Latest / Overwhelmed Working Woman: Boost Productivity, Master Time Management, Overcome Overwhelm & Stop People Pleasing / #117| The Incredible Power Of Decluttering To Reduce Overwhelm & Increase Peace In Your Home

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#117| The Incredible Power Of Decluttering To Reduce Overwhelm & Increase Peace In Your Home · Overwhelmed Working Woman: Boost Productivity, Master Time Management, Overcome Overwhelm & Stop People Pleasing

• 0:00
  Tina Stinson: I think the best way to think of this is everything is in a state of flow, constant flow, and whenever you're holding on to stuff like that, you're creating almost like a block or like a stagnancy in your life.
• 0:17
  Michelle Gauthier: You're listening to Overwhelmed Working Woman, the podcast that helps you be more calm and more productive by doing less.
• 0:25
  Michelle Gauthier: I'm your host, Michelle Gauthier, a former overwhelmed working woman and current life coach.
• 0:29
  Michelle Gauthier: On this show, we unpack the stress and pressure that today's working woman experiences, and in each episode you'll get a strategy to bring more calm, ease and relaxation to your life.
• 0:41
  Michelle Gauthier: Hey friend, thanks for joining today.
• 0:46
  Michelle Gauthier: If you've ever felt like clutter is just weighing you down, whether it's the stuff in your house or the chaos in your email inbox or the endless to-do list on a piece of paper in your mind, this episode is for you.
• 0:58
  Michelle Gauthier: I'm joined today by decluttering expert, Tina Stinson, and we're going to dive into how clearing clutter can create more time, more energy and more peace in your life.
• 1:07
  Michelle Gauthier: When you listen, you'll discover why decluttering isn't just about your space.
• 1:12
  Michelle Gauthier: It's about your mental load and your daily routines too.
• 1:15
  Michelle Gauthier: And then she's also going to teach us how to start small so you don't get overwhelmed, because we all know when you take on something that's too big, we end up just not getting started.
• 1:24
  Michelle Gauthier: And then the surprising connection between decluttering and self-growth, and how decluttering can actually be a form of self-care.
• 1:32
  Michelle Gauthier: So this conversation is just packed with simple, practical tips that you can take today and get started on decluttering.
• 1:41
  Michelle Gauthier: So let's jump into it.
• 1:42
  Michelle Gauthier: Thank you so much for being here with us.
• 1:45
  Michelle Gauthier: I'm excited to talk to you.
• 1:49
  Tina Stinson: Thank you for having me.
• 1:49
  Tina Stinson: I'm equally excited to talk to you Also.
• 1:51
  Tina Stinson: We have a lot in common.
• 1:53
  Michelle Gauthier: We do have a lot in common.
• 1:54
  Michelle Gauthier: So, as you know, this is the show for overwhelmed working women, and most of the listeners here, I would bet, would say that they could live with less clutter in their house.
• 2:05
  Michelle Gauthier: Even in my house I consider myself very organized, but I can just picture exactly where in my kitchen there is a cluttery area and it just weighs really heavily on me.
• 2:14
  Michelle Gauthier: So I'm excited to have you talk to us as a decluttering expert and just give us some quick things that we can do.
• 2:21
  Michelle Gauthier: So first of all, kind of just tell me your theory on decluttering and like why you focus and specialize in that area.
• 2:29
  Tina Stinson: Well, it's one of my favorite topics, and the reason I started in the first place was because I try to get people to practice really deep level self-care and self-love, and one of the things that people were was always saying to me was that they didn't have time.
• 2:44
  Tina Stinson: I don't have time to do that.
• 2:45
  Tina Stinson: I have this, this and this.
• 2:47
  Tina Stinson: So decluttering started as almost like here let's create some time and space for you, cause that's what decluttering does, and decluttering is, I take it like, at a whole new level.
• 2:58
  Tina Stinson: So I I talk about decluttering the mind, decluttering your space also, which is the funnest thing to do, I think, and then decluttering the mind, decluttering your space also, which is the funnest thing to do, I think, and then decluttering your processes, which that's where you can create a lot of time for yourself and reduce a lot of stress and anxiety.
• 3:14
  Michelle Gauthier: I love that.
• 3:14
  Michelle Gauthier: Okay, so let's take it one at a time.
• 3:16
  Michelle Gauthier: Do you need to start with your mind, or can you start with anywhere?
• 3:21
  Tina Stinson: You can start anywhere.
• 3:22
  Tina Stinson: I do like talking about decluttering space because it seems very simple and I don't think people realize that how it affects you on such a deep level when you have a lot of clutter in your life and so space would involve, like any any place where you spend a lot of your time OK, so this isn't just your home, this could also be your car, this could also be your workplace, and when you have a lot of clutter, it's a distraction and it weighs on your mind.
• 3:51
  Tina Stinson: It puts this extra like almost like an extra amount of pressure on your brain, right, so an extra amount of things that you have to handle.
• 4:00
  Tina Stinson: And when you release that, you open up like a flow and you release stress and then you create more time and space for yourself.
• 4:08
  Tina Stinson: And the way I like to attack clutter is in small little baby steps.
• 4:14
  Tina Stinson: So I'm the opposite of that, because I'm like baby steps, because a lot of times people would just get completely overwhelmed, and I understand that I have a lot of places of clutter in my home too, and to think that I would have to do it all at once would be overwhelming.
• 4:35
  Tina Stinson: So, taking small little bits and doing one little space at a time, like, if you look at your desk, maybe just doing the top of your desk, maybe doing one drawer, maybe going into one drawer in your bedroom, one drawer of clothing, maybe one space in your closet, a junk drawer, your pocketbook, your wallet, like these are all small little places, your center console and your car, you know.
• 4:59
  Tina Stinson: So these places.
• 5:01
  Tina Stinson: But my best advice I could give you is to start at a place that really affects you, a place that you spend a lot of time.
• 5:08
  Tina Stinson: So for me, my desk.
• 5:10
  Tina Stinson: It's important for me not to have clutter on my desk, my kitchen.
• 5:13
  Tina Stinson: I love cooking.
• 5:14
  Tina Stinson: I don't want anything to interfere with that, you know.
• 5:16
  Tina Stinson: And so using going into these little spaces and doing one little space at a time and then just saying, okay, I did it.
• 5:26
  Tina Stinson: You could even set a timer for five minutes and say I'm just going to declutter my countertop for five minutes and that's it.
• 5:33
  Tina Stinson: And I think what I would ask everyone to do is to pay attention how you feel before and after, to see how it feels after you remove clutter, because the more you pay attention to that, the more you're going to want to do it and keep adding it into your life.
• 5:50
  Michelle Gauthier: Yeah, you get that positive feedback from doing it.
• 5:53
  Michelle Gauthier: I can't remember if I saw it or if I thought this, but the idea that my kitchen counter is a good indicator of how my life is going is very true.
• 6:02
  Michelle Gauthier: Like if you say how you're doing today, I could just like point you in that general direction.
• 6:07
  Michelle Gauthier: Like this morning, or and same with yesterday morning, even though it was Sunday, I had a lot of things I wanted to accomplish and I try to give my kids the chores to empty the dishwasher and load the dishwasher, but that means it's not done immediately when I get up, because they sleep later and whatever.
• 6:24
  Michelle Gauthier: And yesterday morning I just thought I'm just going to do this very first thing, before I even have my coffee.
• 6:29
  Michelle Gauthier: I'm just going to completely clean this area up and I swear I felt good all day, all day long.
• 6:33
  Tina Stinson: Yes, it changes the energy and in your space, and that's like what I would call, almost like decluttering a process you know making, making the simple processes that you use every single day easier, removing as much friction as possible.
• 6:49
  Tina Stinson: It might be more work up front, setting yourself up, but in the end you're clearing that space and you could move through your life with like a flow rather than constantly stop, go, stop, go, stop go.
• 7:03
  Tina Stinson: Another thing that people don't usually think about when they're talking about decluttering in space is spaces like your email and your phone and where you hold information, your photos, even your social media.
• 7:18
  Tina Stinson: Decluttering that and making it aesthetically pleasing for yourself can be I don't know, can be life-changing.
• 7:25
  Tina Stinson: So also think about the energy of the items that you're getting rid of.
• 7:30
  Tina Stinson: So say, you have a lot of items from that were gifts from a past relationship that was a very negative relationship.
• 7:37
  Tina Stinson: Getting rid of those items can release that energy from the space and create more a place where you could add more loving things into that space, and it's such an amazing release.
• 7:49
  Tina Stinson: So spaces like this include your email list.
• 7:54
  Tina Stinson: You know how does it feel when you look at your email list.
• 7:56
  Tina Stinson: Is there too much?
• 7:57
  Tina Stinson: Is it a bunch of people in your inbox that are triggering you?
• 8:01
  Tina Stinson: Can you unsubscribe?
• 8:02
  Tina Stinson: What can you unsubscribe from?
• 8:03
  Tina Stinson: How can you curate your email list to serve you when you check it?
• 8:07
  Tina Stinson: And the same thing with your email folders and then your phone and the contacts in your phone.
• 8:13
  Tina Stinson: So, as an example, when I started coaching, I used to sell real estate back in the day.
• 8:20
  Tina Stinson: And when I started coaching, I didn't change anything in my space and my email and my phone or anything like that.
• 8:27
  Tina Stinson: And then after a couple of years I think it's something like three years we have to hold on to our files legally.
• 8:32
  Tina Stinson: I did like this purge, so I got rid of all the files.
• 8:37
  Tina Stinson: I went into my phone and I got rid of all of the contacts that I didn't need.
• 8:43
  Tina Stinson: So whenever a new client called me when I sold real estate didn't matter who they were or what they wanted I recorded them as a contact to my phone so that they called me back.
• 8:53
  Tina Stinson: I could say hey, bob, nice to see you again.
• 8:56
  Michelle Gauthier: You know kind of thing.
• 8:58
  Tina Stinson: So a lot of my phone was Bob from Taylor Avenue, or you know.
• 9:02
  Michelle Gauthier: Susie from you know.
• 9:04
  Tina Stinson: So it was like delete, delete.
• 9:06
  Tina Stinson: And so what that did for me was it created all the space for my new business.
• 9:11
  Tina Stinson: It created this focus.
• 9:13
  Tina Stinson: So I didn't see all of those contacts when I was in my phone.
• 9:17
  Tina Stinson: I didn't see all of those emails.
• 9:18
  Tina Stinson: I just removed everybody and it just helped me have more focus.
• 9:24
  Tina Stinson: It removed any friction from my business and it made me.
• 9:28
  Tina Stinson: It was like a commitment I made to my new business.
• 9:33
  Michelle Gauthier: How do you know?
• 9:33
  Michelle Gauthier: Because I feel like where people struggle is how do you know what to get rid of, like when is it okay?
• 9:40
  Michelle Gauthier: And I think that we have, especially if you're in a little bit of a lack mentality, and for the listeners, what I mean by that is like feeling like you need to hold on to things or that there won't be enough or that things won't come back to you.
• 9:54
  Michelle Gauthier: For example, if I get rid of a pair of jeans that are a out of style and B don't fit me anymore, I don't see any downside to that.
• 10:02
  Michelle Gauthier: But sometimes people will think, well, what if they fit me again?
• 10:06
  Michelle Gauthier: Or what if they come back in style?
• 10:08
  Michelle Gauthier: And that's from a lack mentality of like there won't be another new pair of jeans when I want them.
• 10:14
  Michelle Gauthier: So how do you help people think through what to let go of?
• 10:20
  Tina Stinson: Well, I think the best way to think of this is everything is in a state of flow, constant flow, and whenever you're holding on to stuff like that, you're creating almost like a block or like a stagnancy in your life.
• 10:33
  Tina Stinson: And when you let go of things and you send them to places where they might be loved a little more than where they're being loved right now.
• 10:41
  Tina Stinson: So, like that pair of jeans, you give it to Goodwill and then somebody else is like this is the best thing ever.
• 10:46
  Tina Stinson: And then in turn, while you're at Goodwill or we're at the thrift store or whatever, you see the perfect thing that you want to bring into your life.
• 10:56
  Tina Stinson: But one of the best ways to think about it, I think, is asking yourself the question does my future higher self connect with this piece?
• 11:05
  Tina Stinson: Is this something that serves me and my higher self, is this the direction I want to go in?
• 11:10
  Tina Stinson: Does this piece, you know, fit into where I picture myself a year from now as the higher version of myself?
• 11:18
  Tina Stinson: And I love asking myself that question because it's like no, that pair of jeans that I wore in 1986 when I weighed 100 pounds is not a part of my life.
• 11:31
  Michelle Gauthier: Yeah, yep, my higher self.
• 11:33
  Michelle Gauthier: I love that.
• 11:34
  Michelle Gauthier: I was going to ask you to tell everybody what you mean by higher self.
• 11:37
  Michelle Gauthier: I think what you just said is like who you're becoming, like the person you're going to be in a year from now that's exactly what I mean.
• 11:45
  Tina Stinson: It's like we're all on this conveyor belt of life where we're constantly expanding and learning and moving into a new version of ourselves every single day.
• 11:55
  Tina Stinson: For the most part, if you're not, you know, in some place of stuck or stagnancy, you know it's like you're moving forward and we all have these.
• 12:04
  Tina Stinson: I would hope that we all have these beautiful ideas of where we want to go in our lives and who we want to become, and I don't think I'll ever stop doing that.
• 12:14
  Tina Stinson: Even when I'm a hundred years old, I'm always going to be becoming something, and so asking yourself does this physical object come with me into this place, is a really good thing to ask.
• 12:32
  Tina Stinson: I've definitely held on to stuff.
• 12:34
  Tina Stinson: You know, the biggest thing I think that's hardest for people to move from is like things that have a lot of memories, and I don't think it's terrible to hold on to things that have a lot of memories as long as it doesn't get like your whole house is one big memory.
• 12:52
  Tina Stinson: You know what I mean Like you have no space for anything else because you have so many memories and there's different things that you could do, like with kids' pictures.
• 13:00
  Tina Stinson: You could take pictures of them, you could put it into a photo book.
• 13:04
  Tina Stinson: There's so many different beautiful ways you could honor all of those drawings that your kids made you, you know, as they were getting older, and just by taking pictures of them and creating like a photo book that you could put on your coffee table.
• 13:17
  Tina Stinson: I think is kind of cool.
• 13:20
  Tina Stinson: So there's creative, different ways that you could create more space.
• 13:23
  Tina Stinson: There's some things that I'm not willing to let go of myself, as, like I'm a big runner and so I do a lot of races, so all my racing T-shirts I'm just like, yeah, no, that's off, that's off the table.
• 13:35
  Tina Stinson: So I have a whole drawer of racing t-shirts.
• 13:37
  Michelle Gauthier: Yeah yeah, I made mine into a quilt.
• 13:41
  Michelle Gauthier: That's funny.
• 13:41
  Michelle Gauthier: I was doing that same thing and then it's like and what to do with the medals.
• 13:47
  Michelle Gauthier: Okay, and for non-runner people, you get a medal just for doing it.
• 13:58
  Michelle Gauthier: I'm not saying I've ever won a race, but you get all of this little memorabilia, yeah, and it's like no one at Goodwill wants this, but I definitely don't keep it, that's for sure.
• 14:02
  Michelle Gauthier: Well, I absolutely love your question that is so key to just think about.
• 14:05
  Michelle Gauthier: Is this going with me when I become my higher, better, more evolved self?
• 14:10
  Michelle Gauthier: Not too long ago I guess it was like a year ago I was cleaning out my email and I accidentally deleted every single thing in my email and it is an email address I've had for like 10 years.
• 14:23
  Michelle Gauthier: I had lots of.
• 14:24
  Michelle Gauthier: I mean, I had my son 17.
• 14:26
  Michelle Gauthier: I had like saved emails from his kindergarten teacher.
• 14:29
  Michelle Gauthier: You know stuff like that that I really did not need, and so I had like a momentary panic and then I was like, oh, I'm so free, I just need to start over and I'm here to tell everybody listening.
• 14:42
  Michelle Gauthier: No one reached out to me to be like hey, can I have that email from your son's kindergarten teacher from you know whatever year that was?
• 14:51
  Michelle Gauthier: I just figured if I owed somebody an email back and I forgot because I deleted it, that they would hopefully just reach back out to me.
• 14:59
  Michelle Gauthier: I had to talk myself down off the ledge and then it turned out to be so, so freeing.
• 15:05
  Tina Stinson: I think that's the key right there, what you said.
• 15:07
  Tina Stinson: It's so freeing.
• 15:09
  Tina Stinson: After I got divorced, I kept all the furniture.
• 15:12
  Tina Stinson: My former husband he didn't want any furniture and we had nice furniture.
• 15:18
  Tina Stinson: I was like I'm not getting rid of this, why would I get new furniture right?
• 15:21
  Tina Stinson: And so we kept this furniture the whole time while my kids were growing up and you know, my kids went to college, all three of them out of house, right, and I'm moving from New York down to North Carolina.
• 15:34
  Tina Stinson: I was like I'm selling everything and starting over because it's not worth moving all this stuff.
• 15:38
  Tina Stinson: It's all kind of getting old at this point, right.
• 15:40
  Tina Stinson: And so we had these green couches and everything happened on these green couches and I refused to like I thought I should burn them rather than sell them because of all the things that happened on these couches.
• 15:53
  Tina Stinson: But I sold everything.
• 15:55
  Tina Stinson: I cleaned them, I sold everything and when the green couches were driving away in the back of someone's truck, I had like this moment of like release of all of that energy.
• 16:08
  Tina Stinson: It was like this new start and all of that energy from when I was married and the relationship that I had was a very negative relationship, very hard, difficult marriage, and that moment I was like I just wish I let go of all that stuff like from day one, because it was just like.
• 16:26
  Tina Stinson: It was just like this emotional release and it felt so good and I was like, oh my God, I should have just did that like 10 years ago.
• 16:33
  Tina Stinson: Why did I hold on to that negative energy for so long?
• 16:36
  Tina Stinson: So it's like when I, when I was talking earlier and talking about you know the gifts from an ex, unless that, if you don't have good memories from that person or good memories from a relationship, get rid of it, let it go.
• 16:51
  Tina Stinson: It's like that that energy is so stagnant and it's holding you back.
• 16:56
  Tina Stinson: You don't realize it until you release it.
• 16:59
  Tina Stinson: And so and you could even move that concept into like social media, like the decluttering of your social media so why not curate a social media feed that served us?
• 17:10
  Tina Stinson: I'm not saying be the type of person that sticks your head in the sand and can't handle any type of difficult emotion, but when it comes to social media, this is something that we're spending time doing for enjoyment I would think most of us unless we're doing it for business and so why not curate it into something like you do when you watch TV?
• 17:30
  Tina Stinson: You control what you watch on TV, so why not follow the people that inspire you, block the people that don't, clear out all the groups that you don't need anymore, that maybe they served you at some point, but maybe not anymore and just declutter the whole thing to make it look and feel inspiring yourself?
• 17:58
  Tina Stinson: The questions whether this person inspires me or not.
• 17:59
  Tina Stinson: Looking at your best friend from high school, who you're supposed to love so dearly, but every time you see her social media feed, it triggers you and it makes you feel awful.
• 18:06
  Tina Stinson: That doesn't mean you have to unfriend her.
• 18:08
  Tina Stinson: You love her, but you can block or unfollow, like not follow her feed if it's something that triggers you every day, and then maybe ask yourself the question why does this trigger me?
• 18:18
  Michelle Gauthier: I love that.
• 18:19
  Michelle Gauthier: I love it because that's such a good example.
• 18:21
  Michelle Gauthier: I just believe and it sounds like this is exactly what you're saying that when you give away something, you leave space, and when you leave space, it gives a chance for something new to come in, and social media is a perfect example because, let's just say, when you're scrolling for five minutes you see a hundred things, and if you've curated your feed, you've left space for what's in my feed, like puppies and positive news, like upworthy and, you know, babies who are laughing, like that's the kind of stuff I like to see in my feed, and so if I don't take the time to declutter who I'm following, then those hundred spaces are going to be taken up by things that I don't want to see.
• 19:04
  Michelle Gauthier: And even just scrolling past them is a waste of time.
• 19:08
  Tina Stinson: Yeah, it is, and it still affects you in a certain way, and that's one of the reasons I love TikTok, because that's the easiest social media space to curate, like all you really have to do is spend less than a half an hour liking and watching the things 100% of what you want to see and then immediately your feed is different.
• 19:27
  Michelle Gauthier: So what is your number one tip?
• 19:30
  Michelle Gauthier: If this is resonating with somebody, whether they need to declutter their mind, their processes or a space, what's your number one tip for them?
• 19:39
  Tina Stinson: I would really focus on the things that are going to have the biggest impact, you know.
• 19:44
  Tina Stinson: OK, so like I talked about earlier, like focusing on the spaces that you spend a lot of time in, things that always seem to come up where you're like oh my God, I can't find the right outfit.
• 19:55
  Tina Stinson: I can't.
• 19:56
  Tina Stinson: Every time I go to get dressed I can't find the right outfit.
• 19:57
  Tina Stinson: I can't.
• 19:57
  Tina Stinson: Every time I go to get dressed, I can't find the shoes, I can't find the belt I can't Like.
• 20:00
  Tina Stinson: So maybe focus on your closet, you know, you know.
• 20:03
  Tina Stinson: So like just figure out the places that are giving you the most stress, the most tension, maybe the places that have the most friction, and then start there and take baby steps so that you don't get overwhelmed.
• 20:17
  Tina Stinson: I love that.
• 20:17
  Michelle Gauthier: So really choose carefully the so that you don't get overwhelmed.
• 20:19
  Michelle Gauthier: I love that, so really choose carefully the place that you start, and if it is your closet from what you said earlier, which I thought was great advice maybe start with your sock drawer or your t-shirt drawer, whatever.
• 20:30
  Michelle Gauthier: You don't even have to do the whole thing, Just get started on something.
• 20:34
  Michelle Gauthier: Okay, I love that.
• 20:35
  Michelle Gauthier: Thank you so much.
• 20:36
  Michelle Gauthier: I feel inspired to get off this call and like declutter my office Clean something I know.
• 20:42
  Tina Stinson: As I'm talking about decluttering, I'm like everybody has that one space in their house where they just kind of like throw everything and so now it's not too bad, but I do have that one space and I'm like, yeah, I've been thinking about that.
• 20:55
  Michelle Gauthier: And maybe you'll feel so inspired today now that you've talked to me about this.
• 20:58
  Michelle Gauthier: Yeah, yeah, I got a new desk for my office a while ago and it's a big, it's like a six foot white dining room table, and so I've got all this open space and also so much space to set Like.
• 21:11
  Michelle Gauthier: Right now I have four cups on here and three pens and like I don't need all this crap on here and if I need to think clearly, it all has to go.
• 21:19
  Tina Stinson: Another part of decluttering is also, after you're removing all the friction, is adding back in things of beauty that really make you feel comfortable.
• 21:27
  Tina Stinson: You know so like.
• 21:28
  Tina Stinson: For me it's having plants on my desk.
• 21:32
  Tina Stinson: I like to have plants all around me and my favorite color is Tiffany blue.
• 21:36
  Tina Stinson: So just adding little accents of that and so that you're not just decluttering and reducing the stress, anxiety and making flow in the space, but you're making it more beautiful and comfortable for you so that you feel good in that space which is the best, because then your brain will be available for so much thinking yes and doing OK.
• 21:57
  Michelle Gauthier: Well then, I want to ask you the two questions that I always ask every guest on the show.
• 22:01
  Michelle Gauthier: So the first question is if you're feeling overwhelmed whether it's about decluttering or anything else what is something that you can do to shift yourself out of that feeling?
• 22:12
  Tina Stinson: I think the best thing to do is to kind of like ground yourself and get centered.
• 22:17
  Tina Stinson: And the easiest way to do is to kind of like ground yourself and get centered, and the easiest way to do that is just by putting your hands on your heart center.
• 22:21
  Tina Stinson: So it's known that when you put your hands on your heart center it actually lights up the same part of your brain that lights up when you get a hug, and so that's so.
• 22:31
  Michelle Gauthier: I did not know that that was a studied thing, but that's how it feels.
• 22:34
  Tina Stinson: Yeah, cool, yeah and so, but not just doing that, because sometimes when we're moving into anxiety or even starting to have a little panic, it's really hard to stop that.
• 22:46
  Tina Stinson: So by putting your hands on your heart center and closing down your eyes because if you're closing your eyes you're removing some of that outward information that's coming in you have your hands on your heart center and then you're just going to take a deep breath in like really deep, filling your belly, expanding your chest.
• 23:03
  Tina Stinson: When we take a deep breath like that and we expand our diaphragm, we tell our nervous system everything's okay.
• 23:10
  Tina Stinson: We kind of stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system.
• 23:14
  Tina Stinson: So it, doing all three of those things at once, can really bring you into a state of calm.
• 23:19
  Tina Stinson: Now, if you're in a situation where you can't close your eyes, obviously when you're driving, you could just kind of put one hand on the heart center and take a deep breath, and it's still going to be very powerful, but that would be my best advice.
• 23:31
  Michelle Gauthier: I love it.
• 23:32
  Michelle Gauthier: So simple, easy to remember.
• 23:34
  Michelle Gauthier: That is great.
• 23:36
  Tina Stinson: Okay.
• 23:36
  Michelle Gauthier: And then the second question is what's something that you do consistently in your life in order to do less or save time?
• 23:45
  Tina Stinson: Well, that would definitely be the whole decluttering and I know I didn't really get into decluttering the processes, but I love doing this, and so what I do with myself and my clients is I go into all the little things, the way they do things in their lives, and we remove as much friction as possible.
• 24:01
  Tina Stinson: So it could be as simple as a morning routine.
• 24:04
  Tina Stinson: I use this example a lot, where I hate waking up to dirty dishes in the sink.
• 24:08
  Tina Stinson: I like having my coffee in the morning, and so by spending the time to do the dishes the night before and then setting up my coffee pot, instead of waking up to a sink full of dirty dishes and a dirty coffee pot you know, which is a bad energy way to start your morning I wake up to a clean kitchen and coffee brewing as I walk in and I feel like the queen that I am.
• 24:30
  Tina Stinson: Yeah just kind of like setting yourself up for success first thing in the morning, so like that's, that's the best way, I think, to create more time for yourself.
• 24:40
  Tina Stinson: So, instead of doing those dishes, I created that space where I could grab a cup of coffee in at night, and my room is just like clean and feels good and all I have to do is put on my pajamas and get into bed.
• 25:07
  Michelle Gauthier: It's the same kind of feeling like just doing it in the morning as kind of a gift to yourself in the evening.
• 25:12
  Michelle Gauthier: Yeah, when I hear people say I don't care about making my bed, I'm like what, have you tried it?
• 25:19
  Tina Stinson: I know I love pulling back the sheets and they're all tight and just like getting in there.
• 25:25
  Tina Stinson: It feels like all fresh and new.
• 25:27
  Michelle Gauthier: Yeah, yes exactly, exactly Well.
• 25:29
  Michelle Gauthier: Thank you so much.
• 25:30
  Michelle Gauthier: I'm so glad that we met each other and this has been so helpful, and I think you've given people some great ideas, and I hope everybody stops listening to the podcast now that it's over and goes and declutter something to make some space in their life.
• 25:44
  Tina Stinson: I hope so too I hope so too.
• 25:47
  Michelle Gauthier: Okay, where can we follow you?
• 25:50
  Tina Stinson: The best place to find me is at my website, which is my name, Tina Stinsoncom.
• 25:54
  Tina Stinson: And then you could also find me on Instagram at Tina Stinson coach, so those are probably the best places to find me Instagram at Tina Stinson Coach.
• 26:01
  Tina Stinson: So those are probably the best places to find me.
• 26:03
  Tina Stinson: And then there's my podcast, the Soul Aligned Self-Care Podcast.
• 26:08
  Michelle Gauthier: Soul Aligned Self-Care Podcast.
• 26:10
  Michelle Gauthier: Okay, great.
• 26:10
  Michelle Gauthier: We'll put all the links to those things in the show notes.
• 26:13
  Michelle Gauthier: Thank you so much for being on.
• 26:15
  Michelle Gauthier: It was such a pleasure to get to know you.
• 26:16
  Michelle Gauthier: Thank you for having me.
• 26:18
  Michelle Gauthier: Thank you for listening to the Overwhelmed Working Woman podcast.
• 26:22
  Michelle Gauthier: If you want to learn more about my work, head over to my website at michellegothiercom.
• 26:28
  Michelle Gauthier: See you next week.