13 | The Benefits of Predictability
13 | The Benefits of Predictability
After doing a fair amount of travel recently, I started thinking about why we crave predictability in all areas of our life. You depend upon it, but you may not notice how much you crave it until it’s absent. However, when things go awry, you find yourself suddenly grasping for stability. Predictability is why organization is essential. Building a schedule and structure around your day is another strategy to release mental clutter.
In this episode, I’ll give three reasons why predictability is a good thing, especially if you have an ADHD-oriented brain. I will share specific examples for each reason and actionable steps you can take to build a bit more predictability into your days. It’ll be a breeze because you’re more organized than you think. Let’s dive in.
MENTIONED ON THIS EPISODE: 08 | Mental Clutter + The Invisible Load
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Intro: Welcome to A Pleasant Solution, Embracing an Organized Life. I'm your host, certified life coach, professional organizer, and home life expert, Amelia Pleasant Kennedy, and I help folks permanently eliminate clutter in their homes and lives. On this podcast, we'll go beyond the basics of home organization to talk about why a clutter-free mindset is essential to an aligned and sustainable lifestyle. If you're someone with a to-do list, if you're managing a household, and if you're caring for others, this podcast is for you. Let's dive in.
Amelia: Welcome to Episode 13: The Benefits of Predictability.
It’s so lovely to chat with you today. I’ve been traveling a fair amount, and with all the back and forth, I’ve been thinking about predictability and how much we crave it – in all areas of our life. It’s why organization is essential. It’s something that you depend upon but may not notice until it’s absent. When things go awry, you may find yourself suddenly grasping for stability.
I’ve been building a business for over four years. One of the first pieces of advice you’re given as an entrepreneur is “be consistent.” Sure. When I’m shopping for a product or service, one of the ways I begin to trust a brand is based on their consistency. If business’s hours are all over the place, I’m confused. If I purchase one item – let’s say an acrylic bin to organize my fridge – and the next few I buy have varying measurements, I’m confused. Consistency builds trust because the human brain takes information in and creates an expectation based on this data.
Here’s another example: my podcast releases weekly on Wednesdays. A new blog goes live on my website each month on the second Wednesday. My email newsletter posts weekly to your inbox on Fridays at 11:05 am ET exactly. (If you’re not receiving them, I’d love for you to sign up at www.apleasantsolution.com.) I also teach workshops each month. They’re the second Friday of every month in 2023 and are open to all. Unless I notify you across all my channels, you can expect these things. My business is predictable and consistent, and that benefits you and it benefits me! I know exactly what I need to do when to help y’all reach your lifestyle goals.
So, on today’s episode, we’ll talk about why predictability is an essential element to home organization and scheduling. In short, it relieves your mindset of extra effort. When your life and home are predictable, your brain doesn’t have to work quite as hard. I’ll give you three reasons why predictability is a good thing – especially if you have an ADHD-oriented brain – and specific examples for each. I’ll also share actionable steps that you can take to build a bit more predictability into your days. It will be a breeze because you’re more organized than you think.
Before we dive in, let me acknowledge that some folks tense up or push back against the idea of predictability. For some, it’s a little too close to words like “routine” or “habit.” It may even sound dull or boring. It’s perfectly okay if organization sounds restrictive or limiting to you. There’s always a solution, and perhaps that solution is less “routine” and more predictability.
Alright. The first reason that predictability benefits your mindset is that your brain loves when things are familiar, easy, and expected. You can feel it go, “ahhhh.” That’s because familiarity means less decision making and calculations. For example, parents rely on the predictability of the annual school calendar. (If you chuckled just now, I get it. You can see where I’m going already…) As of this recording it's April of 2023. School will be ending sometime in the next one to two months in the US, depending on what part of the country you live in. You most likely already have the date on your calendar and may already know exactly how your summer season will be spent. Even if you’re not a parent, you remember how predictable the school calendar was and that’s what I’ll be referencing here.
Your brain loves knowing that school starts in August or maybe September. You know that there may be a break for Thanksgiving week, a winter break, a spring break and a longer summer break. Again, as a child you measured the passing of time based on what break was happening next. The predictable structure of the school day is also familiar, easy, and expected. Drop off occurs at a certain hour of the day. You either provide lunch or lunch is provided. Pick up occurs at a certain hour of the day. You may even notice how heavy the traffic is at certain hours around drop off and pick up and may plan your drive based on the data you’ve gathered. When you’re in the zone of predictability, you have even less decisions to make because your brain has already calculated the expected outcome of the overall weekly or monthly experience.
On the other hand, you may find yourself cranky when things are disrupted. And disruption is the enemy of predictability. (Ironically, however, the one thing we all can predict is that disruption will occur.) It’s in these moments that you crave predictability and notice its absence. The pandemic will forever be an example of disruption. Yet, it’s the small things that lead to more decisions, more calculations, and overall, more mental and emotional energy expenditure that you may often acknowledge. It’s when someone in the household wakes up sick. It's when someone who goes to school healthy gets sent home because they’re sick. It’s the days where weather disrupts - snow, heat, ice, hurricanes, etc. It’s the half days where no lunch is served, and you have to figure out driving, work, and feeding everyone. Let alone if you have children at multiple, different schools. (I see you. I have three.)
We all miss predictability when it’s gone. Our brains thrive with order and structure – which is why the organizing and productivity industry exists, yet we don’t often realize how much. So now I’ll invite you to consider how you can bring or add more familiarity and ease to your days. Think about your work schedule or school schedule. For me, I choose to create structure and predictability from the thought, “Let me prepare as much as possible, then expect occasional disruptions.” I sit down for 30 minutes when the annual school calendar is released, and I enter each date into our shared family calendar. That way my kids and husband know when school is in session, when it’s a half day, and when it’s a vacation day. You’re also welcome to plan month-by-month or term by term. Do what makes sense for your brain. The goal is to try to prevent feeling like you have to play “catch up” or thinking you’re behind. You’re more organized than you think, so you’re always exactly right where you need to be.
Next, choose to adopt an identity of always being in control of your schedule. Being in control doesn’t mean you can prevent disruptions. Being in control means that you trust that you can adapt or give yourself grace to decide what’s best when a disruption occurs. This preparation may include having a “Plan B” for the most common scenarios. Talk with your partner or a trusted someone to divide up responsibilities for if and when a glitch occurs. Identify month-by-month who will be the default parent that’s in charge of solving for out-of-the-ordinary moments. Build in transition time – for example an extra day – for vacations and breaks so that you can return to the space of predictability before heading back to work.
The second reason that predictability benefits your mindset is that your brain loves when items are in the same place. Specifically, when organizing, this is where the word “zone” comes into play. Sure, professional organizers would love to distribute bins and labels to the entire planet so that every single item had a home or a resting place. Yet not everything needs a bin. Items (and your brain) DO benefit from having a zone. A zone is an area for items that you determine are in the same category or are for the same purpose or activity. Let’s look at some zones you may already have – a zone for shoes (that may be the garage, the entryway, or your closet), a zone for storage items (that may be the garage, attic, or basement). Your brain knows where to find shoes and it knows where to find the items you’re saving for later. The same goes for your daily essentials like your wallet, credit card, or keys. Aim for creating zones for frequently used items.
Predictability benefits your brain because the least amount of search and find it must do, the better. Remember, your brain is always predicting based on what evidence it’s gathered from the past. It’s cataloging where an item was placed or where it can typically find something. If neurodiversity is prominent in your home, you’ll want to plan first for how easy it is to return items to their zone or home location. If you’re neurotypical, you’ll want to plan first for how easy it is to retrieve. I’ll say that again: neurodiverse equals ease of return, neurotypical equals ease of retrieval. When items are in the same place most of the time, you save mental energy, and you’ll have to tidy less.
You may find yourself spinning in circles if they aren’t. Think about your last visit to the grocery store. If you’re like me, you have a couple of markets you shop at each month. Therefore, whether you’ve recognized it or not, you’ve developed a predictable approach to shopping. You grab your cart, and you shop in the same order of aisles each visit. If you have particular items on your list, you enter the store with a mental note of where you can find those items. Let’s say the store stops selling your favorite brand, or they’ve moved it to a different shelf or section. That minor disruption will likely have you spinning in circles or having to search. Let’s say you visit the same brand grocery store in a different town. You automatically assume the layout will be exactly the same, that it will carry the same brands, and that the items you’re looking for will be in the same place. When you discover that the layout is different, you have to work harder and spend more time to find what you need.
This is why embracing an organized life matters. It’s about the tiniest of details within your home and day, and by increasing predictability throughout your day, you’ll steadily let go of mental clutter. Start by creating zones for high use items AND teach those you live with about the concept. Don’t hesitate to solicit their input. Ask them what makes sense to their brain and listen for the feedback. I know we all like to think our way is the right way, however, you’re more likely to get others on board with a zone or a system if you’re all on the same page or level of understanding. In our household, we actually give everyone permission to kindly point out if another member didn’t return an item to its home. Everyone’s brain loves knowing that the scissors will always be in the cup holder and by doing so, we’re supporting one another’s mental load.
To recap, predictability benefits your overall mental wellbeing. When things are familiar, easy, and expected, your brain can relax. When items are always in the same place, your brain can relax.
The third reason that predictability benefits your mindset is that your brain loves when it knows what’s next. If the intro music for this podcast started playing right now, you’d immediately question where you were in space and time. You’d be confused and possibly disoriented. It’s how I imagine my mom experiences the world living with dementia – her brain loops back to the same thought or skips a beat in time. What’s next for her is always being reset or appearing out of the blue.
Think back to the early days of the pandemic. The whole world was disoriented and confused because no human could predict what was next. Each community sector had to take in data, evaluate it, then decide what made sense for the time being. Schools, workplaces, public transportation, friendship protocols – we couldn’t rely on our standard habits of interactions because no one knew what came next. Only now are we re-establishing norms because the health climate has become more predictable.
I like to think the fewer random kinks in the matrix the better. I have clients who resist putting firm plans on their schedules. They think it’s restrictive to creativity or their most productive selves. That’s perfectly okay, and it’s my job to find solutions that make sense and align with the results you want to create. One way you might do this is by defining WHEN it’s time to work and the TYPE of work that makes sense in that block – deeper thought work or shallow quick work. Then there’s predictability. Your brain knows what’s next; it’s time to work. Yet, the flexibility comes in with the specific task. You may have a list of things you’d like to accomplish and tap into your intuition or creativity before the work block to see exactly what lights you up for that work session.
You have the ability to make “what’s next” more predictable. Reference tasks where you already have the step-by-step process in place, like the order of doing the dishes or laundry, to make other mundane tasks, like paperwork, more predictable. The reason something like paperwork may currently be challenging is that you’re caught up not always knowing the next step. Your brain would love to tell you that you’re stuck rather than do the work to figure out what’s next. If you’re spring cleaning or beginning a decluttering project, I invite you to listen back to Episode 08 on “How to Plan Your Project” for how to set yourself up for success by figuring out what’s next in advance of starting.
Another way to make “what’s next” more predictable is to use visual or auditory cues to tell you. I love using alarms and timers. They help me know exactly when it’s time to stop what I’m doing and switch to the next thing. When the alert happens, I know that I need to check in with myself or my schedule and move on to the next thing – even if the time block ahead is free. I can lean into the fact that nothing is planned on purpose, and that I get to do whatever I fancy. I also check my schedule throughout the day. It’s my visual reminder of what’s next. In the mornings I’ll look through my day to help myself understand and predict what the day will look like. I repeat this process at the end of the day. I also look at the calendar for the next week and review the week as a whole. I do it frequently enough that it doesn’t take very long. I’m actively imprinting what’s next by spending time imagining it. The more you do it, the more your brain will find ease in the predictability.
So, that’s what I’ve got for you today. Give yourself credit for all the moments of predictability that naturally built into your day and consider taking it a step further. It’s another strategy to release mental clutter. I look forward to chatting with you next week… you can count on it. Talk to y’all then.
Outro: Hey, y'all, I'd be honored if you'd take three minutes to leave a review of this podcast. Your time is precious and by leaving a review, A Pleasant Solution will reach more listeners and lives. I'd also love to hear your feedback and share your review on a future episode. Talk to y'all soon and remember, you are more organized than you think.
