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That's E L L O products.com code TRYLO20 for 20 percent off your first LO purchase hi there, you're listening to the Lazy Genius podcast. I'm Kendra Adachi. This podcast is not about hacking the system to find more time or hacking your energy to get more done. Hustling to be the best or to make the most out of every opportunity is exhausting and unsustainable so here we do things differently on this show. We value contentment, compassion, and living in our season. We favor small steps over big systems. Here we are, lazy geniuses, being a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. And I'm so glad you're here. Today is episode 460 how to better channel your Big Black Trash bag energy if you are not yet familiar with the term Big Black trash bag energy, it's a term I coined to describe that feeling of wanting to burn it all down and start over. It's when you're overwhelmed and even annoyed by your home and you just start chucking stuff in big black trash bags to get it out of your house. This feeling often comes in the transition from one season to another, like from the end of the school year to summer or the end of the holidays into a new year. It can also happen in the middle of a particularly hard season that doesn't seem to have a lot of steadiness or order. Or it could just come on a random Tuesday when your hormones are a little loop de loop. It happens to all of us. It's also a great energy. When channeled in the right direction, it can help focus your energy towards something that matters rather than toward anything annoying that moves. So today I'm gonna share three small steps to help you identify what your big Black trash bag energy is really saying, and then a small little framework on what problems you should actually be solving. I'll share a lot of personal examples of what this looks like in my own life. Tiny problems I have solved recently with my Big Black Trash bag energy, but without throwing anything beloved away. After that, we'll have a little extra something that's just a favorite tip of mine to add life to your home. It's like the simplest thing ever, but I'm weirdly passionate about it and we'll share it later. We will celebrate the lazy Genius of the Week who has her own approach to channeling Big Black trash bag energy. So very appropriate for today. And then we'll close with a mini pep talk for when your home isn't what you wish it was. That's real and always something to pay attention to when we talk about clutter or organization or homes in general. Some people don't live in a home that works the way they wish it could or looks the way they wished it looked, and that's a hard place to be. So we'll have a mini pep talk for those folks. Before we get into that, you can tell I'm still sick. Isn't it ridiculous, you guys? Too many colds from too many children. But we are on the mend. But hopefully, yeah, hopefully next episode I will sound much more like myself. One of the best things that can help you Lazy Genius things like big black trash bag energy and your home and your habits, literally anything at all, are the 13 lazy genius principles. Those are spelled out in my very first book, the Lazy Genius Way. It came out in August of 2020, which again is just. I can't ever say when it comes out without acknowledging like what a hilarious time to launch a book in August of 2020. And it is just like the little engine that could of a book. It keeps selling over five years later. So many of you revisit it when you're transitioning into a new season, especially into a new year. So for anyone new here, everything I do is based on these 13 lazy genius principles. Decide once, start small, ask the magic question, live in the season, build the right routines, set house rules, put everything in its place, let people in batch it, essentialize, go in the right order, schedule, rest, and be kind to yourself in the book. Every principle gets its own chapter with applications and ideas. You don't have to follow them all, they're just ideas. And of course, a lot of encouragement so that you can lean on those principles for everything. They are the foundation, sometimes directly, but always indirectly, of every podcast episode, every newsletter, every Instagram post, every book that I wrote after that. These 13 principles are the bedrock of being a Lazy genius and will be integral to today's episode as well. If you have not yet explored those principles as like a whole entity, grab a copy of the Lazy Genus Way. You can request it from your local library, you can order it from your favorite indie, or you can get it at any big box store you would like. It's available online, like pretty much everywhere. And it is stocked in a number of stores too, usually indies. It's so fun to see your pictures of this book and other lazy genius books like out in the Wild, especially at your local bookstores. That's just like the most fun thing. Getting bookshelf space is really tough, both in stores and in regular homes, to be honest with you. So whenever it happens, I'm just so deeply honored. Thank you for tagging me on socials when that happens. When you spot a Lazy Genius book in the wild, and if now does feel like a great time to explore the Lazy Genius way, but sitting down to read a book feels daunting, maybe even impossible right now. I do read the audiobook, so that might be a better choice for you in this season. All right, before we get into how to better channel our big black trash bag energy, let's take a quick break to hear from our sponsors, which makes the show free for you to listen to. And as always, here's your quick reminder about the podcast recap email we send out every other Friday. It's called Latest Lazy Listens and we we tinker and make it better. Like almost every single email, the photos in there are hilarious. I'm starting to share personal photos from my own life in there. You also get a sneak peek of what's coming up on the podcast. Plus, like the normal episode summaries, Lazy Geniuses of the week and all all the regular things. It's short and sweet, but wildly full of great stuff. If you'd like to get that recap, head to the lazygeniuscollective.com listens this episode is sponsored by Good Ranchers. So I was sick last week. Like horizontal on the couch, not cooking dinner sick. And Cos walks in and goes a box of meat just showed up at the door. Which is not a sentence you hear every day. It was our first Good Ranchers delivery and the timing could not have been more perfect. He put the nuggets in the air fryer for the kids. We now have steak in the freezer for easy dinners once I'm back on my feet. What I love about Good Ranchers is the heart behind it. They source 100% of their meat from American farms and ranches and everything from packaging to fulfillment. Even customer service happens right here in the us. I love feeding my family well and supporting other families at the same time. Subscribe and get free meat for life and $25 off your first order order. Visit goodranchers.com today. Subscribe and get free meat for life and 25 off your first order using my Code Genius. That's Code Genius for free meat for life and 25 off your first order just for subscribing. Goodranchers.com American meat delivered this episode is sponsored by Wayfair. After we packed up some seasonal winter decor, there was this empty spot by the living room window that felt unfinished. So I moved a chair from our bedroom into that corner and angled it toward the light and instantly it felt like a reading nook that did not isolate me from my family, just waiting for me. It still needed a couple things to be functional. A small side table for coffee or tea, and a lamp so it could work in the evenings as well. So I started browsing Wayfair. I love how easy it is to filter by size and style and stay within budget. That makes sense. The reviews are helpful, shipping is fast, and assembly options make it feel manageable. Now that corner gets used every day. It's a small shift, but it changed how the whole room feels. Find furniture, decor, and essentials that fit your unique style and budget. Head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. That's W A Y-F A I R.com Wayfair every style, every home all right, let's get into how to better channel your Big black trash bag energy. Here's the thing. The energy that powers Big Black Trash Bag energy is good energy. It's active. It can get stuff done. The thing you want to pay attention to is solving the right problems. You want to harness all that great momentum and desire for change and and direct it into something that will actually help your life. If you let big black trash bag energy just run wild, you will end up with bags of stuff you might want in a few days. A home covered in piles, Mental exhaustion, possibly ruptured family relationships. I don't know. So let's tend to that energy in a different way, shall we? Let's get different results than those very messy, sad ones. I have three things that you can ask yourself to help you channel the energy in a helpful direction. I don't want you to shut it down completely. I think it's useful now. You might not have time to actually use it right now, but I think it is really useful. It can help you get something that matters done that it's better to solve small, necessary problems rather than chucking everything in a bag. So these questions will help you do that. The first thing I want you to do is name the invisible problem. This requires no cleaning or organizational supplies. No sweat, no movement at all. Just stand there and ask yourself, honestly, what's the invisible problem? What's actually bothering me? What's really going on here? A few weeks ago, I felt some really big BBTBE coming on. A lot of stuff was not put away. The clutter was growing in, like, multiple parts of the house, and no one else seemed to care. I knew that my energy was important, but I also knew that going big would not be helpful. So instead of yelling at my family or blindly grabbing stuff to donate, I asked myself, what is really bothering me? What is the invisible problem? I was bothered that no one else noticed the clutter in the same way that I did I was annoyed that I'm usually the one to notice and do something about the energy and vibe in our home. I realized that if someone else took it upon themselves to take care of the cardboard stack that needed to go outside, someone else thought about culling the water bottles because we have so many, someone else decided to put away all the tiny things scattered about or even just like think about those things, it would feel different. Even if the stuff itself did not move. The shared labor would make me feel better. So really, my biggest invisible problem was that I felt alone and a bit resentful about feeling alone. Guess what? If I were to big black trash bag energy that clutter while the invisible problem lay under the surface, I would do all that work alone and actually make the invisible problem worse because I'm doing the work alone. Still, I think that's one of the reasons big black trash bag energy leaves us dissatisfied at the end. It's almost always hiding an invisible problem, and the trash bags will not solve it. The solution to your invisible problem might be simpler than you think, or even a little surprising. So asking the question and sitting with the answer gives you time to really think about what you need. For me, in that moment, when I think that I'm the only one noticing the vibe of the home, caring about it, caring about the organization of things, I personally enjoy a reframe of gratitude. Like, I am wired to care about that stuff. I love order in the energy of a room. I love moving this photo or that plant, or getting a bigger area rug to make the room feel cozy. Or vacuuming that rug so that it's more pleasant to play games on. Like, I. I really, genuinely love being someone who tends to those things and likes tending to those things. Like I genuinely do. I love our home. I love it. And I'm. I'm really proud of the work I've done to make it feel the way it does. Now, I know that not everyone has those eyes. Most people in my family don't have those eyes. Naturally, their care, the things that they care about, they have in other areas. And we all benefit from that, right? But home vibes are like my natural territory. So I find a lot of joy in the reframe of gratitude that my family and I all benefit from the way that I'm naturally wired. And I think that's kind of rad. And guess what? That changes how I channel my energy. Completely changes it. I don't feel resentful when I'm feeling grateful. Instead, I feel free to invite my people into Helping me, even though they don't see the need in the same way that I do. Like, it just lightens the load for me to be grateful that I really do care about order and vibes and where things are on a shelf. I'm glad about that. So start by naming the invisible problem. It will almost certainly change how you use your big black trash bag energy. Okay, the next thing I want you to do is name your season. This is so incredibly important. Your big black trash bag energy is almost certainly linked to what your life looks like right now. But if you ignore that, if you ignore your season, you start solving problems that are just part of where you are, which distracts you from solving small problems within that season that actually might make things a little easier. After the winter holidays, I think everyone is, like, a little skittish about stuff. There's more of it with holiday decor. With Christmas trees, possibly gifts. You have put more stuff in the same finite space in your home, and it can feel a little bit like wearing pants that are too tight. But that's the season. That's the season. When you name that season, you can soften toward that problem a little bit, toward having so much stuff around. And know that, you know, once you put away the holiday decorations, it's gonna feel a little better. No need to, like, blindly throw a bunch of stuff away right now. This always happens to me in the summer. The pool towels and swimsuits are draped over drying racks and chair backs. The pool bag is always waiting by the door. There's more mess in the house because the kids are home all day instead of at school. Like, it's a lot. But if I get overwhelmed by my home and I feel big black trash bag energy coming, I can actually recognize that I'm in the season of summer. I'm in a season of. Of pool stuff and humans everywhere. It's just where I am. So trying to remove the evidence of a season simply makes no sense. I don't have to ignore the bbtb, but I can channel it into a more helpful direction. For example, past summers of feeling this way, but also naming the season that I'm in. It led me to put up a laundry like drying rack in the dining room, which we rarely use for actually eating. And that rack stays up all summer. Naming the season and channeling the energy led me to throwing the beach towels into the dryer as soon as we get home so they're not soaking wet. It led me to inviting more frequent tidies of our main living area without resenting My kids for, like, existing in the place where they live. Use the energy for good. Use it for good. We are still in a season of, like, sickness, as you can tell by my voice. Like, since, like the second half of January was snow days, we were like, home because of, like, all these snow days. And then from the very beginning of February through literally right now, there has not been a week where one Adachi was not sick with something. Like, there were several weeks where multiple people were sick. But, like, somebody, I'm the current somebody, has been sick for weeks. It's cuckoo pants. But because that is our season, the house was covered in, like, tiny stuff. Thermometers, grocery bags full of used tissues, which is disgusting, but hey, it works. Annie's like, necklace that she took off mid afternoon and laid on the table because she didn't have the energy to go put it away. Like, more unfolded laundry than usual lying about because nobody had the energy to take care of their own stuff. It was just like a mad house of annoyances. And all of those tiny things, they added up to one big house that was driving me crazy. Acknowledging the season, it helps you settle that annoyance, like I think it always does. Now, it doesn't remove the problem, it doesn't remove the tiny stuff, but it recontextualizes it. And you don't have to even do anything to make it better. You can just notice, be like, this is my season. Look at that. All right, so you are feeling the big black trash bag energy. And before you let it take the wheel, you're gonna name the invisible problem and you're gonna name the season you're in. See what happens with those two questions. The third thing that you can name is what you can actually control based on your season. Our invisible problems are often about a desire for, like, complete thanos level control. But you always have, like, a little bit of control over certain things. When you take the time to name what you can solve, what you can actually manage. Well, what you can kindly control in your season, you're going to solve problems that will actually help again, like pool season. I can't control the existence of towels. The towels come with a season that I can control how and where they're tended to. I can put up a rack that holds towels and swimsuits the whole time. I can put towels in the dryer. As soon as we get home, I can accept that the towels are going to be there and move on. Those kinds of decisions actually make life easier without making life a machine that we're trying to Control every piece of so what can you actually control within your current season of life? When you know the invisible problem and you acknowledge your season, that question is a lot easier to answer. And that is where you channel your energy. That's how you use that swirly big black trash bag energy for good. You solve problems that are within your control that help your season, and you solve them in small ways. But it doesn't stop there. And here's the final little framework I want you to consider as you figure out what what problems to solve. We all know that solving small problems is the absolute right call. But sometimes we can get distracted by solving problems that lead us to a certain kind of life. A more optimized life. Maybe a life that's closer to greatness. Remember, we don't do that here. So what I would like for you to consider first when naming your small problem within your control in this season of life is to solve a problem that is genuinely helpful. Like for real helpful for you or personally enjoyable. Genuinely helpful or personally enjoyable? Don't get distracted solving problems that create an optimized life. Focus on what helps your actual life, what is genuinely helpful or something that helps you enjoy your life. Sometimes one small solution can capture both. But I just want you to stay focused on what is genuinely helpful or personally enjoyable, not on what is the most optimized. Okay, so all of those things, it's fairly basic. It's not super flashlight. You're going to name the invisible problem, you're going to name the season you're in, and you're going to name what you can actually control that will help you channel your big black trash bag energy in a direction that's either genuinely helpful or personally enjoyable. Now, what does that look like, practically? Here are some recent things for my own life to kind of show you how all this works. So the first is my cup cabinet. All right, so I had goodness. I had some real big, big black trash bag energy in my kitchen. There were multiple reasons why I have been baking more, which means more baked goods are stored on, like, prized counter space. It also means more dishes are out in the drying rack. You know, I'm using and washing more dishes. It's not a huge deal because they're, like, contained in the drying rack, but they're still visually stimulating. There's still more stuff out. I was also feeling some BBTBE because the category of cups, mugs, and water bottles was becoming, like, way too unwieldy. I find joy buying thrift store mugs. My children have varying Opinions on water bottles. And Annie, in particular, is obsessed with spending her money on new, cute ones. So we've got a lot of those. I also noticed that a lot of our cups, they were not making it to the cabinet because they're too high for Annie to reach. And she's the one who unloads the shelf in the dishwasher that has all the cups. It was just, like, weird kitchen energy. And I did feel the pull to declutter every cabinet to find new spots for everything. I even thought for a brief moment about upgrading our countertops because they were black. They're black, and they're. They can sometimes feel a little dark and depressing. And I was like, is that the problem here? Do we need new countertops? Listen, that was not the problem. But. But big, black trash bag energy, it makes everything feel like a problem. So I named the invisible problem. I like more white space in my kitchen than I currently have. Basically, the counters are cluttered, and some of the cabinets are a little too full. It's not that the kitchen doesn't function. It's just like a small part of it isn't functioning at peak performance. But peak isn't necessary. Peak is not necessary. Optimized is not necessary. But that's what I noticed. That's what I noticed. It's like, you know what? It's just a little more clutter than I would normally like. As far as my season goes, I'm in a season of baking more and of having a preteen daughter who is really into cute stuff. She has, no joke, four different water bottles that she rotates like outfits. That is incredibly dear to me. And it's a season I don't want to dismiss just because it adds more clutter to the kitchen. Naming the seasons of baking more, which I love, and Annie having fun with water bottles, which I also love. It makes the problem so much softer and easier to work with. And then to that third thing. What can I control in this season with this problem of having less white space in the kitchen when extra stuff is being added? One problem that I solved I'll share now. And then there's another problem that I'm still considering. So the first thing I solved was the cup cabinet itself. So I had glassware on, like, the bottom shelf because the glassware is heavier and it felt like it would be supported better on the lowest shelf. I don't know why. Also is in my direct eyeline when I open the cabinets. And I think I'd rather look at pretty glassware when I open the cabinet than plastic cups that the kids use. But guess what matters more than what I see when I open the cabinet? What matters more is that Annie can put the cups away. And we use a lot more plastic cups than we do glass ones. So I shifted what's used less often. I shifted it higher, and I used. I shifted what's used more often lower in the cabinet where she can reach. It's not as pretty on the inside anymore, but that does not matter as much as Annie being able to reach stuff. I also moved a couple of my mugs to the top shelf to make it easier to put clean ones back in the cabinet, because my mug so section of the cabinet is, like, she a little full. So I move a couple of them up so that my boys are not having to play mug Tetris when they unload the dishwasher. Okay, the water bottles. That's a tiny project that I'm still considering. That will happen one afternoon after school, maybe this week or this weekend. But it's something I'm mulling over. We do have so many water bottles in multiple cabinets, and it's time to pull them all out and just call. We will keep many of them, and some are great for different kinds of scenarios, but I know we don't need all the ones we have, and they're clogging up the cabinets. It's like, do y' all remember that episode of the Lazy Genius Kitchen, the YouTube series we did when Annie Downs was. I went into her kitchen and she was overwhelmed by the lack of space in her freezer, that it turns out she was storing, like, 15 ice packs or something, and that was what was causing the problem. That's me in water bottles. We just have too many. We just have too many. And they're making three of our kitchen cabinets more cramped than they need to be. There's a decent chance that all the excess baked goods, which I love, and the baking equipment out, which I also love, they might feel less annoying once those other problems are solved. Maybe, maybe not. But I'll start with the cups and the water bottles and see what happens. If the baked goods still cause a problem, I might start looking for a creative solution to store them where they don't take up so much counter space. Or maybe they're not stored in, like, random plastic containers that aren't as cute. You know, I could find something to put them in on the counter that's a little cuter, but that can happen later. Now, isn't all of that better than taking everything out of every cabinet. And like getting a quote on new countertops. Like, just decentralize the water bottles and move the cups around. That's how you use big black trash bag energy for good. Okay, here's another recent example. We have a hallway closet turned pantry that stores, like, all the extra food and foil and wrapping paper and toilet paper in a bag. Bingo set that I've only used once, but I refuse to get rid of because I am obsessed with bingo. It is like the catch all. And it's mostly organized. And by organized, I mean, like, everything has a general place, like a shelf on which to live or floor space to occupy. Nothing is labeled, but it's reasonably neat. And items are, like, mostly grouped together. But every few months it has like a tiny crisis. It becomes overloaded with stuff. Too many things are not put back in, like their general place. Cake flour is next to aluminum foil, which is on top of the Costco size box of goldfish. It feels like Monica's secret closet on Friends, you know? So in years past, I would get so overwhelmed by that closet slash pantry, and I would feel a lot of big black trash bag energy about it. I'd be like, we have too much stuff. Why doesn't anyone put anything away? We need another closet. We need to stop shopping at Costco. We need, we need, we need. It was like a whole thing, right, with just panic. But now I've calmed down, thankfully. Now I realize that this is what happens in closets and boundaries. Like, entropy is a thing. It doesn't mean anything is wrong. It just means the closet needs to be tidied a little. In fact, there's not really an invisible problem here. A messy closet could be an example of me trying to create an invisible problem. Something like, I could be like, my family are being dummies and they can't keep things straight. No, that's not really a problem. It's also unkind. Nor is that the kind of home I want to live in. You know, I don't want to blame normal patterns of disorganization on the behavior of my people. Like, they're not the problem. It's just that too much stuff has been, like, kind of put away instead of completely put away. And now everything is askew. Now, I could talk to my family about being more thoughtful when they get out a box of tissues or when they go to find a pack of microwave popcorn and they leave a mess in their wake. And sometimes I do, but I cannot control their behavior. Nor do I want to be the kind of person who tries, they're going to do what I often do. I do this too, where I just stick something in an open slot on the wrong shelf. Rather than like shuffle what's on the right shelf to make room for that thing. I do it, they do it. And that's how the pantry shelves can, you know, get a little wonky. And that's okay, but I am just becoming like, less and less interested in cultivating a home that's all about control. Like, I cannot control their behavior. I can ask them to try and put things back in a neater way whenever they remember otherwise. Every six months or so, we pull out the stuff that's covering the floor, that's stored on the floor. We pick a few items that are like, on their last legs that we can make for dinner real quick. And then we just put things back where the toilet paper isn't. Like with the chocolate chips, like, it's no big deal. These are the rhythms and seasons of a home. So don't resent them or try to control things that you actually can't control. Here's another example. I already mentioned the kitchen overwhelm that I recently experienced and how part of the clutter is from all the extra baked goods on the counter. It's taking up valuable counter space. And while those baked goods are obviously, like, valuable in and of themselves, I love them. The visual stimulus of having plastic containers stacked by our dirty dishes zone, which is where I've been putting them, is kind of less than ideal. I'll try to remember to share a photo of this in the next latest Lazy Listens. But we have a section in the kitchen where it's like. It's like a standard counter and cabinet above, right. But the cabinet section has like a little nook for the microwave and then the air fryer is right beneath the microwave nook on the counter. Okay. The areas around both of those appliances are perfect for storing extra containers of stuff. It's where we stick the Tupperware that my mother in law sent Japanese leftovers in so that we can return them to her the next time that we go over there. It's where the donut box goes. Or the loaf of sourdough that doesn't fit in the bread box goes. We eat a lot of bread. It is harder to. It's harder to visualize this, I suppose. But my point is that like all of the bakery containers were ending up in like teetery stacks. On the counter. On the counter. And I noticed that maybe they would work better where the appliances are the paper towel holder. We have a paper towel holder that's like a stand up straight on a stand. It's like an old IKEA paper towel holder we've had for probably 20 years that has always stood next to the microwave in that little microwave nook. And I was like, oh, my gosh, that is a much better spot for boxes of baked things. So I just swapped the paper towels and those bakery containers. That's all I did. I just swapped their spots. Somehow that little swap, it made things feel so much better. Not fixed or perfect, but definitely better. Now, I would eventually like to have counters that are less cluttered. But I also listen. I live in a home with five people who practically live in the kitchen. We eat at home a lot. We cook and bake often. I have a couple of small appliances I really love on those counters, and I use. I want to keep them out. So it's just the nature of how we live. If I try and clear off the counters completely to make things neater, I'm actually hamstringing my family and. And what matters to us. I don't want to create a new invisible problem and then solve it and consequently cause a new set of problems because my kids can't find the bananas because I stashed them in a cabinet, because I can't stand having fruit on the counter anymore. Like, do you see what I'm saying? None of that makes any sense now. Even though my kitchen is hard to visualize the point, the point here is kind of easy to spot. I don't need to reorganize how we live in the kitchen and figure out how to get everything off the counters. I just needed to try swapping the paper towels with a container of cookies. This is how you live well in your home, you guys, you start small, you try something out, and you make life a little easier rather than trying to change it all at once. Okay, one final example. I always get the itch to adjust how our home looks and feels once spring hits. I think that's normal and lovely. Happens to all of us. We are exiting, you know, that coziness of winter. We're letting the sunshine of spring in. And that often means that I want a refresh in some of the rooms of my house, too. But here's the thing. I really love our living room, like, so much. At least once a week, I look around and I say out loud to Kaz, hopefully he's there. I'm like, I really love this room. I really love this room. It's Cozy. When I love a cozy room, it's pretty. It's full of things I love, like blankets and plants and pretty art on the walls. But a few weeks ago, I was feeling a little antsy in there. Even though I love the room, I was feeling a little antsy, and I had to pull. I had that pull of the big black trash bag. It was calling my name. Now, it wasn't huge, but I could feel it. This is when I'm like, hey, let's move all the furniture around, or let's get all the kids stuff out of here, or we need new side tables, you know? Now, one, the furniture does not have many configuration options in our living room, so moving it around is, like, kind of a dumb idea. Number two, my kids live here. Like, getting rid of their stuff in the room that they live in the most makes no sense. So that's fine. And then three, I love our side tables. We don't need new side tables. They're all thrifted and cool, and they work so perfectly. In my sane moments, I have no desire to replace them or change anything about the living room. I love the living room, but it's in those moments of big black trash bag energy where I start to go off script, and I think that big change is needed, and it's usually not. So here's what I did instead. I did what I just taught you in this episode. I asked myself, what's the invisible problem? There wasn't a huge emotional problem, but I did feel like the room was growing intense. Nothing has changed in there in, like, honestly, a couple of years. And I was just feeling, like, normal levels of wanting a little. A little bit of change. Then I considered my season. It is early spring. It's the time of year when I'm always, like, a little restless. Noted. Right? That's good for me to know. It helps keep things in check because I know that that feeling is driving me to do more than I need to do. So then I asked, like, okay, what can I actually do in here? What can I actually control? I don't need to change or move the furniture or really a lot of the decor that I have. Like, I love it all. I don't want to get rid of anything that I can currently see in my living room. Like, I don't want to get rid of it. I love it all. So here's where you remember to ask yourself, like, what is genuinely helpful? Or what do you personally enjoy when you're trying to figure out a problem to solve? Ask yourself those Two things. What is, like, going to be genuinely helpful in here or what do I personally enjoy? Do you know what I personally enjoy? Do you know what I love with my whole heart? Stuff on the walls. I love art. I love photos. Like, I love. I love stuff on the walls. I have mirrors. Like, I just. I love hanging things on the walls. And I have been adding a lot of art to our home over the last few years. We have a ton of it everywhere. I added three new pieces yesterday. Like, it's ridiculous. It's actually the most fun. It's the best because I genuinely love it. It's so enjoyable to me. But do you know what we don't have as much of on the walls? Photos. Like, people. I was looking around. The living room was beautiful with all the art, but when I sit on the couch, I cannot see any faces of my people. The only two photos that we have up are out of my sight line. And that was when I was like, oh, here we go. I love stuff on the walls and I love my people. We need some photos. So I grabbed my phone. I chose a selfie that Kaz and I took last year at our annual fall opening ceremony corn maze adventure, which is just a cute picture of the two of us. And I took another picture of me and a friend on a trip together. And I sent both of those photos. Just two? Just two. I sent both of those photos to the drugstore down the street for printing. They were ready within 15 minutes, which was insane. So I put this selfie of me and Kaz. It's like an 8 by 10. I printed it pretty big. I put it in a frame I already had. I knew I already had a frame I was gonna use. I hung it on the living room wall right across from the couch where I could see it. Then the picture of me and my friend, I had a tiny, tiny frame. So I printed a tiny, tiny photo of me and my friend, and I put that on a desk across from the couch so I can see that, too. Now I have faces of people I love in the room. And it made the space feel fresh without having to pull out any trash bags and start over. Other examples might be things like sweeping off your front porch rather than buying all new patio furniture for it. Donating the winter coats and shoes that won't fit your kids next year rather than making big organizational moves to fit it all in your house right now. Or maybe cleaning out one part of the basement that you use rather than the whole thing. Your big black trash bag energy is good. It's coming from a from a good place, from a desire to make home feel and work better. That's great, and you and your people benefit from that energy. But you need to channel it in a way that's actually helpful. Pay attention to the invisible problems, to your season of life or the season on the calendar, and then name what you can actually control when you make small changes that are genuinely helpful or personally enjoyable. Rather than letting that big energy take over and lead you down a path of optimization. When you throw everything away, you keep making your home a place you want to live in. And that's how to better channel your big black trash bag energy. Spring is here, and there's a whole new way to chai at Starbucks that's made perfect for you. Choose your sweetness, dial it up. Or keep things light. Add a touch of pistachio, a hint of strawberry or vanilla, or make it a spring classic with lavender. Because this season there's endless ways to chai at Starbucks.