Decluttering = Creating Space

Oct 14

This week, Shanna continues the Rest + Restore series with a practical episode about Clearing the Clutter: Mind, Home, and Schedule.

Because most of the time, it’s not that you need to do more, it’s that you need more space.

You’ll learn:

How overthinking and rumination create mental clutter

How to separate facts from stories and choose peaceful thoughts on purpose

Why cluttered spaces create chaos in your spirit

How to start small; one drawer, one corner, one surface

The freedom of simplifying your yeses and protecting your margins

Key Scriptures:

1 Corinthians 14:33

Isaiah 32:18

Philippians 4:8

✨ Takeaway:

Clearing the clutter; mentally, physically, and in your schedule, creates space for peace, presence, and purpose.

Here is the link to the instagram reel I mentioned: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOibnm4jLO-/?igsh=MWo5ejhtMmc4eDNmcA==

💜 Next Steps:

Please subscribe, like, review and share with your friends! Learn and implement coaching tools from a Christian perspective to see transformation in your life.

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Hello, and welcome to the Christian Life Coach Podcast. I am Shanna, your Christian life coach.

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And we are continuing… our series on rest.

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And restoration. And we're talking about how to finish the year off well.

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Finish on a high note. And walk into 2026, rest, restored.

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And with momentum. Now, last… on the last episode, I shared that my son listened to one of my episodes and had some feedback for me.

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And one of the… One of the items was to be funnier, and…

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And also, he… he also mentioned, don't laugh at yourself, which I just did right there, did you see that? I didn't even do it on purpose.

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Um, apparently I do that a lot. And my son is an avid podcast listener, so he actually really did give good feedback.

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But I do not… I'm not a storyteller, I'm not, like, a joke teller kind of person, really.

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But I absolutely enjoy a funny. Instagram Reel, or TikTok, or whatever.

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And so, I'm just gonna share with you a really funny reel that I saw, and I will… I will link it in the show notes.

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And it is, um… It is a reel about…

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Young kids, it's young, young kids who are holding their new baby brothers, or they're holding really little babies.

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And it's their reactions when the baby. Um, passes gas, or…

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The term that we used in my house was toots. So the baby's toot, which also means that the babies are probably pooping.

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And it's the little kids' reactions. To that happening when they're holding the babies, and it is hysterical.

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I laughed so hard. I am a boy mom, so… Um, potty… potty stuff is hilarious to me.

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So there's that. And again, I will share the link in the show notes. You're welcome. There's my humor.

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Um, so today we are continuing on in our series. We have talked about the power of rest.

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Creating rhythms of renewal to restore your mind, your body, your spirit.

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Through small daily habits, creating those rhythms. To, um, to anchor.

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The way that you live your life, and this week. We are going to talk about clearing the clutter.

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And we… I'm sure we all have mental putter. Some of us have more physical clutter than others.

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And some of our schedules are more cluttered than others, but that's… the three areas we're going to talk about, mind clutter, physical clutter, and…

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Calendar clutter. And because sometimes…

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Most of the time, I would venture, it's not that we need to do more.

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It's that we need more space. We need less. We need less in our way.

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We need less space taken up. Which creates more…

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More space. We can move more. When there's more space. There's more freedom when there's more space.

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Um, God is not a God of confusion. But of peace.

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My people will live in peaceful dwelling places. An undisturbed places of rest. How beautiful is that?

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So, first, we're going to talk about clearing the mental clutter, which.

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I would say that probably all of my podcasts, there's some aspect of clearing the mental clutter in each episode.

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And mental clutter can be… Um, some people think about it as overthinking, but I heard a pastor one time.

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Talk about overthinking, and how actually it's underthinking. Overthinking… the way that we think about it, overthinking is really just thinking the same things over and over and over again.

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So I guess it could be that. It's re… if it's… we're thinking of over as repetitive.

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So that… that could be accurate, or it could be we're underthinking, we're not… we're not thinking about it in different ways.

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In order to create more clarity, in order to create. Positive results or outcomes in order to.

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Um, strategize. Problem solving.

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So, when we're… typically, when we… what we are thinking is overthinking is underthinking.

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So, we'll just go with the overthinking, but I thought I'd throw that in there.

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Um, so overthinking is mental clutter. Replaying past mistakes, ruminating.

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Is mental clutter, when we just keep going. Back and playing the same thing over and over and over again.

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Worrying about the future. Is mental clutter.

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When we are worrying about the future. We are not in action, we're not making any positive change, we are not making progress.

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We are just taking. All of this energy, and we're digging a rut.

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And we're not going anywhere with it, but it feels like we're… it feels like we're doing something.

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I like the quote that worrying. Pretends to be necessary.

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Think on that. Um, self-criticism, those negative… Negative, um… self-talk. That is mental clutter.

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So, how do we… do that? What do we do with that mental clutter?

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And some… some of the ways here are notice. Notice those thoughts that are taking up space.

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Are you ruminating? Are you in self… criticism? Are you worrying about the future? What… what is it?

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That is happening. Name… name that thing that you're doing that is creating mental clutter.

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Notice it, name it, do a font download, get everything out of your brain.

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Get on a coaching call and talk about it. Um, and then separate the facts.

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From the thoughts about the facts. What are the… what are the bare-bone facts of this thing that I'm thinking about?

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Most of the… most of the stuff that creates the mental clutter is just.

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Our thoughts about the facts. So what are the facts?

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So get down to the bare bones. Facts of the matter. And then.

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The way that I'm thinking about those facts, is it true?

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Is it helpful? Go back to episode 14. Is it true? And helpful? If it's not true AND helpful, that's not the way I want to be thinking.

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And then, choose on purpose. What am I going to focus on? What do I want to think about?

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Philippians 4.8 says, whatever is true. Noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable. Think on these things.

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So think… on purpose. Choose.

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Piece on purpose. So, declutter the brain.

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Do a thought download, get all of those thoughts out. Separate fact from the story that you're telling yourself?

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And then decide how you want to think about it in a way that is true and.

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Helpful. So… Number one, declutter your mind. Number two.

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Physical decluttering. When your space feels chaotic, your brain is like.

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I want peace, I want peace, and it's, like, trying to find calm and peace, but when it's… when you're physical space is cluttered, it steals your peace.

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Cluttered space equals a cluttered spirit. And your… your external environment.

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Is typically… A reflection of your internal environment.

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So when your mind is cluttered. Typically, your space is cluttered too, so decluttering your mind.

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Could then lead to decluttered space. How nice would that be?

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And… and with this, just… start small with anything.

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Start where you're at, commit to what you're willing to do consistently, do it from a place of love. Start small.

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What's one little area. That irritate you, or bugs you, or like…

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Disrupts your piece, that you could focus on, a drawer. Um, one covered.

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One covered. Um… your makeup. Like, what's one space.

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That you could work on. That you could get a quick result, a quick win.

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And when you are looking at getting rid of things, ask yourself, do… Do I love this thing?

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Does this thing serve me in this season of my life? Is this something that I want.

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To have around that I want taking up time and energy.

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From my brain and my life. Um, and I love the idea of creating one space that is always… that you always keep.

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Clean. Like, you… there's always a place in your house that you can go.

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That is just, like… physically, externally.

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Calm, where there's space, and you can just be. For me, when my kids were little, little, like, before… before they could.

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You know, mess the room up when they were babies. When there are babies, their rooms were always, like.

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Clean, and so calm and peaceful. And so that was where, like, anytime I walked into the kids' room, it was just like.

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Oh… This is how a house should feel.

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And it was just one room, but you can create a space like that. You can create a corner or a nook.

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Of just that space that you always keep. Just so, so that you can go and sit there and just enjoy it at any time, and it's not like.

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Oh, I have a moment to sit down and chill out, and then, oh, I don't have anywhere to sit down, I have to clean up this whole area, and then there goes your time to chill out.

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So, creating space for. Um… physical space.

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And physical… inviting environments, right? And I really love… I heard somebody talk about.

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Getting rid of stuff, and how… We get so emotionally attached to even, like, clothes, right? Or…

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Um, items that people gave us, whatever, and it's not… we look at it and we're like, I don't really… like, need it, and I don't actually even really want it, but I don't really want to give it away either. I don't want to just donate it.

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And somebody said that… what helped them with that kind of stuff, getting rid of that kind of stuff, that they were kind of, like, hemming and hawing about.

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Was finding a place. That they felt really good about donating stuff to.

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And I think for her, she… it was a place that, like, they didn't sell stuff, but.

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Low-income people could come in, and they gave it to them, like, things that they needed, they gave.

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And it can be, um, like. Places that give.

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Close to women in shelters to wear for job interviews. Like, whatever it is that you're like, I feel really good about donating to this place.

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That could be really helpful in, like. Ugh, I don't really want to just…

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Get rid of this, but if it's going to this place that I know it's gonna go to good use.

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I'm way more likely to get rid of it and open up that space in.

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My closet, or in my house. Um, so… Clearing physical space can open up mental space and spiritual space.

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And time, space. And as you create order and space and peace in your surroundings.

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Notice how… you're more peaceful inside, too.

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So it goes both ways, create peace outside, you get to experience it inside, create peace inside, and it's gonna lead to creating more.

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Piece outside. So… We are decluttering our minds, decluttering our physical space.

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And then… ooh… This one, this is a big one.

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Clearing… clutter from your schedule.

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And obligations. Busy does not equal purposeful. You… we do not get our worth.

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From how busy we are. Over-committing does not leave space.

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For us to have rest. And reflection, and renewal.

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So, how… how can I declutter my calendar, Shanna? Audit your time. Look at, like, list out all of the things that you do.

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During a week? Like, what are… what are typical things that you do every week.

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And do a time audit. What… what is it… what are essential things? What are the things that you really want to be doing?

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And what are the things that you're just filling time with?

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Simplify your yes. If it's not something that you really want to do that is contributing.

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To your life, to your impact, to what you truly believe to be true about yourself.

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Did you hear that? Say no. You can say no! Here's your permission. You can say no.

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And know it's a complete sentence. You… I mean, you can apologize, but you don't have to. You don't have to come up for… with a reason, you don't have to make up excuses.

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You can just say no. No, that doesn't… fit into my schedule. No thank you.

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That's a great sentence right there. No, thank you. So, um… Audit your time.

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Be really deliberate about what you say no… or what you say yes to, and give yourself permission to say no to things.

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And it's so much easier to say no, and then go back and change your mind and say yes.

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Than it is to say yes, and go back and change your mind to say no.

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So maybe you just practice saying no to everything. Right off the bat.

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Sorry, no. No thank you. And then you can go back and change your mind to yes, and it's way easier than changing your mind from yes.

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To know. Um, and then protect, protect your margins. Everybody should have margin in their calendar where they have time.

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To just… be. And protect that time.

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Say no. I just gave you your, your… Strategy. Say no.

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No, thank you. And if you don't have margin in your calendar, in your schedule.

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Please schedule a Right Fit call to talk about how coaching can help you to create margin in your life.

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Because I promise you. There's help. There is help. Um…

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And then, kind of, like, get into a weekly rhythm. I really like doing weekly planning.

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And that kind of, like, this is kind of… I do basically the same things on Mondays every week and Tuesdays every week, and Wednesdays.

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Within reason, with flexibility, I'm not talking about being rigid, but how can I create rhythms in my week that just make it go more smoothly?

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And when… just a reminder, when you say yes. To anything, you're saying no to something else.

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Therefore, when you say no to something, you're allowing for a yes for something that really matters, that you really want.

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To, um, say yes to. And when you're saying yes to everything.

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Then you're really… you're… you're really, um, not being honest. Let's… let's be honest. If you don't…

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If you don't feel like you can say no. Then you're not really saying yes.

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That's just your default. How about that?

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Um, and I want to kind of… I want to go back to the mental clutter. I want to get an example for me.

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This quarter, and I… I don't know if I've talked about it on the podcast or not, but this quarter.

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I have a lot more on my calendar than I typically do, like, things outside the norm.

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And they all include travel. And I noticed that… I have just been focusing on one thing at a time.

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And so… we went out of town, um, I went out of town with my mom and my sister.

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Last weekend? Two weekends ago, I don't know. And I have, like, I have all of this travel kind of scheduled.

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And each of those… times of travel are for an event that, you know, I need to figure out what to wear, I need gifts, I need to plan ahead. There are things that I need to plan.

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Ahead for, and I noticed on this trip, this last trip that I went on, that.

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I only think about one thing at a time. I plan for one thing at a time, I'm, like, I'm so focused on what's next.

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What's this next thing that I don't think… I don't allow myself.

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Um, space to think ahead to things. And that was creating a lot of mental putter, a lot of emotional clutter, because it's all, like, hanging over my head, but I keep putting off thinking about it. And so one of the ways that I am working on.

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Um, decluttering my mind is to spend some time. To sit down and do a travel protocol. We're going out of town again this weekend, so do a travel protocol for this weekend, and kind of prepare.

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Mentally, and as much as I can, physically and emotionally. For this trip ahead of time, and then I can think about the next trip.

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And plan… work on a protocol for that, and I don't have to wait until this trip is over.

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I can start working on that next trip now, and just… that's a way for me to kind of work on clearing out.

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Some of my mental putter about my calendar that is… it just has extra stuff on it right now, and they're all really good things. I love them all, I'm excited about each and every one of them.

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But when I think about them all at once. I'm like, huh, you know, I start… my anxiety level goes up, and.

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My… my brain gets cluttered, and my emotions. Um, escalate a little bit.

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So… and that also goes with clearing the schedule and working on your calendar, and being really intentional.

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And I'm working on, um… I'm working on clarifying my travel protocols, which I love having a travel protocol.

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I talked about that over the summer. And I worked really hard on my travel protocol, and I failed to do a reentry plan in those.

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I talk about all of that stuff on previous podcasts. So, let's wrap this up.

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Mind clutter steals our focus. It steals our ability to be present in the moment.

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And engage where we're at. Clutter in your house steals your peace. It's hard to be…

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Like, in a really peaceful state when there's clutter all over the place, ask me how I know.

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And schedule clutter steals your time. So, when we're working on.

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Decluttering our mind. We're able to focus more, and to be more present and engaged when we declutter our home.

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We allow ourselves space and more peace in our lives. When we declutter our schedule, we open up time space.

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Create margin, and we are able to look and see the things that we want to say yes to.

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And… and it can't… it's not about doing a complete overhaul, doing it all at once.

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What's one area that you can work on? What's one little small thing that you can work on to create more.

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Space in your mind. In your physical space, in your calendar.

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So it's just clearing the noise. A little bit at a time, start where you're at. It's not all at once, it's not all or nothing.

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And I have a… download with journal prompts in the show notes, click the link, and you can go get those journal prompts to start working on.

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Where you want to start and how… you want to start. And… Again, if you want help with this, schedule a right fit call.

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Download the worksheet from this episode. I also will have the link.

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To my… Devotional, self-care stewardship, a 31-day devotional.

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And go back, and… Um, watch that episode 14 on true.

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And helpful thinking. That's a good one to help you to declutter your mind.

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Thank you so much for being here, and remember that life coaching is life-changing, one renewed thought at a time.