A Cluster of Clutter Buddies

Clutter Buddies are soul mates. Or, at least, really really kind, patient, generous and compassionate people – people you meet in a support group, Professional Organizers, friends, family – who are willing to sit with you, or banter on the phone with you, or let you check in with them by text, as you get chores done like sorting mail or folding laundry. Or, really really kind, patient, generous and compassionate people who GET IT because they get just as stuck as you and they’re grateful that you’ll trade seats with them, chat on Zoom, or let them IM you while they pull together the monthly calendar or go through e-mails.

And now there’s Focusmate.com. Clutter Buddies with the superpowers of the Internet. 24/7, 365 days a year, any time zone. A virtual community of people willing to provide each other with structured, respectful, quiet support and accountability in 50-minute sessions. Members can currently sign up for three free sessions a week, and there is a Turbo option for unlimited sessions at $5/month. A world-renowned colleague, Leslie Josel, Order Out of Chaos, just taught me about this resource.

Taylor Jacobson, Focusmate’s Founder, whether he knew it directly or instinctively, was giving serious muscle to a technique known by Professional Organizers as “body doubling.” And Jacobson cites other research supporting his invention, all of which looks fascinating.

But the best part of my new knowledge? As I was poking around to find my link to my body doubling post, I found a reminder of the pistachio pesto experiment I tried in the dim reaches of 2018. That I liked. Pesto makes a fantastic winter meal…