Simple Spring Cleaning

There is no harm in seeking out ways to manage our stress levels, especially when it comes to spring cleaning!

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Episode Transcript

Victoria B. Glass (00:00):
Welcome to the Contagious Victory's
podcast. Each week, we talkinspiration, explore
possibilities, and shareinsights from creative
perspectives. I'm Tori Blackmon,and I'm here to remind you that
your purpose in life is tocelebrate the victories because
victories are contagious. Areyou a creative soul looking for

(00:24):
inspiration? If so, I invite youto my own personal corner of the
internet, once upon a tori.com.
It's your one stop destinationfor unforgettable travel
adventures and top notch socialmedia tips to help you shine
online. Once upon a tori.com.That's once upon a tori.com.
I'll see you there. Hello,everybody.

(00:47):
And thank you for tuning in tothe Contagious Victories
podcast, a podcast for creativeChristians who need a little bit
of good news in their weeklyroutine. I've noticed lately
that people are being a littlemore cautious and careful to who
and what they are listening toand the content that they are

(01:10):
consuming and just overall whatthey are surrounding themselves
with, myself included. So I justwanna be upfront and honest that
the why behind this podcast isto uplift, encourage, inspire,
and overall just bring youcourage and victory to your
weekly routine. At the time ofthis recording, it is the 1st

(01:30):
week of March, and spring is inthe air. This morning, when I
was on my walk, I noticed a lotof flowers blooming and green
shrubbery and bushes that arestarting to fill back out again.
And I'm sure that we can allagree that spring is a lovely,
lovely time. Maybe some of us,you know, like it more than

(01:52):
others depending on ourallergies, but, overall, spring
is just a lot more free andopen, and we love spring. So
sometimes spring, though, cancome with a little bit of
overwhelm. Maybe you get thelittle bug to dive into some
spring cleaning, and that can bea little bit overwhelming. So

(02:12):
today, we're gonna be talkingabout how to reduce that
overwhelm and feel organized andon track with a few simple tips
that are gonna keep us frombecoming a stressed out mess
this spring season.
We want to, you know, do theopposite of stressful around
here at Contagious Victories. Welike to stay very clear and very

(02:34):
present, and we can't do that ifwe're being stressed out. So how
are we going to stay theopposite of stressful this
spring? Well, I have some tipsfor you coming right up, so
don't go anywhere. Today, we'retalking spring cleaning and how
to free up our mind space, ouractual space, and our digital

(02:58):
space so that we can spend ourprecious time avoiding stressful
overwhelm and doing the thingsthat we absolutely love to do.
Are you ready to spring clean?Let's kick it off with a few
housekeeping tips on how toclean up our actual space. In
her book, "Talking Dirty withthe Queen of Clean", Linda Cobb

(03:23):
provides fantastic, fast, andfoolproof tips for cleaning the
house in a flash. Now I'm notgonna talk about a bunch of
house cleaning tips. That's notwhat we're getting into today.
But I do know that as creatives,we tend to use a lot of
technology. So I thought that Iwould share a few of her tips on
how to clean and disinfect ourtechnology. Let's start with our

(03:47):
cell phones. Now I bet this isone you haven't ever heard of.
Apply Listerine mouthwash with asoft cotton pad or rag.
Don't rinse it off. Just let itsit for a second, and it will
disinfect your cell phone. Thisis great advice to use for your
offices too if you havetelephone receivers in your

(04:08):
office, especially during thespring right now when our
allergies are picking up becauseof pollen and stuff. So
remember, just apply a littleListerine, and that's a little
life hack on how you can keepyour telephones and cell phones
clean this spring. When it comesto computers, you can dust
between the keys of yourkeyboard with a little cotton

(04:28):
swab or a vacuum cleaner with adust brush on your vacuum.
A natural solution to cleaningyour keyboard is to mix 1 part
water and 1 part alcohol, andthen apply it to a little cotton
swab, and just get in betweenthe nooks and crannies of your
keyboard. That's like a goodlittle life hack, especially if
you don't have one of the littleplastic keyboard covers. Chances

(04:51):
are there's some dust or somelittle crumbs in between there,
and you don't want that gettingin the way of your workspace.
Now always remember to unplugyour electronic equipment before
you clean it. That's a big onethat you wanna make sure you
remember.
Be sure not to overwet thecotton swab. You don't want it
to get too wet in there. Anotherthing that I learned from Linda

(05:12):
Cobb's book, "Talking Dirty withthe Queen of Clean", is that
most people associate clean withwhat they smell. And now that I
think about it, yeah, Idefinitely want everything to
smell clean. You can make yourown air freshener using 1 cup of
baking soda, a half a cup ofclear ammonia, and 1 tablespoon
of any scented oil or extractsthat you like.

(05:35):
I love using my doTERRA oils,and the other day, I used my
abode scent. And Dylan walked inthe room, and he said that it
smelled so fresh in there andthat it smelled like home.
Whatever home would smell likeis what he said, which I thought
was really cute. So if you'reinterested in the doTERRA
essential oil products, I'lllink it in the show notes, but

(05:56):
that's what I would be using tomake this at home air freshener.
You would slowly add all ofthose ingredients along with 16
cups of warm water to a gallonjug, shake it really, really
well, and put it in a spraycontainer, and mist it in the
air whenever you need it.
You can also store it into agallon jug and make sure that

(06:20):
you label it so that you can useit whenever you need to refill
your spray bottle. What a greatlittle spring cleaning tip.
Whenever I make my own airfreshener, I'm gonna post about
it on my Instagram stories. Sobe sure to follow me on
Instagram at once upon a_tori soyou can check out that little
adventure whenever that happens.Now that our space is feeling

(06:48):
and smelling fresh, it's time totidy up our digital sphere.
This is not a single one anddone task, so be sure to
schedule some space to do this.In my own personal experience, I
learned that a digital tidy uptook, like, a few days. So be
prepared to schedule anafternoon to just, you know, get

(07:09):
down to it. The first step I'mgonna recommend you do is to
head over to your email inbox.Now if you are a normal person,
you probably have an email or 2that is unread waiting for you
to read in your inbox.
Maybe 10 or 20 if you havemultiple inboxes. Anything over
that needs attention, and thatis what this time is for. Once

(07:31):
you take care of the inbox,clear out any unsent messages
that are still hanging out inyour drafts folder, along with
anything that might be starredor saved that is no longer
relevant. After we clean up theemail folders, the next task is
to unsubscribe from mailinglists that we no longer want
emails from. You know thatapparel company that you bought

(07:53):
one t shirt from who now reachesout to you more than your
biological family members?
Gut check and unsubscribe. Thisis how we clear out space for
new people to reach us by way ofour email inbox. The last thing
that I recommend you do thisspring that will certainly make
your life easier as a creativeperson is to gather up all of

(08:16):
your passwords and put them inone notebook. Of course, I don't
recommend that you label thisnotebook secret passwords keep
out. But, you know, you havethem all in one place so that
they aren't stored on ourdevices, but they are kept safe
for us to refer back to when weneed them in the future.
The key here is to develop aroutine of writing down our new

(08:39):
passwords and login informationwhen we create new accounts. If
we can get into a pattern ofthis right now in March, early
on in the year, can you justimagine how much time and hassle
that this is gonna save usthroughout the rest of the year?
Just go ahead and just do it.Okay? I promise you from, like,
my own personal experience,getting more organized with all

(08:59):
of your passwords and accountinformation will save you so
much time and brain space.
Speaking of brain space, I havea few more spring cleaning tips
for you, and my next set ofrecommendations has to do with
mental health. So we're gonnadiscuss that in just a second.

(09:26):
Alright. So the final springcleaning thing that we are going
to talk about today is how tofree up our mental space. Now I
am a big doer, always doingsomething, but I also know that
we are called to rest as well.
We have to have mental space,and there will be days when our

(09:47):
minds are full to the max. But,you know, Mark 6:31 tells us, He
said unto them, come yeyourselves apart and rest a
while. It's understandable toalways want to be included in
something big and exciting, butHe calls us back, back to the
simplicity of the faith, back toJesus Christ and His unchanging

(10:10):
person. God created us in hisimage. When we trust in him and
put it in his hands, we reallycan have courage and clear our
minds and our hearts of any kindof fear.
He is unchanging. Jesus Christis the same yesterday and today
and forever. God is ever livingand never changing, and when we

(10:31):
focus on him, it really doesfree up our mental space. So my
genuine advice in those momentsof high stress when our mental
capacity has reached itsabsolute fullest is give it to
Him. Focus on upliftingscriptures, listen to some good
worship music.
Remember you are amazing, youare capable, you were chosen,
you were created, you are alwaysloved. You were enough. You're

(10:54):
strong. You're never alone, andyou are victorious. Remember to
be cautious and careful of whatyou're filling up your cup with,
and I bet that you'll haveclarity all spring season long.
Let's keep showing up, followingthrough, and staying accountable
to each other so that we canremain organized and on track
for all of 2024. Thank you somuch for listening to the

(11:16):
Contagious Victories podcast. Ifyou enjoyed this episode, be
sure to subscribe to the show onApple Podcast, Spotify, or
wherever you listen toContagious Victories. Thank you
for tuning in today, and I'llcatch you over in the Contagious
Victories Community on Facebook.If you haven't joined us over
there, we would love to haveyou.

(11:37):
I'll talk to you later. Bye.Thanks for joining us for this
week's episode of the ContagiousVictories podcast. If the show
inspired you to hear your ownvictory story, I'm here to tell
you the world deserves to hearit. Submit it to me online at
ToriBlackmon.com

(11:58):
Review and subscribe if thatfeels right. Telling your friend
about the show helps contain hisvictories to grow. Plus, we all
appreciate a little sunshine.I'm Tori B. Thanks for
listening.
I'll catch you soon.