WEBVTT 00:00.824 --> 00:11.719 [SPEAKER_00]: If I can influence you on anything today, let it be the concept of Swedish death cleaning. 00:11.759 --> 00:13.000 [SPEAKER_00]: Hello, everybody. 00:13.201 --> 00:20.210 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Lexi Lombard, your host of the Lexi podcast, and normally I'll be done this show with a little personal life update, what I've been doing. 00:20.551 --> 00:25.397 [SPEAKER_00]: But I want to get right into the concept in which I'm trying to influence you on today. 00:25.377 --> 00:34.334 [SPEAKER_00]: If you do want the life update, the prison charity I'm working with, the boutique I'm working at, I'm going to get into that on the Patreon which I will have linked below. 00:34.354 --> 00:45.394 [SPEAKER_00]: Today we are going to talk about a way that you can look at, acknowledge and place your belongings that suits not only your future self, but your loved ones after you are gone. 00:45.374 --> 01:00.169 [SPEAKER_00]: I love talking about death, I do not find it to be morbid because it's no secret, it's not like some people experience death and others don't, so this is a topic that I really enjoy and the idea of using decluttering as an act of self-love is powerful. 01:00.589 --> 01:11.280 [SPEAKER_00]: Swedish death cleaning is a Scandinavian decluttering philosophy that's focused on lightning your life load now, so your loved ones do not have to sift through mountains of your belongings. 01:11.260 --> 01:22.124 [SPEAKER_00]: it's not just about stuff, it's about consciously curating your life while you're still living it and decluttering as an act of self-love and self-honesty. 01:22.304 --> 01:28.257 [SPEAKER_00]: Think of it as I'm doing myself a favor, I'm doing everyone else a favor by taking care of my belongings. 01:28.237 --> 01:39.753 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's a really generous philosophy that feels deeply unamerican, if I'm being perfectly honest, which to give a little background, I was not an incredibly organized person growing up. 01:39.913 --> 01:46.482 [SPEAKER_00]: I definitely was a little ADHD kid and to manage my ADHD had to put a lot of systems in place. 01:46.462 --> 01:53.129 [SPEAKER_00]: I have a lot of little games and mental gymnastics that I do for myself to make my life easier, decluttering has been one of them. 01:53.149 --> 01:58.595 [SPEAKER_00]: I posted on Instagram today asking for your questions and regards to organization and decluttering. 01:58.755 --> 02:05.402 [SPEAKER_00]: And one of my friends responded saying, wow, I just read a book on Swedish death cleaning and I'm about to go to my mom's house tomorrow to help her with it. 02:05.703 --> 02:16.114 [SPEAKER_00]: I asked what the book was and it's called Swedish death cleaning for Americans, which I find helpful and ironic that it needed to be specified because we are so 02:16.094 --> 02:19.900 [SPEAKER_00]: Mimi me compared to a lot of other parts of the world. 02:20.321 --> 02:26.490 [SPEAKER_00]: And if you're listening from another country, I'm sure you've probably heard if you have an experience that Americans are a little bit guilty of this. 02:26.631 --> 02:29.755 [SPEAKER_00]: We want to do as we please at all times. 02:29.796 --> 02:30.797 [SPEAKER_00]: You know, it's my life. 02:30.957 --> 02:31.999 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm the one living it. 02:32.540 --> 02:38.389 [SPEAKER_00]: And a lot of other cultures believe your life is a piece of a larger puzzle and you are 02:38.369 --> 02:47.697 [SPEAKER_00]: you because of those that came before you and those who will come after you and I'd like to top in to encouraging others to do this. 02:47.757 --> 02:57.586 [SPEAKER_00]: There's a trend I've seen going around to get rid of 10 items a day and I think that falls perfectly in line and it's super doable and a challenge that you could do before you go to bed tonight. 02:57.927 --> 03:08.376 [SPEAKER_00]: You would be surprised just by peeking through a junk drawer and I'd stand the fridge, the pantry, your bathroom to find 10 items that you're 03:08.356 --> 03:09.318 [SPEAKER_00]: It's okay to let go. 03:09.378 --> 03:13.686 [SPEAKER_00]: Something that's expired, something that does not belong in your space. 03:14.147 --> 03:17.915 [SPEAKER_00]: I think what stops a lot of people is that either seems really daunting. 03:18.095 --> 03:21.221 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, if I declutter, I have to declutter everything. 03:21.281 --> 03:24.988 [SPEAKER_00]: You know, I have to go location by location, category by category. 03:25.008 --> 03:28.896 [SPEAKER_00]: It's going to take days if not weeks to get this done. 03:28.876 --> 03:33.962 [SPEAKER_00]: And actually, this is a practice that you can implement to avoid having to do this. 03:34.182 --> 03:37.627 [SPEAKER_00]: If you're continuously thinking, what are 10 items today? 03:37.647 --> 03:38.848 [SPEAKER_00]: I can discard of. 03:39.209 --> 03:41.271 [SPEAKER_00]: You'd be amazed how many things that is. 03:41.612 --> 03:44.055 [SPEAKER_00]: That's hundreds of items by the end of the month. 03:44.515 --> 03:53.466 [SPEAKER_00]: Mine, for example, are little sashay bags that came with a beauty product that I've had sitting in my bathroom drawer that I'm not using. 03:53.446 --> 04:00.936 [SPEAKER_00]: and I'm keeping for what in case a friend of mine wants a small product that I want to put in a small sachet for her? 04:00.976 --> 04:01.637 [SPEAKER_00]: No. 04:02.158 --> 04:15.637 [SPEAKER_00]: Random vitamins that I bought that I thought were going to do something and reality I was just peeing them out so they're sitting in the vitamin drawer not being used and they're expired at this point, but I'm keeping them because the bottles pretty uh gotta go. 04:15.957 --> 04:19.302 [SPEAKER_00]: And this practice builds momentum. 04:19.282 --> 04:26.415 [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's less daunting for people to just find scattered items around their house discard of as opposed to, okay? 04:26.475 --> 04:27.717 [SPEAKER_00]: We're doing the closet today. 04:27.737 --> 04:33.167 [SPEAKER_00]: It's nice to just peek through the closet and say, what's one item that I could discard of in my closet? 04:33.528 --> 04:34.089 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, great. 04:34.109 --> 04:35.271 [SPEAKER_00]: Move on to the shoe shelf. 04:35.511 --> 04:36.674 [SPEAKER_00]: Move on to the bag drawer. 04:36.974 --> 04:40.120 [SPEAKER_00]: You only want to keep what's worth caring forward. 04:40.160 --> 04:41.863 [SPEAKER_00]: And I, I'm guilty of this. 04:41.843 --> 04:46.448 [SPEAKER_00]: only taking my past selves into account when I'm decluttering and not my future self. 04:47.289 --> 04:50.453 [SPEAKER_00]: I will be going through my memory box and think, well, I can't get rid of this. 04:50.473 --> 04:55.058 [SPEAKER_00]: 16 year old Lexi would be heartbroken to know that I tossed this out. 04:55.379 --> 04:58.362 [SPEAKER_00]: Is 42 year old Lexi gonna want this? 04:58.542 --> 04:59.704 [SPEAKER_00]: Is this still gonna matter? 04:59.744 --> 05:05.370 [SPEAKER_00]: Are you even gonna even remember this first-ense name from middle school that wrote you this note in that one class? 05:05.350 --> 05:08.195 [SPEAKER_00]: This person, but it's like, yes, I don't want to forget my life. 05:08.255 --> 05:08.936 [SPEAKER_00]: It's my life. 05:09.076 --> 05:09.697 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, great. 05:10.098 --> 05:12.242 [SPEAKER_00]: If you really want to fight it, then don't worry about it. 05:12.262 --> 05:15.507 [SPEAKER_00]: We can pick our battles and we don't need to fight this one. 05:15.527 --> 05:16.709 [SPEAKER_00]: We can find something else. 05:17.250 --> 05:18.252 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it's bed sheets. 05:18.392 --> 05:19.895 [SPEAKER_00]: Things that seem practical. 05:20.095 --> 05:24.503 [SPEAKER_00]: You don't like them, so you don't really use them, but you feel guilty giving them away because you didn't really use them. 05:25.004 --> 05:25.545 [SPEAKER_00]: Give them away. 05:25.785 --> 05:26.286 [SPEAKER_00]: Give them away. 05:26.566 --> 05:31.054 [SPEAKER_00]: Swedish death cleaning asks, what does your current life actually need? 05:31.034 --> 05:37.985 [SPEAKER_00]: not the person even two weeks ago that purchased something and then when it arrived in the mail you thought oh this isn't as good as I thought it would be. 05:38.386 --> 05:43.454 [SPEAKER_00]: For example I purchased kind of a gimmicky product on black Friday that's supposed to clean my retainer. 05:43.775 --> 05:54.713 [SPEAKER_00]: I used to want to clean it pretty well but I used to just second time and I didn't really notice the difference and I'm thinking okay this is the perfect item to keep around 05:54.693 --> 06:02.368 [SPEAKER_00]: Because I spent money on it, even though it's junk, but because I'm in this habit now, I'm going to have an easier time getting rid of it. 06:02.548 --> 06:11.064 [SPEAKER_00]: Something that I want to reiterate as with the 10 items a day, Swedish death cleaning, it's not a fast chaotic purging. 06:11.184 --> 06:14.170 [SPEAKER_00]: This is a slow, thoughtful practice. 06:14.605 --> 06:16.468 [SPEAKER_00]: that is surprisingly therapeutic. 06:16.749 --> 06:20.295 [SPEAKER_00]: So I've given some examples, but how it works, start with the easy stuff. 06:20.455 --> 06:31.315 [SPEAKER_00]: Close, mugs, random cords, do not begin with your sentimental items, getting sentimental too early is where people self-savotage, as I am guilty of. 06:31.976 --> 06:39.229 [SPEAKER_00]: Gradually move towards emotionally loaded categories, like letters, photos, momentos, my mom's handwriting, 06:39.209 --> 06:45.499 [SPEAKER_00]: journals, the sweatshirt that I got from the guy that I thought was cute are live that. 06:45.920 --> 06:51.008 [SPEAKER_00]: Create, this is one of the principles, but it feels crazy to say a lot. 06:51.028 --> 06:52.510 [SPEAKER_00]: This is how it goes. 06:53.252 --> 06:55.415 [SPEAKER_00]: Create a throw away when I die box. 06:55.876 --> 06:56.917 [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, this is real. 06:56.978 --> 07:04.710 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a box of the things that matter to you, but would confuse or overwhelm someone else. 07:04.690 --> 07:15.443 [SPEAKER_00]: examples journals you don't want to read random artifacts from your inner life old love letters it's almost symbolic it's a container for the parts of you 07:15.929 --> 07:18.273 [SPEAKER_00]: that don't need to be remembered literally. 07:18.293 --> 07:20.096 [SPEAKER_00]: Why do people love this practice? 07:20.196 --> 07:21.898 [SPEAKER_00]: Because it reduces anxiety. 07:22.139 --> 07:23.681 [SPEAKER_00]: It makes your home feel lighter. 07:23.701 --> 07:26.365 [SPEAKER_00]: It helps you meet your life where you are at. 07:26.666 --> 07:28.088 [SPEAKER_00]: It makes the moment present. 07:28.549 --> 07:30.832 [SPEAKER_00]: And it gives your future self-room to evolve. 07:31.013 --> 07:41.970 [SPEAKER_00]: And it turns decluttering into a ritual, something thoughtful, something therapeutic, something of self-love as opposed to a chore. 07:41.950 --> 07:42.911 [SPEAKER_00]: or tidying. 07:43.472 --> 07:52.766 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want you to think of Swedish death cleaning in the same room as you tidying up and putting your purse back on the hook and your keys by the door and your shoes in a line. 07:53.347 --> 07:57.072 [SPEAKER_00]: Note, this is a way to let yourself evolve. 07:57.112 --> 07:59.155 [SPEAKER_00]: They would consider it identity work. 07:59.556 --> 08:01.779 [SPEAKER_00]: I've already made episodes. 08:01.899 --> 08:07.047 [SPEAKER_00]: If you like hearing about decluttering because it's something that I continuously have to remind myself, 08:07.027 --> 08:17.589 [SPEAKER_00]: Also, in this day and age where we are getting things shipped to us at a rapid rate, I mean, I'm sure if you live in a apartment complex, you see the Amazon boxes. 08:17.849 --> 08:23.922 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, we are accumulating things at a speed that most other generations 08:23.902 --> 08:25.365 [SPEAKER_00]: if ever have. 08:25.726 --> 08:29.755 [SPEAKER_00]: So I am constantly having to sift through my items and declutter. 08:29.835 --> 08:34.585 [SPEAKER_00]: So I made a YouTube video as well as a podcast episode on decluttering when you're sentimental. 08:35.147 --> 08:36.890 [SPEAKER_00]: How can you declutter when you're sentimental? 08:37.472 --> 08:42.703 [SPEAKER_00]: And I promise the more you do it, it's not that you become less sentimental. 08:42.683 --> 08:46.068 [SPEAKER_00]: You just have a different lens in which you're looking at things. 08:46.308 --> 08:49.913 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm sentimental And this is the example that comes to my mind all the time. 08:50.493 --> 08:51.194 [SPEAKER_00]: I lost my mom. 08:51.435 --> 08:52.356 [SPEAKER_00]: My mom is not alive. 08:52.536 --> 09:02.029 [SPEAKER_00]: My mom is dead Okay, I am looking at all of her belongings any letter that she wrote me any piece of clothing that she bought me Any clothing item that I have of hers. 09:02.289 --> 09:03.090 [SPEAKER_00]: I can't get rid of this. 09:03.110 --> 09:09.619 [SPEAKER_00]: I can't get rid of her bathroom I can't get rid of these letters and I don't know why I in my little human brain 09:09.599 --> 09:37.868 [SPEAKER_00]: Think oh my god, I can't possibly get rid of anything from her that would be mean that would be cruel I would show that I don't care about her or even worse what if I forget her and then I will eat ice cream And I will cough and I will think of her because my mom and I always cough after we would have ice cream because our throats were cold And I smile because I'll never forget her there are so many moments that are not tied to physical items 09:37.848 --> 09:53.005 [SPEAKER_00]: I'll go into certain places and I smell my mom, and this goes for everyone, living or not, not all of your memories need to be tied to physical items, and allowing yourself to be sentimental without an object is really powerful. 09:52.985 --> 09:56.129 [SPEAKER_00]: It's quite a strain, and it was not a natural strength. 09:56.269 --> 09:59.713 [SPEAKER_00]: It used to actually be a weakness of mine, where I wanted to keep it all. 10:00.134 --> 10:07.883 [SPEAKER_00]: I was never quite a hoarder, but I do like examining things that the microscope I love zooming in, and I do think that I... 10:07.903 --> 10:13.210 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't have the hoarder gene, but like I definitely was not a minimalist, and I don't think I'll ever be a minimalist. 10:13.550 --> 10:15.372 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think you should have as little as possible. 10:15.833 --> 10:17.575 [SPEAKER_00]: I think you should know what you have. 10:17.555 --> 10:19.237 [SPEAKER_00]: like it and nowhere it is. 10:19.818 --> 10:22.521 [SPEAKER_00]: This practice is anything but depressing. 10:22.681 --> 10:28.669 [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's actually very romantic and tender and practical and most of all consider it. 10:28.749 --> 10:29.911 [SPEAKER_00]: That's the word that I was looking for. 10:29.951 --> 10:35.137 [SPEAKER_00]: That I think a lot of times we lack compared to other cultures we are not as considerate. 10:35.357 --> 10:37.340 [SPEAKER_00]: And this is a very elegant practice. 10:37.460 --> 10:38.682 [SPEAKER_00]: This is very adult. 10:38.722 --> 10:41.385 [SPEAKER_00]: This is very mature to think beyond 10:41.602 --> 10:42.925 [SPEAKER_00]: your immediate self. 10:42.945 --> 10:43.967 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to deal with that. 10:44.067 --> 10:47.915 [SPEAKER_00]: Like, yeah, that's a mountain of random donation clothes. 10:47.955 --> 10:51.683 [SPEAKER_00]: I've had sitting on top of the washing machine for the last six months. 10:51.703 --> 10:52.986 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to do that. 10:53.046 --> 10:53.788 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay. 10:53.828 --> 10:56.253 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, they're your things and you're responsible for them. 10:56.413 --> 11:01.905 [SPEAKER_00]: And I hope that you have enough dignity to take care of yourself and take care of your things. 11:02.257 --> 11:20.823 [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, this has been on my mind for the last few weeks, and in combination with the other trend of get rid of 10 things the day, it's a nice balance of having a very philosophical practice with something that is a little bit more based in just tidying, which I would not consider so we just death-cleaning tidying. 11:20.863 --> 11:22.645 [SPEAKER_00]: It seems a lot deeper than that. 11:22.625 --> 11:26.133 [SPEAKER_00]: but the idea of getting rid of 10 things a day feels emotionless. 11:26.354 --> 11:35.835 [SPEAKER_00]: And sometimes I need that as someone who's sentimental, so I'm oscillating between the two, and I'm looking at my books, for example, that something I'm sure a lot of you guys have. 11:35.916 --> 11:40.887 [SPEAKER_00]: You have these books, maybe books that you haven't read or books that you have read, and that you've loved. 11:40.867 --> 11:44.291 [SPEAKER_00]: I've gotten good at discarding things because I've moved so many times. 11:44.551 --> 11:56.826 [SPEAKER_00]: If you've never moved or you've only moved once, then you probably have a heavier load than a lot of us that are popping from city to city to apartment to apartment throughout our youth and you do get better at it. 11:56.886 --> 12:05.035 [SPEAKER_00]: But what I would advise for something like books is judge them by their cover, you know, if they're going to be sitting out, have them be the cute ones. 12:05.318 --> 12:07.562 [SPEAKER_00]: They're lending libraries everywhere. 12:08.022 --> 12:08.984 [SPEAKER_00]: Pass them out to friends. 12:09.024 --> 12:18.599 [SPEAKER_00]: You could have a little dinner party, Sunday, cleaning, Bobbin, Bobbin, have your friends, stop by your house to see if they want anything of yours. 12:18.659 --> 12:21.083 [SPEAKER_00]: My friend did this recently where she was going through her closet. 12:21.063 --> 12:25.609 [SPEAKER_00]: and then she just had a rock of clothes that we could just all shop from and grab. 12:26.010 --> 12:34.982 [SPEAKER_00]: What we wanted, so now I'm the owner of this gorgeous new button sweater and this gony maxie skirt all because my friend didn't want them and she gifted them to me. 12:35.403 --> 12:38.147 [SPEAKER_00]: So you could do that but judge them by their covers. 12:38.868 --> 12:41.952 [SPEAKER_00]: If you've read it and it has an ugly cover, absolutely get. 12:42.232 --> 12:42.753 [SPEAKER_00]: Get it out. 12:43.174 --> 12:44.195 [SPEAKER_00]: You don't need that anymore. 12:44.215 --> 12:47.880 [SPEAKER_00]: If it's, this is the Lexi philosophy that I'm giving. 12:48.097 --> 12:52.884 [SPEAKER_00]: If it's something that you read and you are a snob and you kind of want people to know that you've read it, keep it. 12:53.204 --> 12:54.686 [SPEAKER_00]: Keep that one and display it. 12:55.127 --> 13:00.674 [SPEAKER_00]: If there's a book that's ugly and you haven't read it and you really don't care to read it, you just feel guilty. 13:01.015 --> 13:01.996 [SPEAKER_00]: Get rid of that one too. 13:02.477 --> 13:06.903 [SPEAKER_00]: Get it out of the house and then something good looking that's on your list. 13:07.323 --> 13:07.744 [SPEAKER_00]: Keep it. 13:08.205 --> 13:08.485 [SPEAKER_00]: Or 13:09.157 --> 13:11.466 [SPEAKER_00]: If you don't see yourself reading it, give it away. 13:11.486 --> 13:19.318 [SPEAKER_00]: I asked on Instagram for questions in relation to this topic, so let's get into them, but first, a word from today's sponsors. 13:27.466 --> 13:29.933 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I can answer this one really easily. 13:29.993 --> 13:30.876 [SPEAKER_00]: This is from Charlotte. 13:30.976 --> 13:34.606 [SPEAKER_00]: I Charlotte, how the heck to keep my car clean on the inside. 13:34.626 --> 13:36.933 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't keep anything in my car. 13:37.414 --> 13:38.658 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't keep things in my car. 13:38.818 --> 13:42.910 [SPEAKER_00]: I'll keep things in my glove compartment in the center console and my trunk. 13:42.890 --> 13:46.519 [SPEAKER_00]: But in the visible parts of my car, I don't keep anything. 13:46.839 --> 13:53.375 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to risk anyone having access to look in my car windows and see something that they could potentially want to break into my car and seal. 13:53.575 --> 14:00.612 [SPEAKER_00]: But also I drive my friends around a lot, so I need those backseat empty, and I do not want my friends stepping on something that I like. 14:00.592 --> 14:01.955 [SPEAKER_00]: just to get into my car. 14:01.975 --> 14:14.903 [SPEAKER_00]: The things I like to keep in my car, in my middle console, I'll keep Advil, a hairbrush, pepper spray, mincer gum, a lighter, hand cream, and hand sanitizer. 14:14.963 --> 14:19.613 [SPEAKER_00]: And I keep napkins and straws and then papers that are important to the car. 14:19.778 --> 14:31.391 [SPEAKER_00]: in the glove compartment, and then in the trunk, I keep a beach towel, a beach blanket, a bikini, a pair of flip-flops, a jacket, and a pair of sneakers. 14:32.012 --> 14:38.980 [SPEAKER_00]: I will say in my car right now, I also have Lola's fur that I need to take to the dry cleaner and a bag of things that Wasteland did not take. 14:39.440 --> 14:43.845 [SPEAKER_00]: But I like to keep my car empty, so it's very much in my practice, 14:43.825 --> 14:45.688 [SPEAKER_00]: at the end of the day grabbed the things out of the car. 14:45.748 --> 14:47.091 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not keeping it in. 14:47.111 --> 14:51.057 [SPEAKER_00]: I toss things in the garbage as soon as I can. 14:51.097 --> 15:01.595 [SPEAKER_00]: I've been guilty of this before to the point of maybe it's overkill where if there's some trash, maybe we stopped to drive through or we stopped to get coffee in our coffees or empty when we have the cups. 15:02.136 --> 15:07.926 [SPEAKER_00]: If I'm pulling out of the parking lot and I'm driving by a trash can, I'll make my friend get out of the car and throw it away for me. 15:08.108 --> 15:09.289 [SPEAKER_00]: So I think that's a good practice. 15:09.529 --> 15:11.231 [SPEAKER_00]: You know, I think there's something there that you could take. 15:11.251 --> 15:13.833 [SPEAKER_00]: Take one of those ideas for a spin, Charlotte. 15:13.873 --> 15:14.854 [SPEAKER_00]: See what you think. 15:15.575 --> 15:18.558 [SPEAKER_00]: Courtney asked, how do I stop buying cute things? 15:19.218 --> 15:29.768 [SPEAKER_00]: What you need to do is next Saturday, Sunday, or day off that you have, look through your house and find all of your cute things. 15:30.349 --> 15:35.213 [SPEAKER_00]: And if they're not in great shape, clean them up, wipe them off, get the dust off, get, 15:35.193 --> 15:46.055 [SPEAKER_00]: The smudge off whatever it is and display them so you have all of your pretty things that you can display everywhere And when you see something pretty you can admire it for being pretty well There's pretty things all around me. 15:46.075 --> 15:47.197 [SPEAKER_00]: There's pretty things when I'm home. 15:47.217 --> 15:50.022 [SPEAKER_00]: There's pretty things when I go out I don't need to own every pretty thing. 15:50.263 --> 15:55.834 [SPEAKER_00]: I have so many pretty things and there's so many pretty things for me to see how sweet is it that I got to see this 15:55.814 --> 15:58.117 [SPEAKER_00]: just because I like it doesn't mean I need to own it. 15:58.338 --> 16:00.361 [SPEAKER_00]: Courtney asked how many books is too many books. 16:00.521 --> 16:02.404 [SPEAKER_00]: I do not think they're such thing as too many books. 16:02.604 --> 16:09.414 [SPEAKER_00]: I really hope to have a library in my future home, but if they're ugly, those ones are too many. 16:10.716 --> 16:13.380 [SPEAKER_00]: And ugly is 100% subjective. 16:13.941 --> 16:16.965 [SPEAKER_00]: If they're not being displayed, I think it's adorable. 16:17.005 --> 16:21.452 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm looking around my apartment right now to use books as almost side tables. 16:21.772 --> 16:24.336 [SPEAKER_00]: We have plenty of coffee table books that are 16:24.316 --> 16:26.879 [SPEAKER_00]: holding candles or lamps. 16:27.420 --> 16:28.862 [SPEAKER_00]: It can almost work as a coaster. 16:28.882 --> 16:33.948 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't mind if my books are torn or weathered or bent or stained. 16:34.208 --> 16:35.230 [SPEAKER_00]: I think books are tools. 16:35.670 --> 16:36.932 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not precious with my books. 16:37.092 --> 16:43.580 [SPEAKER_00]: I love to have them, but if anything, if I look at someone's question of books and they've never been touched, I'm like, oh, so these haven't been read. 16:43.600 --> 16:46.644 [SPEAKER_00]: And that's more jarring than a book that's really even loved. 16:47.165 --> 16:50.509 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I love this question because I don't think I've ever spoken about this. 16:50.928 --> 16:54.273 [SPEAKER_00]: who is this, Pamela asked for computer file best practices. 16:55.074 --> 16:58.560 [SPEAKER_00]: How I organize my computer is by using folders. 16:59.321 --> 17:02.907 [SPEAKER_00]: I have a folder for every sort of different sector of my life. 17:03.067 --> 17:12.321 [SPEAKER_00]: I have a bookkeeping folder, so anything in relation to finance, tax returns, W2s, W9s, all of that goes into bookkeeping. 17:12.382 --> 17:15.767 [SPEAKER_00]: And then the finance one, I make a new folder for every year. 17:15.787 --> 17:19.112 [SPEAKER_00]: So I have 20, 20 taxes, 20, 25 taxes, you know. 17:19.362 --> 17:29.737 [SPEAKER_00]: I have a folder for everything, and within my finance folder I also have insurance, contracts, and then I have a folder for Spoon and all of his bookkeeping. 17:29.797 --> 17:38.991 [SPEAKER_00]: Then I have an Atlexi folder, and within that I have PASCAMPANES, MediaKit, Merch Designs, PODCAST. 17:38.971 --> 17:39.932 [SPEAKER_00]: coloring book. 17:40.392 --> 17:47.559 [SPEAKER_00]: I used to do tattoo designs on commissions, so I have a folder for tattoos, which I always oscillate bringing that back. 17:47.600 --> 17:52.805 [SPEAKER_00]: There's definitely a couple of people in my DMs that are waiting for me to get a tattoo to them, or at least respond to the message. 17:52.925 --> 18:00.192 [SPEAKER_00]: I had a reminder, video assets, YouTube, pick my fit, which was an old series I did on my Instagram and Patreon. 18:00.712 --> 18:03.255 [SPEAKER_00]: And so then, oh and I think there's one for videos. 18:03.655 --> 18:08.320 [SPEAKER_00]: So for example, when I exported 18:08.300 --> 18:10.724 [SPEAKER_00]: and the video folder lives in the Add Lexi folder. 18:11.145 --> 18:17.595 [SPEAKER_00]: When I have a podcast, I will keep the podcast recording and I'll move that into the podcast folder that lives in the Add Lexi folder. 18:17.655 --> 18:33.801 [SPEAKER_00]: And that way my desktop isn't swarming with images and when I'm creating something for a video for a podcast for Patreon if you require added files and I have or if I'm making a mood board or something a little something where I'm dragging photos and images I'm making a deck. 18:33.781 --> 18:37.325 [SPEAKER_00]: And I have all the images just on the side of my desktop. 18:37.726 --> 18:40.088 [SPEAKER_00]: I drag and delete all of those when the project is done. 18:40.109 --> 18:41.250 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't keep those things. 18:41.610 --> 18:44.914 [SPEAKER_00]: And then for my phone, I love using the widgets. 18:45.355 --> 18:51.702 [SPEAKER_00]: So I have a big calendar widget at the very top of my phone and maps and notes, because I use those the most. 18:51.923 --> 18:55.106 [SPEAKER_00]: And then on the homepage, I have the things that I'm using really regularly. 18:55.146 --> 19:00.733 [SPEAKER_00]: The Patreon app, Gmail, YouTube Studio, which is how I look at the analytics of YouTube. 19:00.713 --> 19:02.415 [SPEAKER_00]: and make sure a video goes up, et cetera. 19:02.736 --> 19:09.744 [SPEAKER_00]: Voice memos, which is where I record the podcast, Google Drive, YouTube, preview, which is what I used to set up Instagram and photos. 19:10.025 --> 19:13.189 [SPEAKER_00]: And then on the second page, I have a huge widget of the weather. 19:13.249 --> 19:26.485 [SPEAKER_00]: And then I have other apps that I use, like, the open app, which is a breathing app, Shazam, but I recently turned one of the buttons on the side of my phone to Shazam because I've been obsessed with public radio recently. 19:26.465 --> 19:38.603 [SPEAKER_00]: And I have an old car that doesn't show you what song is playing, so I am shazamming all the time because there's so many good songs being played on these little indie public radio stations. 19:39.004 --> 19:44.152 [SPEAKER_00]: I now have certain shows I look forward to, like every Friday from 10 to 12. 19:44.212 --> 19:46.195 [SPEAKER_00]: There's this guy that I love to listen to. 19:46.175 --> 19:48.097 [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm constantly shazamming his stuff. 19:48.117 --> 19:50.199 [SPEAKER_00]: I recently learned about Japanese reggae. 19:50.559 --> 19:52.461 [SPEAKER_00]: There's still whatever besides the point. 19:53.322 --> 20:07.055 [SPEAKER_00]: I have, you know, Instagram, TikTok, Substack, audible notion, Robin Hood, New York Times games, and co-star story graph where I keep my books and a security app on the second page. 20:07.376 --> 20:12.901 [SPEAKER_00]: And then at the very bottom of my phone, I have phone, Spotify, Safari, and messages. 20:13.401 --> 20:14.983 [SPEAKER_00]: And I have to think. 20:14.963 --> 20:30.576 [SPEAKER_00]: To put them where my brain goes, like I have to, oh my god, now I've listed things to you and I didn't properly explain, but basically I have to make these systems so that my life is easier because 20:30.556 --> 20:42.968 [SPEAKER_00]: ADHD will have me wanting to go and check to make sure my YouTube video is public and then next and you know, I'm on Facebook looking at someone's cousin who just got married and I'm like, wait, why am I here again? 20:43.069 --> 20:45.111 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh my god, you wanted to look at the YouTube thing. 20:45.531 --> 20:47.353 [SPEAKER_00]: So I can't make it hard to find things. 20:47.413 --> 20:48.994 [SPEAKER_00]: I need to make it as easy as possible. 20:49.555 --> 20:51.057 [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm not getting distracted. 20:51.117 --> 20:55.281 [SPEAKER_00]: And if my desktop is really cluttered, I will be distracted. 20:55.341 --> 21:00.546 [SPEAKER_00]: I try to eliminate distractions 21:00.847 --> 21:02.369 [SPEAKER_00]: I could be so easily distracted. 21:02.729 --> 21:04.751 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh my god, having a phone is so hard. 21:05.132 --> 21:07.334 [SPEAKER_00]: It is so easy to get distracted on your phone. 21:07.694 --> 21:12.239 [SPEAKER_00]: My computer is a lot easier to keep, clean and organized, compared to my phone. 21:12.359 --> 21:14.482 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm a lot more easily distracted on my phone. 21:14.562 --> 21:20.068 [SPEAKER_00]: I have to create systems to make it as least distracting as possible. 21:20.128 --> 21:21.890 [SPEAKER_00]: But I kind of want to take more extreme measures. 21:21.950 --> 21:23.952 [SPEAKER_00]: I'd like to make my phone maybe a brick phone. 21:23.932 --> 21:27.775 [SPEAKER_00]: because I'm wasting time doing things that I don't want to do. 21:27.836 --> 21:30.578 [SPEAKER_00]: It's totally vine to waste time and procrastinate. 21:31.058 --> 21:32.019 [SPEAKER_00]: Eh, maybe that's a hot take. 21:32.199 --> 21:33.521 [SPEAKER_00]: Doing things that you love doing. 21:33.981 --> 21:41.768 [SPEAKER_00]: You know, if I'm supposed to be cleaning my room, but instead I'm doodling and drawing and talking on the phone with a friend, it's like, all right, you know. 21:42.609 --> 21:43.189 [SPEAKER_00]: So what? 21:43.550 --> 21:53.719 [SPEAKER_00]: But sometimes I'm in a wormhole of someone's Instagram profile that's like an ex friend's ex boyfriend's new girlfriend. 21:54.070 --> 21:55.732 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's like, who even is this girl? 21:55.792 --> 21:56.934 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't even care about her. 21:56.994 --> 21:59.317 [SPEAKER_00]: Why have I been looking at her page for the last 20 minutes? 21:59.397 --> 22:01.500 [SPEAKER_00]: It's just even, this is serving no one. 22:01.520 --> 22:03.183 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not even having fun right now. 22:03.804 --> 22:07.208 [SPEAKER_00]: So that's something I'd like to think about and continue into the future. 22:07.248 --> 22:08.951 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's go to the next question. 22:09.752 --> 22:13.497 [SPEAKER_00]: Madey Armstrong, a classic Lexi listener. 22:13.797 --> 22:16.620 [SPEAKER_00]: Tips on staying consistent while cleaning, throwing things out. 22:17.101 --> 22:19.404 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to say this again, get rid of 10 things a day. 22:19.424 --> 22:21.386 [SPEAKER_00]: You'd be surprised how easy it is. 22:21.406 --> 22:30.077 [SPEAKER_00]: If you just have that floating in the back of your mind, and occasionally when you want to declutter a little bit, and then you remember, oh, let me just get rid of 10 things. 22:30.117 --> 22:34.843 [SPEAKER_00]: You kind of go around your house and you think, oh, let me open up the cabinet of the credenza. 22:34.823 --> 22:40.993 [SPEAKER_00]: You meander around your house going from room to room, corner to corner, and oh, this candle's actually burned all the way. 22:41.013 --> 22:45.500 [SPEAKER_00]: I can get rid of that, I didn't even realize it's so easy to get 10 things. 22:45.600 --> 22:48.985 [SPEAKER_00]: And I think that's a very achievable place to start. 22:49.025 --> 22:53.392 [SPEAKER_00]: Ooh, this one is a real tough one. 22:53.452 --> 22:58.620 [SPEAKER_00]: Kira asked, how do I find my things at home, things that I need occasionally, but not often? 22:58.600 --> 23:09.757 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I find that I need to keep the things that I use often in sight, but I don't actually know where to keep the things that I don't use super often. 23:09.797 --> 23:15.906 [SPEAKER_00]: Then I have to try to think where's the most logical place to put it, which I don't have that much common sense. 23:16.006 --> 23:17.889 [SPEAKER_00]: My common sense is not very strong. 23:17.969 --> 23:25.620 [SPEAKER_00]: For example, I've been keeping toilet papers stored above the fridge for the last 23:25.600 --> 23:29.451 [SPEAKER_00]: stored in the laundry room storage, which is by both bathrooms. 23:30.072 --> 23:32.955 [SPEAKER_00]: It's closer, it's also hidden in storage. 23:33.275 --> 23:35.257 [SPEAKER_00]: It does not make a difference. 23:35.277 --> 23:37.158 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know why I took me forever to think about that. 23:37.399 --> 23:38.560 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, let's keep. 23:38.920 --> 23:43.664 [SPEAKER_00]: I let me keep the bathroom cleaning supplies in the bathroom. 23:43.944 --> 23:46.146 [SPEAKER_00]: They don't need to be under the kitchen sink. 23:46.166 --> 23:49.609 [SPEAKER_00]: Those, we can keep the kitchen cleaning supplies under the kitchen sink. 23:49.930 --> 23:52.432 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's keep the bathroom cleaning supplies in the bathroom. 23:52.472 --> 23:54.194 [SPEAKER_00]: That simply makes more sense. 23:54.654 --> 23:56.576 [SPEAKER_00]: Another tip I got that I think is brilliant. 23:57.136 --> 23:59.218 [SPEAKER_00]: Keep your travel things. 23:59.198 --> 24:00.561 [SPEAKER_00]: in your suitcase. 24:01.242 --> 24:16.515 [SPEAKER_00]: So if you have travel toothpaste, travel toothbrush, those sort of toiletries, little bags that you only use when you're traveling, certain things that you know are only coming with you when you're on a trip, like an airplane pillow, keep those inside of your suitcase. 24:16.765 --> 24:19.070 [SPEAKER_00]: Brilliant, why did I never think of that? 24:19.110 --> 24:22.036 [SPEAKER_00]: So, I don't have all the answers. 24:22.778 --> 24:27.688 [SPEAKER_00]: I have maybe three answers, but that's something I have trouble with as well. 24:28.570 --> 24:32.579 [SPEAKER_00]: Two can Sam Smith, another classic Lexi listener. 24:33.080 --> 24:36.006 [SPEAKER_00]: How to organize my closet, please. 24:36.408 --> 24:45.786 [SPEAKER_00]: I, to this day, still use the Maria condo folding method, so all of my t-shirts in the drawer are folded like that. 24:45.827 --> 24:51.398 [SPEAKER_00]: All of my sweatshirts, all of my sweatpants are folded in the drawer, and I like that folding style. 24:51.418 --> 24:56.728 [SPEAKER_00]: You'll have to look it up if you don't know what I'm talking about to get a visual, but that way you can sift through your drawers. 24:57.012 --> 25:16.793 [SPEAKER_00]: almost like a file cabinet, where you can see the top of everything, when things are folded and stacked in piles, it's hard to see what you have, and I think the key to having an organized closet is to have things visible, so you're not digging through things and making a mess of it and constantly having to clean it. 25:16.773 --> 25:23.823 [SPEAKER_00]: Getting bag hooks, a belt hook, labels, for things that are hard to see. 25:24.163 --> 25:38.884 [SPEAKER_00]: Like, I have baskets on the top shelf of my closet that I know have bikinis, hats and scarves, wigs and another one, but I always have to get on a step ladder and look inside to see which one is which and I should just get labels for them. 25:39.365 --> 25:44.552 [SPEAKER_00]: I want you to know that you're listening from someone who is not a natural to this. 25:44.735 --> 25:46.717 [SPEAKER_00]: I am non-expert by any means. 25:46.817 --> 26:00.234 [SPEAKER_00]: I would say I'm intermediate and I've had to put in the legwork to stay organized because I know that when I have a system, my brain is, why did my voice just crack? 26:00.254 --> 26:01.014 [SPEAKER_00]: I start crying. 26:01.575 --> 26:09.124 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, you don't know what organization has done for me, but it can be that deep, but it's not, but for me right now, but I perfectly can see. 26:09.925 --> 26:12.328 [SPEAKER_00]: I need 26:12.646 --> 26:14.571 [SPEAKER_00]: in plain sight for me to use them. 26:14.591 --> 26:22.893 [SPEAKER_00]: I, out of sight out of mind, systems to make my life easier and when my life feels easier, I am happier. 26:22.913 --> 26:25.620 [SPEAKER_00]: I am lighter and I'm less distracted. 26:25.781 --> 26:27.205 [SPEAKER_00]: And I hate being distracted. 26:27.285 --> 26:28.849 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to be present. 26:28.829 --> 26:34.657 [SPEAKER_00]: And why would I not take control over the things that I have control over? 26:34.677 --> 26:37.841 [SPEAKER_00]: I eat my belongings and where they are. 26:37.861 --> 26:45.110 [SPEAKER_00]: I would be doing a disservice to myself by not displaying them in a way that's best for me. 26:45.691 --> 26:50.938 [SPEAKER_00]: And I want to encourage all of you to do the same because if you like the space that you live in, 26:50.918 --> 26:55.905 [SPEAKER_00]: it's going to make for a better mood, it's going to make for a better day and a better life. 26:56.326 --> 26:57.547 [SPEAKER_00]: And that is all she wrote. 26:58.108 --> 27:03.696 [SPEAKER_00]: If you want a little personal life update for me just what's been going on because a whole lot has been going on. 27:03.756 --> 27:16.234 [SPEAKER_00]: Right now I am talking to you wearing a cow hide belt made from my new friend that spent 46 years in prison and that's just one little section of 27:16.214 --> 27:18.158 [SPEAKER_00]: my life right now. 27:18.178 --> 27:20.002 [SPEAKER_00]: So I'd love to get into that on the Patreon. 27:20.443 --> 27:25.233 [SPEAKER_00]: If you're on Spotify, you can see the Patreon episode right above, or you can click the link to get to it. 27:25.593 --> 27:32.788 [SPEAKER_00]: If you're interested in finding me on Instagram to participate in the Q&A's next time, my Instagram handles Lexi, LXIE, yes. 27:32.768 --> 27:38.078 [SPEAKER_00]: just those five letters, nothing more, and I post a podcast every other Thursday. 27:38.098 --> 27:40.663 [SPEAKER_00]: So I will see you here in two weeks. 27:41.244 --> 27:46.655 [SPEAKER_00]: And if you're not fully caught up, you won't even have to miss me, because you can spend this time listing just some backlog of episodes. 27:47.176 --> 27:48.298 [SPEAKER_00]: I love you all so much. 27:48.779 --> 27:49.821 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for listening. 27:49.861 --> 27:51.744 [SPEAKER_00]: Enjoy your day, enjoy your life. 27:51.784 --> 27:58.978 [SPEAKER_00]: I love you all, XO, XO, XO, XO, XO, XO, XO.