How to Use The Magic Formula
... Everywhere in your life!
In the early days I assumed organizing required different skills and techniques depending on what was being organized. I’m a slow learner so it took 3 years for me to figure out that every single project followed the same 3 steps! Today I use those steps no matter what I am organizing. And I do mean without exception.
I’ve had a health challenge this year that took months to diagnose. Every test came back normal and my doctors would congratulate me. I’d say: “Well, yes, it’s great news but..uh…about these symptoms?!” One more test and we’ll know for sure what is going on. It seems to be a rare malfunction that touches roughly 3000 Americans a year. Can you imagine?
It turns out there is a bevy of these rare malfunctions and they are collectively called ‘Orphan Diseases.’ No pharmaceutical company is going to develop drugs for a tiny group in the population so drugs from related illnesses are used with the hope they will work just as well. I’ll have weekly treatments at Cedars for 9 months and then hopefully a cure. This complication has caused me to reassess every choice I make and every activity I agree to. It has altered my schedule crowding it with doctor and hospital visits. What saves my sanity? The Magic Formula.
Looking Ahead to 2025
These symptoms vary but principally I am exhausted by the mid-afternoon. I work through it most days but it does require that I craft my schedule with care. This post is about how I use The Magic Formula tm as I want you to see it has broad application. If this feels familiar it’s because it is THE most important concept in my Zen Organizing tm system. You understand this and you have unlocked the key to all organizing. I revisit teaching it throughout the year.
This would be a lovely time to consider a paid subscription to my work. I won’t be with clients or traveling as much and plan to use more features here on Substack. I’ve also moved from Kajabi to Square Space to further simplify what I am doing for my crew. If you have some Substack features you love dearly, let me know. I am beyond grateful for your consideration.
You can use The Magic Formula tm for creating your 2025 Goals. Speaking of which the 8-Week Journey will launch on Monday, January 20th for the only time next year. It is also the last time it will be available for $99.00. If you sign up by December 31st, you get a 2-for-1 deal. Take the Journey and do it with a friend, colleague or perennially disorganized family member. I’ve changed the course offerings a wee bit so do read the details at my website carefully. It’s transformative, one of a kind and beyond affordable. We all have enough stuff. You will be remembered as the friend/relative/colleague who truly cared about quality of life.
Click Here: website
Belief Systems
Before I share the 3-steps of The Magic Formula tm, it’s important to remember that mind-set aka belief system is Everything. Before you launch into any activity or planning or organizing, stop and acknowledge that you feel a little bit overwhelmed. We all do. Our plates are full and then voila! this new challenge appears. Now is the time to remember that the whole of anything is overwhelming so we need to break our new task into bite size chunks.
What’s the best, easiest and free way to control overwhelm? Use what Navy Seals use: Box Breathing. I was in one of the waiting rooms at Cedars the other day when I felt a panic attack start to rise in my stomach. I immediately started Box Breathing and settled down. You can’t count and fret at the same time! It’s one of several pranayamas I use and they never, ever fail to bring me back from the brink.
Today I thought I’d share 4-7-8, a powerful relaxation pranayama but one that is a wee bit ‘noisy.’ I wouldn’t choose this for a waiting room but I might go to the public bathroom and do it in the stall. LOL. Here we go: breath in through your nose for a count of 4, hold for a count of 7 and breathe out through your mouth making a woushing sound. Here’s a demo from the great Dr. Andrew Weil: 4-7-8. If you enjoy learning new pranayamas and the science behind them, I invite you to read my favorite book on the topic: James Nestor's "Breath."
Step One: Eliminate
You need to clear the space of what no longer serves you. If you aren’t going to use it and you don’t need it, it should go. Exiting your space doesn’t mean you automatically toss the item, you have an array of choices that make step one incredibly creative. For example, items can be tossed, stored or displayed elsewhere, given away to a charity or a friend, recycled or sold. What if your personal ‘excess stuff’ comes in another form? You know like too many activities? Americans think if they are always on the move, they are being productive. In fact, they are simply exhausted.
Take out your (month at a glance, I trust) calendar and take inventory.
What could you bump to another month or later in the year?
What could you eliminate?
What repeating activity no longer gives you joy and should be retired? You get the idea.
Elimination even in this realm is very creative. I have only one caveat: if you have symptoms that might indicate a medical issue, the appointment with your doctor is not negotiable. The tennis lessons you scheduled over the summer however might be put into limbo until the weather warms. Are you making progress? Do you enjoy the experience? We continue empty experiences the same way we let no longer desired subscriptions continue to renew…or stay in long dead relationships. Yes, my Lovelies, sometimes the clutter is alive as in human or even animal. Too many pets for you to care for? Be loving and find your critters the best home.
Step Two: Categorize
We see the power of categories easily in file systems and our closets. Who doesn’t find getting dressed to be a snap when all the sweaters are together? All the slacks are hung in one area and your collection of underwear is folded neatly in a drawer. Papers are another easy to assemble into categories area. Sometimes clients see every paper as a unique specimen. I ask them to look at their last tax return if they take deductions. That’s a sure fire way to see what your categories are!
Here some common ones:
Business Expenses
Automobile Payments
Insurance for auto, home and medical
Medical Expenses
Household Expenses
School Expenses for each child
You get the idea. You can just as easily learn to keep areas of your life in categories so your expenditures on their behalf (including energetic) don’t find you stretched too thin or exhausted. Let’s say you decided last year that you were going to get fit and you have been dedicated and loyal to a regime ever since. You go to the gym 3 times a week without fail. However, you look at your calendar and see you have added in a host of other physical activities just for fun and realize you may have over done it.
Burn out not extreme fitness is the unintended outcome. Consider the yoga classes at the gym you now take, the step count you bumped up to 12,000 a day or the Pickel Ball Club you joined. They are all worthwhile activities and a single woman in her late 20’s can probably handle them without missing a beat. Suddenly you realize that as you approach your late 40’s with a spouse, job, home and teenagers to care for, it may be too much.
When I first came to Los Angeles, I got into weight training. I went to the gym religiously 4x a week. I thought that was my fitness program. I felt the daily 2 hours of yoga and the 3 mile walks were for personal pleasure. Guess what? I almost did myself in so I know this example from experience. Recalibrating a schedule should never be regarded as a failure but rather as the mark of someone in tune with the present moment and the ever changing landscape of life.
Step Three: Organize!
When the excess is removed from the space and what you want is in groups aka categories, you can begin to get organized. This means finding the best area to keep an item and securing helpful tools, if needed. It may also means adjusting expectations or at least tailoring the results to the needs of the moment. Let me give you an example.
I know a young couple who have a studio apartment set-up in her parents home. We’re trying to downsize the furniture load so there is simply more breathing room. Each decision is weighed against future needs and possible places of residence. With that said, always trust your judgment. Thoughts of lament keep us stuck in low self-esteem. “If only I still had that dresser!” “Why did I donate that red dress to charity last year?!” You know the songs we sing. Empower yourself, trust yourself and move on.Will you make mistakes? I guarantee it because you are human. I also guarantee they will be few and far between if you listen to our gut and trust yourself.
Organizing a project is one task. Getting all the tasks organized is another skill set! Let’s say you want to organize your entire home this year. I would NOT set aside a weekend and think it will be all be done in a matter of hours. Think about it: you took more than 2 days to create the clutter, right? Why not give yourself the grace of time and a growing skill set to change it all for the better? In my new York Times best seller One Year to an Organized Life you will find detailed instruction for any area of chaos in your home. As you get experienced using The Magic Formula around your physical space, you will find yourself using it everywhere.
As my ‘Orphan Disease’ hits me with fatigue, I have to be laser focused on the important goals I hold sacred and how to achieve them. Treatment side effects will exacerbate that fatigue. Twenty two years ago my ‘chemo buddy’ used to famously say: “Honey, sometimes in life you gotta suit up, show up and shut up.” No kidding, my friend, no kidding! Some things have to wait until the end of next summer when treatments stop and we see if I scored a cure. Please continue to take the journey with me. I’m going to need to stay grounded by being of service. There was a ride at Disneyland years ago whose name I loved. It describes times in our lives when we’d rather be anywhere but dealing with the challenge at hand. Yes, it’s true: I’m on Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride for 2025. Anybody else?