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The Tidy Mindset

Maidenhead mum Amy Reid believes in paring down the number of possessions you own to bring peace, clarity and simplicity to your life. A day dedicated to de-cluttering transformed her life and so she's gone on to set up her new business. The Tidy Mindset helps people tune into their emotional connection with their home and possessions,
and uses that to decide what to keep and what to discard… 

Tell me about you and your family/where you live…

I live in Maidenhead with “my boys” – my husband and two young sons. My eldest son is two and my youngest is 10 months old.

 

Tell me about your new venture...

My business is called The Tidy Mindset. It’s all about helping people who may
struggle to keep tidy, feel their house has too much clutter, feel trapped in a
never-ending chore treadmill, or simply don't find that their home is actively
adding to their happiness.

   So often, we just accumulate "stuff", which doesn't add meaning or happiness
to our home, and instead causes distraction and requires joyless maintenance. 

My focus is to help people feel refreshed and uplifted after a session, with their wellbeing always front of mind. I help people tune into their emotional connection 
with their home and possessions, and use that to decide what to keep and what to discard. Having taught them this method of how to make decisions that feel right for them, I help with all the physical aspects of a decluttering project, and remove the discarded items on the day. I also offer concierge hours, where I do any ad-hoc tasks thrown up by a decluttering project, which can be done outside their home.

 

Have you always been interested in doing this? How did you get involved? 

By nature, I have an appreciation for order and have always found it easy to apply to academic and desk work, but I found that keeping my physical space tidy was always a challenge.  For decades, I concluded that I must simply be lazy. Surely keeping tidy isn't rocket science? But that didn't match up with other parts of my life – I can think of many other examples where I am really hard working.  It didn't feel very satisfactory.         On maternity leave with my first son, spending more and more time in the house, but having very little opportunity to get round to the many jobs I could see in every room, I became more and more frustrated. It was really getting me down. A friend shared an article with me, which was about the concept of "Less is More" in the
home. I was intrigued and read more and more about the concept of minimalism,
de-cluttering and paring down the number of possessions you own to bring peace, clarity and simplicity to your life. I was so inspired that I cleared my diary, sent the
baby packing and dedicated a day to de-cluttering led by my emotions. I discarded about a third of my possessions. I can honestly say that that day had a transformative effect. The sense of calm and peace was astounding, and the results have lasted. 

I couldn't stop telling friends and family about how amazing this was. Eventually,
I thought that I would love to share it more widely, and The Tidy Mindset was born.

​

What do you like about it the most? What did you do before?

Learning to read your emotions to decide what possessions you do and don't need taps into so many topical issues. Consumer culture means we are always told that we need to own more stuff, but its unfulfilling in the end. That's why younger generations are seeking experiences rather than possessions. That's why the wellbeing industry is really taking off. People want purpose and connection. An emotion-led de-cluttering project is a way of truly seeing your surroundings and finding the parts in there that  do give you meaning, and discarding the rest. It's very freeing. I love sharing that with others. Before starting this venture, I trained as a chartered accountant.


What are your goals for the future of the business?

I want the business to attend to my own and others' wellbeing. I want every customer to feel refreshed and rejuvenated in their home, and empowered to view possessions in a new light. For my own sake, working for myself allows flexibility in hours so that
I can spend some time with my children in their early years.


Who is your idol?

In relation to de-cluttering? Marie Kondo, author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying.

What's in your handbag right now?

Business phone, personal phone, notebook, pen, wallet, lipstick and (whisper it)
a Mars Bar.

 

What is your motto in life?

Commit to health, happiness, family and work. Act consciously for these every day.

Oh, and a little of what you fancy does you good – hence the Mars Bar in my handbag.

Anything else we don't know about you and should?

This year, I've really got into listening to Radio 4. I think their programmes on social issues are really interesting. My boys disagree and call it Radio Bore.

 

www.thetidymindset.com

www.facebook.com/thetidymindset

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