Episode 189
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You are listening to episode 189 of the Peaceful Mind Podcast.
Welcome to the Peaceful Mind Podcast, a place for creating the peace of mind. You need to be the best mom. You are created by God to be. If you wanna bring more balance, more joy, and more peace to your motherhood, this is the place for you. I'm your host, certified life coach at Catholic Mom Danielle Thienel
in the name of the father of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Let's get started.
Hi everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. Today I have another special guest and we are gonna be talking about the topic of organization, which I absolutely love. You know that this podcast, I'm all about helping you. Mamas have more peace of mind in your life, and I know a lot of us out there. Are not feeling peace when it comes to the clutter that we have in our lives and how our homes are.
So today we're gonna dive in to five steps to organize. Anything And so who I have with me today is Tracy Hoth. She has been a professional organizer for 15 years and helped hundreds of women simplify and organize their homes and offices. Since getting Life Coach certified in 2018, she now also combines mindset tools with practical organizing techniques to help coaches organize and streamline their businesses.
Welcome Tracy. Thank you. We're gonna talk all about organizing. I can't wait. My favorite it is, this is one of my favorite subjects. This comes naturally to me and I wanna hear your story too. Especially this 15 years part, right? Mm-hmm. I also have dabbled in organization and then of course, as you have said in this what I just read in this opener, we know this.
Important part of the mindset, which we talk all about here on the Peaceful Mind Podcast with how it combines and is a part of this organization and decluttering process. So 15 years, let's start there. Yes. When my youngest, I have four kids, and when my youngest was starting the year before kindergarten, starting preschool, I said, okay, this is what I would wanna do.
I used to rip out little, back then it was just little magazine pictures of closets. Pretty much that was all was four. Pinterest? Yes. And knew that I could help people organize. I knew, I guess it stood out the most when. Would, I would wanna go do something with the kids, with friends and they would say something like, oh, I, I need to, you know, clean my house, or I need to get caught up, or something like that.
And I would be like, what? How come? So I wanna go have fun. And so I knew I could help people organize. So I started my business. I made a website, I. Started telling people, I started helping friends in their homes get organized in their spaces and then, you know, it grew my s e o on my website was pretty good, so people found me through that in referrals.
And then I started speaking to small groups on the topic of organization and productivity and just kept going from there. Hey, so this is fascinating to me because I, I grew up in a household where my mom, she was naturally a cleaner and a organizer, and she didn't like a lot of clutter. We also lived overseas for a little bit where you like, didn't wear your shoes in your home and things like that, which she carried on when we were back here living in the States.
So this is what I, that was the environment I grew up in. So it was kind of emulated to me Was this the case for you? Or you just literally just saw like, it's something that I like to look like to do myself and I can help other people too. I'd say our home was, you know, an average home, pretty clean. My parents were pretty neat, or more minimal I guess.
There were some things my mom did where I would've wanted it maybe more picked up or more neater or whatever. But I'd say my house was very nice, you know, growing up and she did a lot of the work. And then from there, yeah, I just. Loved, I loved teaching and I loved minimal spaces because it made it easier.
Yes, for people, it made it easier for me. I'm like, how can I keep my counters cleared off or my living room picked up? How is it easier for me? And I'm like, I just don't have that much stuff. I really don't. There's not a lot of knick-knacks and and decor things. There's not a lot of surfaces, I guess. And so it's easier for me to.
Keep it picked up. So, and it really is the minimal part of it. And I see that in people's houses. Like they might love purses and have 50 purses. Well, I have three. Oh, and I just thought too, I'm that purse person. I'm not a shoe person, but I'm definitely that purse person. Yeah. So it could be a variety of things, but if you're like that in a lot of areas, Then there's just more to manage, which isn't a problem.
I'm not saying that it's better to have less stuff. It's just easier to stay organized and to keep your space cleaned up if you have less things. Okay. One of the takeaways that I just got from that, like back and forth with my kind of experience in your experience is mm-hmm. So it was. Stimulated to me and I chose, I, I carried that on naturally.
And then it maybe it wasn't so much for you, but you still could become an organized person. So that's what I want, like my listeners to know that this is something that we don't have to be born or to be shown to become more organized. Would you agree with that? Yes, and I think it's a skill for sure, and I also think you have like a clutter tolerance where you are able to function and it doesn't really matter what your surroundings are.
And if you notice that and you notice your clutter tolerance is high, like you, it doesn't bother you. Which there's lots of people that it just doesn't bother them. It's fine. If you want to change that though, then there's some work to do. Around that. Okay. So speaking of, let's dive into that because my listeners are busy moms, that we are juggling a lot of things and you know, depending on when this This episode airs right, right now, in real time we are getting ready for back to school time.
And I know that even myself included, I'm about to take my daughters off to college in the next two weeks. And of course there's that part of me where I'm like, oh, I'm gonna miss 'em. It's so much fun to have 'em around. And then there's that other part that's like, oh, okay. When they go, I finally can clean out everything, get back organized, get everything so that the, you know, counters are cleaned off and you know.
Right. And I know a lot of. Moms are in that position right now, but we can be overwhelmed by it all. If someone is thinking, I haven't gotten to organize my house, or My house is like, everything's cluttered up, or from the summer with kids being home. With this idea, if someone is feeling overwhelmed, where do you help people start?
Because I know that that's a question like, okay, I know that I want this. I'm overwhelmed thinking about how much there is to do. I don't even know where to start. And so that's where I just wanna, I know that that's going on in their minds. And so how would you address that? Mm-hmm. I use the five steps to organize anything.
Especially when you're overwhelmed. So you're overwhelmed and you're thinking, I have so much. First look at your thought. Like the thought I have so much. There's so much to do. I don't know where to start. All those thoughts are in there. So obviously you're feeling overwhelmed because of the thoughts, not because of how much stuff you have, not because of what it looks like or not because of your schedule.
It's because of those thoughts. So from a coaching perspective, of course, it's the thoughts that we're thinking. So take a look at those thoughts, get 'em out of your head, write 'em down. But then from a practical perspective, you're the first step is to sort. So I want you to go through your home, go through what's in your mind, meaning you know that you're thinking there's a lot to do.
Get a notepad and just write all the things that you wanna do down on the notepad maybe. And don't put, and I always laugh, don't put. Main floor. Whole house, right? Or basement upstairs. Yeah. I mean, really walk through and break it down. The kitchen counters. I wanna clear off. I need to go through the living room bookshelf, the surfaces in the living room.
I need to, you know, whatever it is. Like really try to break it down and as you're walking around, just look at it and get all the things that are overwhelming you down onto a piece of paper that's. Really the first step to organizing is to sort, so you're sorting all the things in your mind out onto paper.
And I know what, sorry, I, I know what you, this happens. Before I really understood the, the, the steps to help you organize, you wanna just jump into action If you've decided, yep, today I am gonna organize or I wanna get this done. Mm-hmm. But what you're saying here to sort takes, it might take what? Five whole minutes for you to get a piece of paper and a pen and do what we call here on the podcast, the thought download.
Yes. And really get it out of your head and onto paper. But yet our brain will try and say that that's like, like a way, like a waste of time that you wanna hurry up and get going. It's kind of like when you just wanna paint something but you want, don't wanna take the time to like sand it or prime it. Oh yes.
Uhhuh. But that is what makes it ultimately last longer. And Be like, you know, the result that you want. Yes. So yes, first step is sort. Okay. Yes. And write that down as an appointment. Like don't even do it right now. Mm-hmm. Just write it down as an appointment because this is you organizing. That's part of it.
And you're gonna make an appointment tomorrow at one to sit down with a notepad or walk, stand up and walk through your home and just write down the things that you wanna do. Okay. Love it. Okay. So now we've sorted. The next step is purge. So just in the sense of the project and the overwhelm of what you wanna get done.
We're just looking at that right now. So you're looking at your piece of paper and you're purging. Purging. I like to think. Okay. Is there anything on there I can delegate? Can I have someone else do anything on that list? Is there anything I can delete? Literally know that I'm not gonna do that in the next year.
So I'm just deleting it off. And then is there anything I can delay? So if I'm just looking at the next month and what I wanna accomplish, or even the next week, is there anything I can delay on that list? And also, one of my favorite methods in purging is to choose your favorites. So circle the things that are your favorite things to do.
Look at the list and go, oh, I love doing that. Or, oh, that would make me feel amazing. I for sure wanna do that. Or This is the most visual thing I see, and I definitely want to work on that. So circle those things that are your favorites, and then delay, delete, or delegate. Anything else? Love that. I love the alliteration too, right?
Yeah. Help us remember. Alright, we've sorted and we've purged purge. I have no problem with, but some people do. Like do you have any, do you have any like tips right there when they're deciding whether it's something that they should let go of or not? I think mainly what do I want, what would make me or impact my life the most if I kept on this list?
Then let the other things go. And again, you can reevaluate in a month, like keep the list, but you can reevaluate and go back to that in a month. But what would affect my emotional state? What would, you know, make me the happiest or impact my time the most if I had this done? So good. Okay, sort and then purge step three and then the next step.
So now you have on your list the things that you really wanna do. The next step is to assign homes to things. And so assigning homes in this instance of looking at this overwhelming project is to get out your calendar and assign homes on your calendar. Okay, tell me more about that. The homes part? Yes.
So you're gonna look at your calendar, you see Saturday I have the morning free. I'm gonna create an appointment on my calendar that is the home that this task is gonna live in, and I'm gonna put it into that spot on my calendar. So when we talk about a physical space, you know, you would assign a home to the baking supplies in a certain cabinet.
That's its home. This task home is an appointment on your calendar. Okay, but what if that appointment says the, the garage? Which is that too, too big of a home? I would just because you're gonna feel better, I would go into the garage and separate it into portions. Into areas because yeah, you maybe could do the whole garage in a weekend or in a day, depending on your garage, and depending on the amount of help you have, and depending on your focus, if you had a professional organizer there helping you, you know, you could stay focused for, I don't know, eight hours probably, and get the whole thing done depending on what your garage looks like.
But maybe that's not, maybe you wanna. Separated into sections so you feel amazing. Like I completed the sports area, I completed the. What else is there? The automotive stuff. I finished these shelves that are in there. Yeah, I cleared the floor off. Well, I just wanna bring up something that you just said here that I think is super important.
We, you were just saying like how you break it down into little things and then once you did the one area, like if you just did the sports area, it is also having done, taken action on that little part that then has you thinking, oh, This looks good, or that wasn't so hard, or this feels amazing, or I want more.
And so I wanna see the cycle is that I know that a lot of my moms, what I talk about, they'll say something like, I'm just not motivated, right? Mm-hmm. And there is sometimes right when you, like, motivation just doesn't strike us. We have to create that motivation. But sometimes the way to do that is to just stop trying to think about it and just do a little something, which then.
Has you thinking differently and then you're getting, all of a sudden you're on a roll organizing. Yes. And I love having something completed, so you can stand there and look at it. You're like, I wanna quit, but Oh, look at that. That feels so good. That looks so good. Yeah. I can do it the whole before and after.
It can definitely be an addiction. Right. To, to to think about it. Okay. So we've sorted. Purged assigned homes, which I love that part that was, is not something and the breaking down on the calendar. Yes. And so what's next? The next step is to set limits. So if we're thinking about a physical space, you might put a basket in there to hold all the lids to your.
Tupperware or whatever. That's the, the limit that you have is that cupboard space or the drawer space. So the limit you have on your calendar is the amount of time that you're assigning to that space. So this one is kind of combined in this instance with. Assigning a home, but setting that limit means, okay, I am gonna complete this and create this result in a two hour time block.
And you of course, might not know how long it's gonna take, but I love this example of thinking about taking a test. Your professor says, okay, you have two hours to finish this test, and you go into the test. Knowing you have two hours and it doesn't matter. You take the test, you focus, you read through the questions quickly, and then maybe you jot down, if I have time, I'm gonna go back to question eight, 17 and 25.
Mm-hmm. Because you weren't sure, but you read through 'em as fast as you can, answer 'em, and then go back to what's. Maybe something you wanna spend more time on because you only have that amount of time. So setting a limit in this instance is putting a time block with an end time on your calendar with the intention of creating a certain result.
I love the test analogy. I, I just, when you just said that, it's, it, it's so true. What, where we don't see, where, how is, how does something like that setting a time limit? 'cause I know that some moms heard that and was just like, again, like, well, I don't know how long it's gonna take or what if I don't finish it?
And the, the time, like all the reasons of why that won't work, whereas your test example, it's like we've done that many times before in our life. Mm-hmm. Successfully. Mm-hmm. You know, and so how it, that translates to organizing things. I love that. And where, where my brain goes is like, oh yeah. And, and I don't even have to say it's a test.
I could maybe think of it as more like a game, like how, you know, how sometimes people say gamify something. Like, mm-hmm. Let's say you say it's gonna be three hours, but every hour af after one hour. What kind of like little reward will you give yourself? Or, or something like that. Right? Yeah. Yeah. And set a timer for every 30 minutes to keep your focus on it, or?
I always think challenge, like this is a. Yeah, that's good. Personal challenge. Yeah. But you go into it so much differently. You're not looking at something and then wandering over and thinking of the past and looking out the window. I mean, you are sitting at your desk focused, and that's what you need to do in order to, I, I guess not draw out organizing and never finishing.
I mean, I know it's a journey and you're always continuing to clear stuff out and go back to that area because things are always coming in. But you're not in that overwhelmed state continually because you've really focused and done the first layer, let's say. I always think of it like an onion. So you have a layer of.
The first layer, the first layer is the test time for two hours. You're gonna try to get rid of as much stuff as you can or go through and sort and purge and assign homes to things, and maybe you still haven't gotten the baskets or you still haven't made it look as beautiful as you want to then make another appointment for yourself.
But you really focused on that time to create a specific result. Yes. Okay. Well, so I, I just had a question that came up. I'm gonna take a note because I do wanna ask it. But I still wanna go through the, finish, the, the five steps before I circle back around. So, okay. After we set limits, step five, step five is to maintain.
And so if you've noticed, my five steps are the acronym, spasm, uhhuh, sort, purge, assign homes, set limits, and maintain. And I always thought, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard, spasm. And it's so goofy. But then I'm like, okay. But spasm is, you could think of it with your, when your muscle spasms, you kind of think, oh, I, I'm, that's the acronym for organizing.
Okay. Or. I always think of the closet that's smashed to the brimm full, like it's having a spasm 'cause it needs to get this stuff out. So I just decided I'm keeping it. I don't care if it's goofy. No, it's gonna help us remember, makes total sense to me. It's kind of like when we talk about chaos and in my thing my example, right?
Is the storm like the cyclone? Yes. And so I can see how like if you're talking about a overstuffed closet, it's just like, you know, a muscle spasm. It makes complete sense to me. Yes. I love it. So the maintain then is maintaining your organization in setting up things that you would go back to and when it reaches the limit, when it reaches.
So step four was to set limits. When it hits that limit, so your sock drawer becomes overflowing, you go back to it. That's the maintenance, that's the trigger that teaches you. Now we're going to go back and sort and purge that area again. In this instance, you have, we're looking at our schedule. You've appointed times to create results.
It's just maintaining it. It's like going in there at the end of the week and saying, okay, how did I do on that? Do I need to make any adjustments to my schedule or to this project in order to accomplish it? So as far as time and a project goes, the m. Maintenance stands for going back through it. Mm-hmm.
And just making any adjustments. The secret to maintain is to tie it to something that you already do. Right. So in this instance, it might, you already look at your calendar every Sunday night maybe, and that's when you would go back to your goal in your project of organizing this certain space and make any adjustments as far as maybe going through paper in the mail.
Maybe you tie that to when you brew your coffee in the morning and you get through the mail or you tie you, you, something you do every day or every year is taxes. So maybe you tie going through your file cabinet and clearing out your files to doing taxes every year with kids. It comes naturally to, to do seasons like school year, at the beginning of the school year, maybe at the end of the school year, maybe before.
January starts, semester starts again, and you go through their closets. 'cause it's a seasonal thing that that makes sense. So it's kind of thinking through what do I do already and how can I tie maintaining to that. I love that you just, and being able to see right now what you haven't maintained, because I know that some of the questions that moms will have is that, yeah, like I get all organized, but then it just goes right back to that way.
Especially that, that's the note I wanted to say when they're saying like, I clean up and then the kids just mess it right up. Mm-hmm. But this tying to, to me, I feel like. Is the key to that, that whole maintain. When you were telling me that, I was like, oh, where do I, do I already do that already? Like what do I do?
Two things came into my mind. One, it was when I put away laundry, like, let's just say like my husband's socks. You know, like I can tell that. They become like undone in the drawer, you know, as the week goes on, as he's pulled one out, like it messes up the other. So every time I go to put the socks back in, I take a second to reorganize, you know, put the grays together, the browns together.
And then the second thing we tie is that when it's the change of time, what is that? Daylight savings. Oh yeah. We flip mattresses. Oh. And I'm telling you, I like, I didn't. Like it was just something we decided, like, how are we gonna remember to do that? Like, because we'd always say, have we done it in the last, you know, six months or whatever.
But that just came up as an example. That's exactly, yeah. Yeah. But I love this idea because I think that maintenance is now in order to maintenance, you just have to remember right. To go back and to check up on yourself. And so taking your thoughts and, and tying it together, like you said, I think that's brilliant.
It's a whole new way to think about maintaining, I think. Well, first of all, great job putting your husband's socks away. I'm like, I set mine on the bed and he has to put 'em away himself. He's like, can't you put these away? But yes, and of course we're not gonna remember. Well, you sound like you do, but set reminders.
Put reminders up. If it's a new thing you're trying to maintain, put sticky note on your coffee machine to remember to do it. Put a reminder in your phone for two months from now, whatever it is, like don't think that you're gonna remember, especially in the beginning. Yeah. And then I was gonna say something else about maintaining, oh, the other thing, an example.
Another example of maintaining is bringing groceries home, and a client just asked me this. She's like, when do you clean your fridge out? Of course I clean it out when the trash is gonna come. So we check in there to see, 'cause we don't want it sitting in the trash all week and stinking. Mm-hmm. So if there's anything in there we need to get rid of.
But then when I go grocery shopping, I always try to wipe the fridge out before I put food back in it. Love it. And so two, two things that seem natural to me, but there's triggers to help me maintain 'em. Might not be natural to someone else. Yes. 'cause they haven't thought through that. Okay, so will you just just recap the five steps to organizing anything with what they are with just a little bit of a summary for each one.
Mm-hmm. Sort always start with sorting and there's a great example. If I started by saying, do you want to get rid of this humidifier? The person would be like no, that's my humidifier. We use that. But when I helped a client clear out their storage room and they had five humidifiers once we sorted, so sorting helps you see what you have and just sort into categories as you pull stuff out.
Then purge. Okay, purge. So go through each category now that you've sorted them and purge. So choose your favorites. That's my favorite method to choose your favorites. And then after you have what you use and love, then look at those things and say, what can I let go of and really hear? If you believed that you would have everything you needed, and this is from a faith perspective, I trust that God is gonna provide everything I need when I need it.
How can I be a good steward and bless someone else? Mm-hmm. So in the purging stage with the things that you own, really think about it. If I'm not using this, I could be a blessing to someone else. And if I trusted that I have everything I need in the future, I wouldn't have to keep it just in case I could let it go.
Let someone else use it and trust that God's gonna provide it when I need it, and see the blessing that he does. I love that so much. I, when I think of so I love, purging is not one of my obstacles. Uhhuh. I love to get rid of, make space, but I also do think that I, sometimes I visualize like, like if I've even like purged a maybe a shirt that I, I know that I can think of right now.
A dress that I had that still had the tag on it. Mm-hmm. And I visualize, like I definitely take mine off to Goodwill and you know, do the donation center. I visualize the person who finds it in the store and is like, yes. Oh my gosh. Like it's brand new and tag. And I love it. And I sometimes do that just to that is awesome.
Help me get rid of it. Yeah. Yeah. And even one of my clients had the obstacle that she didn't wanna give it to somewhere like Goodwill, because people come there to buy stuff to sell. Right. And I was like, let's think through that. I mean, someone is making a living and providing for their family by finding your things at Goodwill, spending the time to search for it, and then find it, and then list it and then sell it.
And it's providing for their family. It's such a beautiful thing, no matter if they're going there and finding it for themself or finding it for their business. So good. Okay. Sort and then courage. And then assign homes. Think logically, like how does it make sense? What do I use the most and how can I make it most accessible?
Where would I think to look for this item? So my sister had, we, we were clearing off her dresser and there was a flashlight and she said, oh, I would think next to my dresser, but next to her dresser, she already had a flashlight and next to her husband's side of the dresser already had a flashlight. So I'm like, okay, when else do you use flashlights?
And she goes, When we camp and I said, perfect. Where's your camping supplies? Let's put it next to your camping supplies. And if there's more than one, we can put a little tub and label it and put flashlights next to camping. And so think in your mind, where would you think to look for this item ideally, and then go put it in that, make that its home.
Okay. So if you didn't have it and you wanted it, where would you. Want to go find it. Yes. Where would you want it to be? Yes. Where would you think to go? Look? And then you can also think, where do I want it to be? Because they, the two of them might be different. You'd be like, yeah, I think on my table. Yeah, but you don't want it on your table.
So then where, where do you want it to be? Yeah. Okay. And so assign homes and then set limits, and this is the step that everyone goes to, to go buy containers. And they think if they had a new planner and they think if they, I just go get some new tubs, then I will get organized. Don't do it. Don't be tempted walking in the container store or the aisle in target.
That's all beautiful with containers. Don't do anything until you get to step four. Don't buy anything because now you know where the home is gonna be. You can measure it, you know exactly what you need, and then you can go find it if you then want to. And I always say, shop your house first. See, do I have a box I could try using until I need and want to go purchase a plastic tub or a basket or something?
So Setting limits. Could be a shelf, a size of a shelf. It could be drawer dividers, it could be baskets or tubs or anything that is gonna put a limit on the space that you're allowing for this item to take up. So good? Okay. And then maintain. Lot of people wanna buy stuff first and then start, but I love your recommendation, right?
You don't wanna buy things until step four, and the first place you wanna buy stuff is your own home. I love it. Okay. Yeah, because you'll not believe how many people have so many containers and so many new things that they thought would help them. And as we're sorting, we're emptying all those things out.
And now we have a giant pile of. Containers. Right. So don't do it. I shopped my own home recently. 'cause my daughter, she's going to her first apartment in her second year of college. And you know when you start and you need all those, you know, spatula, colander like things, I'm like, let's shop my kitchen first because I probably have a multiple, but if I don't, then you get the used one and I will get the new one.
That's awesome. I hadn't even thought of that. Yep. And then the final step is to maintain. So tie it to something you do, and I love that it always takes maintaining just like a garden. You have to maintain it. Just like our health and our weight. We have to maintain it. I mean, everything takes maintenance, especially organizing when you're bringing things into your home consistently.
So those, I love those five steps. Thank you so much. I want to, at least as we wrap up this interview, of course we know both of us are coaches and we wanna know we, we truly believe and can see how it's, what's happening on the inside. First is where we wanna start. We'll reflect on the outside, and that works the same thing with organization, right?
So if somebody is like, You know, I, I guess I wanna focus on helping somebody have more peace of mind. And so that's where I wanna focus on for a minute. What are those thoughts? Because it's easy for you and I who this becomes more natural to what let's kind of shed light on what someone out there who's struggling to organize.
What are some of those thoughts that we see are what's keeping them from just taking any action? So it's, it's kind of like, what are the thoughts? We know if you were already organized or this came naturally to you, what would you be thinking? And let's highlight a little bit of the thoughts we know that are keeping that are keeping moms stuck out there.
Yes, I have the perfect example. I just did this coaching my client online, we coach online. Mm-hmm. So I'm not in her home helping her, but her thought was, I don't finish things. Ooh, I'm scatterbrained and I don't finish things. And we were talking and I said, okay, let's think of something you do finish.
She was like, can't think of anything. I was like, I've only known you for two weeks and I already have a list of three things. You finished. One of 'em is you finished planning your vacation, you went on vacation, had an amazing time and came back. I. So you finished that, you planned your vacation, you packed for your vacation, and you left on it.
And then what were, I don't know what the other two things were. Oh, hiring a coach. She finished it. She went and found and hired a coach and so she was like, oh yeah. And then she's like, I things for other people that I commit to all the time. And so I said, okay, so if you committed to doing this, You, you could finish because you finish a lot of things and it changed everything for her.
She went into that and was like, huh, I'm a finisher. And it was all So one switch inside. One switch, right? Yes. So I love that. Are you someone who's listening to this podcast right now who think I don't finish things or especially like it's some form of I never finish what I start, or I start out all excited and enthusiastic and then I like, you know, kind of wanes off or I get distracted.
Those are the type of thinking that's gonna keep you from organizing. So I know just kind of what comes to mind for me when I worked with people before, it's that I'm not good at it. Mm-hmm. Or there's just too much. I don't know where to start. It's just gonna get messed up anyway. My family's not in it.
I have a D h D and can't concentrate like all of those things. Yeah. So I, I just wanna invite an offer today to think about that. How do you, right now, what are you thinking about organized? Are you thinking that it's hard, that it's complicated, that it's too much, that you don't know where to start first, kind of like reveal that and then let me give you permission today to.
Know that there are other options out there. So other options. Tracy kind of, you know, let's brainstorm a little bit to help them. 'cause I'm always like, if you wanna borrow these thoughts and start thinking them yourself, mm, go for it. Mm-hmm. You have my permission. I just wanna say that my favorite one is to, that you can just start anywhere.
You don't have to even have a big plan. Mm-hmm. Just pick something and go a drawer. Right. One cabinet your car. Yes. I also like, I'm not gonna stop until I finish. Ooh, so good. And then when you said that I love when it, when it's like, you know, it, the whole breaking it down. Like I just have to do one thing because then just doing one thing might make you feel accomplished and then you're like, okay, well that wasn't as hard.
Now what? Yes. Or it can be easy or I can throw away five things. I know exactly what to do. You have the five steps right there. One of my clients, hers was, I have a plan now. She got so excited because before it's like she didn't know. I don't know what to do. I don't know where to start. I have a plan. I.
Yes, that was big. And, and also, I wanna remind you, you don't have to start out thinking that the plan's gonna be perfect and it's gonna go, oh, right, like step-by-step, smooth, right? It could be, it, it, it's like, and on your way to organize can get messy. In fact, it often does, right? You take out all the clothes of the closet and it's a big mess.
But then that's how you can then step into your steps of sorting, purging. Assigning. Yeah. Another one that she was doing paper, the client was doing paper and she, I said, can you do like five pieces a day? Do you think that's okay? And she's like, oh, for sure I can do five things. That became a motto for her, and later she walked for five minutes a day.
She's like, I can do five minutes, I can do five things. And she used that in so many different areas of her life. It was so exciting and really sorting. You just need to sort five things. I love it. I love it. So just notice, I just wanted to hone in on the end that it just takes, and hopefully we've offered you something today.
It just takes a shift in your mind. Find something that feels good to you about organizing what you can start today. You've offered many things. You, you have the plan, you have these five steps now. Mm-hmm. And then, Anytime in the future, if you want to organize your physical space, you wanna organize your calendar, you have a project, your mind, then you can follow these amazing five steps.
Thank you so much for those, Tracy. The other thing to add to that is when you are making your list of all this stuff in your, in your mind, you're thinking, there's so much to do. I have so much. This will never end. I want you to pick the one thing you're gonna work on, like the one little project you're gonna work on and erase everything else.
I always picture it in my mind, like I have a piece of paper with all the things listed and I'm gonna take another piece of paper. I'm gonna cut out a little circle around the one project I'm working on and I'm gonna lay it on top of the other one. So now the only thing I see is that one project, it's like you don't have so much to do.
You have one project you're working on, you have one space you're gonna organize. Yes, nothing else. And that helps because the way that we, we teach on here in this podcast and let you know, is that the brain like loves a focus. It loves to focus on one thing. And so that was an excellent reminder again, thank you Tracy.
So is there, like, what can, what can one of my clients say? They're like, okay, if you just say one action that they can take today, what would you like them to do? Decide. Decide on one area that they're gonna focus on. I love it. And then you have, do you have something to share with my listeners? Yes. I have a quick start guide to getting Organized for life and it'll walk you through Exactly.
I. The steps, but also how to start and what to look at so they can get that in the link in the show notes. Thank you so much. Yes, that is I, we appreciate that. And again, five steps to organize anything. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. It was so helpful. And I always love to talk about anything organizing and as Tracy just mentioned her her freebie guide will be available for you in the link in the show notes.
Thank you, Tracy. Thank you for having me. It's so fun to talk to another coach and person who loves organizing. That's right. Okay, everyone, thanks so much for being here. I appreciate you all and I will talk to you again next week. Thank you for tuning in to today's episode of The Peaceful Mind Podcast.
Are you ready to take everything I teach you here and put it to work for your own life? To really learn how to have peace of mind no matter what is happening around you. If so, I'd love to have you as a client, as your coach. This is where you'll get personal and focus time on your own mind, using life coaching tools, concepts, and proven life, transforming wisdom, all through a faith-filled lens.
To learn more about how we can work together, come on over to daniellethienel.com there you'll see how to sign up for a free coaching consult and learn how to get started. Until next time, peace be with you always.
