Hello, I've never watched your channel before and YT showed this video as a recommendation and I thoroughly enjoyed it and found it helpful and informative. I will now go and take a look at Ange's podcasts and then take a look at your previous videos. Good job 👍 All the best Angela

That was very interesting. What a lovely - and very intelligent! - lady. 🙂

Lovely podcast .lovely ladies thank you.Where do I find the show notes please xx

Would love advice on how to Declutter an art studio, especially trying to work on releasing art projects I might not get to. Thanks for a wonderful podcast.

This is very interesting and important to look at. I would imagine that one, like Jo, has to be very emotionally intelligent to do this job; if someone kept refocusing on the positives it would not necessarily work for me as I would want to mourn what I am losing especially in a first instance. Realising that we should have what fits in a space is a difficult concept, even when not downsizing...

thank you for bringing up the sustainability issues Peter!

Trying to apply this to the craft of Quilting. My creativity became stiffled when I completed quilt tops for family members but realized they were too big for me to comfortably do the quilting on my machine and ended up sending them out to a Longarm Quilter with each costing an average of $150 to be done, then I attached the binding. The fabric of the quilt top and backing, the time involved to do it as well as the cost to send it out is making me question how much do I really enjoy doing this? Lost my “Sew-Jo” Will go through my sewing/quilt making room and hope the outcome will be a positive one. BTW, I turn 70 this year. Thank you for your post. ❤

In our house it’s called a “Lazy Larry” as my name is Susan and I’m far from lazy…😆

❤

You end up finding yourself deciding to declutter items you don’t need when Minimalizing…each person has their own limit as to how much they actually ‘need’ in their home to be content and at peace with their life. You do you! ❤

I receive emails that I’ve never Subscribed to so wonder if these are “Fishing” and fear that in Unsubscribing I am letting them know it’s an active email? Am I correct in thinking that?

Do it without speaking about it. Have someone be with you that will be supportive. Let the end results tell your story.

Put them on a timer too.

Please no ribbons or sticker. You risk the luggage will go into the ‘unread/undentified” pile. All the sorting is done by scanners. If it scans your ribbon or sticker and can not reead anything it will go to the side. Best is to place a bright string tape tape around one of the handles. Just saying!

I put the hotel business card in my back pocket so if I am robbed or lost I can get back to the hotel. Many times, for a variety of reasons, while traveling, you don't want to walk around with your phone out, so having the hard copy of the hotel business card on your person could be better.

My aunt used to tie a ribbon on her suitcase, but I worried the ribbon would fall off or catch on something, so I painted on my suitcase. It looks nice. I used stencils of travel items -- e.g. a train, plane, sailboat, car. I put the images on the various sides. The paint is white on a navy blue soft side rollerboard. I can spot it a mile away.

Great fun, as always. 🤣 It has made me think that I might as well declutter my little stack of OS maps as I really never use them anymore. 🤔

A new neighbor in need may want the item

I'm thinking of hanging more things as I get fed up of ironing t-shirts only for them to get creased when folding... also it's easier to see which t- shirt is which.

My problem is I have house maintenance tools (pressure washer, mower, circular saw, etc.), RV supplues for maintenance plus household items. A lot to sort, need tools.

Another big name interview! You ladies are bringing your A game. Congrats

Well done! Helpful.

And now Temu, "Shop like a billionaire" slogan - meaning buy, buy, buy cheap stuff

What a powerful criticism of single use plastic, fast fashion + corporate exploitation of the planet! Very useful. I have always criticized Dollar Store as almost all is Chinese-made but filling U.S. landfills + our bodies w/plastic particles. Thank you!!!

I love downszing videos = I downsized on 3 different occasions before selling my 4 bedrm home.😊 I did it by continuously picking my favorites = going into a studio meant that I had to keep reassessing what was my favorites = sometimes in bulk & sometimes in categories, & looking at what was still relevant to current season of my life -- & I continue to analyze my belongings. Bc w/time, items become no longer relevant, sentimental, or needed.

I really love hearing Peter Walsh speak. I’ve heard two interviews of his thus far and in both he has made a point of talking about our environmental impact and his anti consumerism beliefs. It’s refreshing to hear someone who feels as strongly as I do about it and I’m glad that someone like him who has the ability to make an impact on a mass level is speaking out about this. I especially love how he talks about the plastic containers that professional organizers use. I wish more organizers used alternative options and spoke to the benefits of this because I have been swayed by the home edit to buy plastic storage bins even though it goes against my core beliefs because I just don’t know what is better. I would love organizers to speak on alternatives and to really emphasize selling items you wish to declutter or donating for more obscure places like women’s shelters vs goodwill and to emphasize recycling rather than throwing things in the landfill. Too many times I have seen KZfaq organizers say “if you are too lazy to donate just throw it in the trash”. These people have too big of a following to give their audience permission to destroy our planet.

I had to downsize my mom twice. Once to a mother-in-law suite from a 4 bedroom house and then later to one bedroom in my house. It wasn't easy either time.

The neighbor's entire house was demolished this week. Talk about downsizing! Someone pulled out a box of china to save, but the rest was hauled away to a private landfill to be burned and buried.

Thank you for all of your wonderful podcasts! Gabriele from Germany is greeting you. 🍀

thank you for the video. The first step of gathering all pens together is essential to the process. I have found that I have so many ball point pens and managed to discard maybe 1/4 of them as they didn't work. The next step for me is to set aside those I picked up from promotional sources. Some pens just feel nicer than others, so they also get set aside. And a couple are sentimental (pens from graduation ceremonies, though annoyingly they are of poor build quality). Ball point pens (Biro/Bic) are frustratingly long lasting, with the amount of ink far exceeding the useful life span of them. Schools seem to be at a general shortage of pens so they could be a place to approach. Otherwise, simply leaving pens at places where other people may find use (post offices, workplace) could be a way to offer them a second life without sending them to recycling or general waste disposal.

I agree with Peter 100%! The majority of people believe they're doing something "good" by putting stuff into a recycling bin but recycling is not the answer. It's not really even an answer because of the time, distance, transportation, energy, fossil fuels etc involved in reprocessing paper, metals, plastics and glass into another usable material our product. Whatever the end product it's still largely non-biodegradable, chemical laden crap! Crap that might be shipped to another part of the world to be "melted down" then somewhere else to be processed into more consumer crap that is then shipped all over the world to be sold in $2 Shops! Anyone who believes the biodegradable plastic bag palaver needs to think again. Yes, the bags can break down BUT this requires very specific circumstances that landfill methods do not provide. Frankly, if you're not prepared to dispose of something by pouring or burying it in your garden, it has no place coming into your home! Yes, it's bloody hard but if you're serious about making a positive difference this is the approach everyone needs to take. Although, again, I'm inclined to agree with Peter in that we've gone too far.

The tradition of gift-giving during celebrations may be cultural in nature. In my culture, the tradition is to give cash to a couple who is getting married, and they often use it to offset the cost of the wedding reception. We also give gifts to new babies when we go to visit them at home (after they return from hospital), but usually the items are practical things like diapers and baby clothes. We don't have baby showers, so there are no gifts before baby is born. For Christmas, most people I know don't give more than one gift per person within their family circle -- plus, a married couple (like uncle & aunt) would give a joint gift rather than separate gifts. So kids don't drown in gifts/toys at Christmas.

I could so relate to this. Very discouraging that she was still working with you 8 years later but happy to hear she had changed her perspective on letting go of things. I have such a problem with letting go. I hired a professional organizer about 4 yrs ago. She came one time and became ill for our next session and I never called her back for a second session. That first and only time she came I still have regrets of the things I let go of.

Great podcast as always. Health paperwork is hard. What I do is similar. For health documents that need to go to appointments with me ( medications list or results from other specialists related to the main condition) I have a small portfolio. It has severs pockets to keep things organized and it is easy to carry. Old visits go in the filing cabinet.

Delete credit card information from all shopping sites. You can still put it back in when you want to buy something.

🦢🦢🦢 Swans seem to glide through life (all the hard work going on underneath, where we do not see it😅) Many times we may look like we are gliding along and all the time inside frantically losing our patience!😂 Observing others does not always give us the full gravitas of someones situation. Many times a day I use to get frustrated inwardly!!! Over the delays, Obstructions to getting actions completed. I’ve learnt to get bits and pieces done, “ my future self will thank me“ This recurring transaction of “few mins now” towards my future self. From this exercise… I have found more patience to whatever I am trying to achieve in a day.

I am 70 and I'm working on downsizing all by myself. I still have a lot to do, but have gotten rid of a lot. I'm still working and will be for a long time. I'm leaving this message because of what you said about older people. Lol

Congratulations Ingrid and Lesley!

That is a damn fine idea! Thanks!

congratulations! great episode.

I am a little disappointed there were no video questions. Maybe try again when viewers are feeling a bit braver. Promise not to say the submitters' names and/or that they don't' have to show their faces. Maybe you'll get a few video submissions.

I understand the bugs better now because I didn't realize you could be different bugs in different rooms. I'm a ladybug with paper but a bee/cricket in the kitchen and bedroom and bathroom and a butterfly in the living room.

Great episode, per usual. I appreciate the focus on mental and emotionally positivity as foundational to success in the decluttering journey. It is really so crucial. Comparison is a thief of joy, right? Celebrating successes has been instrumental in completing my decluttering goals. I have been trying to shift things I used to do whenever I felt like it (i.e. getting takeout from a restaurant, buying candy/snack food, purchasing a new outfit for dance night) into rewards for goals accomplished. I don't reward every move I make, but I try to "save" these rewards for when I hit certain milestone targets. I dedicate the celebratory moment while I am enjoying the reward to the accomplishment. It is fun and motivating!

Patience can be a cultural thing like Ingrid says. Once a group of us had to meet inside a library to do a project. The librarian posted a note on the locked door saying she would be back late because of "gastronomical reasons". The Americans looked at the note and wonder if the librarian was eating lunch or had a stomach ache. The Colombians, Italian, and French students went for a coffee to wait for the librarian. The Americans followed them with a plan to return in 30 minutes. The Germans and Swedes waited by the library door until the librarian returned and then they complained that she wasn't more timely and that she didn't adhere faithfully to the permanently scheduled time. Lol. Patience is a virtue, and it is very differently regarded by various people and cultures.

Highly enjoyable episode x

This is now one of my top favorite episodes. The focus on mindset and habit shifts is so crucial to success with keeping up with the organization and functionality of a decluttered home. Simplifying my kitchen and the meals I regularly make helps me keep my kitchen organized and tidy. I am so excited for episode 300! Congratulations on your milestone and success. Thanks for sharing your wisdom through your podcast!

The bottom of the pantry is the goal today. Thank you for being so inspiring!

You will own nothing and you will be happy.

this is so good!! I have the same situation with my husband. Thank you for sharing!

What's funny is that many of us who are naturally more cluttered have organizations in our clutter. The problem is that others can't share the same space because they wouldn't understand the specific "cluttered organization", so it is important in shared spaces to have rules and standardized organization. However, it's important overall to have what is more standardized/traditional organization in homes not usually shared with others so guests have a nicer visit, and it is easier to clean the space. Eventually those systems become routine. It is a constant maintenance with habitual decluttering, organizing, and cleaning that is the routine. Good stuff from Ingrid and Harriett.