Do you ever feel like you're drowning in clutter or wasting time hunting for files you know you saved somewhere?
If you’re a working woman constantly juggling life, business, and family while feeling buried under chaos—this conversation with organization expert Tracy Hoth is your lifeline. You'll discover how clutter (physical or digital) might be stealing your time and sanity, and what you can do today to finally take control.
In this episode, you will:
- Learn a 5-step method to get organized in a way that actually sticks—whether it's your home, inbox, or business.
- Discover the mindset shift that makes decluttering feel empowering instead of overwhelming.
- Find out how to create lasting systems that save you time, reduce stress, and make everything easier to find.
Press play now and start organizing your life with simple steps that even self-proclaimed “messy people” can follow and love.
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Life can be overwhelming, but on this podcast, you'll discover practical strategies to overcome overwhelm, imposter syndrome, and negative self-talk, manage time effectively, set boundaries, and stay productive in high-stress jobs—all while learning how to say no and prioritize self-care on the Overwhelmed Working Woman podcast.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Michelle Gauthier (00:00):
If my whole house is clean at the same time,
I feel like I can solve worldhunger, whatever needs to happen
.
I got this.
You're listening to OverwhelmedWorking Woman, the podcast that
helps you be more calm and moreproductive by doing less.
(00:20):
I'm your host, MichelleGauthier, a former overwhelmed
working woman and current lifecoach.
On this show, we unpack thestress and pressure that today's
working woman experiences andin each episode you'll get a
strategy to bring more calm,ease and relaxation to your life
.
(00:40):
Hello friend, I'm glad you'rehere today.
I have a great guest for youtoday Tracy Hoth.
She's a professional organizerwith 17 years of experience and
in today's conversation, she'sgoing to give us the scoop on
some simple, practical ways toget organized without the
overwhelm.
So she's going to teach you herfive-step organizing method
that works for everything fromyour closet to your digital
(01:02):
files, to even the way thatyou're thinking about things.
She's going to share thebiggest mistake people make when
trying to get organized andwhat to do instead, and how
small, daily organizing habitscan save you time and reduce
your stress every day.
So if you feel like you justweren't born with the
organization gene.
This episode will change theway you think about organizing.
(01:23):
Let's dive in.
Tracy and I were just having aside conversation before you all
joined us, before I hit recordabout how we kept circling
around each other and our nameskept coming up to each other and
we just feel like we were meantto connect.
So I'm really excited to haveyou as a guest today.
Thanks, Tracy, for being on.
Tracy Hoth (01:41):
I'm so glad to be here and it was fun.
We're from the same place.
We've lived in the same threestates.
Yes, I mean, what are?
Michelle Gauthier (01:50):
the chances of that happening so weird?
Yes, and I feel like I pitchedto be on your podcast and did
you pitch to be on mine?
I can't remember.
I think we were likesimultaneously trying to get
each other to be guests on ourpodcast.
So it's just fun.
Here we are, here we go, herewe are.
Yes, so will you tell us alittle bit about your business
and who you help, and then we'lljump into some some questions.
Tracy Hoth (02:13):
Yes, I have been helping people regular people,
anybody get organized for 17years.
I've been a professionalorganizer going into people's
homes and offices and businesses.
I've been a professionalorganizer going into people's
homes and offices and businessesand in 2017, I found life
coaching and continued workingonline and in person with people
to help them get organized, andI started a program called
(02:36):
Organized Life Academy where Ihelp people declutter.
We're on our fifth year.
We go over.
Like some years, we focus ondecluttering, some organizing,
we have book clubs, we just doall sorts of things.
This year, we're focused onroutines and decluttering
different areas of our home.
And then, about two or threeyears ago, because of my own
(02:58):
experience starting an onlinebusiness and feeling overwhelmed
with all the stuff, I startedhaving to apply like go back
literally through my five stepsand put it in place for my
online business, for all thedigital stuff and the time and
(03:18):
all of that being in a wholedifferent environment.
So I did that for myself and Ithought, oh my goodness, other
people that are not, that don'tknow the steps, that aren't
naturally organized or havenever felt like they were good
at it how in the world are theyrunning their businesses?
So now I also help peopleorganize and systemize the back
(03:39):
end of their business so theycan find everything they need in
seconds.
Okay, that's great.
Michelle Gauthier (03:46):
I bet that could probably work just for
someone's work as well.
You know, if you're justworking at a job and you can't
find anything, you don't knowwhere your files are, you're
disorganized in your process.
I bet that could help justabout anyone A hundred percent.
Tracy Hoth (03:59):
And that is so true because even my bookmarks bar,
which is one of my favoritetime-saving, the biggest return
on investment if you organizeyour bookmarks bar, your
favorites bar I learned from myson and he was just working in a
regular job and he was likelook, mom, and I said, wow, look
at that, that is amazing.
I want to do that and it hasliterally been one of my
(04:21):
favorite things.
Michelle Gauthier (04:22):
So yes, yeah, and that could work anywhere.
One of my kids has like troublestaying super organized or
really organized at all.
Like his brain just isn't madethat way.
And having that bookmarks barfor him for Google, classroom
and all the things that he needsto go to every day it sounds
like such a small thing, but ifyou could add up all the time
wasted to trying to find stuff,it's, it's amazing.
(04:45):
Yes, I listened.
I was listening to the episodeof your podcast where you talk
about like 10 things that youcould do to get organized, and
you guys should go listen tothat episode.
It was really good and, by theway, she says in there just
choose one.
You don't have to do all 10things to get organized.
But when I was listening to him, I was like this is the sister
of my heart.
(05:05):
Yes, you had some great ideas Ihadn't thought of and some that
I was like, yes, that isamazing.
I totally agree with you onthat.
So where should we start?
If you think about our audiencehere, we've got an audience of
women who are working andfeeling overwhelmed, and
something that I consistentlyhear from them is that staying
(05:27):
organized and decluttering issomething that can helps their
overwhelm continue.
So where should we start?
What kind of tips or whatshould we talk?
Tracy Hoth (05:36):
about.
I think the first place tostart that's helpful is to just
define what being organizedmeans.
Okay, Because organization justmeans that you know what you
have and you can find it whenyou need it.
Now I did listen to your episodewhere you're saying that your
dad said you have bins withinbins and they're all color coded
(05:57):
, which totally is great, andonce you get to that level, that
is perfect and it's so fun andit feels so good.
But to begin with, beingorganized just means that you
know what you have and you canfind it, and people in your
household can find it as well,so it helps to you know.
Add some labels so they knowwhere things are too.
(06:18):
But once you think of it likethat, it's not.
Like does my space compare tothe pictures I see on Instagram
and then always feeling badabout yourself.
So it doesn't have to look likethose pictures, it doesn't have
to look like anybody else.
But if you know what you haveand you can find it, then you
can feel good about it.
You have evidence that you areorganized.
Michelle Gauthier (06:40):
Yes, I love that.
That's so good.
And just last night, yesterday,we had a snow day here and I
was like I've got to get out ofthis house and so I went where
is a great time to get out ofthe house and kill time?
Marshall's and I walked aroundand I saw this cutest white like
puffer vest and I was thinkingthat would be so cute with black
leggings and a black T-shirtunder.
(07:01):
And I'm going to get it.
And I came home and I showed itto my daughter and she's like
mom, don't you remember that,like two months ago, you just
got one of those?
Like you found it on Facebookmarketplace and you were so
excited.
And I went to my closet and,sure enough, there it was.
And I was like this is a sign.
Anytime I don't remember that Ialready own something.
It's time to declutter my coatcloset, cause I did not know
(07:22):
that I had that.
I mean, I knew when shereminded me.
But and then she's like are youlosing your mind, mom?
Like not helpful, and maybebecause yes, I love that
definition because when I dofeel super organized, I have a
single of everything.
I don't have duplicates ofstuff and I know where their
(07:42):
home is and I know where to findthem.
So I love that.
That's a great definition.
So people say right now, likeif someone says to you I'm just
not organized, or I just don'thave the skills to organize, or
what, what do you say back tothat?
Do you believe that's a skillthat can be learned?
Tracy Hoth (08:00):
100 percent.
Yes, it's a skill, and I havefive steps that I've used for 17
years and they literally workwith every single thing, meaning
physical stuff, digital stuff,your mind If your mind feeling
overwhelmed, this works for that, it works for planning a
project and looking at yourcalendar.
It works for everything.
(08:22):
And so the acronym spells SPASM- very goofy and I don't know
what I was thinking when I didthis, but I've never changed it
just for that reason, becauseit's memorable.
Yes, but when your muscle has aspasm, you can go.
Think of organizing.
Yes, but the first step toorganizing is to sort, and so
(08:45):
you don't have to make anydecisions.
And that's the key to this stepis that you just begin to sort.
So, let's say, your desk isreally piled with stuff, or your
kitchen counter.
You just pick something up andput it in a category, like with
like.
So you have office supplies,you have pens, you have paper,
you have maybe a pile would beelsewhere in the house so you
(09:07):
just start sticking things inpiles and then until the space
is cleared, and then you go tothe next stage, which is to
purge.
The next step of the reason whywe sort first is so that when we
do begin to make decisions, wecan see everything that we have.
(09:29):
So one time I helped a ladysort her or organize her closet
and she, if I would have went inand pulled out a white short
sleeve t-shirt, she would havesaid like no, I wear that all
the time.
But when we sorted she had 19white short sleeve t-shirts.
But when we sorted she had 19white short-sleeved t-shirts.
And then, you see, so now shecan make decisions when.
(09:49):
If we go in there and we try tomake decisions first, it just
doesn't happen.
Michelle Gauthier (09:53):
That is such a great example, that makes so
much sense and that makes mefeel less bad about my two white
vests, because I didn't have 19, but I probably have seven
vests.
Tracy Hoth (10:07):
How many days a year can you actually wear one?
Yes, and that's a great thing,speaking of closets to pull out
all your jeans everywhere in thewhole house and then you can
purge that one pile so you don'thave to dump all your clothes
in the entire house in one spotand sort them.
You can just do jeans one day,short sleeve shirts that weekend
, and you can keep going on thatprocess and get something
(10:30):
organized in a less overwhelming, less time consuming way, where
, in the middle of it, you'restuck and you're like wait, oh,
I'm too tired now.
This is stupid.
Michelle Gauthier (10:40):
Why did I even do this Totally been there
the first time I read the lifechanging magic of tidying up
that's the thing that she saysto do is like get every single
thing out and I had it all overthe bed and then I couldn't go
to sleep and I had to push it onthe floor and it was like a two
week thing.
It was such a mess.
So I love that, just piece bypiece doing it, yeah, and when
(11:00):
you're pulling, it out.
Tracy Hoth (11:01):
sort it too, because I think that's better.
And her show?
She just put a whole pile onthe bed.
I'm like, oh my gosh, please atleast sort it when you pull it
out, so that it's in categories,yeah.
And then that next step is topurge.
So now you have everything inthat category and now you can
make decisions.
One of my favorite things is touse the favorites method, where
you choose your favorite thingout of that.
(11:23):
What pen do you use all thetime?
What style of planner do youlike?
What vest do you wear all thetime?
And then you can go to theother things and make decisions.
Michelle Gauthier (11:33):
Yes, I love that.
That's so good and it's likeshifts your mindset into what do
I want to keep, instead ofbeing so focused on what am I
giving away?
I love that.
Tracy Hoth (11:43):
And with kids especially too.
When you say, what do you wantto give away, what should we get
rid of?
Immediately, you can just feelthem shrink up like grasping for
their stuff because they thinkyou're going to get rid of it.
So it's so helpful.
I agree, yes.
Michelle Gauthier (11:56):
Kids are.
They are just built in littlehoarders and I don't understand
why when mine were little and Iwould get ready to give away
some toys, even to their cousins, I'd try to sell it like it's
just going to be at Jocelyn'shouse, you can play with it
again.
But then all of a sudden itwould be like their favorite
thing ever.
Like a broken McDonald's HappyMeal toy was like their pride
(12:16):
and joy.
So I love that.
That's such a great tip.
Okay, so we've got the S, the P, the A.
Tracy Hoth (12:23):
The A.
Now that you know what you'rekeeping, you assign homes to the
things that you're keeping, andso that's the puzzle part of it
.
Like what do you use the most?
It needs to be the mostaccessible.
What do you?
What kind?
One of the things I like to dois work in zones, and so you
would have the home for thatitem be where you use it.
(12:45):
Like maybe all the baking stuffis together near the counter
where you bake, or maybe youhave a reading zone where you
have books and stuff you want toread, and a lamp and a you know
your pens or whatever all inone spot.
So think about a zone and thenalso think about what needs to
be accessible.
When you're deciding where thehome is needs to be accessible,
(13:05):
when you're deciding where thehome is, and then the S is set
limits.
Now this is sounds like one ofyour favorite things.
This is the container step,where you go out and you find
containers for things.
So this could be a bookshelf,it could be a drawer, it could
be the drawer divider or abasket, anything that helps you
contain it or set a limit on it.
(13:27):
And I call it set limitsbecause it's going to give you
the signal that it's time to goback through the steps when the
limit is reached.
Oh, I like that, yeah, so yoursocks start overflowing the
section of the drawer and thenyou realize, ok, it's time for
me to go through those and getrid of a few.
Michelle Gauthier (13:47):
I love that.
That's such a great visual toothat you can think about it Like
if you have a little bin for Idon't know something in the
kitchen baking stuff, we have alittle bin for baking stuff and,
yeah, it needs to be it needs asecond look right now.
Tracy Hoth (14:02):
Yes, and if you have an inbox for paper and it's
overflowing, then it's yoursignal.
You need to get in there and gothrough the paper.
Go do it, I love it.
And do not buy any containersbefore you get to step four of
the organizing process, becauseyou don't know what you need,
you don't know where the home isgoing to live and what size
container you need.
And then the final step is tomaintain.
(14:24):
So, just like our gardens, ourweight, our laundry, like
everything needs maintenance,and so I like to say tie it to
something that you already do.
So tax time comes, you knowyou're going to do that.
Also, go through your filecabinet or paper wherever you
keep that, and clean it out fromthe year or seasons especially
(14:46):
with kids, seasons are a goodtime or the beginning of school,
end of school, to go throughclosets.
That kind of thing is helpful.
To tie things, tie maintenanceto stuff you already do.
Michelle Gauthier (14:59):
Okay, that's good, and I can just imagine,
thinking down the line, if youclean out your paperwork once a
year when you do your taxes,versus 10 years of not doing it,
and then how long that's goingto take.
It's like spend 10 minutes orspend four hours later on on
doing it.
Tracy Hoth (15:17):
Yes, or avoid it for 30 years.
One of my clients just said sheshe's done more in a month than
she has in 30 years.
Because I think you have a plan.
You're told OK, this is whatwe're decluttering this month,
this is what we need to work on,and then she's doing it.
It's so fun and she knows thesteps done.
Michelle Gauthier (15:43):
Yes, and I bet that really helps when you
have people in your group sothat they can celebrate and get
encouragement and share wins andall that stuff.
That's just always so, so muchmore encouraging when you're
trying to get stuff done.
Tracy Hoth (15:50):
Yes, I love it.
Michelle Gauthier (15:52):
I love your method.
It's so simple andstraightforward.
Let's now that now that theaudience kind of understands
what the steps are, will youjust take us through an example
of, say, I don't know email orsome other way that they could
apply it, and just run throughall five steps again?
Tracy Hoth (16:10):
Yeah, let's go through it with their computer.
Okay, so you get on yourcomputer and I like to think of
so there's two concepts I wouldteach with.
This is the power of one, or Icall it the wonderful one is to
decide the one location thatsomething's going to live.
And so on your computer itwould be your computer, possibly
(16:31):
, or it would be an externalhard drive or a cloud storage
You're going to decide the oneplace that everything's going to
live and then you're going to.
First step is to sort.
Now with paper or with yourschedule.
You always try to sort intocategories, so you might have
(16:52):
some categories you alreadythink of with your digital files
or with paper that you're goingto sort into.
There's files, so I think of afunnel, and when something comes
into your computer, if you havea business, you'd have a
business file.
If you have just home, it wouldbe home.
So then let's just look at thehome.
(17:12):
I have five files for businessthat I teach people.
But if people don't own abusiness, let's look at home.
What are the things that youneed in home that you would
probably have a category of?
There would be family, so Ilike to label really broad.
There would be a family file,maybe health, maybe money, and
(17:33):
so you have family, health,money, and let's see what else
you would have.
Don't make too many categoriesahead of time.
And then you just take everyfile on your computer and you
sort them into those categoriesand then you go back through
each of those and you decidewhat do I want to keep, what do
I want to get rid of?
Sometimes you want to renamesomething if it doesn't even
(17:56):
have a name, and you can gothrough then the steps you would
assign, homes to subfolderspossibly, and in that case the
limit is actually your storage.
How many people have had acomputer that isn't running
because the storage is full.
Michelle Gauthier (18:10):
They're like nope, you have too much crap on
here.
Tracy Hoth (18:14):
A lot of podcasts.
Michelle Gauthier (18:15):
You know this a lot of podcasts makes up a
lot of space on a computer.
Tracy Hoth (18:19):
Yes, so you know that's your signal to go back,
or a lot of people would justadd some more storage, but you
could go back through then andpurge and keep it nice and
cleaned up.
Michelle Gauthier (18:31):
I love that I love it.
So same concept, same could betrue for your schedule anything
really in life you could justuse those five steps, okay, so I
want to ask you the twoquestions that I ask everyone
who's a guest on this show, andI feel like you'll have some
great answers for this becauseof your line of work but tell us
one thing that you can do tomake yourself feel less
(18:54):
overwhelmed.
Tracy Hoth (18:56):
Oh, this is perfect because the first step to
anything when you're feelingoverwhelmed is to sort.
So I would sort everythingthat's in my mind and I like
doing this by putting things ona piece of paper so it might be
calls I need to make computerwork, I need to do things for my
business, I need to do homethings or family things, and
(19:19):
then thoughts as well.
Sort all that out on paper andget it out there and then follow
the organizing steps For thepurge process of those
categories.
I like to think is thereanything here I can delay?
I'm not even thinking about itthis month, or for 30 days or
for the week, or whatever.
Delay, delegate Is thereanything I can delegate?
(19:40):
Is there anything for sure Iknow I can delete?
And then, finally, what am I onhere?
Am I actually going to do?
And same with thoughts?
You can delegate those thoughtsto after 5 pm.
You do not think those untilafter 5.
Or you're going to delete thatthought or you're going to delay
that until next month, orwhatever it is you're going to
(20:01):
delete that thought, or you'regoing to delay that until next
month, or whatever.
Michelle Gauthier (20:03):
it is yes, perfect.
And then what do you end upwith at the end, like the list
of things that you really needto do and you feel clear about
it.
Is that the end result?
Tracy Hoth (20:11):
Yes, the end.
After I purge those categoriesand then I assign homes to those
, then they would go on mycalendar, the thoughts that I
want to think.
Maybe would go in my journal,or I'd put them on a spot on my
calendar, even like, make sure Igo think these thoughts and
then my piece of paper is gone,everything's assigned home and I
(20:33):
do.
Yes, my shoulders drop.
I can feel it already.
Michelle Gauthier (20:36):
Yeah, Just even talking about it Relaxed.
Yeah that's great.
And then the other questionthat I always ask is what's
something that you do in orderto do less?
Tracy Hoth (20:48):
The main thing that I love the most that I have done
to do less is to have acleaning lady come in and clean
my house.
Michelle Gauthier (20:58):
Yes, yes, clean my house.
Tracy Hoth (21:00):
Yes, yes, now purge or declutter could be part of
that, but it has.
It is the most like.
I don't know why I waited solong.
Well, probably because we wereon a really tight budget.
But it is been the biggest joyand I love her so much to have
the entire house cleaned at onetime and me never have to think
(21:22):
about cleaning again.
Michelle Gauthier (21:23):
Yes, it's amazing.
And do you feel guilty about it?
No, I'm like why?
Tracy Hoth (21:31):
Why would I feel guilty?
Michelle Gauthier (21:32):
I'm always encouraging people to outsource
things, and I find that for themto think about getting someone
to clean their home.
For some of my clients, theyfeel guilty, they feel bad about
it, they feel like they shouldbe able to do it themselves.
So I was just wondering if youstruggled with that or if, as
soon as you had the budget forit, you were like I'm doing this
(21:53):
.
I'm doing it?
Tracy Hoth (21:55):
No it is so much joy and, if you think about it,
you're giving someone else anopportunity to earn money for
their family and you have somuch time to do other things.
It's the best thing in theworld, yeah especially for
someone.
Michelle Gauthier (22:09):
I'm speaking for myself here, but I bet
you're the same way.
I have a very low tolerance forclutter and a mess, and so if
my whole house is clean, at thesame time I feel like I can
solve world hunger, whateverneeds to happen.
I got this, and so just themindset that it puts me in and
the things that I can get donewhen I know, for example, that
(22:30):
my bathroom that I can't evenkind of see from here is clean,
it's just crazy how it works.
Tracy Hoth (22:35):
I love how you said that.
I've never heard it like thatbefore.
Michelle Gauthier (22:38):
That is so good heard it like that before.
That is so good, yes, yes, okay.
So where can people find you ifthey want to learn more about
your program or anything elseabout you.
Tracy Hoth (22:50):
Yeah, my website is called simplysquaredawaycom.
That's been my business namefor 17 years, so you can go on
there.
You can find my personal coursecalled Organized Life Academy.
If you're a coach or if youhave an online business, you can
find Organized Coach Academy onthere, and then my website or
(23:11):
my podcast, the Organized Coach.
I talk a lot about businessstuff, but I also talk a lot
about personal stuff, so itoverlaps and you can learn a lot
on the podcast.
Michelle Gauthier (23:23):
Yes, it's a great podcast.
I love it.
So thank you so much forsharing.
Thank you for being on.
Thanks to the universe forbringing us together giving us
those nudges.
It was great to meet you.
Tracy Hoth (23:36):
Nice to be here, Michelle.
Thanks so much.
Thank you.
Michelle Gauthier (23:47):
Thank you.
Thank you for listening to theOverwhelmed Working Woman
podcast.
If you want to learn more aboutmy work, head over to my
website at michellegothiercom.
See you next week.
If my whole house is clean at the same time,
I feel like I can solve worldhunger, whatever needs to happen
.
I got this.
You're listening to OverwhelmedWorking Woman, the podcast that
helps you be more calm and moreproductive by doing less.
(00:20):
I'm your host, MichelleGauthier, a former overwhelmed
working woman and current lifecoach.
On this show, we unpack thestress and pressure that today's
working woman experiences andin each episode you'll get a
strategy to bring more calm,ease and relaxation to your life
.
(00:40):
Hello friend, I'm glad you'rehere today.
I have a great guest for youtoday Tracy Hoth.
She's a professional organizerwith 17 years of experience and
in today's conversation, she'sgoing to give us the scoop on
some simple, practical ways toget organized without the
overwhelm.
So she's going to teach you herfive-step organizing method
that works for everything fromyour closet to your digital
(01:02):
files, to even the way thatyou're thinking about things.
She's going to share thebiggest mistake people make when
trying to get organized andwhat to do instead, and how
small, daily organizing habitscan save you time and reduce
your stress every day.
So if you feel like you justweren't born with the
organization gene.
This episode will change theway you think about organizing.
(01:23):
Let's dive in.
Tracy and I were just having aside conversation before you all
joined us, before I hit recordabout how we kept circling
around each other and our nameskept coming up to each other and
we just feel like we were meantto connect.
So I'm really excited to haveyou as a guest today.
Thanks, Tracy, for being on.
Tracy Hoth (01:41):
I'm so glad to be here and it was fun.
We're from the same place.
We've lived in the same threestates.
Yes, I mean, what are?
Michelle Gauthier (01:50):
the chances of that happening so weird?
Yes, and I feel like I pitchedto be on your podcast and did
you pitch to be on mine?
I can't remember.
I think we were likesimultaneously trying to get
each other to be guests on ourpodcast.
So it's just fun.
Here we are, here we go, herewe are.
Yes, so will you tell us alittle bit about your business
and who you help, and then we'lljump into some some questions.
Tracy Hoth (02:13):
Yes, I have been helping people regular people,
anybody get organized for 17years.
I've been a professionalorganizer going into people's
homes and offices and businesses.
I've been a professionalorganizer going into people's
homes and offices and businessesand in 2017, I found life
coaching and continued workingonline and in person with people
to help them get organized, andI started a program called
(02:36):
Organized Life Academy where Ihelp people declutter.
We're on our fifth year.
We go over.
Like some years, we focus ondecluttering, some organizing,
we have book clubs, we just doall sorts of things.
This year, we're focused onroutines and decluttering
different areas of our home.
And then, about two or threeyears ago, because of my own
(02:58):
experience starting an onlinebusiness and feeling overwhelmed
with all the stuff, I startedhaving to apply like go back
literally through my five stepsand put it in place for my
online business, for all thedigital stuff and the time and
(03:18):
all of that being in a wholedifferent environment.
So I did that for myself and Ithought, oh my goodness, other
people that are not, that don'tknow the steps, that aren't
naturally organized or havenever felt like they were good
at it how in the world are theyrunning their businesses?
So now I also help peopleorganize and systemize the back
(03:39):
end of their business so theycan find everything they need in
seconds.
Okay, that's great.
Michelle Gauthier (03:46):
I bet that could probably work just for
someone's work as well.
You know, if you're justworking at a job and you can't
find anything, you don't knowwhere your files are, you're
disorganized in your process.
I bet that could help justabout anyone A hundred percent.
Tracy Hoth (03:59):
And that is so true because even my bookmarks bar,
which is one of my favoritetime-saving, the biggest return
on investment if you organizeyour bookmarks bar, your
favorites bar I learned from myson and he was just working in a
regular job and he was likelook, mom, and I said, wow, look
at that, that is amazing.
I want to do that and it hasliterally been one of my
(04:21):
favorite things.
Michelle Gauthier (04:22):
So yes, yeah, and that could work anywhere.
One of my kids has like troublestaying super organized or
really organized at all.
Like his brain just isn't madethat way.
And having that bookmarks barfor him for Google, classroom
and all the things that he needsto go to every day it sounds
like such a small thing, but ifyou could add up all the time
wasted to trying to find stuff,it's, it's amazing.
(04:45):
Yes, I listened.
I was listening to the episodeof your podcast where you talk
about like 10 things that youcould do to get organized, and
you guys should go listen tothat episode.
It was really good and, by theway, she says in there just
choose one.
You don't have to do all 10things to get organized.
But when I was listening to him, I was like this is the sister
of my heart.
(05:05):
Yes, you had some great ideas Ihadn't thought of and some that
I was like, yes, that isamazing.
I totally agree with you onthat.
So where should we start?
If you think about our audiencehere, we've got an audience of
women who are working andfeeling overwhelmed, and
something that I consistentlyhear from them is that staying
(05:27):
organized and decluttering issomething that can helps their
overwhelm continue.
So where should we start?
What kind of tips or whatshould we talk?
Tracy Hoth (05:36):
about.
I think the first place tostart that's helpful is to just
define what being organizedmeans.
Okay, Because organization justmeans that you know what you
have and you can find it whenyou need it.
Now I did listen to your episodewhere you're saying that your
dad said you have bins withinbins and they're all color coded
(05:57):
, which totally is great, andonce you get to that level, that
is perfect and it's so fun andit feels so good.
But to begin with, beingorganized just means that you
know what you have and you canfind it, and people in your
household can find it as well,so it helps to you know.
Add some labels so they knowwhere things are too.
(06:18):
But once you think of it likethat, it's not.
Like does my space compare tothe pictures I see on Instagram
and then always feeling badabout yourself.
So it doesn't have to look likethose pictures, it doesn't have
to look like anybody else.
But if you know what you haveand you can find it, then you
can feel good about it.
You have evidence that you areorganized.
Michelle Gauthier (06:40):
Yes, I love that.
That's so good.
And just last night, yesterday,we had a snow day here and I
was like I've got to get out ofthis house and so I went where
is a great time to get out ofthe house and kill time?
Marshall's and I walked aroundand I saw this cutest white like
puffer vest and I was thinkingthat would be so cute with black
leggings and a black T-shirtunder.
(07:01):
And I'm going to get it.
And I came home and I showed itto my daughter and she's like
mom, don't you remember that,like two months ago, you just
got one of those?
Like you found it on Facebookmarketplace and you were so
excited.
And I went to my closet and,sure enough, there it was.
And I was like this is a sign.
Anytime I don't remember that Ialready own something.
It's time to declutter my coatcloset, cause I did not know
(07:22):
that I had that.
I mean, I knew when shereminded me.
But and then she's like are youlosing your mind, mom?
Like not helpful, and maybebecause yes, I love that
definition because when I dofeel super organized, I have a
single of everything.
I don't have duplicates ofstuff and I know where their
(07:42):
home is and I know where to findthem.
So I love that.
That's a great definition.
So people say right now, likeif someone says to you I'm just
not organized, or I just don'thave the skills to organize, or
what, what do you say back tothat?
Do you believe that's a skillthat can be learned?
Tracy Hoth (08:00):
100 percent.
Yes, it's a skill, and I havefive steps that I've used for 17
years and they literally workwith every single thing, meaning
physical stuff, digital stuff,your mind If your mind feeling
overwhelmed, this works for that, it works for planning a
project and looking at yourcalendar.
It works for everything.
(08:22):
And so the acronym spells SPASM- very goofy and I don't know
what I was thinking when I didthis, but I've never changed it
just for that reason, becauseit's memorable.
Yes, but when your muscle has aspasm, you can go.
Think of organizing.
Yes, but the first step toorganizing is to sort, and so
(08:45):
you don't have to make anydecisions.
And that's the key to this stepis that you just begin to sort.
So, let's say, your desk isreally piled with stuff, or your
kitchen counter.
You just pick something up andput it in a category, like with
like.
So you have office supplies,you have pens, you have paper,
you have maybe a pile would beelsewhere in the house so you
(09:07):
just start sticking things inpiles and then until the space
is cleared, and then you go tothe next stage, which is to
purge.
The next step of the reason whywe sort first is so that when we
do begin to make decisions, wecan see everything that we have.
(09:29):
So one time I helped a ladysort her or organize her closet
and she, if I would have went inand pulled out a white short
sleeve t-shirt, she would havesaid like no, I wear that all
the time.
But when we sorted she had 19white short sleeve t-shirts.
But when we sorted she had 19white short-sleeved t-shirts.
And then, you see, so now shecan make decisions when.
(09:49):
If we go in there and we try tomake decisions first, it just
doesn't happen.
Michelle Gauthier (09:53):
That is such a great example, that makes so
much sense and that makes mefeel less bad about my two white
vests, because I didn't have 19, but I probably have seven
vests.
Tracy Hoth (10:07):
How many days a year can you actually wear one?
Yes, and that's a great thing,speaking of closets to pull out
all your jeans everywhere in thewhole house and then you can
purge that one pile so you don'thave to dump all your clothes
in the entire house in one spotand sort them.
You can just do jeans one day,short sleeve shirts that weekend
, and you can keep going on thatprocess and get something
(10:30):
organized in a less overwhelming, less time consuming way, where
, in the middle of it, you'restuck and you're like wait, oh,
I'm too tired now.
This is stupid.
Michelle Gauthier (10:40):
Why did I even do this Totally been there
the first time I read the lifechanging magic of tidying up
that's the thing that she saysto do is like get every single
thing out and I had it all overthe bed and then I couldn't go
to sleep and I had to push it onthe floor and it was like a two
week thing.
It was such a mess.
So I love that, just piece bypiece doing it, yeah, and when
(11:00):
you're pulling, it out.
Tracy Hoth (11:01):
sort it too, because I think that's better.
And her show?
She just put a whole pile onthe bed.
I'm like, oh my gosh, please atleast sort it when you pull it
out, so that it's in categories,yeah.
And then that next step is topurge.
So now you have everything inthat category and now you can
make decisions.
One of my favorite things is touse the favorites method, where
you choose your favorite thingout of that.
(11:23):
What pen do you use all thetime?
What style of planner do youlike?
What vest do you wear all thetime?
And then you can go to theother things and make decisions.
Michelle Gauthier (11:33):
Yes, I love that.
That's so good and it's likeshifts your mindset into what do
I want to keep, instead ofbeing so focused on what am I
giving away?
I love that.
Tracy Hoth (11:43):
And with kids especially too.
When you say, what do you wantto give away, what should we get
rid of?
Immediately, you can just feelthem shrink up like grasping for
their stuff because they thinkyou're going to get rid of it.
So it's so helpful.
I agree, yes.
Michelle Gauthier (11:56):
Kids are.
They are just built in littlehoarders and I don't understand
why when mine were little and Iwould get ready to give away
some toys, even to their cousins, I'd try to sell it like it's
just going to be at Jocelyn'shouse, you can play with it
again.
But then all of a sudden itwould be like their favorite
thing ever.
Like a broken McDonald's HappyMeal toy was like their pride
(12:16):
and joy.
So I love that.
That's such a great tip.
Okay, so we've got the S, the P, the A.
Tracy Hoth (12:23):
The A.
Now that you know what you'rekeeping, you assign homes to the
things that you're keeping, andso that's the puzzle part of it
.
Like what do you use the most?
It needs to be the mostaccessible.
What do you?
What kind?
One of the things I like to dois work in zones, and so you
would have the home for thatitem be where you use it.
(12:45):
Like maybe all the baking stuffis together near the counter
where you bake, or maybe youhave a reading zone where you
have books and stuff you want toread, and a lamp and a you know
your pens or whatever all inone spot.
So think about a zone and thenalso think about what needs to
be accessible.
When you're deciding where thehome is needs to be accessible,
(13:05):
when you're deciding where thehome is, and then the S is set
limits.
Now this is sounds like one ofyour favorite things.
This is the container step,where you go out and you find
containers for things.
So this could be a bookshelf,it could be a drawer, it could
be the drawer divider or abasket, anything that helps you
contain it or set a limit on it.
(13:27):
And I call it set limitsbecause it's going to give you
the signal that it's time to goback through the steps when the
limit is reached.
Oh, I like that, yeah, so yoursocks start overflowing the
section of the drawer and thenyou realize, ok, it's time for
me to go through those and getrid of a few.
Michelle Gauthier (13:47):
I love that.
That's such a great visual toothat you can think about it Like
if you have a little bin for Idon't know something in the
kitchen baking stuff, we have alittle bin for baking stuff and,
yeah, it needs to be it needs asecond look right now.
Tracy Hoth (14:02):
Yes, and if you have an inbox for paper and it's
overflowing, then it's yoursignal.
You need to get in there and gothrough the paper.
Go do it, I love it.
And do not buy any containersbefore you get to step four of
the organizing process, becauseyou don't know what you need,
you don't know where the home isgoing to live and what size
container you need.
And then the final step is tomaintain.
(14:24):
So, just like our gardens, ourweight, our laundry, like
everything needs maintenance,and so I like to say tie it to
something that you already do.
So tax time comes, you knowyou're going to do that.
Also, go through your filecabinet or paper wherever you
keep that, and clean it out fromthe year or seasons especially
(14:46):
with kids, seasons are a goodtime or the beginning of school,
end of school, to go throughclosets.
That kind of thing is helpful.
To tie things, tie maintenanceto stuff you already do.
Michelle Gauthier (14:59):
Okay, that's good, and I can just imagine,
thinking down the line, if youclean out your paperwork once a
year when you do your taxes,versus 10 years of not doing it,
and then how long that's goingto take.
It's like spend 10 minutes orspend four hours later on on
doing it.
Tracy Hoth (15:17):
Yes, or avoid it for 30 years.
One of my clients just said sheshe's done more in a month than
she has in 30 years.
Because I think you have a plan.
You're told OK, this is whatwe're decluttering this month,
this is what we need to work on,and then she's doing it.
It's so fun and she knows thesteps done.
Michelle Gauthier (15:43):
Yes, and I bet that really helps when you
have people in your group sothat they can celebrate and get
encouragement and share wins andall that stuff.
That's just always so, so muchmore encouraging when you're
trying to get stuff done.
Tracy Hoth (15:50):
Yes, I love it.
Michelle Gauthier (15:52):
I love your method.
It's so simple andstraightforward.
Let's now that now that theaudience kind of understands
what the steps are, will youjust take us through an example
of, say, I don't know email orsome other way that they could
apply it, and just run throughall five steps again?
Tracy Hoth (16:10):
Yeah, let's go through it with their computer.
Okay, so you get on yourcomputer and I like to think of
so there's two concepts I wouldteach with.
This is the power of one, or Icall it the wonderful one is to
decide the one location thatsomething's going to live.
And so on your computer itwould be your computer, possibly
(16:31):
, or it would be an externalhard drive or a cloud storage
You're going to decide the oneplace that everything's going to
live and then you're going to.
First step is to sort.
Now with paper or with yourschedule.
You always try to sort intocategories, so you might have
(16:52):
some categories you alreadythink of with your digital files
or with paper that you're goingto sort into.
There's files, so I think of afunnel, and when something comes
into your computer, if you havea business, you'd have a
business file.
If you have just home, it wouldbe home.
So then let's just look at thehome.
(17:12):
I have five files for businessthat I teach people.
But if people don't own abusiness, let's look at home.
What are the things that youneed in home that you would
probably have a category of?
There would be family, so Ilike to label really broad.
There would be a family file,maybe health, maybe money, and
(17:33):
so you have family, health,money, and let's see what else
you would have.
Don't make too many categoriesahead of time.
And then you just take everyfile on your computer and you
sort them into those categoriesand then you go back through
each of those and you decidewhat do I want to keep, what do
I want to get rid of?
Sometimes you want to renamesomething if it doesn't even
(17:56):
have a name, and you can gothrough then the steps you would
assign, homes to subfolderspossibly, and in that case the
limit is actually your storage.
How many people have had acomputer that isn't running
because the storage is full.
Michelle Gauthier (18:10):
They're like nope, you have too much crap on
here.
Tracy Hoth (18:14):
A lot of podcasts.
Michelle Gauthier (18:15):
You know this a lot of podcasts makes up a
lot of space on a computer.
Tracy Hoth (18:19):
Yes, so you know that's your signal to go back,
or a lot of people would justadd some more storage, but you
could go back through then andpurge and keep it nice and
cleaned up.
Michelle Gauthier (18:31):
I love that I love it.
So same concept, same could betrue for your schedule anything
really in life you could justuse those five steps, okay, so I
want to ask you the twoquestions that I ask everyone
who's a guest on this show, andI feel like you'll have some
great answers for this becauseof your line of work but tell us
one thing that you can do tomake yourself feel less
(18:54):
overwhelmed.
Tracy Hoth (18:56):
Oh, this is perfect because the first step to
anything when you're feelingoverwhelmed is to sort.
So I would sort everythingthat's in my mind and I like
doing this by putting things ona piece of paper so it might be
calls I need to make computerwork, I need to do things for my
business, I need to do homethings or family things, and
(19:19):
then thoughts as well.
Sort all that out on paper andget it out there and then follow
the organizing steps For thepurge process of those
categories.
I like to think is thereanything here I can delay?
I'm not even thinking about itthis month, or for 30 days or
for the week, or whatever.
Delay, delegate Is thereanything I can delegate?
(19:40):
Is there anything for sure Iknow I can delete?
And then, finally, what am I onhere?
Am I actually going to do?
And same with thoughts?
You can delegate those thoughtsto after 5 pm.
You do not think those untilafter 5.
Or you're going to delete thatthought or you're going to delay
that until next month, orwhatever it is you're going to
(20:01):
delete that thought, or you'regoing to delay that until next
month, or whatever.
Michelle Gauthier (20:03):
it is yes, perfect.
And then what do you end upwith at the end, like the list
of things that you really needto do and you feel clear about
it.
Is that the end result?
Tracy Hoth (20:11):
Yes, the end.
After I purge those categoriesand then I assign homes to those
, then they would go on mycalendar, the thoughts that I
want to think.
Maybe would go in my journal,or I'd put them on a spot on my
calendar, even like, make sure Igo think these thoughts and
then my piece of paper is gone,everything's assigned home and I
(20:33):
do.
Yes, my shoulders drop.
I can feel it already.
Michelle Gauthier (20:36):
Yeah, Just even talking about it Relaxed.
Yeah that's great.
And then the other questionthat I always ask is what's
something that you do in orderto do less?
Tracy Hoth (20:48):
The main thing that I love the most that I have done
to do less is to have acleaning lady come in and clean
my house.
Michelle Gauthier (20:58):
Yes, yes, clean my house.
Tracy Hoth (21:00):
Yes, yes, now purge or declutter could be part of
that, but it has.
It is the most like.
I don't know why I waited solong.
Well, probably because we wereon a really tight budget.
But it is been the biggest joyand I love her so much to have
the entire house cleaned at onetime and me never have to think
(21:22):
about cleaning again.
Michelle Gauthier (21:23):
Yes, it's amazing.
And do you feel guilty about it?
No, I'm like why?
Tracy Hoth (21:31):
Why would I feel guilty?
Michelle Gauthier (21:32):
I'm always encouraging people to outsource
things, and I find that for themto think about getting someone
to clean their home.
For some of my clients, theyfeel guilty, they feel bad about
it, they feel like they shouldbe able to do it themselves.
So I was just wondering if youstruggled with that or if, as
soon as you had the budget forit, you were like I'm doing this
(21:53):
.
I'm doing it?
Tracy Hoth (21:55):
No it is so much joy and, if you think about it,
you're giving someone else anopportunity to earn money for
their family and you have somuch time to do other things.
It's the best thing in theworld, yeah especially for
someone.
Michelle Gauthier (22:09):
I'm speaking for myself here, but I bet
you're the same way.
I have a very low tolerance forclutter and a mess, and so if
my whole house is clean, at thesame time I feel like I can
solve world hunger, whateverneeds to happen.
I got this, and so just themindset that it puts me in and
the things that I can get donewhen I know, for example, that
(22:30):
my bathroom that I can't evenkind of see from here is clean,
it's just crazy how it works.
Tracy Hoth (22:35):
I love how you said that.
I've never heard it like thatbefore.
Michelle Gauthier (22:38):
That is so good heard it like that before.
That is so good, yes, yes, okay.
So where can people find you ifthey want to learn more about
your program or anything elseabout you.
Tracy Hoth (22:50):
Yeah, my website is called simplysquaredawaycom.
That's been my business namefor 17 years, so you can go on
there.
You can find my personal coursecalled Organized Life Academy.
If you're a coach or if youhave an online business, you can
find Organized Coach Academy onthere, and then my website or
(23:11):
my podcast, the Organized Coach.
I talk a lot about businessstuff, but I also talk a lot
about personal stuff, so itoverlaps and you can learn a lot
on the podcast.
Michelle Gauthier (23:23):
Yes, it's a great podcast.
I love it.
So thank you so much forsharing.
Thank you for being on.
Thanks to the universe forbringing us together giving us
those nudges.
It was great to meet you.
Tracy Hoth (23:36):
Nice to be here, Michelle.
Thanks so much.
Thank you.
Michelle Gauthier (23:47):
Thank you.
Thank you for listening to theOverwhelmed Working Woman
podcast.
If you want to learn more aboutmy work, head over to my
website at michellegothiercom.
See you next week.
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