Sign up to get updates from us
Is your brain and home/workspace space a MESS? In Episode 34 of the Shining Brightly Podcast Show, my guest Kitti Andrews shares the “do it now” strategy to get organized one small step at a time. She helps us get clear in our brains, set priorities and clean up the space around us which leads to clarity and greater productivity. Come listen, download, review and share! Keep shining always!
Mentioned Resources
Website: http://declutterthebrain.com
Social Media links:
https://www.facebook.com/kitti.andrews.21
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kitti-andrews-87644055/
https://www.instagram.com/kittiandrews_mckay/
https://twitter.com/kittiandrews
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClLEvVsveSkzaUdmoKvke6g
Giveaway: Downloadable PDF: 7 Easy Steps To Conquer Your Physical & Mental Clutter https://www.declutterthebrain.com/declutter/
About the guest – Kitti Andrews, Your Thought Organizer
For over 20 years Kitti Andrews has been helping people to get unstuck and out of a state of overwhelm by getting their physical and mental surroundings under control by helping them to declutter their space and brain. Kitti has written, directed and performed over 800 online videos devoted to decluttering the five life pillars, which furnish the content for her daily newsletter. Her speaking career spans interviews on top podcasts and summits as well as Stanford and Harvard. She has contributed articles that have garnered her front-page status in the Los Angeles Tribune Magazine as well as an upcoming interview in USA Today.
About the Host:
Howard Brown is a best-selling author, award-winning international speaker, Silicon Valley entrepreneur, interfaith peacemaker, and a two-time stage IV cancer survivor. He is also a sought-after speaker and consultant for corporate businesses, nonprofits, congregations, and community groups. Howard has co-founded two social networks that were the first to connect religious communities around the world. He is a nationally known patient advocate and “cancer whisperer” to many families. Howard, his wife Lisa, and daughter Emily currently reside in Michigan, and his happy place is on the basketball court.
Website
Http://www.shiningbrightly.com
Social Media
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/howard.brown.36
LinkedIn - https://wwwlinkedin.com/in/howardsbrown
Instagram - @howard.brown.36
Thanks for listening!
Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.
Don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast app so that you do not miss future episodes. And while you are there, it would help us get the word out to more people if you could leave an honest review.
Subscribe to the podcast
If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe to your favorite podcast app.
Leave us an Apple Podcasts review
Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.
#organize #clutter #messy #hoarder #physical #mental #declutter #strategy #coaching #office #home #business #growth #motivation #education #inspiration #podcast #download #listen #share #review #shiningbrightly
Hello, welcome to the Shining Brightly Show. This
Howard Brown:is Howard Brown, your Maestro of the mic. I got another good show
Howard Brown:here today. I have to tell you if you've ever been disorganised
Howard Brown:scattered, just overwhelmed, I said, this is the guest for you.
Howard Brown:Kitti Andrews. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. How are you today?
Kitti Andrews:Fantastic. Thank you so much for having me.
Howard Brown:Well, we're gonna help a lot of people today, I
Howard Brown:can tell you that. So let me just introduce kitty and tell
Howard Brown:you a little bit more about her. So for over 20 years, Kitty
Howard Brown:Andrews has been helping people to get unstuck get out of a
Howard Brown:state of being overwhelmed getting their physical and
Howard Brown:mental surroundings under control really important. By
Howard Brown:helping them to declutter their space in their brain, we're
Howard Brown:going to learn a little bit about decluttering it is written
Howard Brown:and directed and performed over 800 online videos devoted
Howard Brown:decluttering the five life pillars we're gonna learn about
Howard Brown:that, which furnishing the content to her daily newsletter.
Howard Brown:Her speaking career spans interviews on top podcast
Howard Brown:summits, as well at Stanford University, Harvard, Harvard
Howard Brown:University, and as we say, in Boston, Harvard, and she
Howard Brown:contributed articles that have garnered front page status in
Howard Brown:the Los Angeles Tribune magazine, as well as upcoming
Howard Brown:interviews in USA Today. Oh, boy, this is amazing. City.
Howard Brown:Welcome. Tell us a little bit more and share something that we
Howard Brown:don't know about. Yeah.
Kitti Andrews:Well, again, thank you for having me. And I
Kitti Andrews:have just recently discovered that I like watching buildings
Kitti Andrews:go up. I know right? You know, they say little boys have have a
Kitti Andrews:fixation with with with toy dump trucks and all this kind of
Kitti Andrews:stuff and cranes and all of that. Well, I'll tell you what,
Kitti Andrews:I've just moved into a brand new apartment building and I was
Kitti Andrews:warned that there's one going up right next door. And I have had
Kitti Andrews:the privilege and I say privilege of watching this right
Kitti Andrews:from the foundation, watching them for cement watching them
Kitti Andrews:have to dry it and dry out the ground after a horrendous
Kitti Andrews:rainstorm. There they've nailed yesterday in the pouring rain
Kitti Andrews:again. It's easy. I am in Eastern Canada, it does rain a
Kitti Andrews:lot. They they erected seven storeys worth of worth of
Kitti Andrews:girders thinking, How do these people do that? It's just
Kitti Andrews:absolutely fascinating. And it makes me realise everything
Kitti Andrews:needs a foundation. And I think we'll be able to talk about that
Kitti Andrews:today.
Howard Brown:Oh, thanks for sharing that. Wow. Nope,
Howard Brown:everything's great up in Nova Scotia land. So you are known as
Howard Brown:the thought organiser, correct? I am indeed Yes. So we're
Howard Brown:talking about clutter, right. And clutter can take many forms,
Howard Brown:but it can hurt your business, your bottom line, and you
Howard Brown:personally so take us deeper into that, about how we all get
Howard Brown:cluttered or stuck.
Kitti Andrews:Well, it's funny that you mentioned the sort of
Kitti Andrews:the thought organiser thing because you know, a client once
Kitti Andrews:said, Thank you for getting me organised and saying, you know,
Kitti Andrews:I'm not an organiser, think Martha Stewart with the little
Kitti Andrews:flowery box was right. And she said, No, you help people to
Kitti Andrews:work and eyes, their thoughts? And what I find is that, well,
Kitti Andrews:how does this relate to clutter is physical clutter and mental
Kitti Andrews:clutter, I believe are so inextricably entwined. That it's
Kitti Andrews:it's difficult you're one begets the other which begets the other
Kitti Andrews:In other words, your physical clutter can be a clue to what's
Kitti Andrews:going on between your ears. And it's just, it just ends up being
Kitti Andrews:a vicious circle. Now how can that affect you is as as an
Kitti Andrews:entrepreneur, for example, if your surroundings are cluttered,
Kitti Andrews:then you will find that, that you're just plain and simple not
Kitti Andrews:thinking as clearly. Why because of distractions. Plain and
Kitti Andrews:simple. You just feel any and it's a you don't even realise
Kitti Andrews:you're being distracted. But really you are my Oh, I gotta
Kitti Andrews:get to that. Okay, back to the email. Yeah, I really should do
Kitti Andrews:something about Yep, back to the schedule, whatever it is, that
Kitti Andrews:is this landing is making sense
Howard Brown:it is landing because we live in a very fast
Howard Brown:moving world we're coming out of COVID where we all had to do
Howard Brown:something different and we were restricted as to where we could
Howard Brown:go out whether we're gonna get a shot and and then we'll also a
Howard Brown:coupling that with this very fast moving digital world. So
Howard Brown:right we've got email distraction, text distraction,
Howard Brown:Facebook, LinkedIn, tick tock, oh, it goes on and on and on
Howard Brown:YouTube. And what happens is, is that The shiny objects sort of
Howard Brown:leads you off your priorities or off what you're supposed to be
Howard Brown:doing. And we live on these little devices called cell
Howard Brown:phones, or iPads or our computers. And it is really easy
Howard Brown:to get sidetracked. And so I have to tell you, it's very easy
Howard Brown:to get overwhelmed, and stuck to it nowadays. And so business
Howard Brown:must be good for you, kitty.
Kitti Andrews:Yes, yes, it is a nifty it's actually, a lot more
Kitti Andrews:people have been asking me this year about digital decluttering.
Kitti Andrews:As opposed as opposed to the physical they say, if I say if I
Kitti Andrews:say to them, which is more damaging to you mental clutter,
Kitti Andrews:physical clutter, though, say, oh, mental clutter, you know,
Kitti Andrews:that noise that starts in your head, when you start to when you
Kitti Andrews:wake up, you're starting to get ready for your day. And you
Kitti Andrews:start to ask yourself, did I email that person? Did I write
Kitti Andrews:down to room to do this to do that? The other thing, so the
Kitti Andrews:more that you can eliminate things that you can eliminate,
Kitti Andrews:like the physical clutter, or, or noises on your phone, I'd
Kitti Andrews:like to speak into that for a moment, then the more you can
Kitti Andrews:eliminate the stuff that you can control, then the rest of it.
Kitti Andrews:Well, you might you might just have to deal with it. Right?
Howard Brown:Well, the reason I say that is that there's there's
Howard Brown:a lot of distraction, and setting up that discipline to
Howard Brown:focus on the priorities of the hour, the day, the week, it gets
Howard Brown:you off track. So you have a system to start building that
Howard Brown:foundation, you call it the one system, please, please tell it
Howard Brown:tell my audience about the one system.
Kitti Andrews:I developed it partly, well, it's an ADHD or
Kitti Andrews:St. We ADHD years cannot be kind of all over all over the place.
Kitti Andrews:Well, we are. So we need something that is simple. Now
Kitti Andrews:this one is the physical one, but it can be applied to any of
Kitti Andrews:the five pillars of your life. And it goes like this one room
Kitti Andrews:at a time, one area of that room at a time, one thing at a time.
Kitti Andrews:And by one room at a time. I mean, it's counterproductive to
Kitti Andrews:start in your office, do a little bit there and then get
Kitti Andrews:bored and well go do some in the spare room. All right, do what
Kitti Andrews:what happens is by the time you've come back to your office
Kitti Andrews:correctly, you forget where you are, and it takes you 15 minutes
Kitti Andrews:to get back into character and pick up that momentum again. And
Kitti Andrews:then when one area of that room at a time means you're just
Kitti Andrews:niching it down a little bit, you've decided on the room, and
Kitti Andrews:now you've decided on an area and that can be difficult. But
Kitti Andrews:once you have chosen, okay, that corner or this part of the desk
Kitti Andrews:or whatever, a category, if you will, then it's easier again to
Kitti Andrews:pick up that momentum and see your results which fuels your
Kitti Andrews:confidence because many times people won't declutter because
Kitti Andrews:they, they they just don't think they can or they've tried
Kitti Andrews:before. And then it hasn't. It hasn't worked for them. So they
Kitti Andrews:say, Well, I can't No, you want some confidence. And that spills
Kitti Andrews:over into all the rest of your life into your dealings with
Kitti Andrews:your clients, everything like that. And then one thing at a
Kitti Andrews:time. One thing at a time. Now, that can be tedious. Yes, it can
Kitti Andrews:be time consuming. Yes. But it's also the number one way to train
Kitti Andrews:your brain never to get cluttered again. Can I give you
Kitti Andrews:a quick example?
Howard Brown:I would love that. Yeah, absolutely. All right,
Kitti Andrews:my first client in Michigan seriously, yeah, she
Kitti Andrews:she was what is an entrepreneur, she had a very large L shaped
Kitti Andrews:desk. And it was not a word of a lie six, six inches of paper, if
Kitti Andrews:you didn't know what covered desk was. And so our very first
Kitti Andrews:call I said was okay, well, I guess we're going to start on
Kitti Andrews:this pile of paper. Her mission was to clear everything off so
Kitti Andrews:that her assistant could work in the office. And she said, she
Kitti Andrews:looked at me and she said, You're out of your mind. We're
Kitti Andrews:not going to go through this one sheet at a time. It's my first
Kitti Andrews:client, Howard. I didn't know what else to do. So I'm
Kitti Andrews:thinking, Oh, my God, I don't have another I don't know what
Kitti Andrews:else to suggest other than one thing at a time. So she
Kitti Andrews:relented, and I tell you five minutes into it. She started to
Kitti Andrews:say, I don't need this. I don't need bank statements. My
Kitti Andrews:accountant doesn't need statements. Why are we Why do I
Kitti Andrews:even have this? And she started flying Thanks for flying through
Kitti Andrews:it and saying, I can do this online. I can do this online.
Kitti Andrews:But the kicker here's here's the real kicker was a couple of
Kitti Andrews:weeks later, she reported that she, we did get through the desk
Kitti Andrews:by way, nice. Two or three weeks, but during that time, she
Kitti Andrews:she said, You know, I was in the store where Oh, the trade
Kitti Andrews:magazines, sorry, I didn't give you the follow up on the she
Kitti Andrews:needed trade magazines for her business. But we used to we
Kitti Andrews:threw away six or eight of them that she hadn't read. She had
Kitti Andrews:never read she had bought and never read. And she said maybe I
Kitti Andrews:don't really need to buy as as many anymore. Next time she's in
Kitti Andrews:the store. She goes to just automatically reach for that
Kitti Andrews:trade magazine. And she said, Wait a minute, now I just threw
Kitti Andrews:away 50 bucks worth? Do I really need this issue? It's like no.
Kitti Andrews:Oh, what's up, puts it back eliminating clutter coming in?
Kitti Andrews:retraining the brain? So it makes sense.
Howard Brown:Yeah, that's she showed some discipline there.
Howard Brown:That's great. So I'm seeing the physical. Give a hint to how
Howard Brown:that works. In the digital world. When you've got a million
Howard Brown:windows open your phone's ringing and email keeps coming.
Howard Brown:never stopping and texts keep coming, never stopping all hours
Howard Brown:of the day. How do we do? How do we apply it to that?
Kitti Andrews:Now as to the tabs open Guilty as charged. The
Kitti Andrews:first thing I will address though, is something that is
Kitti Andrews:quite literally, you can't operate without it. And I
Kitti Andrews:suggest to everyone does it put your phone on Do Not Disturb.
Kitti Andrews:Plain and simple. I get complaints from people well, I
Kitti Andrews:phoned you in and it goes straight to voicemail. Yes, it
Kitti Andrews:does. Because every time a beep or bird or that comes on. I
Kitti Andrews:completely lose focus on what I'm doing. What does that do?
Kitti Andrews:That takes time to get back into as I said before it get back
Kitti Andrews:into character get back into the email that I was doing whenever
Kitti Andrews:I am very easily distracted. So it is on Do Not Disturb unless
Kitti Andrews:I'm expecting a particular thing. Yes. And that that frees
Kitti Andrews:up a lot of mental energy, which is so important. You know that
Kitti Andrews:little bit the little battery icon of like your iPhone, at the
Kitti Andrews:top of your brain gonna be there. Every time something's
Kitti Andrews:going I should look at it squirrel brain, right? Yeah,
Kitti Andrews:yeah. So that is the first thing now when it comes to tab I am. I
Kitti Andrews:cannot put like many people who weren't born with a computer in
Kitti Andrews:their mouth. Over the age of 40, you know, it's a it's like an
Kitti Andrews:English as a second language. So it's not something that comes to
Kitti Andrews:me automatically. But most people have a gazillion tabs
Kitti Andrews:open. And what's gonna have to happen eventually is, number
Kitti Andrews:one, try to discipline yourself that when you're done with that
Kitti Andrews:tab, oh, but I might need it, I'll probably need to refer back
Kitti Andrews:to it right? Yeah, bookmark it, okay, well, then that can turn
Kitti Andrews:into a miasma can all turn into a miasma? At some point, you are
Kitti Andrews:going to need to take an hour on a weekend and just go through a
Kitti Andrews:bunch of these emails, or tabs or whatever. That's easier said
Kitti Andrews:than done. Yes, I know. But if you can discipline yourself,
Kitti Andrews:excuse me, along the way to doing that. But I was just
Kitti Andrews:thinking about something just before we came on the air start
Kitti Andrews:to unsubscribe to things, you know, they say sent was a
Kitti Andrews:simplicity. And before you sit down before you download that
Kitti Andrews:freebie or or what have you just really think about what's going
Kitti Andrews:to be coming into your inbox and the quality of preventive
Kitti Andrews:maintenance, if you will, and starting to actually look at
Kitti Andrews:what's coming in and say, Do I need this and it's just the same
Kitti Andrews:as physical clutter. Does it serve me now? Yes, when you
Kitti Andrews:signed up, it probably served you very, very well. Thank you
Kitti Andrews:very much, much. Now, maybe you've grown and changed and it
Kitti Andrews:doesn't serve you as much well, but I might need it right. You
Kitti Andrews:know, the the refrain goes. It takes it takes being really
Kitti Andrews:thinking, really thinking and don't try to do that in the
Kitti Andrews:middle of a workday.
Howard Brown:Well, I like the fact that you're actually saying
Howard Brown:schedule in your house cleaning but just Do you clean your house
Howard Brown:or do the lawn or go to the gym, schedule it in schedule in a
Howard Brown:time when you're going to house clean only and make some
Howard Brown:decisions? Really, if I haven't looked at this thing and a week,
Howard Brown:a day or a long, exit out, delete, unsubscribe. So I think
Howard Brown:that's very important. That's a part of the discipline as well.
Howard Brown:Now, you actually, you can use this that one system for other
Howard Brown:things besides decluttering, what what are those? Wow,
Kitti Andrews:it's all it's all about niching down things down
Kitti Andrews:into categories, say, for example, you're just you're just
Kitti Andrews:feeling overwhelmed, about about what, what has to be done.
Kitti Andrews:That's your relationships. For example, if you're starting to
Kitti Andrews:think I have to if you're starting to feel overwhelmed by
Kitti Andrews:how many people you may have to please, in one day, whether they
Kitti Andrews:be your mother in law, your partner, your your your family,
Kitti Andrews:deal was one of them at a time, there's, there's a lot more to
Kitti Andrews:do that I was really T is thinking about physical. But
Kitti Andrews:when you think about my company name is declutter the brain. And
Kitti Andrews:if you're feeling overwhelmed by all of these things that are
Kitti Andrews:crashing into your brain, you have to finally say, Alright,
Kitti Andrews:I'm going to pick one thing, and work on it with one category,
Kitti Andrews:whether that's emails or texts, or whatever, and I'm going to
Kitti Andrews:binge them, I'm going to do all of them at once, and try to set
Kitti Andrews:yourself a time limit so that you don't get decision fatigue.
Kitti Andrews:And then, if you're still feeling overwhelmed by there's
Kitti Andrews:so much here that your analysis paralysis, you don't know where
Kitti Andrews:to turn next. I like to think about who needs me first, The
Kitti Andrews:Who, because so often in this world, where we're consumed with
Kitti Andrews:the what, what needs to be done, when the something needs to be
Kitti Andrews:done, but we forget about those people that are around us. Like,
Kitti Andrews:say, for example, your assistant who has been waiting for you to
Kitti Andrews:provide her with names of people that she's supposed to contact?
Kitti Andrews:Does she need me? Does my partner need me right now? Does
Kitti Andrews:my Does my child need me to feed, feed and feed them? Break
Kitti Andrews:it down into the most simple thing in that particular
Kitti Andrews:category? And then and then do that? And then move on to the
Kitti Andrews:next thing in your health? All right, well, I want to lose 20
Kitti Andrews:pounds. Okay, that's great. I'm overwhelmed. How am I going to
Kitti Andrews:do that? Okay, well, I'll tell you what, I'm going to walk up
Kitti Andrews:and down the hallway. I live in an apartment building. So let's
Kitti Andrews:use that for an example. I'm going to walk walk up and down
Kitti Andrews:the hallway every three hours. Once, I'm going to start small,
Kitti Andrews:and then I'm going to build up, do you see what I mean about
Kitti Andrews:just breaking it down to the easiest thing that you can do?
Howard Brown:I do, it's setting priorities. And it's taking a
Howard Brown:small bite, that first step making it potentially a baby
Howard Brown:step before you're taking lots of either larger steps or many
Howard Brown:more steps. So I think that's very important. But so, boy, I
Howard Brown:just see myself where I cleaned out everything right? And then
Howard Brown:it just starts filling back up again. And so how do I stay? You
Howard Brown:know, stay organised stay unstuck.
Kitti Andrews:Are we talking? Are we back? Are we well? Could
Kitti Andrews:it and can I address that in physical terms? And then we can
Kitti Andrews:we can? Yeah, for sure. Okay. Okay, because it's easier. Most
Kitti Andrews:people come to me with their physical clutter that's not
Kitti Andrews:realising at all, that there's something in behind it. There's
Kitti Andrews:always a why why do have clutter of any of any kind, and
Kitti Andrews:sometimes you can be needed as neat as a pen and still upstairs
Kitti Andrews:and that's okay, too. But you've got you've got, oh, Lord. The
Kitti Andrews:question was, I'm sorry. I went, Oh, well,
Howard Brown:the question you will use wonderful physical, I
Howard Brown:said, what happens you fall off the waggon. I mean, I was saying
Howard Brown:I was using the example that my email box is cleaned out. Now.
Howard Brown:It's just filled up again. And so how do you stay? How do you
Howard Brown:how do you stay, you know, organised and that that was
Howard Brown:really the question like you've started, you've made great
Howard Brown:progress, and then all of a sudden you're disorganised
Howard Brown:again.
Kitti Andrews:Okay, from a physical point, I've got a
Kitti Andrews:couple of I've got a couple of checks. And then remind me about
Kitti Andrews:the digital if I don't, if I don't, if I don't address it,
Kitti Andrews:okay, from a physical point of view, say for example, it's your
Kitti Andrews:desk. And we're both entrepreneurs, so we can relate
Kitti Andrews:to this. At the end of the day, Chad, I think your your, your
Kitti Andrews:listeners will awake this too. At the end of the day, take five
Kitti Andrews:minutes is probably going to take you three. But take five
Kitti Andrews:minutes, no more, and just straighten up your desk. Makes a
Kitti Andrews:world and sounds really, really simple, doesn't it? However, it
Kitti Andrews:sounds overly simplistic, but you'd be amazed at how many
Kitti Andrews:people don't do that. And they just oh, okay, well, alright,
Kitti Andrews:that lifting is done. I'm gone. When you walk in, in the
Kitti Andrews:morning, you want your brain is already fresh. Do you want to
Kitti Andrews:sully for lack of a better word? So your brain with? Yeah. Okay,
Kitti Andrews:this isn't looking very good. You want to walk in to something
Kitti Andrews:that's nice. So how do you do that with regular maintenance,
Kitti Andrews:just short and sweet, good at back and put your desk back the
Kitti Andrews:way it's supposed to know tip number now to look so that you
Kitti Andrews:feel good first thing in the morning, and you're not using up
Kitti Andrews:that most important thing, mental energy going? You see the
Kitti Andrews:little battery icon going down? Yeah, believe it or not at
Kitti Andrews:worse. The next one is a wait is the waitress tip. I was a
Kitti Andrews:waitress for many years, never walk from one room to another
Kitti Andrews:empty handed. There's always something that you can carry,
Kitti Andrews:whether it's the mornings coffee, or a shirt that's
Kitti Andrews:supposed to go to another room, anything like that. That's just
Kitti Andrews:like, never walk. If you find yourself with an empty hand, say
Kitti Andrews:what are you doing? There's got to be something you can carry?
Kitti Andrews:Because there always is. Now how does this translate? You're
Kitti Andrews:going to ask to save, for example, mental decluttering.
Kitti Andrews:Take a few minutes at the end of the day. And this is not easy,
Kitti Andrews:because I tell you my brain is buzzing at the end of the day.
Kitti Andrews:And so I almost forced myself to just stop and say, Wow, that was
Kitti Andrews:a good productive day. I'm not quite sure what I got done. But
Kitti Andrews:I know like it was productive because I feel good. All right,
Kitti Andrews:let's examine this. What did I accomplish? Oh, well, Erin, ah,
Kitti Andrews:I, I fixed my Calendly invitation so that they reflect
Kitti Andrews:properly, whatever is important that you got done that day, give
Kitti Andrews:yourself a little pat on the back a little yay, you. You
Kitti Andrews:know, we we strive powered all the time we push and we push and
Kitti Andrews:we push. But we don't give ourselves enough credit. What
Kitti Andrews:does that do? Adds to the mental clutter of I gotta keep pushing,
Kitti Andrews:I'll never be good enough. How much mental clutter like that is
Kitti Andrews:there in the world.
Howard Brown:I have to tell you, I have to give my mom a
Howard Brown:little credit. So since I was little, and again, this happens,
Howard Brown:I saw a talk with a military general, I make my bed every
Howard Brown:day. So that's I start my day with doing something
Howard Brown:constructive. Not not everyone does that. But I know everyone
Howard Brown:in the military does that they make their bed every day. That's
Howard Brown:the first constructive thing that you're doing because you go
Howard Brown:back to that bed and it's made and then you undo it to get in.
Howard Brown:And I like that at the end of the day to take the five minutes
Howard Brown:of decluttering your desk making sure it's good when you kind of
Howard Brown:come back to it. And then also giving yourself a pat on the
Howard Brown:back for what you did accomplish that day and not for what you
Howard Brown:didn't accomplish. So that's really important. So I would say
Howard Brown:what are some more key ingredients to successful
Howard Brown:decluttering?
Kitti Andrews:Yeah, don't try to do. Don't try to do don't
Kitti Andrews:pick the biggest project. Buy that for in the physical realm.
Kitti Andrews:I mean, don't say okay, well, I'm going to declutter the
Kitti Andrews:basement which has 30 years worth of Christmas decorations,
Kitti Andrews:but that's okay. I can get through it in an afternoon. No,
Kitti Andrews:no, no, don't do that to yourself. You're just setting
Kitti Andrews:yourself up for failure and, and oh, well, I should do of course
Kitti Andrews:I shouldn't try decluttering because I can't do it. Well, why
Kitti Andrews:of course you can't. Because you pick the biggest room no matter
Kitti Andrews:what you want to do is pick preferably the smallest room
Kitti Andrews:within the smallest room maybe the spare bedroom that has that
Kitti Andrews:has a closet Yanet just so that you can see, like we were
Kitti Andrews:talking about a few minutes ago, you can see you can see those
Kitti Andrews:milestones you can see the momentum happening, and give
Kitti Andrews:yourself credit because it's it. Well, it is overwhelming. So
Kitti Andrews:just don't take the biggest, the biggest project in the house and
Kitti Andrews:give yourself time. cut yourself some slack. Well, I should be
Kitti Andrews:able to get shirt out of your vocabulary. We all should. Don't
Kitti Andrews:wait. Howard. Yeah,
Howard Brown:I liked that, because you schedule it in. But
Howard Brown:again, taking the biggest room could be overwhelming, take the
Howard Brown:smaller rooms and start getting started. And that works well for
Howard Brown:digital and your projects. You've got to chip away at them.
Howard Brown:You can't You're not just like the your building next door to
Howard Brown:you. It didn't get built in one day, they laid the foundation,
Howard Brown:then they're starting to add the girders and then they'll add all
Howard Brown:the the additional stuff that you need to make it safe. And
Howard Brown:then the internal stuff, the electric, and all that in the
Howard Brown:floor. So I like that analogy as well. What? So you do this? All
Howard Brown:over zoom, you don't get it, you know, not going into people's
Howard Brown:homes and doing this do you? Are you doing this all over zoom?
Kitti Andrews:No, I do do it only only on Zoom. I know I did
Kitti Andrews:use to go into people's houses. And then someone suggested I
Kitti Andrews:look into it. And this was before when I looked it up? What
Kitti Andrews:is virtual decluttering? Because my mentor suggested this and
Kitti Andrews:there were I only saw I could only find three practitioners in
Kitti Andrews:the whole world. This was back in 2017. And I watched watch one
Kitti Andrews:of them a demo. Okay, well, let's try it what a realtor
Kitti Andrews:friend of mine has described it as is a less intrusive, more
Kitti Andrews:focused way to get rid of years of clutter. And the the key
Kitti Andrews:there is the less intrusive because don't we always feel
Kitti Andrews:like we should clean for the cleaning lady. You have somebody
Kitti Andrews:in your home, you're embarrassed that you have that you have the
Kitti Andrews:clutter note if she's seen it all he or she have seen it all.
Kitti Andrews:But you're still you're one is still embarrassed. Whereas if
Kitti Andrews:it's if it's on Zoom, then all we need to do is concentrate on
Kitti Andrews:how many one room and one area of that room and we just laser
Kitti Andrews:focus on that. Until it's until it's done. And then you get that
Kitti Andrews:that swagger feeling and go okay, yeah, we can do it. Oh,
Kitti Andrews:no, that we I can let her see that or yes, you can. Let's do
Kitti Andrews:it. You got through this, didn't you? Okay, so we're gonna do the
Kitti Andrews:next thing and the next thing. And people new people have
Kitti Andrews:always always taken to it. The ones who don't are the ones who
Kitti Andrews:want you to do the actual lifting and fair. Fair enough,
Kitti Andrews:right?
Howard Brown:I understand. So let me let me ask you, you have
Howard Brown:for those that will see this on video. You have clear the
Howard Brown:clutter calm the chaos. Is that is that your quote?
Kitti Andrews:Yes. Yes. It's been my tagline since 2018.
Howard Brown:I love it. So just for those are listening clear,
Howard Brown:the clutter, calm the cast. So this is the part of the show get
Howard Brown:you where I'm going to put on my glasses, my white glasses with
Howard Brown:gold ran dangerous there because we're shining brightly on you
Howard Brown:right now. I would love for people to tell them how to get a
Howard Brown:hold of you. Also, I think you have some type of downloadable
Howard Brown:that you can help as well explain what that is. And then
Howard Brown:give some final comments and we're going to wrap up the show.
Kitti Andrews:Sounds sounds good. Although I don't what I'm
Kitti Andrews:having such a good time with you. I don't want to wrap up but
Kitti Andrews:we have too easy to get hold of me the will give you the easiest
Kitti Andrews:way. Go to declutter the brain.com you can book a quick
Kitti Andrews:free call there and we'll see if you're a fit for one of my
Kitti Andrews:family of custom design programmes. And yeah, because
Kitti Andrews:not everyone is ready to declutter and I only work with
Kitti Andrews:those who are truly ready and downloaded. You can also there
Kitti Andrews:at declutter the brain.com Download my seven easy steps to
Kitti Andrews:conquer your physical and mental clutter. It is meant to be a
Kitti Andrews:grounding tool for your declutter journey and beyond
Kitti Andrews:meaning you can use you can refer to it any time and and it
Kitti Andrews:will serve you well.
Howard Brown:So give me give me some final comments that you
Howard Brown:want to share before I close the show.
Kitti Andrews:The clutter did not whether it's physical or
Kitti Andrews:mental, or relationship or health or your habits, the
Kitti Andrews:clutter did not accumulate overnight. It will not go away
Kitti Andrews:overnight. Take it one step at a time.
Howard Brown:Oh yeah, that is such sage advice. I'm going to
Howard Brown:add one more to that get started now, because it's just gonna get
Howard Brown:you're gonna keep building if you don't get started. So I want
Howard Brown:to thank you kitty for for being on my show. I appreciate that.
Howard Brown:This is Howard brown. This is the Shining Brightly podcast.
Howard Brown:You can reach me at shiningbrightly.com There's all
Howard Brown:things about my book and the my speaking. Absolutely speaking on
Howard Brown:lots of podcasts and lots of stages. There's also stuff about
Howard Brown:free handouts on survivorship and mentorship and interfaith
Howard Brown:relations. Lots of goodies there. I'm very interactive. So
Howard Brown:please see me there. So again, thank you, Kitti for being on
Howard Brown:the shining brightly show. You taught us some great lessons,
Howard Brown:please contact Kitti at declutterthebrain.com Get her
Howard Brown:giveaway. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Howard.
