March 6, 2024 • 27 mins
Join us in today's episode to learn more about decluttering with our next guest expert, Noelle Fowler.
Noelle Fowler is a Holistic Declutter Coach who helps busy women simplify their lives to make room for what matters most. She takes a root-cause approach to decluttering by helping her clients "rewrite the stories" we often tell ourselves about our stuff. This way, we can get rid of clutter for good and focus on what truly matters.
Tune in to today's episode to...
- Listen to Noelle's story of becoming a Holistic Declutter Coach
- Learn what decluttering really is and why getting rid of the "stuff" allows you to focus on what truly matters to you
- Apply the tangible "dos and dont's" of having a more peaceful space
- Gain mindset tips on how to approach letting go
Connect with Noelle on Instagram
Download Noelle's guide Let's Make Room: A Simple Guide to Go From Chaos to Calm
Opportunities to Work Together:
- The Masterclass Pass 2024
- Schedule Your Breathwork Healing Session Package *Virtual
- (3/18) Breathwork Healing Session at Reiki Shores
- (3/20) Body-Based Healing and Somatic Awareness *Virtual
- (3/26) Vision Board Check-in at Reiki Shores
- (3/28) Monthly Breathwork Healing Class at Yoga Shack
DM on Instagram
Subscribe & Review on Apple Podcasts
Follow & Rate on Spotify
Download Breathe Easy: How To Create Your Own Breathwork Practice
Get started with 1:1 coaching here.
Participate in Curious Convos. Share your questions and topic requests!
Disclaimer: Please remember that the information shared on this podcast is intended to inspire, educate, and support you on your personal journey. It does not substitute for professional mental health advice. I am not a psychologist or medical professional. If you are experiencing any emotional distress, mental health challenges, or medical conditions, please seek help from a qualified professional.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Radiant Life podcast.
I'm your host, ray the StematicCoach, and I'm here to support
you in healing your past, livingin the present and creating
your future so that you canbecome the most centered,
embodied and happiest version ofyourself.
Each week, I'll be bringing youepisodes to help you navigate
life's challenges, ease stressand tension and learn more about
(00:24):
holistic healing, spiritualityand wellness.
If you're interested inbecoming the best version of
yourself so that you can livethe life of your dreams, then
you're in the right place.
Subscribe to the podcast andthe monthly newsletter and
follow me on Instagram andTikTok to know when new episodes
are released each week.
I am so happy that you'velanded here.
(00:45):
Let's dive in.
Welcome back to the podcast.
If you are new here, I'm Ray.
I'm a Stematic Coach andBreathwork Facilitator.
And if you aren't new here,welcome back.
I'm so glad that you are tuningin for today's episode.
For today's episode, we have ournext guest expert, noelle
(01:08):
Fowler.
She is a holistic decluttercoach and she shares with us
more about what decluttering is,why it's important and some of
the dos and don'ts of gettingstarted.
We may have heard that ourhomes and physical spaces are a
reflection of our internal state.
(01:28):
I thought the concept ofletting go of physical items was
interesting because withbreathwork and somatics, it's
like an internal cleansing andletting go from the inside.
So I really enjoyed today'sepisode and recording with
Noelle and I hope that youenjoyed it as well.
I will talk to you soon andlet's dive in.
(01:50):
Noelle and I connected in aFacebook group and we were
messaging back and forth for alittle while and I really loved
her personal story.
I love the work that she'sdoing in the world and just how
she's going about what she'sdoing.
So I'm excited to have thisconversation with you.
So can you share a little bitwith us about you and maybe how
(02:14):
you became a holistic decluttercoach?
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Yeah for sure.
So I'm Noelle.
I am an eighth grade Englishteacher but I run a holistic
decluttering business online andso I've been teaching for about
six years.
But we all have those things inCOVID that we discovered right
and for me, during that time Ifell in love with organization.
(02:40):
I would just consume a ton ofcontent about organizing and I
decided to start my own littleside hustle.
I started an LLC and didprofessional organizing
part-time and I loved it.
I loved going into people'shomes, I loved creating systems
for people and you know, likethe matchy-matchy bins and the
(03:02):
pretty labels, all that.
But I realized I wasn't reallyhelping people, at least not in
the sense that I wanted to,because it felt like a lot of
the time I was just movingpeople's stuff, or their junk in
some senses, into bins andlabeling it.
And although we would declutterin the professional in the way
(03:26):
I, you know, organize for peopleit really wasn't getting to the
root of the problem.
I also realized that in aprofessional organizing session
you take all the items out, youlook at them a lot of the times
you're working with a client andthat messy middle part where
(03:47):
everything is pulled out andjust a hot mess.
That's typically the moststressful part for people.
But I realized I kind of thrivedin that messy middle and I
enjoyed it and I was like, wait,maybe there's something more
here.
So there's a lot more to thestory.
But I have instead become anonline holistic declutter coach
(04:08):
so I help busy women simplifytheir lives to make room for
what matters most to them, andit's not just about organizing.
I feel like people really,really like organizing and like
the matchy bins and the labels,you know, and I'm not against
that.
But I think we need toruthlessly declutter first, and
(04:28):
that's what I really lovehelping women do.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Yeah, I love your story and that just sounds so
needed.
It is so true and I can eventhink for myself when we have
stuff and we're trying to let goof things, sometimes that's
difficult and we can get intothat in a little bit, but I'm
sure there's a few challengesthat arise.
(04:52):
Could you clarify a little bitabout what decluttering is and
then what your approach is withdecluttering?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
I would say decluttering is getting rid of
the non-essentials, or gettingrid of things.
Well, okay, I don't mean youjust live with essentials, but
getting rid of the stuff that isholding you back from the life
that you actually want to live,and it doesn't just have to be
physical stuff.
There are different kinds ofclutter.
There's calendar clutter anddigital clutter, but, yeah, it's
(05:27):
stuff that is getting in theway of the things that you
really want to focus on, and Ilove empowering women to get rid
of that stuff so they can focuson what really matters to them,
which is usually something liketheir family, their loved ones
right.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Yeah, it sounds like the process is like a deep
exhale, which is like a likeokay, yes, that's the name of my
business room to breathe.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
That's how I felt, too, when I guess part of my
story as well is that my husbandand I ruthlessly decluttered
our belongings.
We got rid of almost 50%.
I wish that I had an exactnumber, but it took about maybe
a year.
We got rid of almost 50% of ouritems and it just felt like we
had room to breathe.
So that's what I like to helpother women do.
(06:19):
In terms of my approach, Ithink that sometimes people try,
they're like I'm going todeclutter, and then they pull
everything out of their closetand get overwhelmed and they try
to do it like all in a day orall in a weekend.
But the approach that I teachis that it's simple, it's
(06:39):
practical, it's habitual andthat decluttering can be part of
our everyday lives.
And it doesn't have to beeveryday, but as long as we make
it part of our normal, it makesthings a lot easier, it makes
running a home a lot easier and,again, it helps you focus on
what really matters to you.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Like, instead of getting overwhelmed by the
process and trying to get thosequick results that we love, we
love that like instantgratification, it's more focused
on changing, like the smallhabits, and having this like
long term.
Maybe, like you mentioned, ittook you a year to get rid of
(07:19):
50% of your things that maybedidn't feel as important to you
anymore, and I think that's arealistic time.
Depending on how much stuffsomebody might have that it
could take a year.
So it seems like a really yougo at your pace process, which
is nice, absolutely.
Yeah.
I mean, I can imagine whyhaving just a clear space that
(07:41):
you're in is also symbolic forwhat's on the inside as well.
How do we find a nice balancebetween having our stuff like
the things that do feel alignedand like letting go of what
doesn't feel good anymore?
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Yeah, I love that question.
I think it definitely is goingto be different for each person
and I think you have to removein order to tell you have to
remove some stuff and see whatfeels good.
And, like my husband and I kindof have fun.
We keep removing things andseeing how little we can live
with.
And I get it, not everyone isgoing to have fun doing that.
(08:22):
But I think when you do removesome, you can start to see what
sort of room to breathe you havein your life and figure out
that balance for you.
It also is going to depend onyour season of life, like if you
have a two year old, you'regoing to have toys in the ground
, like there's going to be toys,right?
So we have to also lean intoour current season of life.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Absolutely yeah.
So really noticing where youare in your current season of
life, what factors are playinginto what might be realistic for
you and what realisticdecluttering might look like for
you, and, yeah, being likecompassionate with yourself, it
sounds like too Absolutely yeah.
And so I know you mentionedwhen we spoke that you use like
(09:09):
a root cause approach and thatmight be different than what
like traditionally people thinkabout when it comes to
decluttering.
Can you tell us a little bitmore about the root cause
approach?
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Yes.
So that's really what sparkedit for me, like it's not just
our stuff.
I like to say it's not aboutthe stuff, it's the stuff under
the stuff.
Why are we holding on to somuch?
Or why do we have such anattachment to physical items?
And a lot of the times it'sthese stories that we tell
ourselves about our stuff, likestories that we tell ourselves
(09:44):
that are that are not true.
So I really like to teach, aspart of my cause approach, how
to rewrite those stories that wetell ourselves.
An example would be like this ispretty common I can't get rid
of this.
I spent too much money on it.
Right, like I don't use thisthing, but I spent a lot of
money on it, so I'm just goingto keep it and I'll just put it
(10:05):
in the closet and then I won'tfeel bad about it.
But we still feel it.
Right, like we still know thatitems there.
Every time we open the closet,we see it and then we at least I
will like say I really need tofigure out what to do with that.
But the story we write for thatis the money was spent when you
first got that item, not themoment that you decide to let go
(10:25):
of it, and so, when you do letgo of it, you're able to have a
room to breathe or have morespace for whatever really should
be in that closet, and maybeit's nothing.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Such a fitting analogy too with kind of with
breath work and with semantics.
Like we have all of this likestored emotion and stored trauma
in our body, and breath workreally allows you to let go of
that stored trauma and so it'skind of like decluttering your
(10:57):
inner home.
Yeah, I could see how it wouldfeel a lot lighter when you're
getting to that root cause andyou're hearing those stories and
you're shifting those storiesand creating new narratives and
it sounds pretty like liberating.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
For sure.
And one thing I'll say withthat, with the breath work, is
that our physical spaces areoftentimes reflections of what's
going on inside, right.
Like if you're having a busyweek or stress week, sometimes
your room is a hot mess, right,and that's just indicative of
what's going on inside.
So as much as we can controlthose controllables, control our
(11:33):
physical space, I think thatthat really helps.
I know it's helped me just withmy mental health and be able to
calm myself down a little bit.
Yeah, so if somebody wanted tomaybe get started with the
process of decluttering theirroom or decluttering their home,
what might be two to threesteps that you would suggest
(11:58):
they start with, I think myfirst step and this is I just
love this analogy, I didn't comeup with it, definitely can't
take credit, but if you'refeeling a bit overwhelmed or
you're feeling like you reallywant to start decluttering, if
your bathtub was overflowing,right, you would not just grab a
bucket and start getting waterout of it, you would first turn
(12:21):
the faucet off.
And so that's my encouragementto my clients like turn the
faucet off, let's cut off someof this consumption, some of
these spending habits, whateverthat looks like for the
individual.
That would be my first step,and people don't usually like
hearing that like stop shoppingor, you know, disconnect your
credit card from Amazon.
But that really is my firstencouragement I would say.
(12:44):
My second thing is to startsmall, like you really can make
change in 10 minutes, even 5minutes in a space.
Start small, it's doable, it'snot going to happen overnight.
And also I would say don'tstart in your like memory box or
(13:05):
in your basement or your atticRight, like that should probably
be one of the last things youdeclutter.
Once you've built yourdecluttering muscle, once you've
learned to let go, I reallylike to tell people to start in
the bathroom, because rarely dowe have attachment to things in
our bathroom, right, and it'sthe kind of place where you can
declutter and you'll feel itright away, like that next
(13:27):
morning when you wake up and youknow, do your morning routine.
You'll already feel better,having decluttered that space.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
I personally have like a pretty good relationship
with like letting things go.
But I switch my clothes outlike every season.
So I have clothes that I putout, you know, for winter and
fall and clothes that I put outfor spring and summer.
So every time I'm switching myclothes, I'm getting rid of
things.
(13:53):
So I was shocked that I had acloset to like even get rid of.
I was like, oh my God, I had togo like search for things to
get rid of, basically.
But it felt really good to justbe like.
I don't know all of theseclothes they were.
I used them when I used to be aadministrator in higher
education.
I was a international studentadvisor for a few years and so I
(14:15):
was, you know, wearing morelike corporate clothing and I
haven't worn that stuff in awhile.
So I was like, I don't know, Ikept two dresses and maybe like
two blouses and I just gave awaylike three bags of clothing.
It went to someone that neededit, that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
And we like.
We know it feels good.
I mean, whenever you clean yourbedroom, or even when you like
deep clean something, or whenyou fill a trash bag with
clothes, it feels so good.
It's just sometimes gettingstarted right Like that's.
That's the part that sometimespeople need a little bit of help
with.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
I could understand why just having the habit of
decluttering is so helpful withyour tangible things and then
also like internally helps youto like let go of those things
that you need to create morespace for.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
And we know that our physical items can sometimes
cause stress for us.
Like there's something calledthe silent to do list.
It's essentially the idea thathave you heard of it before?
No, but it's the idea thatevery item we own is asking us
for something.
So the plant on my counter isasking me for water, and then
(15:22):
the you know dishes that aredrying in the drying rack by the
sink, or ask me to put themaway.
Every single item that we ownis going to be asking us to do
something.
And we know this to be truebecause when we go away, when we
stay in a hotel or stay in anAirbnb how nice is it to only
have our suitcase right?
We don't have any silent to dolist.
(15:43):
We don't have any items thatare asking for our attention,
except maybe our clothes.
But I just think that's reallyhelpful to think about that.
Every item is sort of like amagnet for our attention.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Thinking to myself now, like I have like a little
speaker on my desk, it's likeput this away.
That's not where it's home is,but it's telling me to like put
it away.
So it's my silent to do listright now.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
That's my silent to do list.
Yep, exactly, and so the lesswe have, the less our silent to
do list is begging for ourattention, because every item we
own isn't just taking upphysical space, it's also so.
It's taking up a space in ourhome, it's taking up mental
energy.
We need to wash it, fix it,charge it, make sure we have the
(16:31):
warranty filled out, whateverit is.
So it's not, it's not just theoriginal cost and it's not just
the physical space that ouritems are costing us.
It's so much more.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Oh my gosh, so interesting.
So I love the the three tips orsteps that you shared with us.
Those are great.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Yeah, I guess there's one more thing I would have
said which is like kudos to youfor deciding that you want to
make a change, because you havesomehow, you know, something has
shifted in your, in your mind.
That said, hey, I think thatmaybe I need to simplify a
little bit.
I think that maybe my stuff istaking up too much of my time.
So that's awesome, that is awin right there, just that
(17:09):
desire to change.
And then I guess anothermindset shift would just be sort
of like we talked about earlierit's not going to happen
overnight, it's not going tohappen in a day, and if you try
to do it all day on a Saturday,you're probably going to burn
out.
So I would really try to do itin smaller chunks.
I call them flutter edits, like15, 20 minute chunks of time
(17:31):
where you focus on one singlespace and feel that small win to
build your momentum.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Yeah, that feels really good.
It's like setting yourself upfor success and kind of like
compartmentalizing where yourenergy is going to go for those
few minutes so that you canreach that goal, whatever it
might be.
Yeah, that sounds really nice.
Something else that you alsomentioned was having these
personalized systems when wewere chatting on Facebook.
(18:03):
Can you share a little bit moreabout having those personalized
systems for you or for yourfamily or whoever's in your
household?
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Yeah, I love a good system.
I think it's a game changer,and the thing about systems is
that it has to work for you,like it has to work for your
season of life, and so it'sreally going to be
individualized.
That's part of what I do, andmy coaching is helping my
clients figure out what is asystem that works for them.
So I guess an example like thisweek I posted a reel on
(18:38):
Instagram and it was a drawer inour kitchen that's half protein
powders and collagen and likeour Nutribullet and creatine and
then half of the Sleaf Tees.
And some people might be like,why do you have that in a drawer
and your island and like that's, you know, and that makes sense
to them.
But for us, for my husband andI, we use those things every day
(19:00):
, sometimes multiple times a day, and so the system that we have
is that we have, you know, ourteas and these glass jars and we
pull them out and theNutribullet's right there.
We pull it out, put it on theisland, plug it in, and it works
for us.
Do I think that that drawer isgoing to forever stay?
Protein and tea?
Probably not.
But for now, in this season oflife, it's a system that works
(19:22):
for us.
That's just one example.
Another system that I'verecently developed in our house
is I was trying to figure outhow to solve this problem.
Maybe you have the same thingbut your dishwasher how to tell
if it's clean or dirty, like howdo the other members of your
household know if those dishesare clean or dirty?
So I was kind of like I want onAmazon, I was going to buy this
(19:45):
like magnet and I was likewhat's I can make a magnet that
literally says clean or dirty.
So I you know printed somethingout.
I use my laminator and put alittle magnet on the back and
now we just flip it so if itsays clean on top, you know it's
clean.
You can read clean.
It says dirty, you flip it soit reads dirty.
And that has helped so muchbecause we're not opening the
(20:07):
dishwasher while it's running.
I will say we don't use thatsystem perfectly.
It's definitely.
We're still learning how toimplement it, but that's another
example of a system and thatcosts nothing and has
streamlined things for us.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
It sounds like the systems really alleviate any
kind of like micro frustrations,like it kind of like
streamlines and creates like anease in your home for whatever
your personal process is, eitherfor you or your house or, you
know, whoever's in your home.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
And it helps remove decisions.
Are you familiar with decisionfatigue?
Speaker 1 (20:49):
I am from wedding planning actually, tell us more,
tell us more.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Decision fatigue is just exactly what it sounds like
we make over.
As humans, we make over 3,000decisions a day I bet parents
make more and any sort of likeso we get sick of we get
fatigued, or get sick of makingdecisions right.
So any decisions that you canremove are going to streamline
(21:15):
your day and make your lifeeasier.
So my husband and I we'll preplunches on the weekends.
We have the same thing forlunch, you know, five days that
week and it's already prepped ina little glass container we
just pulled out in the morning.
There is no decision needing tobe made in the morning about
what we're having for lunch.
Granted, I know some people,you know that's not their thing,
(21:35):
they don't want to eat the samething, but for us it just makes
life easier.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Is there anything that you would suggest someone
not do if they're looking to getstarted?
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Definitely I would say don't try to do it all in a
day, which I mentioned before.
You know it's not a sprint kindof thing.
And then don't start with thehard stuff.
Don't start with grandma'schina or your memory box because
you're setting yourself up tohave a harder time.
To let go and don't show it onyourself.
(22:09):
Don't beat yourself up.
If you're having a hard time,don't tell yourself you should
be to hear you know your houseshould look like her house on
Instagram.
That's not helpful.
The fact that you were starting, the fact that you were wanting
to simplify your life, like Isaid, is a huge win.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Yeah, I love that and it's so true.
The TikTok algorithm had me fora minute with all organization
and people's like inside ofpeople, people's like
refrigerators were like justexquisite.
We don't really have that muchin our fridge, honestly, just
normally but it was like so funto watch.
So, yeah, I could see how wecould all fall into the TikTok
(22:48):
or Instagram hole.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Yeah, which is great, but I just don't think it's
realistic for everyone, and so Ireally Totally fall in love
with your own home.
Make your home a space that youlove.
Yeah, because it's special andwho knows how long you'll be in
that house.
Like, even if you're, you know,an apartment, you want to be in
a house, or you're in a smallerhouse and you want to be in a
(23:10):
bigger house, which that's awhole other conversation.
Do we really need a biggerhouse?
Yeah, fall in love with thespace that you have and make it
work for you.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
I know that you mentioned that you have a
membership that's coming out inthe next month or so.
Can you share with us a littlebit about your membership, what
might be in there, how peoplecan get connected with you?
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Yes, thank you so much for asking about that.
I'm super excited.
I have been working with mycoach on launching this
membership and so it launcheslater in March.
But essentially it's amembership for busy women who
want to simplify their lives sothat they can make room for what
matters for them, and it's aplace for women to do that
(23:57):
together, because declutteringis not easy, it's definitely not
glamorous, it's not like TikTokor Instagram, and it's so much
easier when we can do ittogether, when we have other
women who are in similar seasonsor, you know, are going through
similar struggles, to be ableto work together and to
(24:17):
celebrate and also make changeand hold each other accountable.
So the membership is run on aprivate app and more details
will come, but there are livecalls and coaching with me,
accountability with othermembers, and part of those live
calls are education as wellLearning from me and other
(24:38):
experts on decluttering, andthen also just different topics
related to decluttering andrelated to that holistic
wellness which I am superexcited about.
I would say if people want toget connected with me, they can
follow me on Instagram at MakeRoom to Breathe Again.
My name is Noelle Fowler and Ihave a freebie that I would love
(24:59):
for them to download.
It's called let's Make Room asimple guide to go from clutter
to calm, and on it I have justthree of my most practical steps
.
I also talk about those storiesthat we tell ourselves and how
we can rewrite those stories.
I have four of those stories onthe guide and I've gotten great
feedback on it.
I really love hearing frompeople how it's been helpful to
(25:22):
them, so if anyone does grabthat, I would love to hear how
it's helping them.
I'm also I just want to say I'mrunning a challenge in a couple
of weeks as well, so if youfollow me on Instagram and you
sort of want to get a taste ofwhat it might be like working
with me as your declutter coach,they can sign up for that free
challenge and get a little tasteof what's to come.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
I love that.
That all sounds so exciting andwe'll definitely link
everything that you mentioned inthe show notes, so definitely
go check those out.
And then our last question thisis something that I ask all the
guests that we have on is whatis one thing it could be
literally anything a book, asong, a person, a place, a thing
, anything at all that islighting you up right now and
(26:08):
inspiring you in life?
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Yeah, I love that question.
I am reading a book right nowcalled Practicing the Way by
John Mark Comer.
He is a pastor and he talksabout following Jesus, and my
faith is really important to meand that book has just been
inspirational and I don't evenhave the words.
Honestly, it's just a book thatI look forward to reading and
(26:35):
has really been making me thinkabout my faith and how it's part
of my everyday.
So thank you, john Mark Comer,for that awesome book.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
Oh, that sounds amazing.
Well, thank you so much, noel,for coming on spending the time
with us.
I learned so much.
This was so much fun chattingwith you and, yeah, thank you.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Thank you so much, rachel.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
I'm so happy that you're here and I cannot wait to
talk with you on our nextepisode of the Radiant Life
podcast.
Welcome to the Radiant Life podcast.
I'm your host, ray the StematicCoach, and I'm here to support
you in healing your past, livingin the present and creating
your future so that you canbecome the most centered,
embodied and happiest version ofyourself.
Each week, I'll be bringing youepisodes to help you navigate
life's challenges, ease stressand tension and learn more about
(00:24):
holistic healing, spiritualityand wellness.
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(00:45):
Let's dive in.
Welcome back to the podcast.
If you are new here, I'm Ray.
I'm a Stematic Coach andBreathwork Facilitator.
And if you aren't new here,welcome back.
I'm so glad that you are tuningin for today's episode.
For today's episode, we have ournext guest expert, noelle
(01:08):
Fowler.
She is a holistic decluttercoach and she shares with us
more about what decluttering is,why it's important and some of
the dos and don'ts of gettingstarted.
We may have heard that ourhomes and physical spaces are a
reflection of our internal state.
(01:28):
I thought the concept ofletting go of physical items was
interesting because withbreathwork and somatics, it's
like an internal cleansing andletting go from the inside.
So I really enjoyed today'sepisode and recording with
Noelle and I hope that youenjoyed it as well.
I will talk to you soon andlet's dive in.
(01:50):
Noelle and I connected in aFacebook group and we were
messaging back and forth for alittle while and I really loved
her personal story.
I love the work that she'sdoing in the world and just how
she's going about what she'sdoing.
So I'm excited to have thisconversation with you.
So can you share a little bitwith us about you and maybe how
(02:14):
you became a holistic decluttercoach?
Speaker 2 (02:18):
Yeah for sure.
So I'm Noelle.
I am an eighth grade Englishteacher but I run a holistic
decluttering business online andso I've been teaching for about
six years.
But we all have those things inCOVID that we discovered right
and for me, during that time Ifell in love with organization.
(02:40):
I would just consume a ton ofcontent about organizing and I
decided to start my own littleside hustle.
I started an LLC and didprofessional organizing
part-time and I loved it.
I loved going into people'shomes, I loved creating systems
for people and you know, likethe matchy-matchy bins and the
(03:02):
pretty labels, all that.
But I realized I wasn't reallyhelping people, at least not in
the sense that I wanted to,because it felt like a lot of
the time I was just movingpeople's stuff, or their junk in
some senses, into bins andlabeling it.
And although we would declutterin the professional in the way
(03:26):
I, you know, organize for peopleit really wasn't getting to the
root of the problem.
I also realized that in aprofessional organizing session
you take all the items out, youlook at them a lot of the times
you're working with a client andthat messy middle part where
(03:47):
everything is pulled out andjust a hot mess.
That's typically the moststressful part for people.
But I realized I kind of thrivedin that messy middle and I
enjoyed it and I was like, wait,maybe there's something more
here.
So there's a lot more to thestory.
But I have instead become anonline holistic declutter coach
(04:08):
so I help busy women simplifytheir lives to make room for
what matters most to them, andit's not just about organizing.
I feel like people really,really like organizing and like
the matchy bins and the labels,you know, and I'm not against
that.
But I think we need toruthlessly declutter first, and
(04:28):
that's what I really lovehelping women do.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Yeah, I love your story and that just sounds so
needed.
It is so true and I can eventhink for myself when we have
stuff and we're trying to let goof things, sometimes that's
difficult and we can get intothat in a little bit, but I'm
sure there's a few challengesthat arise.
(04:52):
Could you clarify a little bitabout what decluttering is and
then what your approach is withdecluttering?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
I would say decluttering is getting rid of
the non-essentials, or gettingrid of things.
Well, okay, I don't mean youjust live with essentials, but
getting rid of the stuff that isholding you back from the life
that you actually want to live,and it doesn't just have to be
physical stuff.
There are different kinds ofclutter.
There's calendar clutter anddigital clutter, but, yeah, it's
(05:27):
stuff that is getting in theway of the things that you
really want to focus on, and Ilove empowering women to get rid
of that stuff so they can focuson what really matters to them,
which is usually something liketheir family, their loved ones
right.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Yeah, it sounds like the process is like a deep
exhale, which is like a likeokay, yes, that's the name of my
business room to breathe.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
That's how I felt, too, when I guess part of my
story as well is that my husbandand I ruthlessly decluttered
our belongings.
We got rid of almost 50%.
I wish that I had an exactnumber, but it took about maybe
a year.
We got rid of almost 50% of ouritems and it just felt like we
had room to breathe.
So that's what I like to helpother women do.
(06:19):
In terms of my approach, Ithink that sometimes people try,
they're like I'm going todeclutter, and then they pull
everything out of their closetand get overwhelmed and they try
to do it like all in a day orall in a weekend.
But the approach that I teachis that it's simple, it's
(06:39):
practical, it's habitual andthat decluttering can be part of
our everyday lives.
And it doesn't have to beeveryday, but as long as we make
it part of our normal, it makesthings a lot easier, it makes
running a home a lot easier and,again, it helps you focus on
what really matters to you.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Like, instead of getting overwhelmed by the
process and trying to get thosequick results that we love, we
love that like instantgratification, it's more focused
on changing, like the smallhabits, and having this like
long term.
Maybe, like you mentioned, ittook you a year to get rid of
(07:19):
50% of your things that maybedidn't feel as important to you
anymore, and I think that's arealistic time.
Depending on how much stuffsomebody might have that it
could take a year.
So it seems like a really yougo at your pace process, which
is nice, absolutely.
Yeah.
I mean, I can imagine whyhaving just a clear space that
(07:41):
you're in is also symbolic forwhat's on the inside as well.
How do we find a nice balancebetween having our stuff like
the things that do feel alignedand like letting go of what
doesn't feel good anymore?
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Yeah, I love that question.
I think it definitely is goingto be different for each person
and I think you have to removein order to tell you have to
remove some stuff and see whatfeels good.
And, like my husband and I kindof have fun.
We keep removing things andseeing how little we can live
with.
And I get it, not everyone isgoing to have fun doing that.
(08:22):
But I think when you do removesome, you can start to see what
sort of room to breathe you havein your life and figure out
that balance for you.
It also is going to depend onyour season of life, like if you
have a two year old, you'regoing to have toys in the ground
, like there's going to be toys,right?
So we have to also lean intoour current season of life.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Absolutely yeah.
So really noticing where youare in your current season of
life, what factors are playinginto what might be realistic for
you and what realisticdecluttering might look like for
you, and, yeah, being likecompassionate with yourself, it
sounds like too Absolutely yeah.
And so I know you mentionedwhen we spoke that you use like
(09:09):
a root cause approach and thatmight be different than what
like traditionally people thinkabout when it comes to
decluttering.
Can you tell us a little bitmore about the root cause
approach?
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Yes.
So that's really what sparkedit for me, like it's not just
our stuff.
I like to say it's not aboutthe stuff, it's the stuff under
the stuff.
Why are we holding on to somuch?
Or why do we have such anattachment to physical items?
And a lot of the times it'sthese stories that we tell
ourselves about our stuff, likestories that we tell ourselves
(09:44):
that are that are not true.
So I really like to teach, aspart of my cause approach, how
to rewrite those stories that wetell ourselves.
An example would be like this ispretty common I can't get rid
of this.
I spent too much money on it.
Right, like I don't use thisthing, but I spent a lot of
money on it, so I'm just goingto keep it and I'll just put it
(10:05):
in the closet and then I won'tfeel bad about it.
But we still feel it.
Right, like we still know thatitems there.
Every time we open the closet,we see it and then we at least I
will like say I really need tofigure out what to do with that.
But the story we write for thatis the money was spent when you
first got that item, not themoment that you decide to let go
(10:25):
of it, and so, when you do letgo of it, you're able to have a
room to breathe or have morespace for whatever really should
be in that closet, and maybeit's nothing.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Such a fitting analogy too with kind of with
breath work and with semantics.
Like we have all of this likestored emotion and stored trauma
in our body, and breath workreally allows you to let go of
that stored trauma and so it'skind of like decluttering your
(10:57):
inner home.
Yeah, I could see how it wouldfeel a lot lighter when you're
getting to that root cause andyou're hearing those stories and
you're shifting those storiesand creating new narratives and
it sounds pretty like liberating.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
For sure.
And one thing I'll say withthat, with the breath work, is
that our physical spaces areoftentimes reflections of what's
going on inside, right.
Like if you're having a busyweek or stress week, sometimes
your room is a hot mess, right,and that's just indicative of
what's going on inside.
So as much as we can controlthose controllables, control our
(11:33):
physical space, I think thatthat really helps.
I know it's helped me just withmy mental health and be able to
calm myself down a little bit.
Yeah, so if somebody wanted tomaybe get started with the
process of decluttering theirroom or decluttering their home,
what might be two to threesteps that you would suggest
(11:58):
they start with, I think myfirst step and this is I just
love this analogy, I didn't comeup with it, definitely can't
take credit, but if you'refeeling a bit overwhelmed or
you're feeling like you reallywant to start decluttering, if
your bathtub was overflowing,right, you would not just grab a
bucket and start getting waterout of it, you would first turn
(12:21):
the faucet off.
And so that's my encouragementto my clients like turn the
faucet off, let's cut off someof this consumption, some of
these spending habits, whateverthat looks like for the
individual.
That would be my first step,and people don't usually like
hearing that like stop shoppingor, you know, disconnect your
credit card from Amazon.
But that really is my firstencouragement I would say.
(12:44):
My second thing is to startsmall, like you really can make
change in 10 minutes, even 5minutes in a space.
Start small, it's doable, it'snot going to happen overnight.
And also I would say don'tstart in your like memory box or
(13:05):
in your basement or your atticRight, like that should probably
be one of the last things youdeclutter.
Once you've built yourdecluttering muscle, once you've
learned to let go, I reallylike to tell people to start in
the bathroom, because rarely dowe have attachment to things in
our bathroom, right, and it'sthe kind of place where you can
declutter and you'll feel itright away, like that next
(13:27):
morning when you wake up and youknow, do your morning routine.
You'll already feel better,having decluttered that space.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
I personally have like a pretty good relationship
with like letting things go.
But I switch my clothes outlike every season.
So I have clothes that I putout, you know, for winter and
fall and clothes that I put outfor spring and summer.
So every time I'm switching myclothes, I'm getting rid of
things.
(13:53):
So I was shocked that I had acloset to like even get rid of.
I was like, oh my God, I had togo like search for things to
get rid of, basically.
But it felt really good to justbe like.
I don't know all of theseclothes they were.
I used them when I used to be aadministrator in higher
education.
I was a international studentadvisor for a few years and so I
(14:15):
was, you know, wearing morelike corporate clothing and I
haven't worn that stuff in awhile.
So I was like, I don't know, Ikept two dresses and maybe like
two blouses and I just gave awaylike three bags of clothing.
It went to someone that neededit, that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
And we like.
We know it feels good.
I mean, whenever you clean yourbedroom, or even when you like
deep clean something, or whenyou fill a trash bag with
clothes, it feels so good.
It's just sometimes gettingstarted right Like that's.
That's the part that sometimespeople need a little bit of help
with.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
I could understand why just having the habit of
decluttering is so helpful withyour tangible things and then
also like internally helps youto like let go of those things
that you need to create morespace for.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
And we know that our physical items can sometimes
cause stress for us.
Like there's something calledthe silent to do list.
It's essentially the idea thathave you heard of it before?
No, but it's the idea thatevery item we own is asking us
for something.
So the plant on my counter isasking me for water, and then
(15:22):
the you know dishes that aredrying in the drying rack by the
sink, or ask me to put themaway.
Every single item that we ownis going to be asking us to do
something.
And we know this to be truebecause when we go away, when we
stay in a hotel or stay in anAirbnb how nice is it to only
have our suitcase right?
We don't have any silent to dolist.
(15:43):
We don't have any items thatare asking for our attention,
except maybe our clothes.
But I just think that's reallyhelpful to think about that.
Every item is sort of like amagnet for our attention.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Thinking to myself now, like I have like a little
speaker on my desk, it's likeput this away.
That's not where it's home is,but it's telling me to like put
it away.
So it's my silent to do listright now.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
That's my silent to do list.
Yep, exactly, and so the lesswe have, the less our silent to
do list is begging for ourattention, because every item we
own isn't just taking upphysical space, it's also so.
It's taking up a space in ourhome, it's taking up mental
energy.
We need to wash it, fix it,charge it, make sure we have the
(16:31):
warranty filled out, whateverit is.
So it's not, it's not just theoriginal cost and it's not just
the physical space that ouritems are costing us.
It's so much more.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Oh my gosh, so interesting.
So I love the the three tips orsteps that you shared with us.
Those are great.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Yeah, I guess there's one more thing I would have
said which is like kudos to youfor deciding that you want to
make a change, because you havesomehow, you know, something has
shifted in your, in your mind.
That said, hey, I think thatmaybe I need to simplify a
little bit.
I think that maybe my stuff istaking up too much of my time.
So that's awesome, that is awin right there, just that
(17:09):
desire to change.
And then I guess anothermindset shift would just be sort
of like we talked about earlierit's not going to happen
overnight, it's not going tohappen in a day, and if you try
to do it all day on a Saturday,you're probably going to burn
out.
So I would really try to do itin smaller chunks.
I call them flutter edits, like15, 20 minute chunks of time
(17:31):
where you focus on one singlespace and feel that small win to
build your momentum.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Yeah, that feels really good.
It's like setting yourself upfor success and kind of like
compartmentalizing where yourenergy is going to go for those
few minutes so that you canreach that goal, whatever it
might be.
Yeah, that sounds really nice.
Something else that you alsomentioned was having these
personalized systems when wewere chatting on Facebook.
(18:03):
Can you share a little bit moreabout having those personalized
systems for you or for yourfamily or whoever's in your
household?
Speaker 2 (18:13):
Yeah, I love a good system.
I think it's a game changer,and the thing about systems is
that it has to work for you,like it has to work for your
season of life, and so it'sreally going to be
individualized.
That's part of what I do, andmy coaching is helping my
clients figure out what is asystem that works for them.
So I guess an example like thisweek I posted a reel on
(18:38):
Instagram and it was a drawer inour kitchen that's half protein
powders and collagen and likeour Nutribullet and creatine and
then half of the Sleaf Tees.
And some people might be like,why do you have that in a drawer
and your island and like that's, you know, and that makes sense
to them.
But for us, for my husband andI, we use those things every day
(19:00):
, sometimes multiple times a day, and so the system that we have
is that we have, you know, ourteas and these glass jars and we
pull them out and theNutribullet's right there.
We pull it out, put it on theisland, plug it in, and it works
for us.
Do I think that that drawer isgoing to forever stay?
Protein and tea?
Probably not.
But for now, in this season oflife, it's a system that works
(19:22):
for us.
That's just one example.
Another system that I'verecently developed in our house
is I was trying to figure outhow to solve this problem.
Maybe you have the same thingbut your dishwasher how to tell
if it's clean or dirty, like howdo the other members of your
household know if those dishesare clean or dirty?
So I was kind of like I want onAmazon, I was going to buy this
(19:45):
like magnet and I was likewhat's I can make a magnet that
literally says clean or dirty.
So I you know printed somethingout.
I use my laminator and put alittle magnet on the back and
now we just flip it so if itsays clean on top, you know it's
clean.
You can read clean.
It says dirty, you flip it soit reads dirty.
And that has helped so muchbecause we're not opening the
(20:07):
dishwasher while it's running.
I will say we don't use thatsystem perfectly.
It's definitely.
We're still learning how toimplement it, but that's another
example of a system and thatcosts nothing and has
streamlined things for us.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
It sounds like the systems really alleviate any
kind of like micro frustrations,like it kind of like
streamlines and creates like anease in your home for whatever
your personal process is, eitherfor you or your house or, you
know, whoever's in your home.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
And it helps remove decisions.
Are you familiar with decisionfatigue?
Speaker 1 (20:49):
I am from wedding planning actually, tell us more,
tell us more.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Decision fatigue is just exactly what it sounds like
we make over.
As humans, we make over 3,000decisions a day I bet parents
make more and any sort of likeso we get sick of we get
fatigued, or get sick of makingdecisions right.
So any decisions that you canremove are going to streamline
(21:15):
your day and make your lifeeasier.
So my husband and I we'll preplunches on the weekends.
We have the same thing forlunch, you know, five days that
week and it's already prepped ina little glass container we
just pulled out in the morning.
There is no decision needing tobe made in the morning about
what we're having for lunch.
Granted, I know some people,you know that's not their thing,
(21:35):
they don't want to eat the samething, but for us it just makes
life easier.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Is there anything that you would suggest someone
not do if they're looking to getstarted?
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Definitely I would say don't try to do it all in a
day, which I mentioned before.
You know it's not a sprint kindof thing.
And then don't start with thehard stuff.
Don't start with grandma'schina or your memory box because
you're setting yourself up tohave a harder time.
To let go and don't show it onyourself.
(22:09):
Don't beat yourself up.
If you're having a hard time,don't tell yourself you should
be to hear you know your houseshould look like her house on
Instagram.
That's not helpful.
The fact that you were starting, the fact that you were wanting
to simplify your life, like Isaid, is a huge win.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
Yeah, I love that and it's so true.
The TikTok algorithm had me fora minute with all organization
and people's like inside ofpeople, people's like
refrigerators were like justexquisite.
We don't really have that muchin our fridge, honestly, just
normally but it was like so funto watch.
So, yeah, I could see how wecould all fall into the TikTok
(22:48):
or Instagram hole.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
Yeah, which is great, but I just don't think it's
realistic for everyone, and so Ireally Totally fall in love
with your own home.
Make your home a space that youlove.
Yeah, because it's special andwho knows how long you'll be in
that house.
Like, even if you're, you know,an apartment, you want to be in
a house, or you're in a smallerhouse and you want to be in a
(23:10):
bigger house, which that's awhole other conversation.
Do we really need a biggerhouse?
Yeah, fall in love with thespace that you have and make it
work for you.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
I know that you mentioned that you have a
membership that's coming out inthe next month or so.
Can you share with us a littlebit about your membership, what
might be in there, how peoplecan get connected with you?
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Yes, thank you so much for asking about that.
I'm super excited.
I have been working with mycoach on launching this
membership and so it launcheslater in March.
But essentially it's amembership for busy women who
want to simplify their lives sothat they can make room for what
matters for them, and it's aplace for women to do that
(23:57):
together, because declutteringis not easy, it's definitely not
glamorous, it's not like TikTokor Instagram, and it's so much
easier when we can do ittogether, when we have other
women who are in similar seasonsor, you know, are going through
similar struggles, to be ableto work together and to
(24:17):
celebrate and also make changeand hold each other accountable.
So the membership is run on aprivate app and more details
will come, but there are livecalls and coaching with me,
accountability with othermembers, and part of those live
calls are education as wellLearning from me and other
(24:38):
experts on decluttering, andthen also just different topics
related to decluttering andrelated to that holistic
wellness which I am superexcited about.
I would say if people want toget connected with me, they can
follow me on Instagram at MakeRoom to Breathe Again.
My name is Noelle Fowler and Ihave a freebie that I would love
(24:59):
for them to download.
It's called let's Make Room asimple guide to go from clutter
to calm, and on it I have justthree of my most practical steps
.
I also talk about those storiesthat we tell ourselves and how
we can rewrite those stories.
I have four of those stories onthe guide and I've gotten great
feedback on it.
I really love hearing frompeople how it's been helpful to
(25:22):
them, so if anyone does grabthat, I would love to hear how
it's helping them.
I'm also I just want to say I'mrunning a challenge in a couple
of weeks as well, so if youfollow me on Instagram and you
sort of want to get a taste ofwhat it might be like working
with me as your declutter coach,they can sign up for that free
challenge and get a little tasteof what's to come.
Speaker 1 (25:45):
I love that.
That all sounds so exciting andwe'll definitely link
everything that you mentioned inthe show notes, so definitely
go check those out.
And then our last question thisis something that I ask all the
guests that we have on is whatis one thing it could be
literally anything a book, asong, a person, a place, a thing
, anything at all that islighting you up right now and
(26:08):
inspiring you in life?
Speaker 2 (26:12):
Yeah, I love that question.
I am reading a book right nowcalled Practicing the Way by
John Mark Comer.
He is a pastor and he talksabout following Jesus, and my
faith is really important to meand that book has just been
inspirational and I don't evenhave the words.
Honestly, it's just a book thatI look forward to reading and
(26:35):
has really been making me thinkabout my faith and how it's part
of my everyday.
So thank you, john Mark Comer,for that awesome book.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
Oh, that sounds amazing.
Well, thank you so much, noel,for coming on spending the time
with us.
I learned so much.
This was so much fun chattingwith you and, yeah, thank you.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Thank you so much, rachel.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
I'm so happy that you're here and I cannot wait to
talk with you on our nextepisode of the Radiant Life
podcast.
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