From Chaos to Clarity: The LITL System for Decluttering Success

Does going from chaos to clarity sound like a pipedream when your desk is drowning in papers and your mind is overflowing with endless to-dos? You're not alone. That "I'll deal with it later" pile is doing more than just collecting dust—it's secretly sabotaging your business growth and inner peace. In this eye-opening episode, I sit down with decluttering expert Lisa Geraci Rigoni to uncover why we cling to clutter and how to break free from the habits that keep our minds and spaces in disarray. Show Notes | Transcript "Most of us don't want to declutter. It's time-consuming. It's sometimes stressful, and it doesn't make a difference in people's lives until it does." - Lisa Geraci Rigoni As Chief Declutter Officer of The Organizing Mentors, Lisa has gained a wealth of experience from 15+ years of helping clients reclaim their space, both mentally and physically. In this interview, we explore the emotional roots of clutter, the fear that keeps us holding onto things, and the transformative power of letting go. Discover how to: Apply the LITL system to declutter your space and mind Overcome the "Someday Syndrome" that keeps you holding onto unnecessary items Navigate the emotional challenges of sorting through sentimental objects Key insights include: Why fear often prevents us from tackling our clutter The importance of taking small, manageable steps in the decluttering process How to balance practicality and sentimentality when deciding what to keep Lisa also addresses the challenges of decluttering family heirlooms and children's artwork, offering practical solutions for each. Plus, she shares her perspective on the deeper meaning behind our attachment to possessions and how letting go can lead to personal transformation. Whether you're a busy entrepreneur drowning in paperwork or a parent struggling with an overflow of children's mementos, this conversation offers a fresh perspective on creating space in your life—both physically and mentally. Tune in to start your journey towards a clutter-free, more intentional way of living and working! Resources: Join the Soulful Women's Network Get Daily Messages of Love and Light at bit.ly/LoveLightNotes Connect with Lisa Geraci Rigoni: Website: TheOrganizingMentors.com Connect with Live Love Engage: Send Gloria Grace a message ☕ Support the podcast ❤ Love this episode? Leave us a review and rating LinkedIn: Gloria Grace Rand Facebook: Gloria Grace Rand YouTube: Gloria Grace Rand TRANSCRIPT Namaste. Is your desk drowning in papers while your mind overflows with endless to dos? You're not alone that I'll deal with it later pile is doing more than just collecting dust. It's actually secretly sabotaging your business growth and inner peace. And so today's guest reveals why. Why actually we cling to clutter and how we can break free from the habits that keep our minds and spaces in disarray. But first, I do want to welcome you to Live Love Engage, especially if you are new to the podcast. I am Grace the Light messenger and I work with spiritually minded entrepreneurs ready to break free from self doubt and step into their highest potential. And using my proven love method, I help them build unshakable confidence, attract premium clients and create a soul aligned business that thrives. So as I said, I'm going to be bringing up here in just a moment the amazing Elisa Geraci Rigoni. She is a best selling author, owner and chief declutter officer of the organizing mentors and she's been helping her clients reclaim their space mentally and physically for over 15 years. And I know she's going to have a lot of good wisdom for us today. So welcome Lisa to Live Love Engage. Thank you, Gloria. Thank you so much. And I love your introduction. That's, it's, it's so important to take time for yourself and really acknowledge what, you know, what we're here for. Yeah, you know, absolutely. No, I love it. Thank you. Thank you so much for honoring me to invite me to your podcast. I'm really glad to have you because, you know, cluttering, decluttering, I should say, is something that I have gotten better at the declutter part as opposed to the cluttering. I was really good at doing that and my desk is in a semi state right now. I still could do a couple things to tidy up, but I know that this is something that a lot of people have, you know, have some challenges with. So I thought maybe we'd start right there. You know, why is it that so many people find it challenging to get rid of clutter whether it is physical or mental or even I should add digital as well. Yeah, good point. Very good, very good. Well, as I said before we talked, I or before we went on looking at my background. Right. It looks cluttered. We just moved. So I unpacked everything in my office, but. And everything doesn't have a place yet on there. But that's my new bookcase that I didn't have in my old house. So I'm like, I'm trying to play with where I want things, but everything is useful. That's my. I'm on the other side. That's my drawer of all my materials, my paper and pens and notebooks and stuff. And so it might look cluttered. And this is one thing that we don't judge. When we walk into someone's house, they've called us for a reason. People come to you for a reason. Right? Okay, How. How can we help you? How can we mentor you? And I think I grew up, I always say, I come to this business honestly. I'm 58. My parents would be 90ish right now. And they. I call them collectors, or I call us, most of my clients, lifers, not hoarders. Right. Hoarders usually don't reach out for help unless they're referred to us by a therapist or a family, you know, family friend. And they have to be ready to let go. But also with them, we. If anybody with that, struggles with that, we start simply not okay, we got to clear this whole house out. It's a mess. You. No, no, you can't do that. Right. You just. I mean, people do. We don't. But you walk into a house and you say, okay, you're struggling. How can we help? Most of it is. And like I wrote in my book 17 Spatulas and the man who Fried an Egg, most of us, I don't want to declutter like, this has been here probably a week. No, I don't want to come home and do my own house. You know, it's time consuming sometimes. It's stressful, and it doesn't make a difference in people's lives until it does. If that makes sense. Until you take a moment and look or you're moving, you take a moment, you say, like you said, well, my desk has some things, but it's still. I can still function mentally, right. If it gets to be to the point where, for me, myself, and most of my clients is. I can't even find my pants in my closet. And yet you have 75 pairs of pants. You know, I can't find something like, it's just. It's too much. And most people kind of. I don't want to say, want to time out or, you know, just say, oh, forget it. It's too much. It's. How do you eat an elephant? I say this all the time, one bite at a time. You walk in your closet, you look at your house, and you say, it's too much. You know, because you're looking at the whole elephant. What I teach, and it's in my book, the LITL System. The name of my company used to be Leave it to Lisa. And like I said, I have add, so I love acronyms. And Leave it to Lisa is L I, T, L, the LITL system. L, I, T, L, the “little” System. So the first L is let it go. What are the things in your life you know, you don't want? So when you walk in that closet or you look at your desk over the weekend, Gloria, maybe you're sitting there and you're like, okay, Lisa had some good things to say. Let's let. What can I get rid of? Or what doesn't belong on my desk at this time? You remove it, you throw it away, you move it to where it's. You want it to be. And you've released a little of that energy and you've given yourself a little confidence to say, hey, I can do this. It doesn't have to be the whole elephant. You know, we don't have to do the whole garage in one weekend or in one day. And I think that's what stops people. Most of my clients, they've tried to themselves or they. It's like starting a diet, starting quitting smoking. You know, sometimes you need some guidance. You need a plan. You know, I've. I'm still holding on to the COVID 19 from how many years ago that I've gained weight. And it's like, okay, yeah, I know what I need to do to stop to lose the weight, to remove the clutter. But you have to make a commitment to yourself. And until again, until it gets so bad, most people won't. Yeah. And so. And I'm not sure. I got. I got slightly sidetracked because my cat decided to jump up on my desk. So luckily there is still space. I have a nice long table. And so he decided he wanted to take a nap here instead of on the chair where he is supposed to be. But. But I wanted to just kind of get back a little because. And I definitely want to go some more into that. That little system, because I was definitely. Little system. Sorry the T comes before the L. But I just want to get back a little bit more on why. What happens. Do you think that people maybe let it get to that point where they really, really do need to have somebody? They can't just handle it themselves anymore? Is it just. It just sort of just accumulates. You get busy with other stuff and you don't notice it sometimes. What do you think? Yeah, I think it depends on. That's a really good question. Actually. It. It depends on so many factors. Let's just start there. Depends on the age. Now, I've worked with clients who have lived in their houses 50 years, 60 years, and it was their parents house. People don't get rid of anything. Why would you get rid of it? You might use it someday. I call it the Someday syndrome. I know there is an actual Someday syndrome, but I've renamed it for organizing. Someday I'll get rid of it. Someday I'll use it. Someday I'll give it away....