The simple + intentional podcast is here to support you, whether it’s to clear clutter, ditch the overwhelm + create ease + simplicity , figure out how to be more intentional in your life or inspire you to into action.
Each week I will share things like practical + actionable tips you can start using immediately to start living more intentionally and create YOUR life as well interviews with people that will inspire and educate you
Do you feel overwhelmed by clutter when you walk through the door? Are you tired all the time and stuck just getting by? With each day being a carbon copy of the next and no time or space for yourself? Hi, I'm Sarah, and I was you, so I understand. You're a busy mom, whether at home or working full-time, feeling like you're in survival mode. There isn't time for more because you're just putting out fires, overwhelmed by all the stuff, and aching for something more. That's what the Simple Intentional Podcast is here for. To support you. Whether it's to clear clutter, ditch the overwhelm, and create ease and simplicity, figure out how to be more intentional in your life, or inspire you into action. Each week I'll share things like practical and actionable tips you can start using immediately to start living more intentionally and create your life, as well as interviews with people that will inspire and educate you. I'm a full-time working mom, wife, and lover of all things simple. After a stage four cancer diagnosis in 2014, I started on a path to change how I was living. And I'm sharing with you everything that has helped me move from stressed out, people-pleasing perfectionists to calm, in control, and feeling like the best version of myself. So grab your earbuds, a cup of tea, and join me to start making powerful shifts in your life today. This is about so much more than stuff. And a lot of clutter really is just unmade decisions. And maybe you aren't somebody who's naturally decisive, and you know, in this world of millions of decisions, even if you are a pretty decisive person, it can become challenging because we just get overwhelmed. You know, there's so much decision fatigue because we're faced with so many decisions in a day. I remember when I went to go buy pens, this was probably about two years ago, and I stood in front of this wall of pens, and I just wanted some pens, and I had no idea how to make the decision because there were so many factors that I never even knew were possibilities, you know, what size the tip was, and what color ink and how I opened the pen and all these things that became overwhelming. I eventually did make a decision and then I stuck with that decision, but it took me some time. And in our busy lives, we are faced with decisions like this all the time. We go to buy something at the store, and instead of there being two or three choices, there's often 20. And so you burn out when it comes to decision making. And then when it comes to your home and dealing with clutter, that drops down on the priority scale. You have so many other things going on that the clutter just ends up staying there and staying there and staying there because it's not a priority in the decision-making hierarchy of our busy day-to-day lives. But here's the thing: nothing changes until you decide it has to. Not when you have more time or when you feel ready, but when you stop ignoring how this is impacting you. And I know you know what I'm talking about. Those piles that you walk past every single day, the same pile that's been there for months, opening drawers and feeling the same frustration that you feel over and over and over again, stepping on the same toys and feeling the same rage when you hurt yourself, you know, opening the front door and trying to hang things up or put things away and just getting the same frustration in your body where you feel that tension and that anger because it's not easy to walk through the front door or whatever that example is in your home. You know what I'm talking about. And it isn't about stuff anymore. This is about how it impacts how you feel, how much energy you have, your mental state, you know, your mental clarity, all of this stuff is tied up in the stuff. So this is about deciding that you're not going to ignore it anymore and that you're gonna do something about it, and that you are going to decide to take action. Now, I'm not forgetting everything I started saying in the beginning of this episode about the overwhelming amount of decisions you're making and how tired you are, your mental load, all of that stuff. I'm not forgetting about that. But what I am saying is that if you don't decide to take action on this, the problem will never go away. And in fact, it will probably just continue to increase. So what you need to do is figure out how you're gonna make this happen in your day-to-day life in a way that's sustainable for you, doesn't tax your decision making too much, and isn't gonna drain you. And here's the thing: there's actually a lot of power in just making that decision because a lot of your mental energy gets drained in the thinking about taking action or the I know I should do this, I know I need to declutter, I know I need to deal with my clutter, but I just don't have time, energy, et cetera. But once you actually decide, oftentimes you're gonna start to see these little decisions that you can make in your day about your stuff that is gonna help you start to chip away at it. And I just want you to think about what is the smallest action I can take on a regular basis that is gonna help me chip away at this problem. You don't need to solve it, you don't need to have it done by some imaginary deadline. You just need to commit to the idea of deciding and say that you want this to be different and you want to change. And what you're gonna start to notice is this it's not about motivation. Motivation is gonna come and go, it's gonna ebb and flow. You need to have something that you can hold on to when the motivation is at a low point. So on those days, it's a one decision day. But on the days where you have plenty of motivation and lots of energy, maybe that's a 10 decision day. But you're just gonna figure out what you can do on a regular basis. And once you start deciding and you start making decisions, you're gonna start noticing. And through making these decisions over and over and over again, you're gonna start to filter better. You're gonna start noticing what matters to you, you're gonna stop tolerating the things that aren't working anymore. You're gonna recognize how powerful those small moments of movement are, and you're gonna interrupt the patterns that you've created that created the clutter in the first place and start to change things. Because we know your energy is limited, we know that life is full. You don't need more energy and more time. What you need is small ways to shift things so that you can create a different outcome. And this can even start with just one boundary of saying to yourself, I'm not gonna bring any more in right now. It can start with getting a box or a bin to toss donations into. It can start with grabbing a garbage bag and walking around and just picking up things that are garbage. But these are doable steps that you can do on any old day. And once you start making these types of decisions, you're gonna see how you change your behavior. Catch yourself scrolling on Amazon to close the browser, catch yourself clicking through on Instagram, swipe out of the app. Just take a pause. When you catch yourself in the old behaviors, that can be the decision you make. You know, to have the pause to not buy, that could be enough for now. And then the next decision could be okay, every day I'm gonna make one decision about something in my house. You know, each day it doesn't have to be dramatic, but it's that little bit of intention that is gonna lead you on a different path. You know, what have you been avoiding? What would it look like to support yourself right now? And just think about how deciding, putting a little stake in the ground and saying you're done with this, how strong and powerful that one decision is, and things will flow from there. You don't have to do everything today, but you do have to decide that this matters. And if you're at that point where you know you're ready, but you don't want to do it alone, this is exactly the type of support I offer. Whether you're looking for one-on-one help or you would be interested in a group setting, I'm putting together a group program right now and I'm looking for women who are interested in clearing the clutter, getting more intentional, addressing their mental load and their self-worth, and finally taking the steps forward to shift this problem and make life feel easier, lighter, and funner. And if coaching isn't for you, I also have a free Facebook group where I do periodic live sessions that you can learn from. There's an opportunity to comment, ask questions within that group, or I've recently released a mini course on decluttering sentimental items because I know that this is a real area of challenge for a lot of you. So for another week, that program is 50% off and it's just 33 Canadian dollars. So I will share all the links in the show notes if you're interested in any of those offerings. You can send me a DM on Instagram, you can send me an email. Any way you want to get in touch, I would love to hear from you. Even if you just want to chat, I love to get to connect with people in my audience. So thank you so much for listening. I hope you found this episode helpful.
