Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
You're listening to
the what Women Want Today
podcast.
If you love the idea of beingpart of a community of women who
are looking to thrive, not justsurvive, you're in the right
place.
Join hosts Terry Cullums andAmanda Keeper each week, as they
bring you topics and guests tohelp you improve your
relationships, your health andyour emotional and spiritual
(00:23):
well-being.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Hello and welcome to
this week's episode of the what
Women Want Today podcast.
I'm your host, terry Cullums,so happy to be here with you
today, two days after Christmas.
Yesterday did not feel like theday after Christmas, for
whatever reason.
We spent Christmas Eve inPhoenix, celebrated with Brian's
children and his grandma, andso then Christmas Day didn't
(00:55):
really feel like Christmas Dayto us.
We like cleaned his grandma'sgarage and I don't know.
It just didn't feel likeChristmas.
So yesterday, as we're headingdown back down where we live in
Southern Arizona from thePhoenix area, it just felt like
the trip that would never end.
We had to stop in Tucson and doa couple of things on our way
(01:17):
home.
So although we left Phoenix atabout 9.30, I don't believe we
got home until about threeo'clock, two or three o'clock in
the afternoon, somewhere aroundin there.
So of course, waking up today,I just feel tired.
I don't know how you all feel,I don't know if you're recovered
yet.
So a lot of people like to takethe day after Christmas to just
(01:40):
sort of relax and kind of getback to routine.
But today is that day for me.
So we are in the midst of theseries, the 12 Days of Christmas
, if you're following along withme, we're trying to figure out
what 2024 is going to mean forus, and today's topic is clutter
(02:01):
.
Now, I'm not going to go reallydeep into this discussion today
because I did an episode,episode five, which I'm going to
link in the show notes.
I'm just going to kind of givesome basics and hope that you
will go back and listen toepisode five.
But there was a couple ofthings I wanted to touch on.
When I started thinking aboutclutter, for some reason it
(02:26):
reminded me of a conversationthat Brian and I had.
It was probably at least twoweeks ago, and he was saying
that for next year he bought aplanner, like an organizer type
thing, and he said I really justwant to make 2024 a year where
I just finally stop being sodisorganized.
(02:46):
He recognized thatdisorganization had cost him a
lot of time and also some moneyin some instances, and he said
you know what?
I'm going to write things downbecause what typically happens
and I don't know if your husbandis like this, but he'll say
honey, remind me, remind me tocall this place, remind me to
call that place, and thosethings just start to pile up
(03:10):
after a while where I'm sort ofthe reminder of all these things
and I have my own things thatI'm trying to remember and so
oftentimes that list will justkeep building and it just you
lose sight of some things, orwhat happens is that list of
things suddenly keeps you awakeat night, or when you do wake up
(03:30):
at night, it's the thing thatyou start thinking about.
You've got all these things andI did touch on that in episode
five where we talked about, youknow, like that brain clutter.
So I actually was trying todecide if I thought that
disorganization and clutter wassort of the same thing and I
(03:52):
went to Google and looked for adefinition there and it's
talking about how clutter isdefined as a large group of
usually unrelated or marginallyrelated objects piled together
in a disorganized fashion.
So I'm just gonna be reallytransparent today.
Like if you stopped over myhouse right now, you would walk
(04:14):
in and you would see a whatwould appear to be a very clean
home.
There's nothing laying around.
I would not be embarrassed ifyou showed up unannounced right
at this very moment, because mydishes are done and my bed is
made and everything looks on thesurface to be very organized
(04:37):
and clean, right.
But if you opened up some of mydrawers, like everybody has a
junk drawer, right, we have ajunk drawer.
We have a basket that kind ofsits close to the entryway where
a lot of the meal has kind ofpiled up over the past month or
so.
If you opened my refrigerator.
(04:59):
I would be embarrassed if youopened my refrigerator.
To be honest with you, I am notgreat at organizing the
refrigerator.
I do have that on my list for2024, for sure.
If you went into, like ournightstands complete disaster.
The surface countertop of mybathroom pretty okay, okay, not
(05:23):
great, but okay.
But open up the drawers.
And yeah, there's underneaththe bathroom sink not very
organized.
My closet is extremelyorganized, for whatever reason,
and the living room.
I don't have any visual clutter.
But my office is usually and Ithink it really relates to
(05:47):
stress like how much we havegoing on is probably really
closely related to how certainareas of the home look, like the
garage is a complete disaster.
So I would ask Brian toprobably close the garage doors
and have you come in through thefront door.
But usually and this goes wayback, like I remember in the
(06:08):
days when I owned my insuranceagency and my oldest daughter
was working on her master'sdegree and so she worked for me
part-time and she's a veryorganized person.
Like she's the person that youwant to come into your house if
you're struggling to getorganized.
Like she's just a verynaturally it seems like it's a
(06:29):
superpower for her.
It comes very easily, she'sorganized, and so when she
worked for me I would come intomy office.
She usually got there first.
I would come into my office andthere would be like these stacks
well, not really stacks, butjust kind of laid out neatly
where I could see each groupingof papers usually client
paperwork and there would belittle sticky notes on there.
(06:52):
Sign here, do this call thisperson and I tell you what.
Like there was nothing better,just a better way to start your
day than to come in and feellike you already knew what you
needed to do.
Like, have you ever gone into asituation like a workday, or
even like coming home from beingaway for Christmas and we took
(07:16):
our motor home?
So there's always the unpackingof the motor home.
I have a hair appointment today.
Brian had some things going ontoday, so can you imagine the
difference in your mindset ifyou had someone that had neatly
arranged, a stack of things withlittle notes on it that says
(07:37):
this is what you need to dofirst, like here's a
chronological order of all thethings that need to be taken
care of today, from probablymost important to least
important.
It is such a wonderful feeling.
So, with that in mind, brian,when he had the conversation
with me about you know how hewas going to get more organized,
(07:59):
to save more time and and andsome money possibly I said to
him I go, well, maybe what weshould do in addition to you
writing down work things in yourorganizer is at night, before
we go to, either before we go tosleep or before we start
watching a TV program Is to say,hey, you know what, what, what
(08:21):
got accomplished today from thelist, what needs to be done
tomorrow, let's schedule it,let's get it written down, so
that we wake up in the middle ofthe night and we start to think
about that thing, like, oh, youknow what, I don't even have to
think about that, it's writtendown already.
I already know I'm going intomy day With those little sticky
notes, with that littleorganized pile that says these
(08:45):
are the things I have to dotoday, these are the most
important tasks on my list todaythat just have to be done.
And if it doesn't have to bedone tomorrow, then it doesn't
go on tomorrow's list, it goeson Friday's list, it goes on
Monday's list, whatever,whatever day of the week it is.
And so I really like the ideaof being organized so that you
(09:05):
can go into your day beingprepared and not coming and
sitting down at my desk andfreezing and saying what am I
going to talk about in thepodcast today?
What, what subject, whattalking points do I want to talk
about?
And just being all over theplace and thinking, oh, my
goodness, I need to go get thosethings out of the motor home
(09:27):
and I need to get to my hairappointment on time, and you
know all the things that go inbetween.
No, when you are organized, youcan sit down and just get right
to it.
And so how does that relate toclutter for me?
Well, to me, that says youdon't go to the grocery store.
Well, this is me.
I'm not saying this iseverybody, this is me.
(09:47):
You don't go to the grocerystore without a plan or what you
, what you need.
I like to meal plan out my, my,my list.
I write the meals down that Iwant to cook and then I start to
think about everything I needto go into that.
So I think you know they're.
They're pretty.
It says in this, in this articleon Google, it says
(10:09):
disorganization and clutter arerelated, but not the same thing.
Disorganization can lead toclutter, but someone can be
disorganized without havingvisible clutter me right,
because all my visible clutteris tucked away in a drawer or in
the refrigerator when I don'thave to to look at it.
So Anyways, it says on theother hand, someone may have
(10:31):
clutter but still have anorganized system for dealing
with it.
So we are going to not onlyWork on disorganization, but
we're going to work on beingmore clutter free and there are
some benefits and I do go intothese quite a bit in the episode
.
Even though it's not a longepisode episode 5 is not long I
did want to touch on some somereal quick Reasons why we want
(10:57):
to work on clutter or putclutter on our list for 2024.
And there's 5 of them, so I'mgoing to go through those with
you.
Mental clarity Mental clarityand decluttering can help clear
our minds and reduce mentalstress.
When our physical space iscluttered, it leads to feelings
of overwhelming, can distract usfrom focusing on the task at
(11:19):
hand.
By decluttering, we create asense of mental clarity,
allowing us to think moreclearly and improve our overall
well being.
And I will tell you this whenmy office has gotten really out
of control, I avoid coming inhere, like I will sometimes, and
I recorded episode one and twoof the series in my dining room
(11:41):
because my office was not aplace that I desired to be,
because the clutter had gotten.
I had stacks and it's just nota fun place to be.
It's not relaxing, it's notsomewhere you crave to be Like.
My office is actually reallypretty.
It looks out onto a mountainrange and there's trees and it's
(12:02):
actually a very gorgeous view.
So to not want to come and sitin here really means that I've
let the clutter get a lot ofcontrol.
So that kind of leads intonumber two, which is its
increased productivity.
Decluttering can significantlyimpact our productivity levels.
A clutter-free environmentpromotes better organization and
(12:24):
efficiency, making it easier tofind what we need.
This would be, brian, makingsure to let's see, let's see
where did I go.
It can lead to improved timemanagement.
There we go again, brian Reduceprocrastination and increased
productivity in both personaland professional pursuits.
So I think we kind of nailedthat one down.
(12:45):
That's a pretty good point.
This is interesting betterdecision-making.
Decluttering can positivelyaffect our ability to make
decisions, and organized anddecluttered space can help
eliminate decision fatigue.
When we have fewer items tochoose from and a clear space to
work in, we can make decisionsmore efficiently and effectively
(13:06):
.
Number four is improved mentalwellbeing.
The psychological benefits ofdecluttering it's the working
space.
Like I said, with my desk andmy office contributed feelings
of anxiety and stress and evendepression.
Decluttering we can create amore peaceful and serene
environment, like my office Iwanna come in now because I've
(13:27):
decluttered it and it can have apositive impact on our mental
wellbeing.
And number five, our last pointis it increases, it enhances
creativity and focus.
Decluttering can boostcreativity and focus.
By removing the physicalclutter we can create a visually
appealing and inspiring spaceand by having a clean and
(13:50):
organized environment we canbetter focus on our work and
creative endeavors.
Is that the word I'm trying tosay Leading to increase
productivity and innovativethinking.
So I know all these things tobe true.
I'm wondering if you are goingto put decluttering and
organization on your list for2024.
(14:12):
I'd love to hear about it.
Please come over to theFacebook group and let me know
if this is gonna make the list,and what areas of your home are
you gonna focus on the most?
Is there something that youjust need to get better at and
you're just gonna commit to andyou can commit to it in the
community and we can hold eachother accountable for some of
(14:33):
these things?
I look forward to talking toyou over there.
I'm gonna leave you with themeaning of the third day of
Christmas.
It's three front ends, right,and it is associated with
prosperity and abundance.
So prosperity and abundance indifferent aspects of life, from
wealth, wealth can mean a lot ofthings to different people and
(14:56):
just to overall personalfulfillment.
All right, I hope you'reenjoying the series.
Please let me know and enjoythe rest of your day.
We'll talk again tomorrow.
Take care everybody.
Amanda, I don't know if thisever happens to you, but I
(15:22):
sometimes will learn somethingreally cool on a podcast, on a
YouTube, video, audio book,whatever.
I think I'm gonna remember itand then I forget.
Does that ever happen to you?
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Yeah, I call it brain
after 40 all the time.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
That's what we'll
officially call it.
But we've come up withsomething.
Do you wanna introduce it?
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Sure, it's from an
app called Quick Jim Quick and
it's an acronym called FAST.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Yeah, and the F it
stands for Facebook.
So we're inviting youofficially right now to come
over and join us on Facebook.
Get involved with the community, share your favorite episodes
with your friends on Facebook.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Yeah, the A is go
ahead and take an action, so you
can't remember anything if youdon't act.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
And S is for
subscribe.
Make sure you're subscribed toour YouTube channel.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
And then T is teach.
Teach what you've learned tosomebody else.
Share the love.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
All right, we hope
that works for you.
Thank you for joining us.
We'll see you next week.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Bye-bye.