Welcome to Organizing with These, where we simplify and organize our lives for the better. I'm Diana Mall, your host, here to guide you towards a more organized and enriching life. Together, let's explore practical strategies, inspiring stories, and expert advice to simplify every aspect of our lives. Are you ready to embark on this journey with ease? Let's start.

Hello, my friends, and welcome back to Organizing With Ease. I'm your host, Diana Moll, and I'm thrilled to have you here as we wrap up our September shift series. I cannot believe it. Can you? It's end of September.

If this is your first time tuning in, I welcome you. Over the past few weeks, we've explored the 3 r's, revamp, reorganize, and reignite to help you transition smoothly into the fall. Today, we're closing out September by reflecting on what we've learned, why it matters, and how to carry this momentum forward as we prepare for October. Yes, we are. As we embrace the beauty of fall, it's essential to focus on creating space, both physically and mentally, for what truly matters.

This is where the concept of mindful living comes into play. Mindful living is about being fully present and engaged in the moment, making conscious choices that align with your values, goals, and well-being. It's about cultivating awareness in your daily life, paying attention to your thoughts, emotions, and surroundings, and making intentional decisions rather than operating on, I don't know, autopilot, cruise control, you choose, right? But let's take a moment and look back at what we have accomplished this month. The shift from summer to fall is more than just a change in the weather.

But again, in the 305, our weather hasn't really been changing a lot, but that's okay. That's another side note, another podcast episode. I could talk about the weather in Miami all day long, but let's just focus on today. It's a shift in the mindset, the routines, and the priorities. By consciously focusing on revamping our spaces, reorganizing our routines, and reigniting our motivation, We've laid the groundwork for a more intentional and productive fall season.

So why does this matter? Well, let's just think about this. The seasonal transitions set the tone. How we manage transitions, whether it's the change of the season, a new job, a new house project, a new kitchen project, or even a significant life event, it sets the tone for what's to follow. Research shows that people who actively prepare for seasonal changes, like the transition from summer to fall, are better equipped to handle stress and maintain a positive outlook.

How about that? This preparation helps reduce the anxiety that often accompanies change. To improve is to change. To be perfect is to change often by Winston Churchill. Kind of like that one.

When we take control of these transitions, we're not just reacting to the changes, we're shaping how those changes impact our lives. By setting the tone with an organized home and clear routines, we can approach this busy fall season with confidence and ease. When we consciously organize our spaces and routines, we create environments that support our mental and emotional well-being. A study by Princeton University found that physical clutter in your surroundings competes for your attention resulting in decreased performance and increased stress. By reducing clutter and creating intentional spaces, you enhance your ability to focus and feel at peace in your environment.

So I want you to listen really closely. Are you ready? Just a couple of words. Out of clutter, find simplicity by Albert Einstein. Mindful living isn't just about reducing physical clutter.

It's about making intentional choices that align with your values and your goals. This approach to organizing helps you create a life that supports your well-being and your family rather than detracts from it. So as we head into the busier months of the year, which we're in, right, it's essential to have space, both physical and mental, to accommodate what truly matters. A survey conducted by the National Association of Professional Organizers, NAPO, found that 54% of Americans are overwhelmed by the amount of clutter that they have in their homes, and 78% find it difficult to complete tasks because of clutter. Are you part of that?

Are you part of that? When you create space, you're not just making room for physical items. You're making room for activities, for people, for goals that matter most to you. So now whether spending quality time with the family, playing board games at the table, right, watching TV, whatever it might be, perusing personal passions or achieving professional goals, an organized life allows you to focus on what's truly important without being bogged down by your surroundings of clutter and chaos because that's where that is. It's that that clutter and that chaos.

Right? By reducing the clutter and creating organized spaces, you reclaim your time and energy because remember, you do lose about, I would say, about 55 minutes a day looking for things that you can't find. So by reducing the clutter, creating organized spaces, you reclaim that time and energy that can be what? Better spent on what truly matters. So I'll give you a personal experience of what I had to deal with with about the clutter.

But this is not the clutter. This is more so about not being able to find my glasses. So it took me a while to figure out what routine would work for me. And so now I have now a beautiful eyeglass place in my closet. And anytime I wanna swap out my eyeglasses, then that is exactly where I go.

I place them back there if I wanna swap them out because I could not see anymore. And if I don't have my glasses, we're having a problem. So it took me a while. And there you have it. I have a box, a beautiful box, and I lay out my glasses inside of them.

And I won't have to worry about where to find them because I know I put them back and I take them out. It's a routine. So let's dive deeper into what mindful living actually means and why it's a crucial part of creating space for what matters. Mindful living begins with the awareness, paying attention to the present moment without any judgment. This means noticing what's happening around you, but also within you, including your thoughts, your feelings, your physical sensations.

So here's an example. You ready? When eating a meal instead of which we do a lot because of our time and maybe after school activities, we're rushing through our meal or we're being distracted by the phone. Mindful living would have you savor every bite, right? Noticing everything, making sure that you had everything there, all the food, all the textures.

You're acting as if you're in love with this food, which you should. Right? But we get distracted. Again, we have time constraints. We can only sit at the kitchen counter.

We can't sit at the table because, you know, not everybody can sit at the table by 6 o'clock. Maybe it's 7, maybe it's 8 or 9 or after soccer practice. Right? Mindfulness is the practice of purposely focusing your attention on the present moment and accepting it without judgment by John Zinn. Mindful living involves making deliberate choices that reflect your true priorities.

So what are your true priorities? Have you ever thought about that? Have you even asked yourself that? This means thinking carefully about your actions from how you spend your time to the way you interact with others. So here's an example you might want to think about.

Before committing to another project or going to another holiday event might be coming, a mindful approach would be to involve asking yourself whether this aligns with your goals, whether you have the capacity to take it on without compromising your well-being, and do you really want to go out? Do you really want to go to that event? Or maybe you have 3 other events on that same day and you choose not to go to all 3 or maybe not all 4. Maybe you just kind of pick and choose. People who practice mindfulness report a 30% reduction in stress levels and 25% improvement in their ability to focus on what truly matters, and that's from mindful.org.

So nonjudgmental, accepting for what it is. So here we go. A crucial aspect of mindful living is cultivating the nonjudgmental attitude. What does that mean? That means accepting yourself and others, the situations you encounter as they are without labeling them good or bad.

So if you find yourself feeling frustrated, instead of getting caught up in the motion, which we all do, which we all are we are all that. We definitely, I can say that I have been there. We still are. I still am sometimes. But instead of catching us in the moment or criticizing yourself for it, you observe the feeling without judgment, understanding, and that is a temporary experience.

The present moment is the only time over which we have dominion. Mindful living also emphasizes the importance of meaningful connections with yourself and others and also around the world around us. This is involves us being fully present, listening deeply, and engage with empathy and compassion. So when you're talking to a friend, mindful living would have you focus entirely on the conversation. But does that happen?

Do you are you truly engaged with that conversation? Are you truly listening to what they're saying, or are you kind of thinking about what you're going to say next or checking your phone or you're looking around and you're still on the conversation, but your mind isn't there? Trust me. We've all been there. I've done that too.

Mindful living is about creating balance in your home, balance between work and rest, action and reflection, doing and being. It's about recognizing when you're out of balance, out of sorts, some days are better than none, right, and making those adjustments to restore your harmony. So if you've been working on nonstop mindful living, well, you know what? I'd encourage you to take on a break, recharge and engage in activities that nurture your body and your mind because that's what we have to do. It's recharging our batteries so that we can have a really good day.

Not that all days are good, but the majority of the times, I would say 99.9% of the time, days are pretty good. Of course, you have those moments. Sometimes we do have emergencies of sorts, and then, you know, life goes a different route. But mindfulness practices can reduce symptoms of burnout by 50% and improve overall job satisfaction. And that's from the American Psychology Association.

Now that we've explored what mindful living means, let's talk about how to create the space for what matters as we move deeper into the fall. Yes, the fall, which I have had I told you yet? It's my favorite season. Yes, it is. This is where the fresh start method becomes really invaluable.

This method is all about intentionality, making deliberate choices about what stays in your life and what needs to go. So we're going to go through the steps. You ready? The first one, of course, is what? Find and sort.

Focus on what's essential. Start by identifying the areas of your life that need attention. This could be a cluttered room, a disorganized schedule, which we don't want, or even mental clutter. Ask yourself, what's essential to my well-being and what are my goals? What is distracting me from focusing on what truly matters?

Have you thought about that? Have you actually asked yourself or looked into the fact of there are things that are distracting you from focusing? Have you even taken a step back to actually analyze that? So let's just go into, like, your home right now. If you're in your living room and it has become that catchall for those summer items, now it's time to really sort through everything.

Keep only what adds value to your life for now and let the go let the rest go. This might mean storing away, of course, your summer decor and bringing out the items that reflect the cozy warm vibe of the fall. Right? But this is a good step. This is a good a routine, a process, something that you can start.

And just just think about this one also. Decluttering your space can reduce housework by 40%. Now I don't know about you, but reducing any type of housework for me is essential, especially when it comes to that laundry. But we won't go there. That's another topic and another day on another episode.

By identifying what's essential, you're not only reducing clutter, but also streamlining your daily task, making it easier to maintain a clean and organized home. We want to then also want to reduce and evaluate. Let go of the unnecessary. So once you've started through these your items, it's time to reduce. Yes, that is correct.

This step is really crucial in creating space, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. By letting go of items, tasks, or commitments that no longer serve you, You free up your space for what truly matters. So as you prepare for fall, consider reducing the number of commitments you take on. It is just so easy to overextend ourselves and say yes to all of those holiday celebrations. And we just we just say yes because it's so lovely to go out and be with our friends and our loved ones.

Right? But you have to say, saying no is it's okay. You really can. You can say no, and there's not a problem with that. The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the so that the necessary may speak by Hans Hoffman.

Letting go of the unnecessary is about making room for what truly matters. It's about creating a life that reflects your values and priorities rather than one that's dictated by obligations and clutter. Yes, I did. I said that word again. Then we're moving on to systemize and harmonize.

This is the favorite part of everybody. Right? After you've reduced everything for the stress excess, it's time to create systems that support your new focus. This might involve setting up new organizational systems in your home, establishing new routines, or what about creating boundaries? Boundaries are super important to protect not only your time, but also your energy.

Implement a daily check-in routine. There's nothing wrong with that, where you take a few minutes each evening to tidy up your space, review your goals, and prepare for the next day. Super easy to do. Right? This is such a simple system that can keep you on track and ensure that your environment remains supportive of your goals.

By systemizing your life, you reduce the mental load of daily decision making, frame up cognitive resources for more important tasks and decisions. And lastly, we do the first and the last are always the hardest. So let's go into it. Right? Sustain and tidy, maintain your progress.

This final step is about sustaining your progress. What you want to do is you want to regularly revisit your spaces and routines to ensure they continue to serve you currently because things do change. Right? This ongoing maintenance is key to preventing clutter from both physical and mental, from creeping back into your life. Yes, indeed.

For some odd reason it just kind of comes back, just kind of comes back, but we don't want that, right? So schedule a weekly review session. Take, you know, 10 to 15 minutes, maybe even longer, 30 minutes, 45 minutes each Sunday reflecting on the past week, tidying up your space, planning for the new week ahead. This is a habit not only that keeps your environment organized, but it helps you stay focused on your priorities. Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out by Robert Collier.

Sustaining your progress is about consistency. By making small, consistent efforts to maintain your space and routine, you ensure that your environment remains supportive of your goals and your well-being. So as we bid farewell to September, bye bye. It's time to look ahead to October with excitement and intention. I'm thrilled to introduce our next series, October Focus, simplify, streamline, and succeed.

This series is all about setting up ourselves for success as we move into the final months of the year. I can't wait for you to stay with me and so that we can continue our journey till the end of the year. Looking forward to it. Thank you so much for joining and for being a part of, my September shift series. I hope these episodes have helped you create a more organized, intentional life as we transition into fall.

And don't forget to join us next week as we kick off our October focused series. If you have any topics you'd like to cover in the future, please, I would love to hear from you. Just send me a message. Stay organized, stay focused, and enjoy the beautiful fall season ahead. If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to subscribe to Organizer With These podcast on your favorite podcast platform and leave us a review.

Your feedback helps us grow and reach more listeners like you who are passionate about living their best lives. And remember, a new episode comes out every Thursday at 8 AM. So mark your calendar and join us. Until next week, take care and keep shining bright.