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100: Celebrating 100 Episodes & Guest Tips To Take Into The New Year

In this special milestone episode, we celebrate our 100th episode and reflect on the incredible journey of 2024! We’re wrapping up the year by highlighting the wisdom shared by our amazing guests and the powerful insights they’ve brought to organizing, productivity, and intentional living. From digital decluttering to building better habits, we’re recapping standout moments and lessons to carry into 2025. Whether you’ve been with us from the start or are tuning in for the first time, this episode is packed with inspiration and actionable tips to support your organizing journey in the new year.

Find all of the links mentioned in this episode at https://theorganizedflamingo.com/quicklinks

In this episode, we talk about:

  • Highlights and themes from 2024 guests to inspire your 2025 goals.
  • Practical tips and expert advice on organizing, decluttering, and staying intentional.
  • Reflections on the importance of mindset, habits, and relationships in the organizing journey.

Mentioned in this episode:

  • The Organized Flamingo’s Freebie Corner for organizing tools and resources.

Episode archives featuring standout 2024 guests and their unique insights.

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The Organized & Productive podcast is brought to you by The Organized Flamingo and hosted by Stephanie Y. Deininger! For those of you who love the thought of organizing & being more productive, but don’t know where to start or constantly up against hurdles that don’t let you advance the way you want to, this podcast is for you!

Review full show notes and resources at https://theorganizedflamingo.com/podcast

Join our weekly email newsletter for all-things organizing & productivity delivered right to your inbox https://theorganizedflamingo.com/quicklinks

Review Transcript:

Stephanie [00:00:00]:
Hello and welcome to Organized and Productive's 100th episode. Can you believe we are at episode 100? What an incredible journey this has been and I could not have done it without you. Our listeners who tune in week after week. Thank you so much for being here, for providing us feedback and encouraging us to keep going. So happy 100th episode to all of us to celebrate and also to celebrate the end of the year, because it happens to be that we're celebrating both things, you know, the end of the year month, I mean, in December when this is being released. We're celebrating the milestone bite by reflecting on the wisdom shared by our amazing 2024 guests. Each of them brought a unique perspective and their words continue to resonate as we step into a brand new year. So if you are brand new, what we did last year on our first year is that we did a recap similar to this one of our 2023 guest.

Stephanie [00:01:00]:
So you can find that episode in the show notes if you want to listen to that and then go to a guest that you want to listen a little bit more on if there's a topic of interest to you. So we're doing the same thing this year. We have a few of the guests that came on this year. And so what I do and I did again this year is I picked a theme or a quote for that guest that I think would be really good to bring and take to 2025 to the new year. What is a quote or words of wisdom that they gave us in their episode that could be a really good reminder for the next year to set you up for success, to bring you peace, to give you some of that initiative or inspiration that you may be looking for. So that's what I did. I did go and as we were, as every episode that I had with them, I would highlight things that they said that I think was going to be of value to you at the end of the year. And then when I did the edits for this episode, I picked one like one section, one segment, one quote that would be really good to take on for next year.

Stephanie [00:02:13]:
So you could do a recap. If you've listened to all of our guests, you will remember many of them and this could be a great reminder. If you did not, then what I did is in the show notes, I have their episode information so that you can go directly to their episode if a topic that they are an expertise on is of interest to you. Because we, you know, here we've been talking about all things organizing in productivity as a whole. And some of the topics may not resonate or you may not need help with, and some you do. So if there is someone from this year's list that you think is something that you need, you want to listen in on again, then just click on their direct link and then it'll take you right to their episode. Okay, so let's dive into some standout moments that we can take with us into 2025. Here we go.

Stephanie [00:03:02]:
Welcome to the Organized and Productive podcast with the Organized Flamingo. I am your host, Stephanie, a professional organizer and productivity expert. Ready to explore the right organizing and productivity solutions for you. Yeah. Well, then, let's go. Our first guest was Maggie Savicki, and she shared her passion for thrift shopping, which is the company she works with, and she did come in as a representative in the vp. She's a VP of marketing of Arc Thrift Stores here in Colorado, but she has a passion for it as well on a personal basis. So both her professional and personal life align to this industry and its connection to the community.

Stephanie [00:03:44]:
And sustainability is really important to her. So we talked about that. She had such a meaningful way of looking at secondhand items in our conversation. And her saying that every thrifted item has a story. So by choosing secondhand we become part of that narrative was really good and really stood out. So keep this in mind when you're on the fence, whether you buy from a secondhand store or buy new. So keep what she has to say in mind and listen in and hopefully it'll inspire you. So here we go.

Stephanie [00:04:13]:
Let's talk about stories and people bringing stuff in or maybe the ones that find the stuff. So you I've listened to your podcast and we will give details on that in just a bit. Also in the show notes if you're listening right now. But the those stories you have on your on your podcast are incredible and they're really cool. So are there stories that have left some kind of, you know, warmth in your heart or moment for you now, having worked with ARK for a little bit? Absolutely. You know, we have wonderful stories. I love the stories that come directly from the store. But yes, you're absolutely right.

Stephanie [00:04:50]:
The Get Thrifty podcast brings us people from all over the world, literally with stories. But one of my favorites is Mid mod Marian. She's actually from Colorado Springs, so she's a native girly and she found a steamer trunk, Louis Vuitton steamer trunk in one of our stores. 1 of 3 Incredible. I can't remember exactly how much she paid for it, but it was very low. It actually now is part of her will and trust because it, you know, once she had it authenticated as an original, you know, 1900s Louis Vuitton trunk that had, you know, traveled on steamer lines all over the world, had all the insignia, I mean, straight off the Titanic type trunk from Louis Vuitton in mint condition. And somebody out there got the other two because mid mod Marion, Marion down in Colorado Springs only got one. And this thing is worth just, you know, hun, it's very expensive.

Stephanie [00:05:44]:
So that I love that story because it was local. And it's just this idea that, you know, we're a thrift store, we're not always going to know what we have. So it's such a treasure hunt. So this really reminded me that we bring into our homes stories in the stories behind the items and when they have meeting there's more of a connection. And it's a beautiful way to approach the new year. Choosing items with intention and embracing their history. There's more connection and you're more susceptible to keeping it, taking care of it and not just throwing it away and adding to the landfill, but also keeping you organized and a little bit more because you're actually using it and it becomes part of you that you're more intentional. So that was kind of that theme of her episode.

Stephanie [00:06:32]:
Let's move into the digital space with our next guest, Lauren Barnes. So Lauren joined us to talk about technology's role in organizing and simplifying our lives. Her advice on managing digital clutter is a must here. She reminded us that digital clutter is just as overwhelming as physical clutter and it requires regular maintenance as well. And she encouraged us not to be afraid of new technology and perhaps even embrace it in 2025. For this episode, we wanted to talk about how can people use and leverage AI and technology in their organizing journey, whether it's physical or digital. So Lauren, can you give us some examples on how people can use AI and or technology kind of the same sometimes when it comes to their physical space, but then also their digital space. Two different things.

Stephanie [00:07:29]:
And what are some tips or what are some discussion points that you would want to talk to people about when it comes to their journey? So physical things I actually love. Like I have an iPhone and if you take pictures of things with text on it. So if you've got like receipts or you know, magazine, I take pictures actually what I read through magazines of like stuff I want to remember to like type in later, it will actually have that text be searchable and that's computer vision, which is a type of AI. So, like, being able to kind of search your physical things is pretty powerful. And that's a really cool tip to, like, kind of keep those snippets somewhere you could actually go back and get them, and they're not just deep in the depths of your phone forever. And then for digital things, like, one thing I talk about is like, the smallest automation you can do, like, smallest thing you can do is like, filtering or categorizing. So if you have emails and you know, we all get the. Especially this time of year or like, right with the holiday season that just passed the sale, emails, the, like, New year deals, all of that stuff, you can have those all filter.

Stephanie [00:08:37]:
And that's technically AI because you're like, here's a pattern that I set up when it's from this place. And it doesn't have, like an order, like, it doesn't say your order, filter it to this place where I'll go look at it later. But it's not piling up in my inbox all the time. Another one is categorizing photos, actually. So Adobe, like Lightroom, has this. Google also has this. So like Lauren said, let's clear out old files, photos, and emails because it can create the same sense of relief and clarity as cleaning a room. And let technology help you out once in a while.

Stephanie [00:09:18]:
All right, so now let's go and shift gears to the mental health and resilience space. Dr. Lauren Cook gave us incredible tools for managing anxiety, and this part of the conversation has stuck with me ever since. She talks about how empowered acceptance means acknowledging our anxiety while pursuing a meaningful life, that it's not an either or, but that both can be true. So let's listen in. What are some tips that you would have for people that are experiencing this really heavy load of, I want to move and make progress in my organizing journey. But it's more than just stuff organizing. Just like I want to be feeling free, feeling lighter.

Stephanie [00:10:05]:
What are some tips that you have for some people that are listening, that are feeling this to their core, that they have this type of anxiety or what are some resources if they, if you. If they're listening, thinking. I think it's deeper than just the declutter. A quick fix, decluttering session. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Few things here. I write about this a lot in Generation Anxiety, and it's this idea of empowered acceptance, which is very counterintuitive to people.

Stephanie [00:10:33]:
A lot of people are so set on trying to make their Anxiety go away. And they may even be using organizing to try and do that. Right. What is one more thing I can do to stop my anxiety? And then feeling so disappointed when that doesn't work. Right. So it's actually learning to accept, you know what? I do feel anxious sometimes or a lot of the time, and that's okay. A lot of my work with folks is actually walking them through the grieving process of that. Of, oh, you mean I'm going to feel anxious, like, throughout a lot of my life.

Stephanie [00:11:07]:
And I'm sure you have those conversations with your clients too, of like, oh, organizing may not always be a quick fix to the discomfort. It's learning to accept. Like, yeah, I feel anxious, I feel sad sometimes, and I can still live a meaningful life. Like, that is the key message. Do not let your anxiety stop you from living your life. Right. I write a lot about that of, like, my anxiety around, you know, with vomit, around being pregnant and having a baby. Like, and if you don't struggle with this, you can listen to this and be like, girl, what is your issue? Get over it.

Stephanie [00:11:43]:
But anxiety is not rational, right? Hoarding is not rational. This anxiety can be so powerful that it defies logic sometimes. And it's really saying to ourselves, you know what? I do feel this way, and I still choose to do this next other thing in my life. That's where the empowered piece is really important. You have to take action. I'm a big behaviorist. As a psychologist. Mindset is not enough.

Stephanie [00:12:09]:
You can't think yourself into organization. You can't think yourself into taking that next goal that you want to do. You have to actually physically do the steps. And so that's where I'm always inviting my clients of, like, what are the tangibles we can do? Because that's how we actually get the brain to buy in that we can make change. It's when we actually show ourselves that we made the change. This is such a powerful perspective from Dr. Cook. Acknowledging our challenges while staying focused on what brings us joy and fulfillment.

Stephanie [00:12:40]:
Right. It's a mindset I hope that we all can carry into the new year. And speaking of staying connected, let's talk about relationships with our next guest. Dr. Jackie Black shared her wisdom on relationships and the importance of consistent communication. This part feels especially relevant about staying curious when communicating with your partner about their stuff. And I thought it was really important for us to highlight it again. She does tell a client's story here.

Stephanie [00:13:08]:
Okay, so it's a little bit longer than some of the other clips, but I thought it was important so that you could see an example of how this could play out. And then after, at the end, she gives the example of how to approach it. So here we go. So how does that, how do outside influences, in this case, outside stuff that maybe you did not start off with as a relation in the relationship, how does that affect what you're talking about? I'm going to say two things about that. I had clients who were middle aged and they got married and he had two, the way she tells it, he had two white plastic chairs. They were leather, they weren't a fine leather, they were white, they swiveled, had high backs and arms. She hated them. And she used to talk about them as the plastic chairs, which I invited her to really think about stopping because it, it was so unkind and so hurtful.

Stephanie [00:14:10]:
And he knew that she hated them. He loved them. He had his orange juice in them in the morning and watched the weather. He read the paper, he read books on the weekends, put his feet up, there was an ottoman. He loved them. They were his chairs. He'd had them for a while. So they, when they sat down, after they worked with me for a while, they sat down together and they came to a point where they agreed that they really wanted each other to show up in the home, right? They wanted their home to be reflective of both of them.

Stephanie [00:14:49]:
That took a lot of work, a lot of emotional intelligence. And so that they made this agreement and I invite all my couples that are going through this to do this, make an agreement that if you don't both love it, you won't buy it if you come with it. Get massively curious, what is it about it? Tell me where you bought it, what was it? What's the story? Get people's story because you really love the person and you might hate the chair, but there might be such a sweet story behind the chair. Or in this case, there was so much of him when he was down, right when he was relaxing that made him very emotionally available to her when he was sitting in these chairs. And so she was able to then take another look at the chairs. The funny end of the story is that when they actually moved into their home, all this was happening when they were in their separate spaces. When they moved into their home, he said to her, when they were talking about moving and the moving trucks coming, he said, I've decided that I'm not going to bring the white chairs with me. And she again stayed massively curious.

Stephanie [00:16:07]:
She didn't cheer, she didn't wasn't relieved. She said, what changed your mind? Tell me what. What happened for you? And that just deepens our connection when we can sort of bypass this stuff and go deeper. So whether it's with a partner, a friend, or a family member, regular communication builds stronger, more understanding relationships. It's such a great reminder to prioritize connection as we head into 2025. Right. If this is an area where you struggle with how to communicate, that your space or that you're feeling cluttered or that you need some help from your partners and the people that you lived with, now let's just go ahead and move on over to the power of letting go with Colleen Blake Miller. So Colleen encouraged us to look at our belongings and ask tough questions.

Stephanie [00:17:02]:
She had such good questions, and she's always sharing them on her social media. So she reminds us that there will always be work to do with our mental and physical space and to talk to someone about the emotional weight that the physical items may carry. So let's listen in on what Colleen has to say. Where should people start with the emotional hardship or the physical? If they're. If they understand, like, they've come to the acceptance that there's something's happening here and they need to, you know, declutter, figuratively and literally. Where, like, where do you suggest people start both at the same time, one or the other? Like, from your experience, what has worked fairly well? Yeah. Well, if we were to wait to clear through and organize all of the emotional clutter, Stephanie, we would be hard at work, you know, with the inner stuff, but our spaces would just be just sitting and waiting. Because to me, our life is a journey of sorting through.

Stephanie [00:18:08]:
And sometimes the more that you do the work is the more that you discover. So I would say in conjunction with. I think you can do them both. I think sometimes what you really do need is to trust an expert like yourself, you know, to say, come and help me do the work. Coach me through doing this work. And then you could talk to your coach, your therapist, your mentor, your people about how hard some of that stuff was or a particular aspect, because I believe we'll always have work to do. Even when our spaces are perfectly curated and looking like the magazines, we're always going to have work to do. I think that what Colleen gave us is permission, A freeing permission, a letting go of what no longer serves us, permission, even when it feels heavy, because there will always be something.

Stephanie [00:19:11]:
It's an invitation to release what weighs us down as we create space for something new. Okay, so now on to financial clarity and organizing your finances. Our guest, Kendra James Anderson, talked to us about getting financially organized, which was a really important topic that I wanted to talk about in 2024 from an expert, from someone that was in the finance and accounting and understood the numbers, but also that frustration that we feel when that is an overwhelming topic. And so I came back, keep coming back to the theme of tracking expenses diligently because that will reveal spending patterns and areas for improvement. So she talks a lot about this and she really, you simplified it in a way that didn't feel as overwhelming and at least for me, and the feedback that I gathered from most of you, and many of you, not most of you, many of you, you said that it just like there was a light bulb moment when she spoke. So as you know, the new year is approaching. This is a perfect time for, for this reminder. So let's hear a little bit about that.

Stephanie [00:20:15]:
So then if that is happening, so that, you know, you have the accounts where you understood, you know, that money's coming in and out and you can quickly download it or give it to somebody else and you can track it. Where. Where do people normally get stuck? Like, what is something that you have seen often where, okay, they're listening. They're like, okay, got it, got it. Okay, I can, I can do this, I can track it. Where is like that hurdle that you have seen where people just kind of get stuck in the bookkeeping part, especially, it's the now what part. It's like, I'm doing this now what? Like, I, okay, I see how much money is coming in, how much I'm spending now. What am I supposed to do with this and that, you know, I can completely understand how you kind of get there.

Stephanie [00:20:56]:
You're doing this work to organize everything and then you're like hoping that it's going to tell you something, and it is telling you something. But you have to then kind of get familiar with your numbers to be able to dissect what is it telling you. And it usually does take at least a few months, three to five months of doing that exercise to then be able to see the story. Because one month's worth of data is just, it's not really going to be super helpful. But after a few months, you'll start to see trends. So maybe you see, okay, maybe I am ordering a lot of supplies from Amazon every single month, like, way more than my business can really afford. Or maybe I, I am bringing in a lot more income than I actually thought that I was bringing in. Maybe I can actually invest more in this thing.

Stephanie [00:21:37]:
So once you look at your financials over a period of time, again, usually like three to five months to start, it'll start to show you things that will help you understand your business better, where you can make decisions. So I find that's where most people get stuck is they might do the exercise for one month or maybe even for two, but they're like this, what am I supposed to do with this data? And it is hard if it's just you and you don't have someone to have the conversation with. That's where like an accountant or a CFO can come in. But even just yourself, you can kind of get familiar with what's going on in your business by looking at those trends. She also reminded me, now that you've heard it, that you could or should be looking at your finances with curiosity, the same way you look at your finances and your numbers with physical stuff that at the end, like that's all stuff as well, instead of judgment. And I saw that similarity when she talked with the similarity of how we talk about items like physical items. It's very similar in that mindset. So by understanding where our money goes, we can take more control and then make empowered decisions into 2025.

Stephanie [00:22:42]:
Okay, so next up, let's talk about habits. You've heard, some of you have may have heard me say this before, but I talk about habits as the great grandfather or like the great grandparent mother of the, of the organizing world that habits really is something that is a descendant, it's like a very important descendant of organizing and staying organized long term. Because when you don't have good habits or consistent habits or you're not aware of what your habits are, then that could be the culprit of the pile ups and all of that clutter that you may be dealing with. Okay. So that it's a really important topic. And Julie DeLuca Collins is an expert in this area. So she shared her insights on building habits that align with our values. She gave us the 101 of habits.

Stephanie [00:23:33]:
What they are, what they should, what they shouldn't be, and what to look out for. And one of the things that she talked about that stood out to me that you could be bringing into 2025 was that aligning habits with personal values would ensure the authenticity in our success story. So to tie it to your why, to your values, to who and what you want to be going forward, but in that, that you, you know, to not compare yourself and to be kind to yourself because that will help you move forward. So let's hear from Julie. Anytime that we say, oh, I'm terrible, I, blah, blah, blah, whatever, fill in the blank, right? Then we go into that compare and despair. We go into that shoulda, woulda, could have behavior. And then we beat ourselves up, and then we try to retreat, right? And once we retreat, we end up not wanting to show up or do the thing or get back in the saddle or whatever we're trying to accomplish. And it really sabotages our behavior.

Stephanie [00:24:36]:
So that's why it's important to not beat yourself up, not cat. Categorize it as I did something wrong or I am terrible for doing that, because then that's counterintuitive to your brain feeling good. It's actually making you feel bad. Okay? So let's stop comparing ourselves to others and be kind to ourselves. Okay? So that could be the takeaway for 2025 with Julie's message. So let's move on to Dr. Carrie Lane, who is going to talk about the world of professional organizing, which was a bit of a different episode. We.

Stephanie [00:25:11]:
We did, but she is a professor of American studies, and she did some research in how and why people were using professional organizers and the growth of that industry and how that gave a lot of insight as to what is working in our everyday life and what isn't. So it's kind of like a business episode. Slash, you, as the listener who may not be in the professional organizing industry, can get a lot of insight from someone who studies our habits and the way that. That we do things. So here is a little bit about Dr. Caroline. So what she talked about is that, you know, professional organizers have tailored solutions for people, you know, that adapt to individual lifestyles. Like, that's what we do.

Stephanie [00:25:57]:
And in the conversation, she brought up the fact that people that hire organizers have less time to deal with these things. That was one of the findings in her study. And she now has a book based on the studies that she did and the research that she did for a couple years. So the lack of time people have to deal with these things is a really important component to this and why that is. So let's listen in. So I was wondering, why does this particular occupation start when it does? What is it about that particular moment in time that is drawing so many people, especially women, to become organizers? And that's also drawing so many people to hire organizers. And so that got me into this question of, yeah, as you say, people's attachments to their belongings and also why they have so many belongings and there's so many different theories as to why that is. Right.

Stephanie [00:26:44]:
Why are people hiring organizers? I tend to think of it as there's the sort of obvious answers. People buy too much items are now designed to be disposable. But to me, what was more interesting was the lack of time people have to deal with these things. Not everyone, but most people can sort a stack of mail. It's not that the task itself is impossible. It's that they are so spread thin often. And then there's that emotional layer where the fact that they're struggling to do this, and I think it's especially true for women, the fact that they're struggling to do this task starts to connect to all these other feelings they have of overwhelm, of self blame, of not living up to some unrealistic expectations we have for ourselves and our home, homes and our belongings. And so all of that gets tangled together in this really messy knot.

Stephanie [00:27:36]:
And as organizers know, more often than not, untangling that knot is actually what organizing ends up being about more than it is about color coded closets or well matched bins. And what she really reminded me about is that intentionality is part of the not so secret sauce to be really intentional about what you spend your time doing. What especially in your organizing project, like, what do you get so head in? Like you not you're not paying attention to anything else. You have the blinders on. Like, what is something that maybe you are just getting so in depth that you can't see anything else outside of that. And they might have to do with the resources that you should or could be asking for help when you're stretched thin and to let go of what is not serving you. So that was a really great take from Dr. Carrie Lane.

Stephanie [00:28:31]:
And with that, let's wrap up this celebration with some final thoughts. You know, in general, this entire year has been here on the podcast, has been amazing. We've had a wide variety of guests. But overall, I hope that what we've brought you has been some new knowledge, some new insights, some new research, and a different way of looking at your habits, at yourself, at your community, the people around you, the people that you're helping, that you don't feel so alone and that you know that you have resources and people that study this and that could help you get out of that place that you might be getting stuck in in your organizing journey. Because clutter can be messy. Clutter can affect us in our health. And I don't want you to have that. I want you to get out of that and be inspired.

Stephanie [00:29:21]:
So I hope that the variety of guests that we brought this year offered you that inspiration and that help that you may be looking for. Okay, so before we end, I just want to say thank you. Thank you again for listening, for sharing your stories, and for trusting me to be part of your organizing journey. Here's to 2025, a year of possibility and growth and creating spaces that support the lives we want to lead. Remember, you have the power to make your home, your routines and your relationships work for you and I'm so grateful to be here with you every step of that way. Cheers to the year ahead and thank you so much to the guest that gave us their time and their expertise so all of you could be better informed. Thank you so much. And even though this is not the end of the calendar year, you have, we have a couple more episodes for the rest of 2024.

Stephanie [00:30:19]:
This is a wrap up of our guest for the year. So cheers to a new year and to the end of the year. Happy organizing. Thank you for listening to the organized and productive podcast with the Organized Flamingo. If you enjoy today's episode, I would love it if you'd leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast player. It helps with letting people know that we're here. For full show notes and resources, head on over to the organized flamingo.com happy organizing.

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