145 | How to Get Life in Order When Inspiration is Lacking and the Struggle is Real… - Intentional Edit

Inspiration may not be the answer when you are trying to get your life in order and accomplish more at home. Find out what to do when “The Struggle is Real” on episode 145.

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Full Episode Transcription (not edited):

Struggling with daily tasks and trying to accomplish anything around the house is stressful. On this episode of the Intentional Edit Podcast, you can find out what you can do when you want to make changes, but you can’t find the inspiration and you really don’t even know where to begin.

(00:16):

Hey, friends, quick tips that make a big impact in your daily life are my favorite ways to implement systems around the house. I’ve been sharing easy strategies and my go-to organizing products for Tip Tuesday on the intentional edit Instagram feed for a few years Now, I’m excited to bring it to the podcast with sure episodes, answering your questions every Tuesday. If you want me to answer your questions, go to the podcast page on intentional edit.com and submit your questions there. Let’s get started on this Tip Tuesday episode of the Intentional Edit Podcast.

(00:47):

It’s really easy to get your questions answered and your problems solved. If you want me to answer a question that you have or come up with some kind of a solution for something that you’re struggling with on a Tip Tuesday episode of the Intentional Edit Podcast, I am happy to help you. All you have to do is go to intentional edit.com and there is a little record now button that pops up. You just click on that. It will ask you for your name, type your name in really quick, and you leave a message. It’s just like leaving a voicemail. It is so simple. You can ask a question or simply explain to me what is going on, what you are struggling with, what the problem is or what you think the problem is, and I will come up with a solution for you or give you some guidance into what you can do or where you can go to get the information you need to solve the problem that you are currently having.

(01:39):

If you want more resources and more information on decluttering, getting organized, how to organize, how to come up with those systems and good routines and get those great habits going in your home meal planning structure, day-to-day, things with routines and rhythm, anything along those lines or anything that we talk about on the Intentional Edit podcast, I’m happy to help you. So go to intentional edit.com, click on that record now button and leave me a message. You don’t have to type anything, you don’t have to send an email. It is not complicated. All you have to do is click on that little record now button and ask your question or let me know the problem that you want me to solve. The question that I’m going to answer for this week’s episode is right here. I’m gonna read it to you now, and it says, where do I find inspiration when I want to do a lot of things but never seem to get going and we really need to make our daily home life flow better?

(02:39):

So many people can relate to that, and let’s get right into it. You’re asking, where can I find the inspiration? How do I get inspired? Where does that come from? And not to sound harsh, but I am going to be brutally honest in answering this question right here like I usually am. You’re probably used to that by now, but the inspiration is not what you need, and I know that sounds a little bit crazy, but the inspiration is only going to get you so far. It might get you started, but it’s not going to continue much beyond that point of getting. You started seeing a great picture of a before and after or finding something that you want to do or something that you aspire to be like. When you see that end result that can give you temporary inspiration. You want the result so you feel inspired in the moment, and that’s all it is.

(03:38):

It might get you started, but it’s not going to keep going much longer. So what you really need is you need to create a routine with the goal in mind that that routine will eventually become a habit, and that comes from having a solid plan and following the plan to do all the steps you need. You want your ho, your home to function and flow better. That means great routines, but it’s always a three part package. You have to declutter. You have to remove the clutter and the excess from your home. You have to get organized so things are orderly and you can find what you need when you’re looking for it, and you have good organization going, and the systems and routines are what keeps the organization going, and those routines are what makes it so that your home functions and you have that easy flow that you’re talking about.

(04:33):

The good routines make it so things that now are taking up space in your brain that are decisions that you have to make that are these areas of the day that you’re struggling with. A good routine replaces that struggle with a habit because a routine that you have intentionally created becomes a habit over time. Once you have done the practices in the routine for about a month, it becomes a habit, and we love habits because habits are effortless, habits are ritualistic things that we do without taking up brain power. We don’t have to think about them, it’s just something that we do. We are checking little tasks off the to-do list with habits because they’re just part of our day. It’s just something that simply happens that we don’t think about, and that’s why creating these systems and routines with intention and really thinking about them is the best way.

(05:31):

It’s really the only way to do these things because we want them to become the habits that are effortless in our lives. So you have to have the plan, this action plan that you create and you follow this plan to have success with most things so that you keep going beyond that intro phase, that inspiration phase. If you just go based on inspiration, you will not make it very far. You when the inspiration burns out after a couple days or after the initial excitement wears off, then you’re back to square one. You’re right back to where you are right now, desiring something, but it’s the plan that you follow and following that plan, following the instructions is going to get you where you need to go. If you’re wanting your daily life to function and flow better, then the plan that gets you those solid routines is going to be what brings you the success.

(06:29):

You want those routines going in your home. A routine that I’m talking about is a routine that is set up intentionally so that you can have success with something to make those tasks easier. And I just mentioned it, but I’ll say it again. Great routines become habits. We want them to become habits. Why? Because you don’t think about the habits. Habits don’t take up that. Mental energy habits are things that you do on autopilot and you’re just checking off the task on the to-do list. Like I just said, one thing at a time without even thinking about it. You’re getting things done. It’s simply just part of your day. Minimal effort is involved and these things happen. You can have good routines that are now habits set up for many, many different parts of the day. More, I like to say, morning routines, evening routines, after school routines or bedtime routines.

(07:24):

Little things that you do. A routine might be five minutes, it might be one minute, it might be 15 or 20 minutes depending on what you are trying to do, and I recommend you create new routines at the time in your day that is the most stressful and feels the most out of sorts. Be intentional with the plan of what needs to happen. How can these fit naturally into what you are already doing? For example, if you make dinner most nights of the week and you also have to pack lunches instead of packing lunches in the morning unless you have an excess of time in the morning, pack those lunches and prepare those lunches during the dinnertime prep. When you’re already in the kitchen, you’re already making a mess. You already have things out pack and prep the lunches for the next day. Another thing that is great to do in the evening is getting the outfits out the night before.

(08:19):

When bath time is over, you’re getting pushy. Amazon, pull out the kids’ outfits for the night before. If you take this even a step further, I actually for kids like to plan their outfits a week at a time and have a designated spot in the closet for those things. I’ve talked about this on other podcast episodes where I really explain how this works, but you put each outfit in its own slot on a hanging rack that just goes on the closet rod and it will have at least five days in there. Then each day of the week has a spot. Then you can make sure they have sneakers on PE days wear special, a special shirt for a field trip or those things. You spend the five minutes getting those outfits out, the correct shoes for the outfits, whatever is needed to go to school on those days, put them in the slots, and then you don’t have to think about clothing for the rest of the week.

(09:09):

You do that on Sunday, going into the new week ahead, the week it’s done, clothing for the week is finished, checked off the list, it’s not a big deal anymore, and you eliminate the struggle with picking out clothes for what’s gonna be worn each day it’s already solved, the problem is solved and you have figured it out. It takes a few minutes over the weekend and it saves you tons of time during the week. You can do things like that with lunches and preparing things at individual containers on the weekend for the week ahead. Many things like that. I can give you an example after example. You have to identify what you are struggling with, what’s not working in your day, and then come up with the problem or come up with the solution for that problem because you know you’re struggling with that and build the routines around those struggles.

(09:59):

If you wanna work with me and have me help you, I am happy to do that. There are links in the podcast description that you can click, click on and we can work together, but the routine that you create, the goal is to bring ease and simplicity. A good routine created out of intention does just that. It brings the simplicity to your home, and the goal then is to turn that routine into a habit because you put the effort forward and you do it every single day. Or if it’s a weekly routine, you do it every single week until you have done it enough times, and that timeframe is generally about a month. You’ve done it the that many times and it becomes a habit, and when it becomes a habit, it’s just the way that you do things around the house and that’s what you have.

(10:51):

The feeling that your, the things in your house, the daily tasks that are happening in your home are happening with ease. It has that good flow that you are talking about and that you are wanting from that original question. Thank you for listening to this Tip Tuesday episode of the Intentional Edit Podcast. If you are listening today and you have a struggle, you have a problem you want me to solve, you have a question you want answered, go to intentional edit.com, click on the record now button and leave a message for me. It’s just like leaving a voicemail for a friend. Ask it on there and I will answer it on a future tip Tuesday episode. Thanks for listening. I’ll meet you back here later in the week for the next episode.

(11:32):

Thanks for listening to another Tip Tuesday episode on the Intentional Edit Podcast. Keep submitting your questions so that I can keep answering them on these episodes. They’re quick episodes and I love to share actionable solutions for you to implement at home. You could always send me an email or direct message on Instagram, but I have added a cool way to submit voice questions on the website. It’s honestly my favorite way to take questions. Now head over to intentional edit.com. Click on the podcast page and scroll down to where it says, submit your questions for the podcast. Ask me anything there and you can even be featured on the show. Questions can be about creating systems in your house, decluttering how to manage family schedules, getting kids on board with organizing, managing, and maintaining systems. Honestly, they can be personal questions and things you wanna know about how I do something in my house. I want to know what you want to know. If you’re struggling with it, other people are too. Ready, set. Go over right now to intentional edit.com and ask your questions.

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Lauren is the founder of Intentional Edit, a home organization and lifestyle company focused on consciously editing to create efficient and organized spaces. Lauren believes that a functional home that looks and feels good has a positive influence on all aspects of life. Creating systems that allow for the home to function more efficiently, therefore, eliminating most of the clutter and chaos is her priority. While trends come and go organization is always in style!

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