The Professor and Heather Anne
Although we don't have all the answers, we hope we can encourage and excite you.
We're here sharing our lives to inspire you to make the most of the second half of your life.
Join us each week, my friends, where you're sure to get a smile -- from lessons learned to mishaps, the adventures go on for miles...here on The Professor and Heather Anne.
The Professor and Heather Anne
From Overwhelmed To Organized: Practical Steps To Declutter, Downsize, And Move With Less Stress
Feeling owned by your stuff? We explore a simple, humane way to take control: Make just one decision per item. Do I want it, or do I not want it? That single question cuts through analysis paralysis, whether you’re clearing a junk drawer, combining households, or guiding a parent through a major downsize. Along the way, we share real stories, from purging decades of academic journals to facing a room full of miniature houses, and the surprising relief that comes from choosing with intention.
Our guest, professional organizer Kristin Switzer of To Be Organized Tulsa, walks us through a start-small strategy that actually sticks. She explains how to beat overwhelm by finishing tiny zones, why you should delay sentimental items until you’ve built momentum, and how family can help without taking over: the helper sorts; the owner decides. For collections with market value, Kristen outlines when to call consignment, estate sale, or auction experts, and how to evaluate the tradeoff between top dollar and your time. We also dig into the psychology behind clutter, drawing on personality science to explain why even conscientious people can stall under stress.
Moving soon or moving to less? We share practical, field-tested systems to make transitions saner. Photograph favorite spaces so you can recreate comfort in a new home. Set category caps for art and books to fit smaller rooms. Use a two-part labeling system—colors by room, numbers on every box—backed by a simple spreadsheet so you can find winter coats or bakeware in minutes. If you’re helping an aging parent, consider moving them first and editing after, then add a large digital frame to keep cherished memories visible without filling shelves.
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It feels overwhelming just to tackle your stuff. You can make it less overwhelming by only giving yourself one decision you have to make about each thing. Do I want it or do I not want it? You've already done the toughest part, and that's making the decision. Your next favorite podcast pick starts now. Here's the Professor and Heather Anne.
Heather Anne:Welcome to The Professor and Heather Anne. Although we don't have all the answers, we hope we can encourage and excite you. We're here sharing our lives to inspire you to make the most of the second half of your life.
Joe:So in this episode, we are going to deal with the issue of organization and decluttering and how to um uh how to how to get how to organize your possessions so that you possess them instead of them possessing you. And we're going to have a guest who's a professional organizer who's going to share her experiences and give some some practical tips on uh on how to deal with this. So, you know, this is it's a first world problem, right? Because, you know, for the vast majority of the world, the problem is a scarcity of stuff. But for us, especially as Americans, middle class and upper class Americans, we have the opposite problem where somehow we've accumulated way more stuff than we really want. Lots of it is just, you know, it's just there. Um, and then, you know, this comes out when like when we have to move, um, and um, and and then you know, it's it can no longer just be just sit there in the closet, something has to be done with it. So uh when I um before I retired uh from UCLA and and moved to Oklahoma, I had the most of my clutter was in my office at UCLA. So there were um, for example, there were journals, scientific journals, hard copies.
Heather Anne:You've been wanting to tell this story.
Joe:So tell the story about your journals. So some of which I had subscribed to, you know, going back to the 90s, and these filled, you know, shelves in my office. And I realized I I, you know, I don't all this material is online, of course. All the journals are online. There's no need for hard copies. Um, I'm not gonna take this stuff to Oklahoma, where it would get it'll cost a lot of money to ship it, and I'll I'll never actually open any of these journals. They'll just they're just gonna sit on my shelves until I die, and then my daughter will come and throw them into the into the bin. So so um, so I read the thing to do is throw them into the bin right now. But this was hard. This was hard for me to do. It felt almost like like book burning, like some kind of, it was barbaric, you know, take these scientific journals and throw them in the recycling bin. Then there were, then there were data data on monkey behavior that I'd collected in the late 1980s. So this is before there were computers or before there were portable computers. So these were on check sheets and there were boxes and boxes of sheets of paper. Um, and you know, I'd already analyzed all this data and written all the papers. I was never gonna look at it again. Um, but I was I I found someone who now studies the same population of monkeys and and who and I inquired and you know as explained this, and she said she wanted the data. So and she paid for it to be to be shipped to her in the United Kingdom. So um, so that felt that felt good.
Heather Anne:You're like way too excited for about this. I I think one of the things is we need to let the listeners know is when you moved to Oklahoma, you had a car full of stuff. That's it.
Joe:That's not quite true because my uh the person that my ex-wife and I had been living with, um, I left stuff with him and then you know arranged to to pay for him to ship it, ship it, I think, by by just by US mail to me later, once I was settled. So I I I had more than just the stuff that could fit behind.
Heather Anne:A little bit more, but you didn't move with a U-Haul or you didn't have a moving van moving your stuff.
Joe:That's right.
Heather Anne:So then you bought a house here. This is right before we move we met, and you bought a house here and you filled that house very quickly.
Joe:That's right.
Heather Anne:I was very I never said anything, but I was very intrigued with this because you you bought a three-bedroom, two-bath home. Uh, you had no furniture, so you had to go out and buy furniture. And then um as we started dating, and I started noticing that you had more and more stuff just showed up in your house when I wanted to visit. And I and I was very intrigued with this. So, like which which things intrigued you the most? How you were able to accumulate a lot of stuff very quickly. Well, I I think that secretly you're a little bit of a hoarder.
Joe:I think I have like clashing tendencies. There's a I have a hoarder tendency, but then when I, you know, take some initiative and and get rid of stuff and organize stuff, and and then the all the horizontal surfaces and the in in my space are clear again, then I feel a lot better. So um, you know, I can be a hoarder, but I can also be a declutterer too at some times.
Heather Anne:It and I do I have clutter here and there. That I think that's more my ADHD because then when I I get into these kicks where I have to clean everything out, I pull everything out of cupboards and closets and get rid of stuff. Um, I was looking for something the other day and I actually pulled out a bunch of stuff and was like, oh, there's a bunch of stuff in the in my office on the floor that needs to go into the trash. So I do have tendencies for that. Um, I think I look at things a little bit differently because you get to still go home to the house you grew up in. Your mother still lives there. Um, things changed drastically for me. By the time I was uh 19, I didn't have a home to go home to, and all my stuff got was we had to clear stuff out because my mom went away, so we had to um my sister had my older sister had the responsibility of clearing out her house and everything. So all of my childhood stuff, and even pictures and everything, were lost, and I no longer have. So I I don't see myself as having a lot of attachment to stuff.
Joe:So you couldn't be attached to it because it was just sort of forcibly taken away and destroyed.
Heather Anne:Yeah, it was just taken away. And um as my kids were getting older, and you know, I did find myself collecting things and making a home and everything for my family. Uh my boys at a very early age started already telling me that we don't want your stuff. We're not taking your stuff. You need to figure out what you're doing with it before my older son's a very matter-of-a-fact kind of guy. And he's like, before you die, you just need to figure out what you're doing with your stuff.
Joe:Even the China.
Heather Anne:Even the China. My my youngest son did come back and say, I want the China. So I did keep, I we did, I did keep the China for him. We do still use the China, but most of our we we've gotten a lot rid of a lot of stuff. And part of that was because we had to combine households. Um we had to make everything fit. We didn't need two of everything. So we actually got rid of a lot of stuff. Um before we moved in, we had um our next guest helped us with organizing, especially our kitchen and stuff. And I was also very determined when we moved in. I didn't want boxes to just be, if we didn't know what we were doing with them, they stayed in the garage. I didn't want them to come into the house and then figure out what we're doing with it. I wanted if it was, if we didn't need it, then it needed to stay in the garage and not be brought into the house and then taken back out.
unknown:Yes.
Joe:And now, so now we've got this house organized, and now we face a new organizational challenge as we're as we are relocating. And um, not only relocating, but uh my my mother is going to be uh living uh not not not uh exactly under the same roof with us, but on the same property in a in a in a um an apartment.
Heather Anne:And so um I something just came to my thoughts. I think I'd like this organisation stuff because I had to coordinate our move here, which involved, we've talked about it before, it's involved three trucks and then a furniture truck. Now I have to coordinate us to move to Virginia. I have to help coordinate us to because we're not moving into our house. Our house will not be completed when we move there. We're moving into a 650 square foot apartment, a one-bedge, one-bath apartment. So a lot of stuff will not be going into that apartment. It will actually have to stay in the shop. But then we're moving kind of different seasons. So we're moving like the middle of spring, and then it'll be summer. So we're I'm going to need tremendous help to make sure the boxes are marked correctly, all of that stuff. But then we have to move your mother from San Diego. So that's going to be a challenge as well to get her and the stuff that she's going to be bringing with her. Because we want the place to feel as much as her like home to her.
Joe:And and um she uh has accumulated quite a lot of stuff in the um uh more than 50 years that she's lived in that house, and she collects some of the stuff is just is just clutter, but some of it um are her collections. So she collects miniature furniture and she collects um uh dolls, many of which are still in their boxes. This helps them keep their value. Um and uh so there's gonna have to be decisions made about which, you know, a small, only a small fraction of all that stuff can come with her to Virginia. Um so with all that uh as our own background and our own interest in this, um we are very pleased to have with us today Kristin Switzer, the founder of To Be Organized Tulsa, uh who helped us in our getting organized when we first moved into this house and is going to be helping us uh again.
Heather Anne:Yes, even more so, because just like I spoke about, we need we're moving even smaller space. So um welcome, Kristin. Kristin is a Tulsa transplant originally from Kansas City, Missouri, with a background in business and a lifelong love of bringing order to chaos. So if you've got too many boxes in your garage, a closet that makes you cringe, or you're thinking about downsizing, this episode is for you.
Joe:So, Kristin, welcome. And could you could you start by um explaining how you got into this line of work? Um apparently this started at a very young age.
Kristin Switzer:Yes, thank you. It's wonderful to be here. Um I tell the story that I remember being a kid in my family home, like probably seven or eight years old, organizing our linen closet, organizing our pantry. I thought that was like normal things that eight-year-olds do. Um, and I think even as an adult, it's funny the things that come naturally to you, you don't necessarily think as that they're unique. You just think, oh, everybody can organize because it comes naturally to me. It must come naturally to everybody. And until I started my first career, which was working for a personality assessment company, um, which I learned a ton about personality and just all the differences in people, I quickly realized that that was not a gift people, a lot of people had. And so that kind of started planting the seed of wow, I really have something that's unique that I can offer any company or, you know, my family or whomever. And it wasn't until March 2020 I was still working for this company. Um, we moved into a new house, beginning of the pandemic. We're in our house, organizing it, unpacking. And I started looking into some things about, okay, I've never had a walk-in pantry until we moved there. So I thought, okay, what is the best way to organize this pantry? So I started looking to social media and different tips and tricks, and it clicked that the people I was following were doing this for clients. They were organizing for other people. And I'm like, wait, you can get paid for that? That's a thing. Um, and you know, the the home edit and some other Marie Kondo, some other experts have popped up in recent years. And so it's it's really started to speak to a lot of people about the need for organizing and that it's not that you're some people say, Oh, I'm so bad at it. I should be able to do this myself. I'm like, well, if it doesn't come natural to you, it's like I don't know how to work on my car. So I'm gonna hire somebody to do that, or I'm gonna, I'm not going to um try to fix something in my plumbing. I'm gonna hire a plumber. So they're just things that come naturally to us or that we're skilled to do that we need a little help with, uh, those that those areas that we don't have skills. So this is where it came to be.
Heather Anne:I'm a pretty good organizer. I like to have things organized and in the places where they belong. That really came more from my childhood that was pushed. It was this is the way things are going to be done. In my previous house, I had us unpacked all the boxes unpacked, moved in, and everything in three days because I had the time to do that and everything. When we moved here, I knew I did not have the time and knew I would become overwhelmed. And we were very fortunate to be able to hire you and come in and um take our kitchen that had two of everything and help us decide what we needed. One of the things that I'm sure that you have to deal deal with, which probably helped with your help you helps you in your current business from what you were doing previously, is it's an emotional thing as well. When you're coming into somebody's house, you're seeing all their stuff and you're helping them organize or get rid of. But I would think it would be even more challenging when you're dealing with maybe an older client.
Kristin Switzer:Yeah. Absolutely. Well, most often when we're helping someone downsize or maybe they're not ready to downsize, but they just know it's coming in the next five years and they want to start, they want to get a jump start on going through their home. They have often been in their home for at least 20 to 25 years. Sometimes it's the home that they raise their children in, and they've been there for 40 plus years. So there are a lot of areas of that house they probably haven't touched and gone through previously. And so there's a lot of memories, there's a lot of change that's coming. So it can be emotional for sure. Um, and we just try to help break it down into bite-sized manageable pieces so it doesn't feel so overwhelming.
Joe:So, okay, so give us if you'd like walk us through like how how would you so okay, here's someone, say they're um, you know, they're in that they're 70, um, they're alone. Okay, so they're like a widow or widower, and they're in a you know, three-bedroom house or a four-bedroom house, and there's all this stuff that's accumulated over 30, 40, maybe 50 years. So when you say you just you start start piece by piece, like well, how do you do that? Yes.
Kristin Switzer:Well, that's a great question. I think that is the hardest part for people, is they don't know where to start. And so um, I would say we say start simply and simply start. Uh, my colleagues and I who also own different types of businesses, um, that we we found we have similar, we have clients with similar problems of there's not a big sense of urgency, but they know they have to deal with it. So one of my friends is an estate planner, and so planning for the future um is not something people necessarily want to think about, but they know they need to do it. So we started this phrase of start simply and simply start. And that way um you just take little bite-sized chunks and you just move through it. So, ideally, if somebody can give themselves a year to go through that process, that would be ideal. That's not always the case, but a year to two years would be ideal to start the process. Um, start in one room and don't try to do that whole room in one sitting. Just pick one area of that room, one box, one shelf, one pile, and just tackle that and do that. Because then when you get that complete, you've done something. You're not in the middle of a giant mess and going, oh my gosh, I can't do this. I quit. It's small bite-sized chunks. Um, and what I what I always remind people is if you can only focus on do I want to keep this or not keep this, and don't necessarily get to the what do I do with all the things I don't want to keep yet, that will help. I think what happens is people get paralyzed with the what do I do with all the stuff I don't want.
Heather Anne:Because I think sometimes I've seen, excuse me, I've seen where they do the piles keep, throw away, donate, whatever. And and I can see how that would be overwhelming because then you're holding something going, Well, I'm not keeping it, but should it be donated? Should I give it to a family member? So I could see how that's just too many steps to let go of that one thing. Yes.
Kristin Switzer:And then it feels so overwhelming. It feels overwhelming just to tackle your stuff. So you can make it less overwhelming by only giving yourself one decision you have to make about each thing. Do I want it or do I not want it? And you know, having a trash bag or something nearby could be that could be, oh, this is clearly trash. That could be a quick drop in the bucket there. But then if you just separate, okay, these are the things I don't want to keep, and maybe it's in a box, or maybe you put it back in the closet and you designate that closet as my not keep closet. Then if you think your kids might want something, or hey, my neighbor might want this, or maybe this is all donate, you could have it all in one place for people to, if they come over, they could look in there and say, Oh, yeah, I really do want that china you have, or I do really want that picture of grandma, or whatever it might be. But you've already done the toughest part, and that's making the decision.
Heather Anne:So, what is your recommendation when you have an old Client and family members are afraid themselves to approach okay, mom, dad, we need to sit down. We have to start doing this. And the parent is being the one that's like, you know, not wanting to do anything. How do you recommend what do you recommend for the kids that are that know that they need to move their parent along? It's a really delicate situation.
Kristin Switzer:Um I would say, I mean, if if the kids are willing to help with that process, if that's gonna be a amicable situation of going through, I know that can be really hard, but it can help the parent not feel so overwhelmed. Just say, I think what helps, and we do this for our clients that an adult child could do for their parent is to say, mom, let's go through this drawer. I'm gonna pull everything out and I'm gonna sort it. Let's just pick a junk drawer just to start. I'm gonna sort it and then you just tell me whether you want to keep it or not. Because it's much easier for mom to look at the junk drawer with all of it taken out, and these are my pens and these are my uh my uh tape measures or all the things you one one might have in a junk drawer and make decisions about those things than to look at one big pile of stuff. So I think it can help by just helping by you can help by separating the things in a space for that person. So all they have to do is decide do I keep or not keep. Um my dad and my uh stepmom actually did that in my old childhood room. They kept my dad kept saying, Hey, can you come and look at the stuff that you have here? Do you want it? Do you not want it? And I was like, oh dad, that's gonna take all day. You know, I don't want to go over there. We're only in town for the weekend. And so they went and they took it all out and they separated it. These were all my photo albums, these were all my clothes from high school. Of course, I can't wear and I didn't want anymore. These are all my picture frames or whatever was in there. And then all I had to do was go in and say, I want this, I want this, I want this. And they said, anything you leave will donate. And so that made it, I think I did it in an hour and a half, maybe. My sister and I went over there and it was done. So I think just the um effort it takes to take the things out of where they currently are and kind of lay them out so someone can see it. Sometimes that is all they need to just get over the hump of overwhelm.
Heather Anne:And I can see how that visualization can help drastically when you're going through drawers and closets and different things. Then I know personally myself, I have a tendency to then get nostalgic and be and remember. Oh, I remember this and I remember that. Um, and and most of my stuff's from my kids' childhood. So it's oh, I don't want to get rid of this and that. But if you walk into a room and everything, it's like you just get to laser focus. Nope, nope, nope, yes, I want this, and then be able to turn around and walk back out. I like that.
Kristin Switzer:That's a really good one it takes away the over, it takes away some of the overwhelm. And also if you can keep yourself that decision maker, so as mom's looking at things, if you see the box of pictures, don't look at it right then. Don't wait on the pictures or wait on the baby keepsakes because those those things are maybe you take that box in and you start going through it while you've got the TV on and you just can do that separately. But to do that while you're really trying to make progress is is hard. So trying to keep it on the things that are more of the things you use every day or you need can help, the things that are less sentimental.
Joe:And now I I don't know, this may not be very common, but but I think about it because it applies to my mother, the sorts of things which they didn't just accumulate accumulate sort of by themselves, but they are a deliberately assembled collection. So my mother collects um miniature furniture and uh and and dolls, which are uh dolls which are stay in their boxes. And so when you have this, you know, the time has come to downsize, um, and this the stuff, you know, it doesn't just have it doesn't just have sentimental value, it has it has market value. And so how how do you how do you deal with that kind of situation?
Kristin Switzer:Yeah, so that would be a as we were talking about, you know, what do I do with this thing that I don't want? If they if they've made that choice and you've got a pile of things that are not keep or I'm ready to part ways with, that's when you start thinking about, okay, is this of any value or could I sell this? Um talking to somebody who does consignment or estate sales or auctions, that can be a good place to start. And just sending some pictures and saying, here are the things I have, would this be worth you consigning? Um, you know, of course, there's eBay and Facebook Marketplace and all sorts of areas where you can go, but that is a lot of time and effort. Right. And so I think just a if you have a one place shop that or one place stop you can go to say, could could this be something you could sell? You're not gonna get a hundred percent of that value, but you aren't gonna have to go to such lengths to sell it. So um I just talk to an expert about it. I think they they can lend a lot of help and they're they get calls like that all the time.
unknown:Okay.
Joe:So I I want to hear more about uh how you worked in personality assessment. I I this is this is is one of my areas of professional. I mean, I I do I do research, I do research on on personality variation. And so, you know, I hear I'm thinking, okay, so of the big five, I imagine what you're thinking was conscientiousness, like it's the kind highly conscientious people who find it easy to keep organized. And okay, anything else you want to say about how your your what you what you learned doing personality assessment has helped you in your uh career as an organizer.
Kristin Switzer:Yeah, so um the assessment companies that I worked for was a global company um based in Tulsa, and uh different corporations would use the assessments for hiring and developing. And so, yes, we it was definitely based on the big five. And then there was also an assessment about core values and motivators and an assessment about derailers and this is the company's called Hogan assessments. Um, and so there's not even there's there's the day-to-day being a conscientious person or someone who's detail-oriented or organized is one fast of it. But then um when someone's under stress or pressure or they are not at their best, then they can do something different. They can be maybe even more micromanaging and an overuse strength of like digging really far into the details and getting paralyzed by that. Or maybe day to day they're pretty organized, but when they're under stress, they they lose track of their of the things they need to do or the details. So it's it was fascinating learning just that although you may be a conscientious person, you may have all these other facets of your personality and history that that counter that, or that um, you know, like you were saying earlier, something about I'm sometimes I'm a collector, but I can also go through and and get rid of things. You you might have two opposing things that actually make you pretty balanced.
unknown:Okay.
Kristin Switzer:So it was it was fascinating. I worked with a lot of very smart psychologists. I am not a psychologist, but I worked with a lot of very smart personality psychologists and learned a lot about um just how we're all different and how we can work together.
Heather Anne:And I would say this has definitely helped you with your business because you are going into people's homes and you're helping them move forward, is basically what you're doing. You have to be somewhat of a therapist to handle that because of the different emotions. Because I am sure many times, especially if you're helping an elderly elderly client downsize, and their family's like, we're done. We need to move on. We need so you've got family members that are just like, let's go, go, go, but then you have the actual client that's just like, I need a moment, I'm not sure if I can do this.
Kristin Switzer:Yeah, I think when someone is moving, we have the benefit of usually a move date or something we're working toward, you know. So that helps kind of keep us on track. Um, I find if it's possible, like let's say they're moving to a retirement community and they don't have to sell their house right away. I know that's not a luxury a lot of people have. They might have to sell the house, then move to the retirement community. But oftentimes, if that is the case, I want to move them first and then deal with the rest of the house because I think once they're in that new home or that new apartment wherever they're going, they'll see, oh yeah, I don't really need all that stuff. And so, and it also gives them a chance to say, oh yeah, I do have room for one more chair, or I do have room for those kitchen items I decided not to bring. It gives them a little bit of space. I know, again, that's not always the reality, but um, moving them first and getting them acquainted with their new space and saying, oh yeah, I really don't have room for all of that helps them make the decisions because practically there just isn't the space.
Heather Anne:And that's we're fortunate that we're going to be able to do that with Joe's mom. We're going to move her into our new place and then deal with the house afterwards, just again to make it easier on her. What is some of your recommendations? Because we do um, because it's a new space and it'll be all brand new for her. I even plan on, you know, decorating it for her to her taste, um, to the extent that we can. But I want her still to have some of her things around her. How do we go about, if we're not really tackling the house yet, how do we help her go around to the house and be like, yes, I want this picture, I want these things? Um she is a she was a very um avid reader. She's starting to have problems with her eyesight. So we still want some of her books around. Um we're big avid readers and we have lots of books as well. Um, so what are these suggestions that you can give us to help her transition be a little bit smoother for her?
Kristin Switzer:Um, that's a great question. I would say a few things. So going around and really, what are your, let's pick an area, maybe in her bedroom. What are your favorite things that are in this room? So what's your top, you know, she has lots of art on the wall, what are the things you really wouldn't wouldn't want to live without? And having her pick the things that are most important. Sometimes I'll say to clients, okay, if your house was on fire and you had to run in and you only had 15 minutes, what would you grab? Which of course that's uh expediting it, but it just thinking about what are the things you'd be really sad if they broke, or they'd be really sad if you didn't have with you. Um maybe you say, okay, let's pick your top 10 pieces of art, or if you I don't know how many books she has, let's say she has a hundred books, let's pick your favorite 20. You know, just making looking at the category and almost taking like 15 to 20% of that category and picking what are your favorites could help. Um, the other thing I love for people to do is take pictures of her home now. So take pictures of the way she's decorated her room or the way that she, you know, if she has a favorite place that she sits, what does that look like? So you could kind of recreate that in the new place. Um, it also nostalgia, nostalgia-wise, it keeps those memories alive for her. This is where this is what your home used to, like what your old home looked like. Um, but it can help you set up, you know, maybe she's got her bookcase arranged a certain way and you can recreate that for her.
Heather Anne:She um she built miniature doll houses. Oh my gosh. And they are the most fascinating, the details, just the little tiny cups and different things and the little furniture and everything. So I'm hoping that she'll want to bring some of you know, a few of those. We cannot bring all of them. She has a whole room full of them. But I like the idea of being able to take pictures of those because it for her, you know, yes, there's some value and everything to them, but she took the time to build those and and make literally, it's just like these little scenes, and they're the most truly I'm fascinated. I every time I go to the house, I like to go and look at them. Have you seen the butcher shop? I don't think I've seen the butcher butcher shop. Oh, I want to see the butcher shop.
Joe:You know, knives and the tables and all at you know at one inch to the foot scale.
Heather Anne:How cool. So for her, it's not just the nostalgia of that, it's you know, a talent that she had to be able to build these things and how intricate they are and everything. So I I truly want that to still be a part of her new place. Um, but again, we obviously can't bring them all. And um, so we'll be taking, we need to take pictures of those.
Joe:Thank you. That's a great idea.
Kristin Switzer:Yeah, and then if you could get, I mean if she has like a digital photo frame or something, or even just printing the pictures to put in an album or something where she can see them often.
Heather Anne:I like the digital because I like the digital idea because she is starting to lose her eyesight. So um I think being able to have that bigger version instead of just like looking in an album or anything, I think would be um plus it's going to continually change and you can always change out the pictures and stuff. I like that idea. Thank you, Louisa.
Kristin Switzer:Yeah, of course. And you all can have access to those so you can add pictures for her. And you know, if you get pictures from your sons or you know, various friends or family members, then you can just put them in there for her and she can see them often.
Heather Anne:I like that. Okay. What do you have like any other practical advice or any like stories? What you know, because I'm in the mortgage business. So you you have clients that just touch your heart. And you like to share a story with maybe a particular client that just really touch your heart and you still carry around with you?
Kristin Switzer:Oh gosh, there are so many that we work with that we just really connect with. I think it's hard to come up with one, but they it's almost like going, I think about them as going to visit like an aunt and uncle or going, you know, going to see somebody who you were really close with for a short period of time. You know, you were in their home going through their memories, they're telling you about their kids, their grandkids, their jobs, all of these things. And then you're with them for say two to three weeks, and then they're like, wait, when are we gonna see you again? So I would just say anybody that we we come in contact with that we we would love to go visit if we all the time if we had more time. But I just there's such a profound um experience that we're having with them, and I know we're helping them, but we're getting a lot out of that too, because they're trusting us with their things and their home and their memories.
Heather Anne:Um and I understand that because it's the same with me. I, you know, I help people close on their homes and get them into new homes, but I don't go back. Some clients I've been fortunate enough to, but it's not like I'm going back and then visiting them and seeing how they're doing five or 10 years from now. So there is something that it's just magical knowing that you have helped them on to the next phase of their life, whatever that is. So um any other practical advice that you would like to give us? For example, um, and we laugh about this quite often, and you and I have laughed about it. I did have people help me before when I packed up my last place, um, but they did not label things properly. So I would open up a box that says dishes, and it would be lampshades. So um I'm not going to lie, I'm a little bit stressed out about we're only in 650 square feet, and but I still need to have access because we're fortunate that all of our stuff will be there. We're not putting it into storage or anything like that. So I will have the benefit of being able to, like, oh, I need this. So we're going to be labeling things very yes, with the right labeling. And maybe even seasonal stuff, like this is winter clothes and coats and yeah, winter um like um bedding and different things like that.
Kristin Switzer:So one step further could be creating a spreadsheet. I love a good spreadsheet. We used to do this on every single move, and we will do it if it makes sense. It does it would make sense for you all where we're numbering the boxes. And so box number one, maybe kitchen bakeware box. And so then on the list, you know, box number one, kitchen, and here are the things in it. Because we'll find that movers are fantastic, but sometimes they don't pay attention to kitchen boxes staying with kitchen boxes, or you know, you have two guys loading the truck at the same time. So you've got kitchen with living room. And so if you have a number, it's much easier to go and look for a number on a box than it is to look at every single box and see what it says on it. So that would be my suggestion is to have a number or colors. You could even do colors.
Heather Anne:I like colors. I'm a big color person. I like so he is the spreadsheet when he packed up his house and everything, he had everything. Numbered boxes, yeah. I think that comes from his research and having to organize data. Yeah, yeah. The color coordinate coordinating will I like color coordinating.
Kristin Switzer:Yes. That way kitchen's orange or you know, bedrooms green, and then you just look for a color. I think just making it simplified, but then having a way that you can locate the boxes without having to look at every description on each box will save you time.
Heather Anne:So I think we're going to do uh numbers and colors. Love it. Speaking my language. Then I'll know exactly if I could go and uh because that was, I'm not gonna lie, that was very frustrating. And when I packed up my place, some of my stuff was in storage, and I had it in another place. So I deliberately had the movers bring certain boxes, and then they bring these boxes, and it's I don't need it was coats. One of them was winter coats, and it was July. And it's like that doesn't do me any good. Not what I need right now. And the movers are feeling bad. They're like, we're sorry. And I'm like, nope, it said right there. And that's what I thought we were getting. And so uh moving, I have done the move from one state to another. So I am getting a little stressed about that. But I know that you're going to be amazing. Yes. Um, what you came in and did with our kitchen here, because our kitchen was a lot smaller, smaller than what I was used to, and my closet. Now, my closet may or may not still look like the set it is. I bet it's really, really close. But it's pretty close. Yeah. It's pretty close. And in fact, I even did some cleaning in it this week. Even though you're not going and looking at my closet. It just made you think of it. You're here. That's right. Kristin's here. She may visualize my closet. I need to make sure it's the way it needs to be.
Joe:Well, Kristin, you've you've given us so much to think about and act upon. And so if someone, someone in the Tulsa area is listening and ready to take that first step, where can they find you?
Kristin Switzer:I would start with our website. And uh that's to be-organized.com. So the number two, the letter B-organized.com. And that way you can find me. You can find all of the different services we provide, um, lots of information there. And then we're also on Facebook and Instagram under to be organized Tulsa. So um that's the best, best place to start.
Heather Anne:All right. Well, thank you for being here. We really appreciate your time and all the great information. And I'm very excited to help you have you come help us when we're needing to get moved in the spring. And to our listeners, remember, you do not have to conquer your whole house in one weekend. Pick one spot, one box, one drawer. Start simply and simply start. If you found value in today's conversation, share it with a friend who might be feeling stuck in stuff. Keep it simple, keep it going. Reach out to Kristin and her team. We um talked a lot about decluttering, organizing, making your spaces more simple, and how to get rid of unnecessary stuff. We have so many exciting discussions coming up, including guests, and we can't wait to have you along for new episodes.
Joe:So join us here each week, my friend. You're sure to get a smile from lessons learned to mishaps, the adventures go on for miles. Here on the Professor and Heather Anne.
Kristin Switzer:Thank you for listening to The Professor and Heather Ann.
