So in my tiny one bedroom condo, I'm in my little work nook right now, but work and personal, it's all blended into one space. As you mentioned, my former life was radio and music industry, so got a lot of stuff around the house that I've kept over the years, including records or record posters, tour posters, things I framed. And it's just a lot for a very small space. On top of that, I have ADHD, which you know, when your space is messy, your brain is messy, so that's where I'm looking to see what the declutter Queen would say about updating my space to better complement my brain.

Avery Cundill  6:53  
Well, I love this question, and it's a new one for me, and my answer is going to be in part. So in terms of ADHD, which is, I'm going to say, growing, but I just think it's very common in today's world, our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. Back in the day, in the yoga world teaching, there was some statistic out there that our attention span is now lower than a goldfish. It's kind of affects all of us, even though some of us have a little bit more of the attention issue than others, and one of the things with ADHD is that big projects often feel impossible, so the ADH brain says that's too big. I'm out, yeah, what I would suggest is to start with micro decluttering. It's a really small task. For example, one shelf, one category. I'm going to do my mugs today, one surface, just the bathroom counter.

Sarah Burke  7:55  
How did you know how many mugs I have? It's a problem.

Avery Cundill  7:58  
And in terms of this micro decluttering, which is what I'm calling it, you can set a timer, maybe five minutes do it, and then in the five minutes, it's over. And so this kind of helps you to manage the job, rather than thinking, this is a mountain I can't climb, make it a hill. I like that. And I think for me it'll be like, which area of my space, right? Like starting with kitchen, all right? So funny that you say that because you've just given me my next segue. Love it. Try to create functional zones. Instead of saying, Today I'll declutter all my records. Try instead, today I'm going to fix my bedside table so it works functional zone, an entryway that works a desk that I can use bathroom. How can I make it easier? Because that functional key gives you motivation and sort of clarity as to where you want to go. Not I'm decluttering all my records today, but I'm going to organize the space where my records are

Sarah Burke  9:11  
okay, picking up what you're putting down. Yeah, and I do have a lot of spaces that should be functional, including that doorway, like I come in with the dog, my little dog, Stevie, and it's just like everything is thrown up on the cabinet there.

Avery Cundill  9:27  
One of my things with decluttering was, I was like, Wait a second, I can visualize, what do I need here in this moment and what don't I need? And so we often will have, like, a table that you come in and it's full of stuff, and you're like, I don't need half of this stuff, boom, boom, boom, but then the stuff that's left is the stuff that you really need access to, and you don't need it clutter with other stuff. Where are my keys? There should be a hook for your keys. You know, one of my friends once told me, every time you go into a hotel room, leave your card in exactly the same spot, and if you need to take. Like one of the cups from the hotel room. Put it in the cup because you'll never lose your key again, and it's kind of the same at home. And you also, know, I lose everything, apparently I feel like that goes along with it. Yeah, I might be married to someone with some ADHD,

Sarah Burke  10:16  
and the person you're married to might be my kind of work husband, exactly.

Avery Cundill  10:21  
So we know this same spots routine, the more you have in a pile, the less you actually can find. So it's all about, what do I need? And that's where the function comes in. It's the work. If you went right now, maybe you do this after because you're motivated, and you looked at that table in your front entryway, and I'm not there, but if I was, I could imagine it's a little cluttered. Who knows what's in that basket? Baskets are the worst, and baskets are natural collection zones, but basically, a basket is a cluttery mess. I have gotten rid of most of my baskets because I know, oh, I'm gonna throw it in there and then what's in there. Never see it again, exactly. There's better ways. Empty the basket that could be your task and look through it. Maybe there's receipts. There is, for sure, receipts. There could be you bought some gloves and you ripped off the packaging and you threw it in there, like there's going to be garbage and there's going to be, oh, I've been looking for this for six months. Try to avoid the baskets. And if you do have baskets, I would encourage you to very regularly sort so that the basket just becomes almost like a tray. It's not a pile, it's a tray. Okay? I think that the functional thing is helpful, because when you pick a zone, it's usually under an hour, probably under 30 minute task. And I don't think that often we have the attention and the wherewithal to deal with giant projects. And it sounds like your space is conducive to this, because it's small. So one little project create functional areas, one at a time. Maybe when the project moves you, like I talked about mugs, you take all the mugs out, whether it's 10 or 30, and you go, this one's broken, this one I don't use. What is this? And then donate them. The best feeling is knowing that you're donating stuff and that somebody else can use it. And if you're one person living in a space, you probably don't need 20 mugs. I don't even want to know how many I have. And that might be where the nostalgia comes in. Oh, this was a mug that I had. One of the things with nostalgia is it keeps us holding on. What we have to do is say this doesn't this isn't the memory. The memory's in here. And if I want a memory of this, take a picture of it. Oh, wait, I don't really need it that bad. Now, all of a sudden you can get rid of it. Okay, actually, everything's dovetailing very nicely. I didn't even plan this. What I would say is, when you pick your zone, and I do have a tried and true system that I consistently use, and it's the rule of three, and it's basically anytime you tackle a job, let's say you decide I'm going to declutter my mugs. Have a garbage bag, have a donate bag, and you could have a keep bag, but sometimes the keep bag turns into, okay, I'm just putting them on the counter for now. Yeah, you sort and so you have the system in place, and it's sometimes different color, garbage bags, if you have a different system, boxes or whatever you want, but have the tools you need in order to do the Declutter. And maybe, if it's a small area, you reuse these three things. So you start with the mugs, and you put them away for a little bit, then you bring them out. Okay, now I'm going to do my front area. Now I'm going to bedside, oh, I'm going to do my shoes today. While I'm doing it, how many shoes can I get rid of? Don't fit, broken, don't wear, yeah, and so you just start one little place at a time. Bags fill. Now it's time to take them out and get rid of them. Garbage, recycling, donation giveaway and a good time of the year for donating to and anytime is a good time of the year. The idea is you have these things that you're motivated to get into these piles and get rid of them. You might want to have a maybe box, I personally think, make the decision and go. But if you're like, hemming and hawing, have a maybe box. That little maybe box sits somewhere. And then in a month, if this stuff is still in there, and you've added and you're like, maybe it's turned to Yes, get rid of there it goes. If you

Sarah Burke  14:39  
notice that it's been in there and you haven't even thought about it, okay, we're getting rid of it.

Avery Cundill  14:42  
Rid of it, but that's the idea. What do we really need? Yeah, and when you're dealing with, I know your your media stuff and your record, when you're clamored with so much you can't even enjoy the things that you actually want to keep true. It pays go through stuff. I. Through the things. Pick the diamonds in the rough. Keep those. But if you haven't listened to one or it doesn't make sense to keep them again. Donate. Okay, helpful. I'm telling you, when you start doing this, it starts to become habit, and you feel lighter. Oh, I don't have this clutter anymore that I was managing. And why didn't I think of this before? Why didn't I think of just making a functional entryway or a bathroom system that works and it doesn't have to take long, and it's just make it small. And then the funny thing I always say is and reward yourself once you finish a little area, make a cup of tea, take a walk, you did it. And then the next time you come back, buy

Sarah Burke  15:43  
a new mug to celebrate. Absolutely.

Avery Cundill  15:46  
Get rid of all your mugs. And then say Avery, I have no mugs.

Sarah Burke  15:49  
I have an ex that every time I would bring home a mug, he'd be like, Okay, which one are you

Avery Cundill  15:53  
throwing away? The in and out. It's not as effective, I feel, because it kind of is a little bit punitive, like you need to so that's not the way to go. But I have read somewhere that said, if you're a household of two in your head, how many forks Do you think you need? And the answer was something like four. And I'm like, I could not four forks, but it forces you to be more organized. Now, four is a little low for me, but I certainly don't need 40 forks. No, yeah, it's somewhere in between where you're like, I think that's too many in our head. We're always hosting a dinner party for 30, and rarely are we hosting a dinner party for 30, not at this condo, not anywhere. I would say it's a very rare occasion. So you want to just have what you need. The rest of the stuff is taking up space. Are you motivated?

Sarah Burke  16:48  
Sarah, yeah, and especially because it's like, deal with the receipts and then throw the rest out.

Avery Cundill  16:54  
My adage is, I open my mail in front of the garbage. Oh, deal with it immediately. I have never been a person who takes the mail and puts it on the counter and goes, now I'm going to go do something else. It's in that moment that you deal with it, because then it's done and you're saying, not possible it is. You open it, you deal with it. If you can't deal with it in that moment, then it goes into a separate area, but no piles of shit anywhere. That's my motto. I'm gonna have to get rid of the pile of things that collect when I come in, you'll feel better. Okay, I'm gonna check in with you if you're okay with that. I'd like to maybe even have you back for a couple of a brief interview where I say, What have you done? No pressure. This is homework. It's a little bit of homework. But accountability is good fair. I like that too. Well, thank you, Sarah, put those takeaways in your show notes so other people can follow along who have ADHD, thanks for all the tips.

Mary Anne Ivison  17:56  
Thanks for listening to the declutter queen with Avery Cundill for more decluttering tips and tricks, go to the declutter queen.ca produced and distributed by the sound off media company you.