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Have you ever visited someone's 
house and thought to yourself 

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that they must not have very 
much stuff and that's why their 

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house looks clean? 
Well, that's only partly true, 

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and I'm going to tell you their 
secret. 

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When your house is a mess and 
you're feeling the stress, what 

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you need is a friend in your 
ear. 

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Start the job and you'll see us 
disappear. 

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Clean with Me podcast is here. 
Thanks for joining me in this 

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session. 
We're going to get your dishes 

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washed and your countertops 
cleared and wiped down, of 

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course, the stove top and the 
sink. 

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And then we're going to walk 
through your house and do an 

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assessment of your closets, 
cabinets, and drawers. 

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That way, you'll know what to 
focus on during your next 

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decluttering session. 
But first, it's time to gather 

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up any cups or dishes from 
around the house and set them 

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next to the sink so that you can
quickly get your dishes done and

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clear and wipe down those 
kitchen surfaces. 

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I'm not going to do a prolonged 
introduction in this episode 

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because I'm really excited about
this hidden clutter assessment 

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that I'm going to talk you 
through. 

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But at the same time, I want you
to get your dishes done first. 

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More often than not, we need to 
start by doing the dishes. 

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OK, I do make some cleaning and 
reverse episodes, but in this 

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episode, I want you to get those
residual dishes clean. 

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I want you to get down to dish 
zero. 

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And then the easy part is just 
quickly clearing your 

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countertops and table tops and 
giving those surfaces A swipe. 

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It's not a deep clean by any 
means, it's just a daily kitchen

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reset that we're going to get 
over with so that we can talk 

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about something that's going to 
make a long term impact in your 

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house. 
Because I'm also releasing a 

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bonus episode today where I walk
you through decluttering, those 

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hidden areas, and give you all 
the dates on my latest 

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decluttering session. 
Yeah, I'm going to be giving you

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the actual examples in that 
bonus episode. 

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But even if you don't subscribe 
to bonus content, I want to help

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you assess your house so that 
you'll know what needs to be 

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done. 
Now that you've gathered up your

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dishes from around the house and
place them next to the sink, you

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might need to quickly wash out 
the sink and get it ready. 

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You might need to empty your 
drying rack of clean dishes. 

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Or if you have a dishwasher, you
might need to also empty your 

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dishwasher and then start pre 
rinsing or start, you know, 

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start pre rinsing and loading 
the dishwasher or start pre 

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rinsing and soaking things in 
that first sink load. 

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And a lot of times when I'm hand
washing dishes, I will get that 

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first sink load pre rinsed and 
soaking and then I'll start 

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clearing off the surfaces of my 
kitchen to get it ready for the 

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wipe down as the water's cooling
down a little bit Because I want

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the water as hot as possible. 
But then I want it to cool down 

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a little bit before my put 
before I put my hands in it. 

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When I'm using a dishwasher and 
just be working on your dishes, 

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whatever that means for you. 
Maybe you have to put away clean

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stuff or maybe you're already 
washing. 

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But when I'm using the 
dishwasher, I normally get any 

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difficult items pre rinsed and 
soaking, especially pots and 

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pans. 
I rinse them out under running 

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water and then I put some hot 
water and dish soap in them, set

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those aside, and then put the 
easy items into the dishwasher. 

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By the time I'm done loading the
dishwasher, those items on the 

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countertop have had a little 
time to soak and then I finish 

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washing those. 
But on any given day or just in 

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any given household, the routine
is a little bit different. 

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So just be working on dishes, 
whatever that means for you. 

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But I want you to do it quickly,
OK, We're going to work on 

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dishes for maybe another 5 or 6 
minutes. 

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I know that doesn't sound like a
lot of time, but you'd be 

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surprised how much you can get 
done during a speed dishwashing 

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session. 
And remember, when you put away 

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the clean stuff first, it makes 
it faster because you have 

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somewhere to put your clean 
dishes. 

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OK. 
And I do, for clarification, I 

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do a combination of hand washing
and dishwasher washing. 

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So by emptying my drying rack 
and getting all the easy stuff 

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into the dishwasher, when I hand
wash those remaining items, it 

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goes quickly because I don't 
slow down to think about where 

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I'm going to place the item. 
Like like on the top of some 

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mountain of clean dishes or 
something. 

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It just goes into the empty 
drying rack. 

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And you don't have to have a 
drying rack. 

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Maybe you have a drying pad or 
you've just laid out a towel. 

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OK. 
When I'm in a situation where I 

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have to wash a bunch of dishes 
by hand, For example, I was 

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helping out someone who had just
had a baby and she did not have 

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a dishwasher. 
She had a small kitchen. 

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So what I did is I laid out a 
bath towel on her kitchen table.

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That way, as I washed each dish,
I just placed it on that towel. 

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There was plenty of space. 
I didn't have to think about how

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I was going to position the item
to keep it from falling or 

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anything like that. 
And I got it done in record time

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for that amount of dishes. 
And just because you don't like 

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a task doesn't mean you have to 
do it slowly. 

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I think sometimes that happens 
when we don't like something, we

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slow down because we feel like 
it's such drudgery. 

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Forget that, move quickly. 
I'm here with you. 

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And if you are facing a disaster
today, you don't have to do it 

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all, but I want you to move 
quickly throughout this segment 

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and get as many dishes done as 
possible. 

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And I have a feeling you can 
make it. 

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I have a feeling you're going to
get down to dish 0 during these 

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next few minutes. 
But even if you don't, you can 

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get back to those dishes and 
finish up after we've done your 

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whole house assessment. 
I'm excited about it and it's 

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going to be based on my own 
experience from this major 

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overhaul my house got on 
Saturday, and I'll go into that 

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more in the bonus episode. 
But I'm definitely going to 

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touch on on it in this one and 
I'm going to tell you which 

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areas I focused on and why. 
Someone mentioned that I should 

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include product recommendations.
So a quick talk about little 

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scrubby sponges. 
I really like the Scrub Mommy 

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that has, and this isn't 
sponsored or anything, just 

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general talk about cleaning 
products that you can get in, 

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you know, in the grocery store 
or your local Walmart or 

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wherever. 
But as far as a sponge that has 

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a rough side and a soft side, I 
really like the Scrub Mommy. 

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I will say that it doesn't do 
very well going through my 

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washing machine though. 
So that's the con with that one.

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Even though that's kind of the 
Rolls Royce of scrubby sponges, 

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it does not do well going 
through my washer and dryer. 

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It kind of is just ready for the
trash at some point. 

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If you want a scrubby sponge 
that you don't have to replace 

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as often, the tried and true 
Scotch brite sponges are great 

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for that. 
You know, they're smaller, 

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flatter. 
The shape isn't as wonderful as 

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with the scrub mommy, but those 
seem to do well when they go 

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through the washer and dryer. 
And that's not the only way I 

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clean them. 
I also will wring those out. 

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I'll, I'll, I'll dip them in 
some fresh, hot, soapy 

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dishwater, wring them out and 
then microwave them for a couple

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minutes to sanitize them. 
That's one way of doing it. 

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But sometimes I will put it in a
load of laundry with just towels

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and kitchen rags and things, and
they look kind of ugly coming 

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out of the washing machine. 
But well, more if they go 

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through the dryer because, you 
know, you forget to pull them 

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out and they end up in the 
dryer. 

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They look kind of ugly 
afterward. 

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But they're still super useful. 
So those are probably the most 

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durable option. 
Although the newest dish 

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scrubbing sponge I've tried is 
the Dawn one. 

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That's a circle. 
It's very similar to the Scrub 

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Mommy. 
I don't like it as much as the 

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scrub scrub Mommy and I haven't 
tried to wash it yet because I 

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just got it, but it's another 
option. 

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I guess the pro with that is 
that it's cheaper than the scrub

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Mommy, but in addition to a 
sponge with an abrasive side, I 

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definitely recommend having just
a scrub brush. 

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Just a scrub brush on a handle 
and then you might also need a 

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bottle spray, a bottle brush for
either cleaning out baby bottles

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or just skinny glasses. 
But if your glasses are kind of 

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wide, the scrub brush kind of 
works for that. 

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But it's still not the ideal 
shape for cleaning the inside of

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a glass. 
So you might want to check out 

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the baby section even if you 
don't have a baby to get that 

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rounded bottle brush because I'm
using that for my own drinking 

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glasses even when the grandkids 
aren't here with their little 

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sippy cups and whatnot. 
So at any given time when I'm 

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doing dishes, I have the sponge 
with an abrasive side. 

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I have a scrub brush with a 
handle, you know, mainly just 

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for pre rinsing the crud off the
dishes. 

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I have a bottle brush for 
cleaning inside of the glasses, 

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and then of course I have a rag 
or dishcloth, whatever you want 

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to call it, and then a dish 
towel for drying my hands. 

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Of course, off and on I'll get 
that dish scrubber that has a 

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place to put dish soap in the 
handle, but I'm not currently 

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using that. 
OK, by now I've given you enough

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time hopefully to do your 
dishes, but no judgement here. 

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If I caught you at a time where 
you're facing a dishaster. 

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Sometimes it takes more than one
dish load, More than one sink 

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load, I get it. 
But even if you still have a few

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things that you need to leave 
soaking for the time being, I 

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want you to quickly clear and 
wipe down your countertop and 

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kitchen table if you have one. 
High chair if you have one. 

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OK, this isn't a deep clean 
where we're scrubbing the 

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cabinets and wiping down the the
appliance fronts. 

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We usually do that because I 
feel like in the kitchen deep 

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cleans should be pretty much 
constant. 

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But this is just a quick reset. 
So I want you to spend the next 

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couple of minutes clearing and 
wiping down the countertop, the 

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stove top, the table top and the
high chair if you have a baby or

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toddler, OK. 
And I'm going to assume that 

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this is not a session where 
you're going to be sweeping and 

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mopping. 
However, there's definitely 

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something to be said for doing a
little spot sweep in the problem

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areas. 
OK? 

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You don't want to have this all 
or nothing mentality where 

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you're like, I don't feel like 
sweeping this large of, you 

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know, expansive floor. 
I don't have time right now. 

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And then you don't do it at all.
You know, are there crumbs right

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under the high chair? 
If you have a baby, are there 

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crumbs around the table? 
If you have little kids or if 

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you have a household where 
everyone's a little bit older, 

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the crumbs might just be around 
the food prep areas, the stove, 

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the kitchen island, or that 
strip of countertop where you're

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preparing your food. 
OK, so you might have time after

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giving those countertops and 
stovetop A swipe and wiping out 

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your sink if if it's not still 
full of dishes and wiping down 

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the table to do a little spot 
sweep. 

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It doesn't have to be with a 
broom. 

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You might be like me and use a 
kitchen shark. 

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There are not ever large chunks 
of food in my kitchen floor, 

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though my dogs are quick to 
clean up after me. 

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With two dogs, that's that's one
of the benefits. 

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But what they do not do is pick 
up the sand and sediment that 

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gets tracked in the sliding 
glass door. 

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Clear off any stuff that needed 
to be put away. 

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Maybe there were some seasonings
left out. 

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A cereal box, a jar of peanut 
butter from making school 

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lunches. 
I don't know what you're dealing

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with, but get all that stuff put
away. 

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Spray and wipe down your 
surfaces. 

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OK, again, this is not a deep 
clean because I'm excited about 

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moving on to this decluttering 
assessment. 

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Have you ever visited someone's 
house and thought to yourself 

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that they must not have very 
much stuff and that's why their 

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house looks clean? 
Well, that's only partly true 

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and I'm going to tell you their 
secret. 

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Whether they have a lot of stuff
or not, they have an amount of 

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belongings that they are 
personally able to handle and 

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that's different for everybody. 
Also, they are storing virtually

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everything out of sight. 
OK, it seems like they don't 

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have that much stuff because 
you're not used to seeing 

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everything put away. 
And the key to duplicating this 

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in your own home is decluttering
your storage areas, which 

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include closets, cabinets, 
drawers, because if you had more

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space in those areas, you too 
would be able to store 

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00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:15,000
everything out of sight. 
And you may be thinking that you

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00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:20,040
need to buy more containers to 
put things in and you might OK. 

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00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:24,360
However, I want to caution you 
that buying too many storage 

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00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:30,880
containers that are going to be 
out in the open can make your 

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00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:34,000
house look cluttered and defeat 
the purpose of getting 

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organized. 
I mean, sure, having like items 

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00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:41,680
together in containers will make
it easier for you to find stuff,

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00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:45,240
and I'm all for that. 
But what if you could put those 

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00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:50,680
containers into your closets and
drawers and under the bed so 

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00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:55,000
that your house would have that 
clean, streamlined look that you

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00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,720
see in other people's houses? 
And once you've thinned down 

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your belongings, then you can 
decide whether you need to 

239
00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:04,600
purchase additional storage 
containers because sometimes 

240
00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:08,760
you'll find storage containers 
buried in the clutter. 

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00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:11,120
And then you'll be able to 
utilize those items that you 

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00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:13,920
already have, especially if 
you're like me and you're doing 

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00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:17,760
kind of a no spin November. 
So what I want you to do first 

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is walk through your home and 
determine which of your storage 

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00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:27,080
areas are two full, OK? 
I'm talking about looking in 

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00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:31,280
closets, drawers, and cabinets. 
We're also going to look at 

247
00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:35,800
things that are being stored out
in the open that you would be 

248
00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:39,600
able to put away after thinning 
down your storage areas. 

249
00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:43,200
So I want you to start by 
looking into your coat closet 

250
00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:46,280
and linen closet, if you have 
both, OK? 

251
00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:50,720
Most of us have that hallway 
where there's a linen closet, 

252
00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:55,200
which is the one with shelves, 
and then there's the coat closet

253
00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:59,680
that probably just has a shelf 
on the top and then has a bar 

254
00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:03,720
for hanging up the coats. 
And I know that in most episodes

255
00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:08,119
we focus on visible clutter. 
But since we have over three 

256
00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:13,240
weeks till Thanksgiving, this is
a great time to identify that 

257
00:17:13,319 --> 00:17:16,480
invisible clutter that's keeping
you from putting more of the 

258
00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:20,480
visible stuff away. 
And this episode's going to go 

259
00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:24,160
hand in hand with the subscriber
only episode I'll be releasing 

260
00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:27,000
later today that's going to be 
about decluttering. 

261
00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:29,680
But right now we're just doing 
an assessment. 

262
00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:34,040
Are your linen closet and coat 
closet overstuffed? 

263
00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:37,520
Open them and just look at them 
and look at what's what's in 

264
00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:40,600
there. 
If the shelves are jam packed 

265
00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:44,000
and the floor is completely 
covered, in your next 

266
00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:47,400
decluttering session you'll need
to pull everything out and see 

267
00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:51,240
what you can get rid of and 
maybe what you can relocate 

268
00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:53,920
because it's probably a 
combination of things. 

269
00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:56,600
There are things in there that 
you need to get rid of, but 

270
00:17:56,600 --> 00:18:00,200
there are also things that 
probably belong somewhere else. 

271
00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:04,200
But someone just shoved them in 
that closet in a hurry, OK? 

272
00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:07,240
Because when you first moved 
into your house, you didn't jam 

273
00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:12,560
packed the closets like this. 
And when you do go through all 

274
00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:16,240
of the contents of a closet, you
kind of pull everything out. 

275
00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:19,640
You're going to do this one 
closet at a time so that you 

276
00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:23,640
don't get overwhelmed and you 
don't have to pull out the items

277
00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:26,280
from every shelf of your linen 
closet at once. 

278
00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:30,240
You might do one shelf at a time
and then the floor, OK, in the 

279
00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:32,960
linen closet, that's in the 
linen closet, in the coat 

280
00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:34,600
closet. 
You might pull everything off 

281
00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:39,200
the top shelf and go through it 
and then pull everything out 

282
00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:41,040
from the floor and go through 
that. 

283
00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:45,520
You can, you can do it in steps,
OK, But you're going to have a 

284
00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:48,360
pile of debris in your hallway 
while you're working on it. 

285
00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:51,880
Again, we're not doing that in 
this episode because we're going

286
00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:54,520
through your whole house and 
just assessing your clutter. 

287
00:18:55,360 --> 00:18:59,920
But I want you to think about 
what's in there and get excited 

288
00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:03,440
about thinning it down. 
OK, now that you've looked in 

289
00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:07,600
those closets, I want you to 
head to your bookcase or shelf 

290
00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:10,680
unit. 
Some houses have built in 

291
00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:16,680
shelves, some have bookcases. 
That stuff is visible, but I 

292
00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:19,320
guess I included it in this 
episode because I keep a 

293
00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:22,040
bookcase in a closet in the 
backroom. 

294
00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:26,040
OK, but do you have books that 
are no longer relevant that you 

295
00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:29,880
could donate or sell? 
You know, we had a homeschooling

296
00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:33,480
phase and we don't need all that
stuff anymore. 

297
00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:38,840
I do keep all of the classics 
that my kids are studying in 

298
00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:40,640
their classical Christian 
School. 

299
00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:44,280
I mean, they pass them down to 
each other. 

300
00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:48,640
So there are some that my 
youngest hasn't studied yet that

301
00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:51,200
he'll need for next year or the 
year after. 

302
00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:54,240
But also those are just good 
books to have. 

303
00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:58,320
They're classics and something I
want to have in my collection. 

304
00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:01,760
And there are other books that 
are not classics that I like, 

305
00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:05,760
but there are some books that I 
no longer need. 

306
00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:09,120
And the way I organize a 
bookcase, I like to put the the 

307
00:20:09,120 --> 00:20:13,000
toddler books on the bottom 
shelf so that they're easy, 

308
00:20:13,120 --> 00:20:15,280
easily accessible for little 
ones. 

309
00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:18,840
So maybe just look at your 
bookcase or your shelves. 

310
00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:24,560
Another thing I want you to look
at is your bedroom closet. 

311
00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:28,760
OK, Can you see the floor? 
If it's just a small closet, 

312
00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:32,000
it's normal that your shoes 
might be covering the bottom of 

313
00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:34,400
the closet or luggage or 
something like that. 

314
00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:38,280
But if it's a walk in closet, 
you should be able to walk 

315
00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:42,160
around in there. 
OK, I have a little shoe rack 

316
00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:44,680
off to one side in my walk in 
closet. 

317
00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:47,760
I also have a little plastic 
dresser. 

318
00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:51,160
OK it's a storage unit but it's 
out of sight since it's inside 

319
00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:55,520
the closet. 
I do store things along the back

320
00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:58,280
wall of my closet that I'm 
planning to donate. 

321
00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:02,360
I call that my donation station,
but it's something I dealt with 

322
00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:07,360
during my recent purge. 
OK, to kind of reset that area 

323
00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:13,040
and make room for more, but from
time to time I need to just pick

324
00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:16,200
up kind of the middle of the 
floor because things get shoved 

325
00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:20,720
in the closet sometimes or they 
fall off the hangers, whatever. 

326
00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:24,760
So maybe consider getting a shoe
rack if you don't already have 

327
00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:28,680
one, But look at what you might 
be able to get rid of or locate 

328
00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:33,600
or relocate to free up storage 
space inside your bedroom 

329
00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:35,960
closet. 
And you could do the same with a

330
00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:40,920
kid bedroom closet as well. 
But we're not going that deep. 

331
00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:43,560
I'm mainly talking about things 
that I did recently. 

332
00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:47,480
Next, I want you to identify 
your two main junk drawers in 

333
00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:50,040
the house. 
I've joked about this a lot, but

334
00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:53,600
I don't I really don't approve 
of people having more than one 

335
00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:58,080
junk drawer in the kitchen. 
However, I have two junk drawers

336
00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:02,160
in my house. 
OK, one of the drawers in my 

337
00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:05,520
kitchen island is a junk drawer,
meaning it's miscellaneous 

338
00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:07,160
stuff. 
Obviously, in a perfect world, 

339
00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:10,560
you don't save anything that's 
junk, but it's called the junk 

340
00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:12,160
drawer. 
That's what my parents called 

341
00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:14,480
it. 
But if you open up that kitchen 

342
00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:18,680
junk junk drawer and it looks so
looks overstuffed, you might 

343
00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:22,480
want to take some time in your 
next decluttering session to 

344
00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:25,280
remove some items, relocate, or 
get rid of them. 

345
00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:30,960
The other junk drawer probably 
shouldn't be called a junk 

346
00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:36,480
drawer, but a lot of you have a 
drawer in your bedroom dresser 

347
00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:39,880
for miscellaneous stuff. 
For me, it's the top drawer. 

348
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:43,080
When I was growing up, my mom 
always had us put our socks and 

349
00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:47,120
underwear in the top drawer. 
But as an adult, my top drawer 

350
00:22:47,120 --> 00:22:51,000
has always been a place where I 
put things that are kind of 

351
00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:54,000
important that I want 'cause I 
have a tall chest of drawers. 

352
00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:57,640
So, you know, I always kind of 
looked at that top drawer as a 

353
00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:02,040
safe place that's out of the 
reach of little ones and kind of

354
00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:05,160
a temporary spot to put 
important stuff. 

355
00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:09,680
Like I'm often putting papers in
there that should really go in 

356
00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:15,160
my expandable file folder. 
But sometimes it's just anything

357
00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:17,320
small that I don't know what to 
do with. 

358
00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:21,520
So it's kind of like half 
important stuff and half junk. 

359
00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:25,600
So if you have a drawer like 
that, you might need to file 

360
00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:30,200
away any important documents, 
toss things that you no longer 

361
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:33,600
need. 
It's just another potential junk

362
00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:36,240
drawer in your house. 
And it might not be your top 

363
00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:38,040
drawer. 
It could be a desk drawer or 

364
00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:40,560
something. 
But I feel like you probably 

365
00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:42,920
have another junk drawer besides
the one in the kitchen. 

366
00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:48,480
The next area I want you to just
look at is the bathroom. 

367
00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:52,240
OK, And you might need to check 
more than one bathroom, but I 

368
00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:56,080
want you to look inside of any 
bathroom drawers if you have 

369
00:23:56,080 --> 00:23:57,560
them. 
I only have drawers in one of my

370
00:23:57,560 --> 00:23:59,160
bathrooms. 
The other one doesn't. 

371
00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:03,880
It has just those fake drawers. 
Both bathrooms have cabinets 

372
00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:06,800
open. 
Those are the cabinets and 

373
00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:10,360
drawers in your bathrooms full 
of stuff that nobody uses. 

374
00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:15,320
OK or what about visible baskets
that were meant to organize the 

375
00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:19,040
bathroom but they're now jam 
packed with random items? 

376
00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:23,320
I'm going to talk about a 
situation like that at my house 

377
00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:27,360
that I fixed recently in the 
bonus episode where I go into 

378
00:24:27,360 --> 00:24:30,240
deeper detail. 
If you have a kind of a large 

379
00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:34,520
vanity area, it could be that 
you're starting to store stuff 

380
00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:39,400
on top of that that could be put
away in drawers or cabinets. 

381
00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:43,480
I also want you to look at where
you're storing clean and dirty 

382
00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:46,200
laundry. 
Now, this one's not going to 

383
00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:51,000
apply to everybody. 
Maybe you wash a load from start

384
00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:54,800
to finish it, you know, it goes 
straight into the washing 

385
00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:58,520
machine and then you dry it and 
fold it and put it away 

386
00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:02,960
immediately. 
But some of us have hampers and 

387
00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:07,720
then also baskets of clean 
laundry, and you might even have

388
00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:11,280
baskets or bins full of clean 
laundry that would not fit into 

389
00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:14,440
your closets and drawers if you 
were to put it all away on the 

390
00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:16,680
same day. 
If that's the case, it's an 

391
00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:18,440
issue. 
It might be time for a clothing 

392
00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:21,800
purge, but more than likely you 
do have the space in your 

393
00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:25,040
closets and dresser drawers and 
you just need to get stuff put 

394
00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:27,520
away. 
So that's something to make a 

395
00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:31,440
mental note of. 
But maybe if you get your closet

396
00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:35,160
floors clear and it's a large 
walk in closet or even in a 

397
00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:36,760
small closet, you might be able 
to do this. 

398
00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:40,240
You might have room for a clean 
laundry basket that guests won't

399
00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:43,080
see, plus a dirty clothes 
hamper. 

400
00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:46,280
And I realize not everybody has 
room for that, but it's just an 

401
00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:49,920
idea, something to think about. 
And circling back to the 

402
00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:53,320
kitchen, you might want to look 
into your kitchen cabinets and 

403
00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:57,360
pantry to see if there's 
anything that doesn't belong, or

404
00:25:57,360 --> 00:26:01,560
perhaps too many duplicate items
that you could donate. 

405
00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:05,520
The benefit of thinning down 
your cupboards and pantry is 

406
00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:09,760
that you can start storing your 
small appliances out of sight 

407
00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:13,040
instead of on the counter. 
Now that you've looked at your 

408
00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:17,560
storage areas that probably need
to be thinned down, I want you 

409
00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:20,880
to walk through every room of 
your house and look at anything 

410
00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:22,800
that you're storing in plain 
sight. 

411
00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:25,240
That's what your guests are 
going to see. 

412
00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:30,240
That visible clutter is what 
differentiates your house from 

413
00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:33,320
the more minimalist looking home
that we talked about at the 

414
00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:36,680
beginning of the episode. 
OK, I'm talking about boxes 

415
00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:39,600
along bedroom walls of stuff 
you're putting off going 

416
00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:41,960
through. 
OK, I'm also talking about 

417
00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:46,480
cluttered surfaces like 
desktops, countertops, bathroom 

418
00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:48,400
vanities. 
By the way, I forgot to mention 

419
00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:53,800
this, but you might need to thin
down your desk drawers. 

420
00:26:54,120 --> 00:26:57,200
Someone wrote in about a desk, 
so I'm going to be covering that

421
00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:00,600
in the bonus episode as well. 
You might even have visible 

422
00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:04,520
clutter on your dining room 
table or your kitchen table. 

423
00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:09,280
I'm talking about any clutter 
that would be better put away. 

424
00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:12,360
Like for example, like in a 
bedroom. 

425
00:27:12,360 --> 00:27:15,440
Picture a hotel room. 
Does it have boxes in the 

426
00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:17,440
corners? 
No, it does not. 

427
00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:21,560
That's what your closet's for. 
Or even your garage. 

428
00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:26,520
So walk around looking at the 
clutter and visualize how nice 

429
00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:30,440
your house is going to look once
you put those items away. 

430
00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:33,560
But now that you know which 
storage areas are overstuffed 

431
00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:36,400
and which items you'd like to 
put away after freeing up 

432
00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:40,120
storage space, you're going to 
need a podcast episode to listen

433
00:27:40,120 --> 00:27:43,280
to while you do it. 
And for a small fee, you can 

434
00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:46,560
unlock that and many other bonus
episodes. 

435
00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:49,880
If not, I guess listen to one of
the other podcasts in your 

436
00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:54,480
library or some music. 
But most of all, be sure to 

437
00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:59,240
follow this show so that you 
don't miss any future episodes. 

438
00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:02,520
For more information on how to 
support the show, visit 

439
00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:06,440
cleanwithmepodcast.com. 
There's also a link in the show 

440
00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:10,440
notes, and one way you can help 
me out without spending a penny 

441
00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:15,840
is to click on that fifth star 
and give me a five star rating 

442
00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:18,000
and review. 
But most of all, just keep 

443
00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:20,200
listening. 
I appreciate each and everyone 

444
00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:22,760
of you. 
And as always, happy cleaning. 

445
00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:24,560
I'll talk to you in the next 
episode.