You’re Not Bad at Organizing: The Skill Every Busy Mom Can Learn

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Show Notes: You’re Not Bad at Organizing

Hey, hey friend! Welcome to Episode #315 of The Secrets of Supermom Show!

Before you decide you’re terrible at organizing, it helps to redefine what “organized” actually means.

Tracy defines being organized very simply:

You know what you have, and you can find it when you need it.

That’s it.

Your house doesn’t have to look like a magazine spread. Every drawer doesn’t need matching containers. Your pantry doesn’t need perfectly coordinated labels.

You might even have spaces that look a little messy to someone else while still knowing exactly what you have and where to find it.

This definition can be incredibly freeing because it separates organization from perfection.

You may already be much more organized than you give yourself credit for.

Maybe you’re amazing at planning family vacations. Maybe you always know where the kids’ sports equipment is. Maybe your work files are meticulously organized even though your closet is a disaster.

Instead of saying, “I’m not an organized person,” you can recognize that you already use organizational skills in certain areas of your life—and you can learn to apply those skills somewhere else.

Organization Is a Skill, Not a Personality Trait

This is one of my favorite takeaways from my conversation with Tracy.

So often we turn something we struggle with into a statement about who we are:

I’m messy.

I’m not organized.

I’m terrible at making decisions.

I’ve never been good at this.

But organization isn’t a personality.

Organization is a skill.

And skills can be learned, practiced, and improved.

That shift matters because instead of seeing disorganization as a deficit you have to overcome, you can simply recognize it as something you haven’t learned—or practiced—yet.

You don’t have to become a completely different person.

You can just get better at the skill.

Clutter Is Often Just Delayed Decisions

Tracy shared another definition during our conversation that I absolutely love:

Clutter is delayed decisions.

Think about the places where clutter tends to accumulate in your house.

The stack of papers on the counter.

The box in the garage.

The clothes you’re not sure whether to keep.

The bag of things you’ve been meaning to donate.

The random items sitting in your office because you don’t know where else to put them.

Often, those things are hanging around because there is a decision attached to them that you haven’t made yet.

Do I need this?

Where should it go?

Should I donate it?

Could I sell it?

Will one of the kids want it?

What if I need it someday?

Suddenly, organizing isn’t just about moving stuff around. It’s about learning how to make decisions about your stuff.

And Tracy has a simple process for doing exactly that.

The 5-Step SPACE Method for Getting Organized

Tracy teaches a five-step organizing process called SPACE.

The beauty of this method is that you can use it for almost anything. You can organize an entire room, one drawer, your calendar, or even everything swirling around in your brain.

You Don’t Have to Organize the Whole Room

This was such an important part of our conversation because I know how easy it is for ambitious women to fall into all-or-nothing thinking.

You decide you’re going to organize the closet, which obviously means taking everything out of the closet.

Then you picture the mountain of stuff covering your bed and bedroom floor.

You realize you don’t have six hours available.

So you do…nothing.

Tracy gives us permission to make the project much smaller.

Don’t organize the closet.

Organize your shoes.

Or your pants.

Or one drawer.

Choose one category and take it through all five SPACE steps.

This is exactly why Tracy created her 15-Minute Declutter Challenge. You can make meaningful progress in small pockets of time instead of waiting for the magical day when your calendar is completely empty.

For busy moms, that day may never come.

Fifteen minutes, though?

We can find fifteen minutes.

Stop Waiting for the Perfect Organizing Decision

Another reason we get stuck is that we think there is one perfect organizational system—and we need to figure it out before we start.

Where exactly should this live?

What if I put it in the wrong cabinet?

What if this system doesn’t work?

Instead, Tracy encourages us to think of organization as testing.

Try putting something somewhere.

See what happens.

If the system works, fantastic.

If it doesn’t, you learned something.

One simple phrase can take away so much of that pressure:

“This is where it lives for now.”

You can always change it later.

But What If I Need It Someday?

Oh, this one.

How many things are sitting in our homes because we might need them someday?

Tracy encourages us to consider our current season of life.

Do I need this in this season?

Am I using it now?

Could someone else benefit from it right now?

Sometimes letting something go means allowing someone else to use and enjoy it instead of storing it indefinitely because of a hypothetical future need.

And if you need something once every three years, maybe you don’t need to own it at all.

You might be able to borrow it from a neighbor, friend, or family member when you actually need it.

“I Don’t Have Time to Organize”

For busy moms, this might be the biggest objection of all.

We’ll organize when life slows down.

When work gets less busy.

When the kids’ activities calm down.

When we finally have a free weekend.

But Tracy offers a different way to think about it:

Organization is how you make life easier.

When you know what you own and where to find it, you stop wasting time looking for things.

You stop buying duplicates because you didn’t realize you already had something.

You make decisions faster.

You create systems that support your life instead of constantly working around the clutter.

And you don’t need hours to start.

You can practice organizing for 15 minutes today.

What If You’ve Tried Before and Failed?

Maybe you’re reading all of this thinking, That sounds great, Lori, but I’ve tried getting organized before.

So have I.

But Tracy offered another mindset shift I loved:

Restarting is a skill, too.

Every time you start again, you’re practicing.

Maybe the drawer stayed organized longer this time.

Maybe you made decisions faster.

Maybe you learned that one system didn’t work for your family, so you tried another.

You didn’t go back to zero.

You learned something.

And if you keep practicing, you keep getting better.

About Our Guest: Tracy Hoth

Tracy Hoth (rhymes with both) is a certified life and organizing coach helping women simplify their homes, lives, and businesses through practical systems and mindset shifts, so they can focus on what matters most. As the host of the top 1% globally ranked Organized Coach Podcast, she empowers women to declutter with confidence, create systems that last, and step into the role of Organized Life CEOs.

https://instagram.com/tracyhoth
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracyhoth/