Creating Maintainable Systems with Autumn Nyby
[Intro] Hello, and welcome to my podcast, Empowered to Thrive. I'm your host, Corinne Powell, and I'm the owner of Change Radically.
In this space, we'll talk all things inner wellness, and parenting will certainly come up too. Because I'm a mom to four kids, so parenting is a huge part of my life.
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Corinne Powell: I'm really excited to have Autumn Nyby here with me today. She's a professional organizer and owner of Space for Living Organizing.
She's on a quest for organization that emphasizes practicality over perfection. And joyful living over clutter. She focuses on making busy lives and cluttered homes more efficient and livable.
When she's not organizing, she's running after her three kids or chatting it up with her best friend, Bethany, on A to B podcast. So I love it. Practicality over perfection. Joyful living.
We are aligned in that way. So thank you for being here.
Autumn Nyby: Yes. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so happy to talk organizing. All things organizing.
Corinne Powell: Yes. I know I'm going to learn something, and we're all going to learn something. So maintaining systems… I'm sure there's some people thinking, but I'm not even organized. So I'm not even there.
So if you have a word for those that haven't started.
Autumn Nyby: Yes.
Corinne Powell: But I am interested also to hear the systems we can put in place.
Autumn Nyby: Yeah, I think a lot of it is just knowing where to start. And so I always say start small, especially when I'm working with busy clients. They tend to overextend in all areas.
So instead of just pulling everything out of your closet, and then you look up an hour later, everything's on your bed and all over the floor and your closet's empty. And you're like, well, I am done organizing. Like that sounds horrible.
So we're just going to start super small. And I encourage. I had this thing I started a while ago, which is like 10 minute Tuesdays.
So you just carve out 10 minutes of your day on Tuesdays because it's alliteration, but you just carve out 10 minutes, no matter what time that is. Once a week, you pick a super small space.
So a drawer in your kitchen, a shelf in your linen closet, you set your timer and you just work for 10 minutes. And so you're kind of focused. You know, there's a limit time, you know, you're not doing it all day. So it feels a lot more, hum, I think it's a little bit more manageable and not so overwhelming. So if you're going to do just a small block of organizing, just grab like three containers, a trash bag.
And then the most important thing is a to-do list because you're always going to want to get distracted. Okay. So if you think of something you want to do, write it on the piece of paper and then keep focused on that for 10 minutes.
And that's so nice because the 10 minutes, you know, it's short and so you can stay focused. And so you're going to have piles. So trash, that's the trash bag.
You're going to have three other containers. So a giveaway or a donation, however you want to think about it, um, a put elsewhere container, and then a keep container, all the things that you want to keep in this specific space.
So you have things that you want to keep, but it maybe doesn't go in this kitchen drawer. So you're going to put it in the put elsewhere bin. And I think when you're organizing the one place people get hung up is like making a decision. So they want to grab something.
They don't know what to do with it. They don't know what to do with it. They don't, they don't want to think about it. So they grab something else, but you really want to focus on like making a decision. So try to put it in a pile, make that decision before you pick up something new.
So you're not just like, well, “I don't know, I don't know”. You really, a lot of times the clutter in our house is just kind of delayed decisions, things that, Oh, I'll think about this and I'll put it here.
And then you just didn't decide what you wanted to do with it. So it started to become clutter. So this really kind of forces you to put it in to where it goes. And then from there, it becomes really easy.
You know, you throw away your trash, you sort the keep stuff into different, like light by light categories. You grab a container or something that you have on hand.
I love like if it's a drawer, I love shoe box lids or check people don't have checkbooks, but you know, the checkbook boxes that checks used to come in just, you know, random phone boxes that your phone came in just random little boxes.
And those can be your dividers. And you don't have to go out and buy stuff, just kind of use what you have. And then you take your put elsewhere pile and you put things like where they should go.
And if you come across like, Oh, I'm going to put it in this drawer, this is where it lives. And you're like, Oh, this drawer is a mess. Like write it on your list. That's next Tuesday. Like you don't have to do it right then. Some days you do 10 minutes, you're done.
Some days it's going to stretch into 30 minutes and you're going to feel great. It just, you know, you kind of have to be flexible in your own weeks. And flexible with yourself on what you can do. So 10 minute organizing.
We even did a 10 minute challenge on our podcast on A to B podcasts, where we did like 10 minutes of organizing for 10 days. So you can have fun with it and not be so like, Oh my gosh, my pantry has to look like it belongs on Instagram and my refrigerator and just like focus on the little small stuff. Cause we all have different levels of what we find is organized enough for us.
Corinne Powell: Yeah. That's good. Practical. We can all jump in. Yeah. Just 10 minutes. And then you can just walk away.
I also like writing it down as we're going because it's, I just see that scene of like, Oh, I put it in this drawer, but this drawer needs to be organized.
And then we divert from the one we're working on to the other. And it's just kind of like you said, the pile of things out of the closet. And then you're like, I don't want to do anymore.
Autumn Nyby: Right. Right. That sounds horrible. Nobody wants to do that. Right. Write it down.
Get to it another day or get to it when you have that time. Yeah. Yeah. And isn't that something I always kind of go back to thinking about kids and that's something we're trying to keep like teach our kids is how to stay focused.
And what are those strategies like, Hey, I told you to go put your shoes on and you went and started playing. Like, what can we do to stay focused? And like, we have to have that same little pep talk for ourselves.
Like, what can we do to stay focused for this 10 minutes? And it is a list by us. And maybe when kids are doing their homework, like you keep getting distracted, let's write down your ideas that you're coming up with of things you want to do and you can do them. Obviously this is for older kids, but you could do it later, you know, just like ways to keep ourselves focused. And then we're also teaching that to our kids too. Yeah.
So that feels like a good, that's a starting point, right? That's for the person doesn't even feel like they've got any thing going on as far as organization. Yeah. Just focusing on a small space at a time.
I think we can feel overwhelmed when you, we look at this like beautifully organized space and we think that our home has to look like that and it doesn't, it's just finding what are those kind of pain points in your home? Where are those areas that you get frustrated?
Instead of thinking of it, hum, I think people who feel disorganized, look at those pain points in there. Oh, I'm so disorganized. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to start.
And just kind of changing that self-talking. Just try to find that space in your head. And instead of thinking about organizing, think of it more of like problem solving. So, oh, this is a problem in my home. What are some solutions that I could try?
Not like, oh, I'm so disorganized, but really focusing on that problem solving part of it. And then that helps you think of you're trying out solutions.
Like, so you might try one thing and it doesn't work and you're like, oh, I'm so disorganized. Like, no, you tried one solution. Let's try a different one. Let's see if this one works a little bit better.
You're going to be like, oh, no, I'm so disorganized now. I'm so disorganized. Like, you're just doing that. No, you don't have to be like, okay, we're just going to try things a little bit different. We're going to do the right thing, right. I don't know. I don't know how to do it, but I'm going to try and figure it out because it depends.
But then we're just trying to figure out how to do solving idea and a little less on the, I have to get everything organized and perfect because I think people who are disorganized sometimes, I mean, there's a wide variety, but a lot of it is perfectionism getting in the way because we think, oh, I can't do it to make it look so great.
So I'm just gonna not do it. And that perfectionism kind of stops us for even trying anything. So if we kind of move that to the side, think of ourselves as problem solvers or detectives, we can do that. Yeah. I think if we go back to talking about, you feel like you're not an organized person and how can you still feel like you can get organized? I really liked this question because a lot of times the clients that call me, we go in and they say I'm disorganized and I ask them to give me a tour of their home.
And so they take me around, and I love pointing out all the ways that they're organized, but they just don't see because it's just kind of like every day. So it can be as simple as like your silverware is in the silverware, like that's all organized, you know, exactly where the forks are. It's not usually that simple. I'm just giving an example, but you know, it can be really simple ways.
It's just, usually there's like one disorganized aspect of their home that kind of just takes all their attention. So once we kind of look to see if we can get organized, we can get organized. And so I think the ways that they are organized, um, then we kind of build on that. So like, for instance, they are great at piling. That's really what you're doing when you're sorting things.
So then you just kind of work with the piles that they already create around their home. And so for instance, if you have a pile in your entryway of all your errands or your returns that you need to do, and it's at, and it's on your entryway, but it kind of looks cluttered, like just getting it to the entryway is actually organized.
Cause a lot of people could be all over their house and they miss that part. Like that's organized. It's all in one spot. It's ugly, but it's all in one spot. So then we take those and we create, we just get a bin, something cute, something that goes with their decor. And you say, okay, this is my errand bin and everything goes in there. And then you label it. And then that's organized. Like it's as simple as that.
And if you're a visual person and if it's in a bin, you're going to forget about it. Like you can do it. And then you can do it. And then you can do it. And then you can do it. And then you can get a really shallow basket or even like a tray that things can sit on. So it's contained.
This is the errands and that container with the label is going to help your entry just stay less cluttered. Cause then people don't see it as like a dropping zone. And so a lot of it is just creating spaces in your home throughout every room. That's like, this is where this lives. And so once you get an idea of where it lives, it helps with the clutter.
We recently moved into our house last summer. And my husband was like, to one of my kids, like, “Hey, put this away. Like these things need to be put away”. I'm like, they don't know where that lives because it really doesn't have a home yet in our house. And so there's stuff everywhere because I hadn't created homes yet.
And once we're like, okay, this is where your toys go. Like maybe we don't have a spot for it in your room, but your toys go in your room right now. And there's a mess on the floor, but that's just how it is. Cause we just moved in. Um, like that's just where, where the spaces. So your family can't help you clean up until you're, uh, until you're able to create spaces.
That doesn't mean you have to be the one to create the spaces on your own. Like, where do we like, Hey family, where do we think this should live? What, how would be easier for you? You know, like it can be a family activity, but just creating those spaces really helped to clear the clutter. And maybe in that space, it's a mess for now until you get to your 10 minute Tuesday cleanup session, but it's in that area. Like you're, Erin's are in that area.
Corinne Powell: Yes. Okay. All right. So what you're saying is bringing up a question, actually, um, the, for the child to just like, yes, all of our clothes go in this dresser drawer, but the clothes don't get into the dresser drawer. Do you have any tips for, for the, you know, there is a designated place, but people have a hard time getting it into that designated place.
Autumn Nyby: Yeah. I would make it as, as simple as possible. So, um, can you give me like, what is it like shirts or pants or socks or just everything? Oh, I'm okay with those three drawers. Anything of your clothing can go in any of those drawers. Cause we, okay. The pants go in the middle drawer, the underwear go in the top drawer. It doesn't work. So just like clothes going in the drawer. Yeah. I would focus on simplifying as much as possible.
And, and I know you're like, um, I can feel frustration coming from you. So like you're focusing on one thing at a time. So this whole drawer, I want to like, I'm ready to like come into your room and help you.
Cause I'm like, how big is this drawer? What else does the closet look like? Okay. So let me stay focused. Um, the drawer, like one drawer is just socks, but I might even have like socks and underwear as like bins on top of the dresser, because those are like the most used. So they're just the less lids, the less opening of drawers for some kids, the better and even adults.
So like socks and underwear, they can be just thrown in bins. And sometimes even those like open, um, stackable work well for that because it sounds silly, but like opening a drawer is two, it's like one too many steps. You know what I mean? Like they need the most simplest steps. And sometimes it is training. So like, Hey, today we're going to just like, or this month, we're just doing socks. Like, Hey, you got your socks in awesome job. Let's work on the shirts together. And then you're side-by-side working on the shirts together.
And then, you know, in a few more months, you'll expect him or her to do the shirts on their own. Um, a lot of it is kind of that scaffolding for that kid. I think, um, developmentally, we want them all to be like, organized, but sometimes it's just not there for them. So for instance, um, I have two teenage daughters and they both have baskets that have their like toiletries in them. And one has their basket on top of the counter because she cannot take the basket and put it inside a cabinet. It's too much. Like, that's just not the way she's thinking. She's like doing her stuff.
Sometimes they don't even make it in the basket and it's like, Hey, go straighten up real quick. It takes two seconds. And then she goes and puts her stuff. The other one they're like in the basket, she opens the cabinet. She puts the basket inside the cabinet, closes the door and the counter's all clean. It's just kind of like how people work. So you're trying to really simplify it. Especially if you have a kid who's focused on other things, it's not really that important to them.
Like how can we make it as simple as possible for them? And so in general with kids, I try to avoid lids, like unless it's long-term storage and needs to be stacked. Yeah. Like there's, there's a lot of things that I try to avoid. There's no lids on any toy stuff. There's no, everything is just kind of like, how can I throw it in? Because for them to clean up, it just needs to be thrown in anything more than that is like too much of an ask until they get a little older.
And so like, even with their like paper, like their school paper, I know is a big issue for a lot of parents and there's paper everywhere. So there's just a box of my kids are older now. So it's up higher, but it's just a box of like, Hey, I want to keep this paper. And everything goes in a giant box. I said, I was going to do it twice a year, but it's really at the end of the school year, we go through the giant box of papers that they threw up there. We talk about what they want to keep, what they want to throw away.
But then those papers have a home, like during the whole school year of these papers that I want to keep. And we don't have to decide about them until at the very end, but they have kind of like a temporary holding spot until you're, till you're ready for that. And then there's another bin of like, Hey, these are our current homework papers that we're working on now. And if you're looking for something current, it's going to be in here. And then sometimes we'll come across school work. That's like, okay, this one was done. Are we keeping it or are we trashing it? And so then we decide.
Corinne Powell: I'm interrupting the episode, but just for a moment to tell you about group session coming up on Tuesday, January 16th, we are going to be talking about how to keep going with the momentum. You're in the middle of, it is the new year, new year's resolutions, and you're going strong.
But what about what happens in February or a little bit further into the year? Reflect on how it's been in the past. Have you been able to maintain your new year's resolutions?
Have you been able to create the change that you determined you were going to? If not, I am here to support you.
I hope that you will join us at group. You'll get to share if you'd like, you are going to be able to listen in to others' share and you're going to hear me teach. Say you can't join us live. This is from the comfort of your own home via Zoom.
But if you're not able to make the live, you can receive the replay as long as you're registered. And this is all happening Tuesday, January 16th, 715 to 830 p.m. Eastern time. Link in the show notes or go to changeradically.com to register. Now back to the episode.
Corinne Powell: You know, even hearing the idea of the bins, like, these type of shoes out. We put a couple pairs of the other type of shoes in the bin, like very practical, but I feel like it gives us an idea of it. I just feel the creativity like, oh, we can think differently about these situations.
Autumn Nyby: Yeah. Yeah. And I, that, I think that's why I love to talk about trying out solutions. This is not the one solution. And plus even when kids like the next month, they grow and change so fast. It's like, okay, well that solution worked for that time period.
Now what's the solution? We're going to try for this time period. Um, and then I think it gives you that, that freedom to try, let's try something new. Then I also like one of the biggest tips I have for just any home is to have a permanent like giveaway or donation bin. Um, and when my kids were little, like in baby clothes, that was like right in their closet. So just right above the hanging, I just stuck in, okay, this is too small. It goes up in here, and then I had a spot for items that were too big, but since I'm so visual, it was on the far side of the closet hanging.
So I could see everything, but it wasn't like the everyday area of their clothes that fit them. So the two big stuff, I, if something was too small, I look over there. What's in our two big stuff that we can wear. Cause there were so many times that I had like a box of two big stuff and then you get to it and you're like, oh, this doesn't fit you anymore. So knowing like your strengths, that's how I work. I have to see it sometimes. So knowing, what are the items that you need to see that you can have out that are still organized.
They have their home, but not necessarily all mixed in with everything else. So having that like permanent donation spots where you come across stuff. Oh, I throw it in there a bit in that bin. If it's in the kids' rooms now ours is in the garage. And so I just have a pile. Um, and so when you're ready, it just limits the clutter of things that, you know, you don't want.
Right. Yes. That's good. Cause I often do that. Like I'll, I'll be going through things on the regular. Oh, okay. We're moving this along, but we moved like a year and a half ago. And lately it's this, it's a, it's like the hall closet, the floor of it. And I'm like thinking, oh, you said bin that just feels so much better.
I'll just put a bin even, even in that same spot. Yeah. We're putting stuff in the bin. Cause sometimes I'm like, I hate opening the closet to see things on the floor, but it's literally my spot for those things that we're going to give away before. I take that next step.
Corinne Powell: Yeah. Yeah
Autumn Nyby: And the other thing talking about just kind of working with what you have is hooks. Like, so, um, in the beginning I had a towel bar for my kids to hang up their towels on the towel bar. I mean, that did not last very long. It's switched. It quickly got switched to hooks.
So hooks for their towels, it makes it on every time. And so like even hooks for their pajamas. So you have a, they don't need to put their pajamas in a drawer. You just have a hook. So you have a hook somewhere in their closet or even next to their closet or behind their door, just their pajamas go right there. Um, for their jackets, I have a hook behind their door for their jackets, um, hook for their backpack. So it's just like those command hooks are great. You can pull them off. You can, you can start with a command hook and be like, okay, this works. I'm going to put in a real hook, you know, just however you, um, if you're finding things that are on the ground, just put a hook there.
Corinne Powell: I'm just thinking, yes. And then I'll be the one hanging it. No, no, I have some of my kids who will, well, one of my three older ones would always hang the other ones. We'd have to be like, wait, you just left on the floor. Go back, please.
Autumn Nyby: Yes. That is one of mine too. And a lot of it is training. And then, um, they were like, she was well-trained to hang her backpack on a hook at the old house. And then at the new house, it was like, wait, we don't have a hook. We don't. So we're back to the training. And so, it's like you finished your homework. Okay, great. I still see your backpack on the ground.
Like keeping as a parent, keeping your expectations, um, just reasonable, you know? So like we expect a lot of our kids sometimes more than, um, just understanding that we would have the same issue trying to remember to put stuff on the hook. So give them that grace of like, okay, we're training again.
So instead of thinking it as like, Oh, I have to keep telling them over and over again. No, you're just training them and they're going to get it one day as a mom of two teenagers. Like they got a lot of things that I'm like, I never thought they would get that, you know? So it just, it feels like a slog in the moment, but you'll, you'll get there.
Corinne Powell: Right. Keeping in perspective, the belief that they'll get there. That's you know, cause I realized, Oh, that has to be in play. Otherwise it's even more frustrating.
Think I'm just going to forever be telling them. Just also, like you said, like realizing these are things that are important to us, or maybe we feel like makes our, our, our home environment, uh, feel like a lighter place, but yeah, for our kids, they're just having to go along with the idea that we, we like to have these things on the hooks or these things. Yeah, and a lot of that, you know, they're not given the choice there right.
Autumn Nyby: And then a lot of that is keeping your clear. And I think that helps, um, making a list for your kids. So like, um, here are the things that you need to do before you can play or watch TV or whatever it is. So it's like, is your lunch pail next to the kitchen sink? Or did you, you know, did you hang up your backpack?
Did you feed the cat, you know, like all these different, and so they can go to the checkoff list and it depends on personality type, but, um, like one in particular, like they, I hate being told what to do over and over again, also just as much as I hate saying it. So if they have that checkoff list, they can go, they can be independent. They can look, they can see what they need to do each afternoon. Um, and then a lot of that is us as parents getting organized.
Okay. What am I asking them to do? And is that reasonable? And is it clear? Am I just like surprising them every afternoon? You know? So just, um, it kind of all works together. It gets just getting, your home in order helps just keep your expectations clear.
Corinne Powell: That's good. Yes. Yes. Putting ourselves in their shoes. Yeah. Yeah. Their perspective.
Autumn Nyby: Yeah. And, and thinking about like, um, I am not perfect at this, but it is something that I work on, which is not going back and doing it for them. So like thinking of chores or any other things around the house, like why are they, going to take the time to do something when they know that mom is just going to come right back around and do it better. And the way she wants right after me. So a lot of that is letting go of your own perfection. Like, okay, they cleaned the bathroom sink. Um, and it's good enough.
And so it's not the way I would do it, but it's good enough because you're training them. And, um, that comes with organizing too. Like, um, I like to match all my socks together, but they're, you know, I did that for them for a while. And then they're like, oh, I'm going to and now they can decide, Hey, here's how I match up my socks. Um, but if they just reach in and grab socks, that's fine.
My daughter for a while, she enjoyed wearing different color socks. So she wasn't even matching the socks together. So it's like allowing them that leeway to be their own individual while still training them to be successful adults when they get there, but maybe just not exactly like you as much as we wish they were.
Corinne Powell: Yes. No, but you're touching on something that is really important because I, myself, have been working to come out of it. And I see it in a lot of people that I know personally, or, you know, it's, or work with, but this idea that there's not the way we do something is not necessarily the best and it's for sure.
Not the only way, you know, like, like the sink, we asked them to clean it. Yeah. Maybe it's not to the degree we'd want it done, but we, we get to choose. If we don't want to have the, if we don't want to have the, if we don't want to have the them clean it, then we don't have to ask them. But if we come behind them and critique it or redo it, I mean, of course I know there's like some teaching in play.
I'm not saying if they did an awful job and they just didn't even try, that's a different conversation, right? Right. What you're touching on is something that I know, like I've literally felt this, I don't want to say pressure. That's not the right word, but I felt the importance of eradicating that out of my life in the last, I don't know if it's been a year or whatnot that I became aware of it. And of course it was what I grew up with, right?
So, Oh, I'm doing it because it was what was modeled to me. I don't even realize I'm doing it, but how much better for my kids to not have me saying, do this and then micromanaging or having them redo it. Cause it needs to be. I wanted it. And I just, I, you, you touched on something that I feel like, Oh, we need to all consider this for ourselves. Yeah. Comes to the way we relate to our kids or just other people in general, you know?
Autumn Nyby: Right. Right. And then realizing, Hey, maybe they're not developmentally ready, ready for that chore. Like I did the toilets by myself for a long time. Cause I wanted them done a specific way. I didn't want them all up in the toilets. Like, and then eventually they, get there.
However, folding laundry, I had them do, you know, when they were young, because it's can be kind of average folded. It just gets in there. They pull it back out. It wasn't so deciding, like, what are those things you don't want to bend on? Just like you said. And then what are the things that you can train them and, um, um, kind of get them somewhere like it's that whole training idea.
And just thinking about, um, even with organizing, like organizing kids toys, I think one mistake people make is including their kids before they're able, like making decisions about clutter and toys is really hard for us. So this idea that we're going to ask our five-year-old, hey, like, help me clean up your toys. Okay. We're going to get rid of these. And we're, you're, we're going to keep these like, that's just really hard. That's hard for us with our, like, think of us going through our clothes in our closet and how hard that is.
So sometimes you're going to do things by yourself and like, Hey, um, what are your, well, you know, as a mom, I was going to say, you can have your kids like pick out their top five toys and put them on their bed and Hey, I'm going to go through your room today while you're at school. Or I, you know, just like focusing on like, what are they developmentally ready for? But you know, those toys, your kids play with, and you know, the toys they don't.
And so being able to just do that on their own. And then when they're older, you're kind of scaffolding with them, but like when they're able to make that decision and maybe it's like only 10 minutes at a time. Hey, I put these things in a pile. Let's go through them real quick for 10 minutes. And which ones do you want to keep?
And so you're just giving them that small chunk to do. Cause this is hard for us. So expecting your kids to be able to organize their own stuff is, is a big ask.
Corinne Powell: Yeah. We have some systems in place at our house where it's like, you know, if we're going to go to, I don't know, the other day they wanted to stop by a tag sale or even sometimes just after a birthday, it's like, okay, we just brought five more things in. So now let's look through and take out five things that we already have. We kind of just maintain what we have at this point by, by doing things like that. But we have a conversation together, like you're saying.
Autumn Nyby: Yeah, that's great. And just keep it simple. Not like, Hey, we're going to tackle your whole room. Like right now in these next, you know, three hours, it's like, Hey, pick out five things, you know, you're done with that's really great. Yeah.
And then the other thing with, I'm just thinking about like easy systems to kind of, we got started talking about kids, but to get your, your kids like involved we do something like a five minute or a 10 minute pickup kind of now that they're older.
And it's just like, you set the timer as a family, everybody goes around, puts things back in their homes for five to 10 minutes, and then it's done. And then you do something fun. You go outside, you go, I don't know, you you're, you're done. You don't have to keep working for the whole day. Cause a lot of times kids are dragging their feet because it feels never ending in their, in their small little minds of like, we're going to be doing this all day.
So just like a five, 10 minute pickup, and then we're done. We're, we're onto something else.
Corinne Powell: Yeah. Awesome.
Autumn Nyby: And the thing that really helps, like just thinking about just simple things you can do is labels. I label everything like it's a kindergarten classroom, just like labels everywhere. If it, you know, my linen closet, I even labeled like nice towels, like rags, because I'm, I don't want my kids to confuse those. Like they have a home. And if I didn't label it, like I know which bins are nice and which ones aren't, but if I want my kids to be independent, I need to label that.
And my kids like are sick of it. Cause I'm like coffee mugs, travel mugs. Like when you're emptying the dishwasher, I want my travel mugs on this side. And I want my regular everyday coffee mugs on this side. Like it, just label it. And I use really simple labels that can come off easy. So there's not like, oh my gosh, I'm going to label something wrong. Um, you can even do like post-its until you, like when we moved in, I had post-its on the outside of the cabinets because. It was like, okay, where's this? Where's that? And I was like, I don't know. I don't even remember.
So post-its on, you know, and, and then things would change. It's like, okay, well that doesn't work in this spot anymore. So let's move it to this cabinet. Okay. Here's the post-it that goes here. This post is not going to be here forever, but it's here now. Um, you know, just labels just make such a difference in, in you're trying to put stuff away. And it's like, okay, that label is telling me it doesn't go here. Like it's just until you use them, you don't realize like the of labels. It's really great.
Corinne Powell: Yeah. I'm curious. Cause I don't use them. So I'm feeling you.
Autumn Nyby: Yeah. Start small. And then once you see the power, you're going to be like labels. Yeah. So if I'm just thinking about, you know, small ways to start, like just to summarize, it's like the 10 minutes of organizing once a week or a couple of times a week, whatever you're able to do, and then having a permanent spot for donations and giveaways somewhere in your home, no matter where it is. Um, and then just like focusing on that problem solving.
So whether it's hooks or labels, like something small, what's going to solve that problem that we're going to try out and see if it works. And so I feel like that's a good place for somebody to get started, um, in terms of like, I don't know where to go start there. And, um, on our podcast, I have a co-host, um, her name is Bethany and she is self-described as, disorganized. And so she's the fun one. The reason people would listen to the podcast.
And so she is always sharing like, Hey, this is going on. This isn't working or, Hey, I tried this and it works great. So she's always coming up with like, um, just different things that are causing issues in her home or in her life or in her paper, you know, all, all the facets of getting organized. And so we're always touching on just simple ways to help you.
Not like, um, I'm so organized and I, need to get my refrigerator organized too. Just like, you know, just the easy stuff.
Corinne Powell: Okay. Yes. Yes. So anyone that's loving this conversation or hearing and saying, I need more of this, go and listen to the podcast. Yes. A to B podcast, right?.
Autumn Nyby: Yeah. We have tons of tips. And if you wanted to do, um, episode, um, episode 85 of A to B podcast. So it's just atobpodcast.com/85. You can find, our 10 minute organizing challenge. So you can just, we talk about what space we're going to organize. We kind of organize it with you and you just kind of listen along while you're organizing. And, um, we had a lot of fun and you can still do that, even though it was in the past, we're still always pushing 10 minute organizing.
Corinne Powell: Cool. All right. And anyone who wants to find you where, where's the best place for them to reach you other than the podcast?
Autumn Nyby: Yes. My website is spaceforlivingorganizing.com. You can find me there, but the podcast is really the best. We have new episodes coming up. We're also on Instagram, mainly Bethany's on there. So she, you can check in with her. Um, and so those are the best spots. And I also do, I do in-home organizing. If you're in San Diego,
I also do virtual organizing. So if you are looking for specific help for a specific area, um, I do virtual organizing and you can find that on my website, spaceforlivingorganizing.com.
Corinne Powell: Fabulous. And I will include all of those links in the show notes. So this has been great and helpful. Thank you for your time, Autumn.
Autumn Nyby: Thank you so much for having me.
Corinne Powell: If you're thinking, Oh, the episodes come to an end. I'd like to continue listening about some of these topics, Corinne and Autumn were talking about. I've got some past episodes that I've recorded that will open up the conversation more about some of what we talked about today.
Okay. So take a listen, if you'd like to season two, episode 35, Cracking Open Codependency or from season two, episode 37, Counting Sheep at Night?. And from season four, episode eight, Collective Conversation. And all of that is linked in the show notes for you.
[Ending] Here we are. We've come to the end of another episode. Sit back and reflect on what you heard. What's the one thing that resonates with you that you can take away and do something with? Let's not just listen, let's listen and take action. Now, action may look very different for us, but it's doing something with what we hear.
I hope that you'll share today's episode with a friend that you think would also enjoy it. And please come back next week. I hope that you have a fabulous week and that you remember when you pillow your head at night, when you're going through your days, I'm glad that you're alive.
