What is the reality of addressing clutter? Why do we hold fear about the clutter in our lives?
Listen to Podcast: iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Email | Google Podcasts
Download Podcast Workbook
Mentioned on Ep 103: The Reality of Addressing Clutter in our lives
Welcome back to The Burnout Doctor Podcast, I’m your host Dr. Jessica Louie. Thank you for your amazing feedback on our CURATING your goals episode this month and our guest Libby Rothschild and how pharmacists can begin their private practices. Remember, we all write our own stories in our lives and homes. Let’s all bring joy into home and joy into work.
Now, this is a reminder that I’m hosting LIVE Simplifying sessions each month and our first one this year is scheduled on January 23rd. Save your seat in this LIVE simplifying 3-hour session today for a fraction of what 1:1 coaching costs!
Today we are addressing a common fear many of my clients come to me with – if I address the clutter in my life, what will it reveal about me?
This often leads to a mindset of never starting to declutter and simplify our lives because we are afraid of the reality it will reveal. The hardest step is starting. I encourage you to acknowledge this and then schedule a time on your calendar to set AND don’t break that appointment with yourself.
3 Things I find when addressing clutter with my clients:
ONE: The realization I don’t know my values. Often times we accumulate clutter as a coping mechanism. In this way, we are not applying our core values, our WHY, our HOW statements in life to how we accumulate things or accolades. I was in this spot 5+ years ago. I didn’t know the meaning of my life, why I woke up each morning and what purpose it served. Getting clear on this, being able to write it down and speak it aloud to strangers was an important step in healing why I had clutter in my life to begin with.
Take for example heading off on a road trip without a map and without a clear destination to arrive at. It elicits a lot of questions, right? What direction should we start in? When should we stop? How will we make it on electric charge (or gasoline)? Not having a roadmap in place creates confusion. It’s similar to not knowing our core values, WHY and purpose. We can live without it but it creates more challenges long-term that are not serving us.
TWO: The realization I don’t know how to spend my time. Often times we accumulate clutter to cope. I know I accumulated clothing and home décor while coping with pharmacist burnout. Therefore, I spent hours upon hours researching what to buy, buying it and then starting the cycle over again. It ate away at my time, day after day, week after week and month after month. When facing the reality of my clutter, simplifying it and letting it go there was a BIG realization of where will I now spend the time I shopped? It was a gut check realizing how much time out of my life I now got back through this new life-changing habit.
Where will I spend it? It was a realization I had no hobbies! I had hobbies as a child and teenager. Then they disappeared as I focused on my 9-year journey to board-certified critical care pharmacist.
The reality of addressing the clutter was the time in my life I now got to create meaning for through hobbies. For me, that was starting to blog, share my story and grow a business from it. For you, that can be anything.
THREE: The realization I’ve wasted money or am in debt. Addressing the financial challenges associated with clutter is difficult. I know. I shared in my burnout story (episode 1 and 2) that I spent over $5,000 on clothing while shopping to cope. I know some of that was wasted money on items I never wore or have used seldom over the last 5 years. I know that I’m fortunate I didn’t go into debt for these items (I always pay credit card bills in full and treat buying with credit cards as buying with cash). It is the reality of accumulating clutter. Yes, some clutter is from free items or gifts but many are not.
It’s a realization that is important to acknowledge and start addressing. It is one of the reasons I do not allow my 1:1 clients to purchase items or bring items into their home while working together. It’s an accountability system that is so important in breaking the continued debt cycle. It’s also why I talk extensively about the Kakeibo Method and how we went debt free from all our student medical/pharmacy school loans quickly during training (over $300,000).
The reality of addressing clutter is we get to choose how to live our lives. With intention. With Joy. With purpose. With time freedom. With financial freedom.
Tl;dr: Addressing clutter brings more meaning into our lives. Reserve your Seat at our next LIVE Simplifying session – decluttering together for 3-hours!
Make sure you’re implementing and taking action by watching our FREE Workshop on cultivating JOY AT WORK so you can simplify your life and enjoy making memories with your loved ones. Watch the free workshop instantly.
Have you been on the fence about pharmacist burnout coaching lately? Work with Me!
Until next time, spark joy my friends!
Note, my views are my own and are not associated or representative of my employer(s).
This podcast is for educational purposes only and not medical advice.
