Episode 255

Kitti Andrews helps us declutter our mental and physical clutter | DFS 255

Get all the inside secrets and tools you need to help you develop your intuitive and leadership skills so you are on the path to the highest level of success with ease.  If you are like me, you have some clutter.  Mine is often my kitchen counter.  Kitti Andrews helps clients clear the clutter so 6 figure entrepreneurs can focus and serve their premium clients. 

In this episode you will learn:

  • The importance of letting go of the guilt associated with the “shoulds”
  • Kitti’s special ONE System
  • How to keep it decluttered once it is cleaned!


Learn more and keep in touch with Kitti:


One Year Unlimited 15 minute Laser Coaching with photo accountability, PIF $997: https://calendly.com/kittiandrews/oneyearlasercoachingpif   


OR: 2x $547: https://calendly.com/kittiandrews/oneyearlasercoaching2pay     

(there's no fancy landing page lol, just click either link, make your investment, and book your first call on the spot!)


If you're unsure of what you might need or want to learn about my more robust programs which include Monday-Friday support, simply book a chat: https://calendly.com/kittiandrews/30min                                                                      


If you're not receiving my short and sweet Daily Declutter Digest, designed to jumpstart your day with hints and fun facts, download your “7 Easy Steps to Conquer Your Clutter" (https://declutterthebrain.com/declutter/) OR reply to this email and we'll sign you up!


Lastly, at roughly 500 members,our Declutter The Brain FB group is a supportive group where we "get" each other's clutter struggles, but it's not so big that you'll get lost in the crowd - if you're not already in, we'd love to have you! https://www.facebook.com/groups/253650592736219




Join Unleash Your Potential Clearing Sessions!  SIGN UP TODAY!  


Grab your FREE meditation:  Reduce Your Anxiety MEDITATION

Are you ready to tiptoe into your intuition and tap into your soul’s message? Let’s talk 



Listen in as Jennifer Takagi, founder of Takagi Consulting, 5X time Amazon.Com Best Selling-Author, Certified Soul Care Coach, Certified Jack Canfield Success Principle Trainer, Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst and Facilitator of the DISC Behavioral Profiles, Certified Change Style Indicator Facilitator, Law of Attraction Practitioner, and Certified Coaching Specialist - leadership entrepreneur, speaker and trainer, shares the lessons she’s learned along the way.  Each episode is designed to give you the tools, ideas, and inspiration to lead with integrity. Humor is a big part of Jennifer’s life, so expect a few puns and possibly some sarcasm.  Tune in for a motivational guest, a story or tips to take you even closer to that success you’ve been coveting.  Please share the episodes that inspired you the most and be sure to leave a comment.  


Official Website: http://www.takagiconsulting.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifertakagi/

Facebook: facebook.com/takagiconsulting


Wishing you the best,

Jennifer Takagi

Speaker, Trainer, Author, Catalyst for Healing


PS: We would love to hear from you! For questions, coaching, or to book interviews, please email my team at Jennifer@takagiconsulting.com

Transcript
Jennifer Takagi:

Welcome to the destined for success podcast.

Jennifer Takagi:

I'm your host Jennifer Takagi and this podcast used to be

Jennifer Takagi:

called new manager media manage right from the start. Many of

Jennifer Takagi:

the concepts are the same, that there's a little shift. There's

Jennifer Takagi:

a shift because I know we are all destined for success. And I

Jennifer Takagi:

want to help you find the fastest, smoothest way to reach

Jennifer Takagi:

your highest best as quickly as possible. Join me in today's

Jennifer Takagi:

episode, where you're going to come up with new ways to build

Jennifer Takagi:

your skills, and influence others to make the impact you

Jennifer Takagi:

desire to make. I look forward to connecting with you soon.

Jennifer Takagi:

Welcome to destined for success. I'm your host Jennifer Takagi

Jennifer Takagi:

and I'm very excitable today. Because I have my friend Kitti

Jennifer Takagi:

Andrews as my guest today welcome kitty. I'm so excited we

Jennifer Takagi:

made this all workout.

Kitti Andrews:

You know it is sometimes it delays. And you

Kitti Andrews:

think all of these delays and what's going to happen then it

Kitti Andrews:

just kind of magically comes together. And it comes together

Kitti Andrews:

for the right reason. So I am delighted to be here. Thanks.

Jennifer Takagi:

So I met kitty in Dallas at speakers Playhouse

Jennifer Takagi:

alive. And we got to know each other there. And then we've been

Jennifer Takagi:

online together off and on and multiple things. And I was like

Jennifer Takagi:

kitty, you need to come on because kitties claim to fame.

Jennifer Takagi:

What I keep hearing about from her is clear the clutter

Jennifer Takagi:

clutter, calm the chaos. And she is just a wizard at

Jennifer Takagi:

decluttering. And I am going to tell you that I have a counter

Jennifer Takagi:

on my kitchen that like grows things like things just show up

Jennifer Takagi:

and they multiply. I don't really know what happens. But

Jennifer Takagi:

it's a lot. And I was having a guest and it just happened to be

Jennifer Takagi:

Kimberly Crowe, our common denominator coming to stay in my

Jennifer Takagi:

house. And it was like, I gotta clean this crap out. And I did.

Jennifer Takagi:

I was so excited. And she walked in and when your house is

Jennifer Takagi:

lovely, and I was like, Yeah, because I threw a bunch of crap

Jennifer Takagi:

away. So it can be hard. I'm just saying it can be hard. So

Jennifer Takagi:

as we get started, I can't wait to hear more about clearing the

Jennifer Takagi:

clutter, the mental and the physical clutter that we have,

Jennifer Takagi:

and more about your story. So where are you physically

Jennifer Takagi:

located? And what do you do? How do you help? Let's talk about

Jennifer Takagi:

this.

Kitti Andrews:

Okay, and I want to come back to the kitchen

Kitti Andrews:

counter before because I want to ask you a question about that. I

Kitti Andrews:

am physically located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada,

Kitti Andrews:

basically go to Maine, go to the top of main hangar, right and

Kitti Andrews:

keep driving for about six hours do not drive into the ocean. But

Kitti Andrews:

you will or you can see the ocean outside me here. And next

Kitti Andrews:

up Ireland basically is is the next next step other than the

Kitti Andrews:

province of Newfoundland, which is well anyway, just trust me.

Kitti Andrews:

That's where I physically AM. And my story and yes, I will be

Kitti Andrews:

sticking to it is what do I do? My official tagline is I help

Kitti Andrews:

six figure entrepreneurs and those who want me to declutter

Kitti Andrews:

their space to organize their space and streamline their

Kitti Andrews:

thoughts so that they can focus remember that word on attracting

Kitti Andrews:

and serving premium clients and being profitably productive, the

Kitti Andrews:

in? What does that actually mean? is I help people to

Kitti Andrews:

declutter their space and their brain so that they can make

Kitti Andrews:

something of themselves so that they can be profitably

Kitti Andrews:

productive and profit doesn't have to be about money. It can

Kitti Andrews:

be about your health, it can be about your certain your wealth

Kitti Andrews:

or your relationships, or, or any of the five pillars of your

Kitti Andrews:

life. And that is what I do. I

Jennifer Takagi:

love it. I can't wait to hear more. So you

Jennifer Takagi:

wanted to get back to my kitchen counter, my nemesis, my kitchen

Jennifer Takagi:

counter.

Kitti Andrews:

I have a question for you. How did since since my

Kitti Andrews:

company name is declutter, the brain forgot to mention that And

Kitti Andrews:

I'll explain a little bit more about that. But I'm curious.

Kitti Andrews:

Jennifer, what? How did how did you feel after you cleaned this

Kitti Andrews:

counter? by that? I mean, yeah, of course Yeah. What was this

Kitti Andrews:

was pretty. But did you notice any other effects?

Jennifer Takagi:

Well, I felt really accomplished. Um, I, I

Jennifer Takagi:

notoriously will receive something. And I don't

Jennifer Takagi:

necessarily find it a home right away, and it's on the counter,

Jennifer Takagi:

and then the mail comes in, and then it's on the counter. And

Jennifer Takagi:

then and then and then before, you know, it's really full. So,

Jennifer Takagi:

yes, I'm super thrilled when it's clear, I bake and I

Jennifer Takagi:

decorate cakes and cookies, so I need that space. And so I will

Jennifer Takagi:

literally, like clean enough space to do what I needed to do.

Jennifer Takagi:

And it just, it grows over time. So I that that feeling of

Jennifer Takagi:

satisfaction that it's completely clean and ready to

Jennifer Takagi:

go. I love and I love having company, because that forces me

Jennifer Takagi:

like if I'm having the family over for holidays, you gotta

Jennifer Takagi:

clean that counter. Right? That's where all the food goes.

Jennifer Takagi:

So I haven't gotten into a habit of consistently keeping it

Jennifer Takagi:

clear.

Kitti Andrews:

Okay, we may be able to help that, please. Now

Kitti Andrews:

the reason I asked you that is because every time it anyone,

Kitti Andrews:

when certainly all of my clients and people that I've asked on

Kitti Andrews:

interviews, anybody I'll say which do you find more difficult

Kitti Andrews:

to deal with physical clutter or mental clutter? Because I really

Kitti Andrews:

do believe that it that physical clutter and mental clutter are

Kitti Andrews:

inextricably entwined every 10 out of 10 people will tell me

Kitti Andrews:

Kenny the mental clutter is the worst physical clutter we we

Kitti Andrews:

know what to do we know how to pick something up we either just

Kitti Andrews:

don't want to don't want or don't know where to start we're

Kitti Andrews:

overwhelmed but the mental clutter you know when you're

Kitti Andrews:

getting ready for your day in the morning in the brain start

Kitti Andrews:

some buzz and did I email that person did I write down to email

Kitti Andrews:

that person did I even did ever oh my god, I've got a phone now

Kitti Andrews:

don't don't forget to do your furiously entering it on your

Kitti Andrews:

phone or grabbing and grabbing the back of an envelope to write

Kitti Andrews:

it up. All of these things start to build up in that world Oh

Kitti Andrews:

noggin and the mentally you know the battery icon at the top of

Kitti Andrews:

your cell phone right? And you're tired by the time you hit

Kitti Andrews:

your desk. Whereas I have found that through using my one system

Kitti Andrews:

and just saying to myself okay, I actually had to do this. This

Kitti Andrews:

was a year it was about a year and a half ago it was and it was

Kitti Andrews:

in January that my brain was just going so much the Full Tilt

Kitti Andrews:

there were things happening was my was my father was the

Kitti Andrews:

business just everything. And I said I've got I've got to find a

Kitti Andrews:

way to get the brains house under control because I'm a foot

Kitti Andrews:

stomp and flagwaving ADHD or with with the you know the big

Kitti Andrews:

ideas and all of the details and squirrel and red Consuelo.

Kitti Andrews:

Right? And all of these things take up mental energy and

Kitti Andrews:

there's God I thought there's got to be a way to harness this.

Kitti Andrews:

So I am not constantly exhausted by my thoughts because they you

Kitti Andrews:

know, I eat my kale every day. Yeah. Yeah. But there's got to

Kitti Andrews:

be a way so I thought, Okay, what do I do it and whenever I'm

Kitti Andrews:

working with clients, we start with physical clutter that

Kitti Andrews:

always beers into the other four, four pillars of life we

Kitti Andrews:

and I've saved three marriages. So so far just by kind of as you

Kitti Andrews:

as you clear the physical clutter and I'm going somewhere

Kitti Andrews:

with this with the kitchen counter. You're you're peeling

Kitti Andrews:

back the layers of the onion, so that you're feeling clarity and

Kitti Andrews:

clarity and you see a you can you can visually mentally see

Kitti Andrews:

other things that you've been missing. Give you an example as

Kitti Andrews:

recent as this morning. Yeah, it was by Wednesday. I Hi,

Kitti Andrews:

everyone, so I'm starting to feel, you know, a little dragged

Kitti Andrews:

out. And this morning was only Tuesday. Because we're doing a

Kitti Andrews:

launch tomorrow. So my brain is my brain is busy. And it's okay.

Kitti Andrews:

Right, clean out the kitchen sink, finish it and finish it

Kitti Andrews:

finish unloading the dishwasher, I'm kind of airing out my dirty

Kitti Andrews:

laundry here, Jennifer, excuse me. But But yeah. And I did

Kitti Andrews:

that, oh, I had a couple of ideas for to put on a landing

Kitti Andrews:

page that I knew that I should have had done before. But I just

Kitti Andrews:

forgot, I was feeling more clarity. So my point here is

Kitti Andrews:

that once you clear the physical clutter, you can start to feel

Kitti Andrews:

more clarity about other areas of your life. And that's why I

Kitti Andrews:

asked you about the about your kitchen counter, how you felt,

Kitti Andrews:

if you were if you started, if your imagination was starting to

Kitti Andrews:

run wild, you may not have even noticed it, because I think

Kitti Andrews:

you've got a pretty busy brain yourself.

Jennifer Takagi:

Yes, and so I'm totally with you clean out the

Jennifer Takagi:

sea, empty the dishwasher like just for me, it's a little bit

Jennifer Takagi:

twofold. Number one, something is finished. I worked at the

Jennifer Takagi:

library when I was in college. And it was like nothing was ever

Jennifer Takagi:

finished. Because you get the book, you catalog the book, you

Jennifer Takagi:

shove the book, then somebody checks it out, and then you put

Jennifer Takagi:

it back. It's like, everything seemed never ending. And I like

Jennifer Takagi:

tasks that are complete. And so I had I did all through college,

Jennifer Takagi:

I had a little struggle, because it was like nothing, or it was

Jennifer Takagi:

rare to have something actually be considered complete at work,

Jennifer Takagi:

school. Yes, I'd turn in the paper, I'd take the test,

Jennifer Takagi:

whatever. But that idea of finishing something, and I

Jennifer Takagi:

worked with a business coach a number of years ago, and we

Jennifer Takagi:

weren't a good fit. So I want to say that first. Like if you hire

Jennifer Takagi:

someone, there has to be a good fit. I thought it was a fit, it

Jennifer Takagi:

was not a good fit. And I would get very stressed out because I

Jennifer Takagi:

couldn't do the things she was telling me to do. And I would

Jennifer Takagi:

get so frustrated, I would go in the kitchen and start baking

Jennifer Takagi:

because I could do it. I could finish it. And then I could eat

Jennifer Takagi:

it and ever Yeah, happy. So I actually started a baking

Jennifer Takagi:

business and I don't really publicize it. And I don't really

Jennifer Takagi:

do that much anymore, because it's so time consuming. But like

Jennifer Takagi:

if things get stressful, I will go in and bake a batch of sugar

Jennifer Takagi:

cookies and sit there and frost for hours on end. And then the

Jennifer Takagi:

ideas come right because I'm doing a different activity that

Jennifer Takagi:

separate and apart from something else so I get it empty

Jennifer Takagi:

the dishwasher like yesterday, I got a ton done. I threw chicken

Jennifer Takagi:

in the crock pot Victor wedding cake decorated, I mean, and then

Jennifer Takagi:

I sat down and got a lot of work done. So I get that. And yes,

Jennifer Takagi:

had I not clean the counter and then ran out of town. I might

Jennifer Takagi:

have had a little more time and space for that. But I will

Jennifer Takagi:

definitely pay attention. So all the listeners out there when you

Jennifer Takagi:

clean something and you have a long list of to do's pause to

Jennifer Takagi:

see if while you were doing that all the pieces didn't fall into

Jennifer Takagi:

place. I love that. Yeah.

Kitti Andrews:

Oh it every time now. When I walk into the

Kitti Andrews:

kitchen instead of going here, I've got to get to that for two

Kitti Andrews:

days. Now I've got to get to that that weighs on your brain

Kitti Andrews:

that takes up that iota of mental energy. And if you have a

Kitti Andrews:

couple of us around the house, if you feel guilty you feel and

Kitti Andrews:

this is all on a subliminal level. It doesn't need to be a

Kitti Andrews:

huge Oh, I'm a failure because I didn't empty the kitchen, the

Kitti Andrews:

dishwasher whatever. But it does kind of not your self esteem

Kitti Andrews:

just a little bit. And when you go back into your office, you

Kitti Andrews:

feel like yeah, I still have to still get to I know get to do

Kitti Andrews:

and get to do that. Your attention is torn and clutter I

Kitti Andrews:

find that certainly clutter and self esteem are also intertwined

Kitti Andrews:

either because somebody is is ragging at you about it. Or you

Kitti Andrews:

know that it could be better so you get that. Why can't i.dot.or

Kitti Andrews:

I should be able to dot dot dot But yeah, and we're a, we're so

Kitti Andrews:

many of us are probably all your listeners are overachievers, at

Kitti Andrews:

heart. And so we're really, really rough on ourselves. And

Kitti Andrews:

I'm going to give you give a little bit of a hint towards the

Kitti Andrews:

end as to how to alleviate that, because that uses up mental

Kitti Andrews:

energy to do you see the soap box that I wrote, I'm Jennifer.

Jennifer Takagi:

So I, okay. I'm taking lots of notes, lots of

Jennifer Takagi:

notes. So I heard one time that Steve Jobs or a black top either

Jennifer Takagi:

a t shirt or a turtleneck and blue jeans every single day,

Jennifer Takagi:

because he did not want to waste mental energy making stupid

Jennifer Takagi:

choices. And I always said I wish we had to wear uniforms at

Jennifer Takagi:

work. And then I'd have to decide what to so yeah, I just

Jennifer Takagi:

equated myself with Steve Jobs I did that.

Kitti Andrews:

It makes life so much easier as we were talking

Kitti Andrews:

about off off air. I know that today is Tuesday because I am

Kitti Andrews:

wearing a green camera saw and for when I'm when I'm doing my

Kitti Andrews:

daily videos each each one I don't have to think Monday is

Kitti Andrews:

black. Tuesday is light gray. Wednesday is paint. I do not

Kitti Andrews:

have to think nothing. And in the morning especially that when

Kitti Andrews:

you're you need every brain cell that you have for whatever is

Kitti Andrews:

most important to your work because how easy is it to go

Kitti Andrews:

down a rabbit hole? Don't get me started about Doom scrolling. I

Kitti Andrews:

don't do it. I can't because I will just get lost in it. So I

Kitti Andrews:

don't I post call that Doom scrolling. That's what a client

Kitti Andrews:

calls that. I don't even that's what she called it is Doom

Kitti Andrews:

scrolling. So much must be a thing. I

Jennifer Takagi:

haven't heard it but it's a thing now like is

Jennifer Takagi:

the thing. I do scroll last night for a long time. I was

Jennifer Takagi:

looking for one thing on the Facebook. Yes. I call it the

Jennifer Takagi:

Facebook because it's funny. I was looking for one thing on the

Jennifer Takagi:

Facebook and the next thing I knew it was really really late

Jennifer Takagi:

night should have been asleep hours ago.

Kitti Andrews:

Yeah, and especially before Brett before

Kitti Andrews:

bed, what are you doing, you're filling your you're filling your

Kitti Andrews:

head with all of these things that your subconscious has to

Kitti Andrews:

work twice as hard to get rid of, to get to get to the stuff

Kitti Andrews:

that it shouldn't be clearing like the day's business, so that

Kitti Andrews:

you wake up refreshed. And a lot of people that is really really

Kitti Andrews:

common when what you just said, this doom scrolling client or

Kitti Andrews:

fave is what seems to be a it's a toss up between whether it's

Kitti Andrews:

between Facebook or Instagram. And a former neighbor McGlinn

Kitti Andrews:

basically my best friend, he I know that he's been on Instagram

Kitti Andrews:

at three in the morning because I'm posting on at at six at 6am.

Kitti Andrews:

And I could see active three hours ago. Well, of course

Kitti Andrews:

you're tired the next day. Kind of thing, but it's gonna Yeah,

Kitti Andrews:

that that is a rabbit that is a rabbit hole

Jennifer Takagi:

access in success in

Kitti Andrews:

Back to the would you like? Okay, you have other

Kitti Andrews:

questions I know you do. Or I can just launch into the next

Kitti Andrews:

thing that I want to tell you.

Jennifer Takagi:

I want you to launch into the next thing that

Jennifer Takagi:

you want to tell me.

Kitti Andrews:

Okay, now. Mentors still speaking about

Kitti Andrews:

mental energy. Now I said that before the people come to me

Kitti Andrews:

with their physical clutter. And we we ended up peeling back the

Kitti Andrews:

layers of the onion on the other five pillars perfect example,

Kitti Andrews:

which I think you've heard me talk about is a client who she's

Kitti Andrews:

been with me over three years now most of them have because we

Kitti Andrews:

keep finding new things to unquote, Declutter. Like the

Kitti Andrews:

relationships or whatever. She came to me it was a very

Kitti Andrews:

cluttered house. And we started to work through it and but six

Kitti Andrews:

weeks in, she said, You know, I am finally going to start that

Kitti Andrews:

fitness program that I've been planning to for years. Suddenly

Kitti Andrews:

she just said, Oh, this is this is what I'm going to do. And I

Kitti Andrews:

didn't think much of it. I thought, Okay, that's great. And

Kitti Andrews:

then shortly thereafter, she said, you know, my husband said

Kitti Andrews:

something to me that I'm not really sure I liked and so she

Kitti Andrews:

told me what it was It wasn't so bad. And that's interesting. Has

Kitti Andrews:

he ever said this to you before? And she stopped? And she thought

Kitti Andrews:

of it. And she thought about it and said, you know, he's been

Kitti Andrews:

saying that kind of thing for the 25 years that we've been

Kitti Andrews:

married. I just never noticed that before. She says, Do you

Kitti Andrews:

see what I mean about about physical decluttering, promoting

Kitti Andrews:

clarity in your brain and you see things that you didn't even

Kitti Andrews:

notice before. And whether that's in a small like wearing

Kitti Andrews:

the kitchen counter, what I did this morning was the kitchen

Kitti Andrews:

sink. I remembered a couple of things I wanted to put on that

Kitti Andrews:

landing page right after our call. Oh, yeah, that's what I

Kitti Andrews:

forgot. That's the missing ingredient. Kind of thing. No,

Kitti Andrews:

going to mental go into that mental clutter. And that she had

Kitti Andrews:

here in the morning. Did I email did I phone did I write down

Kitti Andrews:

yada yada, yada? I have in my physical decluttering. I use

Kitti Andrews:

something called the one system and

Jennifer Takagi:

burn the page. Yeah.

Kitti Andrews:

The number one system. And it kind of came

Kitti Andrews:

about people asked me well, how did you get started? How did you

Kitti Andrews:

develop things? With me things just kind of evolved. There is

Kitti Andrews:

no turning point. It just kind of evolved. And I worked from

Kitti Andrews:

common sense. I work the only way my ADHD brain knows how is

Kitti Andrews:

to keep it as simple as possible. So don't get

Kitti Andrews:

overwhelmed. And it's always been here it is one room at a

Kitti Andrews:

time. One area of the room at that time. And one thing at a

Kitti Andrews:

time. Can I tell you quickly? What What I mean by that? Yes.

Kitti Andrews:

All right. One. One room? Yeah, okay, yeah, one room at a time.

Kitti Andrews:

And what do I mean by that? If you have a house that's that's

Kitti Andrews:

reasonably cluttered, and you don't know where to start? And

Kitti Andrews:

choose one. And it's easy to say, well, I'm going to get

Kitti Andrews:

bored. So I'll do a little bit in my office, and then I'll do a

Kitti Andrews:

little bit in the spare room, or what have you. If you stay and I

Kitti Andrews:

understand the getting bored, believe me. But if you stay in

Kitti Andrews:

the one room, you will not only will you get more done, because

Kitti Andrews:

from a purely practical point of view, you start in the office,

Kitti Andrews:

you go in the spare room, you come back to the office, it

Kitti Andrews:

takes you about 15 minutes to get back into character as a

Kitti Andrews:

word to remember what you were doing. And we're Ah yes, where

Kitti Andrews:

was I write the famous where was I? Whereas if you stick with the

Kitti Andrews:

one, number one you get more done faster. And number two,

Kitti Andrews:

here's the this is people rarely see this coming. You get

Kitti Andrews:

momentum, what does momentum do? It feels it fuels your self

Kitti Andrews:

esteem. It feels your yes I can. I can do this because many

Kitti Andrews:

people they tried to declutter and and, and either not done not

Kitti Andrews:

done well or they declutter and it goes back to hell in a

Kitti Andrews:

handcart it's three months later kind of thing. Whereas if you

Kitti Andrews:

just stick with the one you're feeling yourself esteem now

Kitti Andrews:

we'll launch right into one area of that room at a time same

Kitti Andrews:

basic principle. Stick with one area of that room and just keep

Kitti Andrews:

going at it until it's 10 Rather than okay I'll start over there

Kitti Andrews:

then I'll do a little bit over there and she's you know my desk

Kitti Andrews:

is tired I'll go for lunch. She to make a decision and make it

Kitti Andrews:

right as far as Larry Larry. Larry King. When it says make a

Kitti Andrews:

decision and make it right just stick with the one thing same

Kitti Andrews:

concept. You've you see your momentum you feel you feel good

Kitti Andrews:

about it. And you can sustain it because you've got that

Kitti Andrews:

confidence. Now we get to the one thing at a time. Quick

Kitti Andrews:

story. My very first client out of business school. Very first

Kitti Andrews:

client we went with In fact, I met her through that business

Kitti Andrews:

school. She had a big L shaped desk and it was covered with

Kitti Andrews:

about six six to eight inches of paper nowhere to be like she

Kitti Andrews:

could you could not see the top of it you had to look down to

Kitti Andrews:

see what color it was. And that was going to be my job was to

Kitti Andrews:

help her do that. And so is it okay are first appointment, I

Kitti Andrews:

said, Okay, well, let's start with the pile right in front of

Kitti Andrews:

you, what's this top page? And she looked at me like I was from

Kitti Andrews:

Venus. And she says, You're out of your mind. We're not going

Kitti Andrews:

through this one by one. I panicked. My first client, I've

Kitti Andrews:

taken her money already. What am I going to do now? I can't think

Kitti Andrews:

of another way to help this woman. Well, she relented, I

Kitti Andrews:

think she sensed fear for Michigan to Nova Scotia. And so

Kitti Andrews:

she started going through one at a time, and then she starts

Kitti Andrews:

flying through it, I don't need utility bills, why do I have

Kitti Andrews:

bank statements, et cetera, et cetera. So basically what she

Kitti Andrews:

was doing by seeing how many of single items that she had, that

Kitti Andrews:

she did not need, she was able to get her to figure out her own

Kitti Andrews:

solutions. I'll get these things all online, my accountant

Kitti Andrews:

doesn't need them. If I needed I have a printer, thank you very

Kitti Andrews:

much. The turning point and a big turning point, but

Kitti Andrews:

realization was her was injured she had, she was in an industry

Kitti Andrews:

that required that it was good to read trade magazines. And we

Kitti Andrews:

threw away golly, six or eight of them, but 50 bucks worth. And

Kitti Andrews:

because they were way out of date, and she had never read

Kitti Andrews:

them. She reported a couple of weeks later, Katie was in the

Kitti Andrews:

store and my arm automatically reached for that magazine, you

Kitti Andrews:

know, just didn't even think wrote. And she'll wait a minute.

Kitti Andrews:

Now I just threw away 50 bucks worth. I think I'll buy it every

Kitti Andrews:

two months, instead of every month or every couple of weeks,

Kitti Andrews:

whatever it was, she says I don't need them that badly. So

Kitti Andrews:

she was retraining her brain? By doing it by by doing it slowly.

Kitti Andrews:

And the do you get us? Is it slow? Yes. Is it t is a tedious,

Kitti Andrews:

I'm afraid so. But doing things slowly and consistently is the

Kitti Andrews:

number one way Darren Hardy will tell you the number one way to

Kitti Andrews:

maintain good habits. And we may get to talk about maintaining

Kitti Andrews:

your newly decluttered space after you've done it. And by the

Kitti Andrews:

way, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, please do not try to do

Kitti Andrews:

two things here. When you're decluttering. Do not repeat, DO

Kitti Andrews:

NOT first start with the biggest room in the house. The basement

Kitti Andrews:

was 30 years worth of Christmas decorations. Please don't do

Kitti Andrews:

that to yourself. If at all possible. Start with the

Kitti Andrews:

smallest room. Or if it's a you've got a big office, start

Kitti Andrews:

with the desk, for example, just start small. The the other chip,

Kitti Andrews:

which was supposed to be the first tip is don't start with

Kitti Andrews:

the biggest room. And the other one, I'm afraid it'll come back

Kitti Andrews:

to me.

Jennifer Takagi:

Any minute I'll come back. Well, I want to say a

Jennifer Takagi:

couple things if I may. Hmm. So my mother was excellent. And all

Jennifer Takagi:

of this like really, really good. And we moved a lot on my

Jennifer Takagi:

parents 30th anniversary, they added up they've moved 29 times.

Jennifer Takagi:

So she was really good at it. And I don't know how many of

Jennifer Takagi:

them there were four of us kids. So some of them one kid to kid

Jennifer Takagi:

three and then four and then three and then two, and then

Jennifer Takagi:

back to just me. And when they would move like that they would

Jennifer Takagi:

buy houses that were fixer uppers, and they would go in a

Jennifer Takagi:

room and start the room and they would get so far. And then my

Jennifer Takagi:

dad would try to go do something else. Because like you say he

Jennifer Takagi:

would be bored and my mom would be like, Nope, you gotta hang

Jennifer Takagi:

the blinds and my dad would be like, I hate to hang the blinds,

Jennifer Takagi:

you hang the blinds, you got to cut them off. You got to do

Jennifer Takagi:

those little. And she was like, nope, get back in there. That's

Jennifer Takagi:

why it's so my parents accomplished wonderful things in

Jennifer Takagi:

their almost 57 year marriage before they passed away. But

Jennifer Takagi:

like my dad could do all the stuff but my mom was keeping him

Jennifer Takagi:

on task. Like it was a beautiful partnership there. And the other

Jennifer Takagi:

thing is there was a book somebody recommended years ago

Jennifer Takagi:

and it was how to speed clean your house in 45 minutes. I

Jennifer Takagi:

think I lost the book but one of the things they said was when

Jennifer Takagi:

you walk in a room, pick one point and then go clockwise,

Jennifer Takagi:

like Florida clockwise like you're saying, Get that one spot

Jennifer Takagi:

and get all of that spot and this was like floor to ceiling.

Jennifer Takagi:

Now of course you're gonna mop the floors all at one time or

Jennifer Takagi:

vacuum the whole room at And but like just do this, and then go

Jennifer Takagi:

to the next little section. So I love that when it's like pick a

Jennifer Takagi:

section of the room and do that section is kind of like if you

Jennifer Takagi:

get up in the morning and make your bed the rest of the room

Jennifer Takagi:

can have stuff. But if the beds made, it's like, wow,

Kitti Andrews:

yeah, yeah, true a such as such a small liberal

Kitti Andrews:

thing like that. But it really makes a difference and puts kind

Kitti Andrews:

of a closure to the evening from from sort of metaphysical

Kitti Andrews:

metaphor. But anyway, from a different point of view. from an

Kitti Andrews:

energy point of view, it just puts puts the closure to the to

Kitti Andrews:

the night. All right, and if you go lay down and have a nap on

Kitti Andrews:

Earth, okay, well, maybe you've got a blanket that you can put,

Kitti Andrews:

but it's just alright that I work a lot in categories because

Kitti Andrews:

it's much easier for for me, okay. Emails are done. Facebook

Kitti Andrews:

messages are done the same, same deal with Okay, times of day.

Kitti Andrews:

All right, that category of night. And all the routines that

Kitti Andrews:

go along with it is done. Move on to next category. Feed cat.

Kitti Andrews:

Morning Routine.

Jennifer Takagi:

I keep hearing my cat and he's asleep on his

Jennifer Takagi:

bed behind me and every now and then he kind of snores he's

Jennifer Takagi:

having a really good snooze back.

Kitti Andrews:

That's got to be good. That's kind of

Kitti Andrews:

disconcerting. And so cute at the same times.

Jennifer Takagi:

Yeah, he's out cold.

Kitti Andrews:

Dreaming. Okay,

Jennifer Takagi:

I love that. So slow and steady to maintain the

Jennifer Takagi:

shift the change the the new way of being? And then do not start

Jennifer Takagi:

with the biggest room in the house. Start with something

Jennifer Takagi:

smaller. And number two is

Kitti Andrews:

it well. It could be the absolute quote, no, I Oh,

Kitti Andrews:

okay. I'd say Well, there are five big things that people can

Kitti Andrews:

come come to me with, but all of them come come under the

Kitti Andrews:

category of overwhelm. And we're just sturge and Oh, everything

Kitti Andrews:

in in the self esteem thing, etc. Just remember that? It

Kitti Andrews:

didn't, if you declutter, did not whether it's physical or

Kitti Andrews:

mental, the clutter did not accumulate overnight. And unless

Kitti Andrews:

you got a better magic wand than I have, it's not going to go

Kitti Andrews:

away overnight. Just not only do it slowly and consistently,

Kitti Andrews:

unless you want to back up the gym, or you say back up the

Kitti Andrews:

truck, boys, it's all going. I have patience with yourself, be

Kitti Andrews:

easy on yourself and say I'm going to do what I can. And I've

Kitti Andrews:

got I've got a couple of little strategies to to help with that.

Kitti Andrews:

But just number one, go easy on yourself. Because if you don't,

Kitti Andrews:

if you're doing the I should be able to dot dot dot, why an anti

Kitti Andrews:

dot, dot dot that we were talking about before, you're

Kitti Andrews:

using up your mental energy already, that can be used on the

Kitti Andrews:

actual task at hand. The negativity is so rampant in our

Kitti Andrews:

brains. And it starts from when we were a little kid. So we have

Kitti Andrews:

all all of us have a lot of mental decluttering to do of all

Kitti Andrews:

the negative language, but that we could do a whole show on

Kitti Andrews:

that, Jennifer. But for for today, if you just think it

Kitti Andrews:

didn't accumulate overnight, it's not going to go away

Kitti Andrews:

overnight. However, I will tackle it with a couple of short

Kitti Andrews:

strategies and suggest a way that you can keep it that way.

Kitti Andrews:

You want to hear yes, please. Okay. Thank you. First thing is,

Kitti Andrews:

if you've decided that you want to declutter, don't try to do it

Kitti Andrews:

and don't say oh, I'll be able to get it all done in an

Kitti Andrews:

afternoon. I've tried to do that. Four hours later, I have

Kitti Andrews:

one cranky puppy. Like if I've emptied out a closet and I've

Kitti Andrews:

done this, I have emptied out a closet because I say I should be

Kitti Andrews:

able to do all this for hours later, there's still crap on the

Kitti Andrews:

floor. And I'm saying what am I going to do with this and I'm

Kitti Andrews:

just hating life. Don't do that to yourself. Again with the

Kitti Andrews:

start small, but I find working in time categories. worse

Kitti Andrews:

because the average, the average length of focus time, mental

Kitti Andrews:

focus time and attention span is about 45 to 50 minutes,

Kitti Andrews:

especially for an ADHD or that seems to be roughly the magic

Kitti Andrews:

number. And even if I'm doing content, both 50 minutes, and I

Kitti Andrews:

can just, I'm, I can't, I can't think anymore. So do it in

Kitti Andrews:

short, reasonably short spurts. If 45 minutes seems to be too

Kitti Andrews:

long, then do 15 minutes, set a timer, and do 15 or five or

Kitti Andrews:

whatever. But if you can do it at scheduled times, now that

Kitti Andrews:

could be that could be at the end of your day. Or if you're

Kitti Andrews:

incorporate, you could do it in go in a little bit earlier. But

Kitti Andrews:

maybe it's scheduling a time or an hour on on Saturday or

Kitti Andrews:

Sunday. But scheduling a time, makes it more of a job and less

Kitti Andrews:

of a chore. See where I'm going with that. Just scheduling some

Kitti Andrews:

sort of time you're making that commitment to yourself and what

Kitti Andrews:

happens after that after you've made that knee you've done that

Kitti Andrews:

you've fulfilled that commitment. What happens that

Kitti Andrews:

that all important dopamine rush Yes ladies and gentlemen that

Kitti Andrews:

all important dopamine dopamine rush that fuels your forward

Kitti Andrews:

fuels your momentum fuels your self esteem and says Yes, and

Kitti Andrews:

thank God I'm over praise the Lord and pass the wine and the

Kitti Andrews:

dark chocolate I'm not kidding I am and at the end of the day, if

Kitti Andrews:

you so so doing it in in small and small spurts and scheduling

Kitti Andrews:

it will really really help you can write down if you want you

Kitti Andrews:

can write down what it is you want to accomplish. Don't try to

Kitti Andrews:

do it by yourself. Or you may be you may be able to but if it's a

Kitti Andrews:

big job, you may want to have a may want to have a friend or or

Kitti Andrews:

a trusted family member who's not judgmental. Now that those

Kitti Andrews:

are those those ones are tough to find. And of course being a

Kitti Andrews:

professional I'm going to suggest a professional because

Kitti Andrews:

because they're distance and if you can hire virtual that's even

Kitti Andrews:

better. I don't go into people's homes because people are ashamed

Kitti Andrews:

of their clutter. Even though it's a worldwide phenomenon.

Kitti Andrews:

People are still ashamed because it's theirs and why can't I you

Kitti Andrews:

know that recurring theme right? Whereas when it's virtual then

Kitti Andrews:

you're only focusing Holman on how many Jennifer

Jennifer Takagi:

one jackpot

Kitti Andrews:

you're only focusing on one room one area

Kitti Andrews:

one thing and that that helps you to paradoxically mind you

Kitti Andrews:

get more done.

Jennifer Takagi:

I love this kid a this has been awesome.

Kitti Andrews:

Thank you, I'm I'm on a roll and I'm just

Kitti Andrews:

loving your format. Would you like to close with one? How many

Kitti Andrews:

know when give me just to know we'll go with two tips to okay

Kitti Andrews:

you've decluttered you've gotten things decluttered say for

Kitti Andrews:

example, your kitchen counter we can relate to this, your kitchen

Kitti Andrews:

counter to two tips. And I usually use this for for the

Kitti Andrews:

office them so so let's get you can mentally figure out how it

Kitti Andrews:

would work for your kitchen counter. But since many of your

Kitti Andrews:

audience is going to be entrepreneurs, they work at a

Kitti Andrews:

desk, take five minutes, not even I'm going to take you that

Kitti Andrews:

long. By the way it's about two and a half minutes in my case to

Kitti Andrews:

just tidy up the papers or preferably have them dealt with

Kitti Andrews:

but you know what? That's not reality. There are always going

Kitti Andrews:

to be papers on your desk, but tidy them up. dusted off if if

Kitti Andrews:

need be just put everything back like a hotel so that it's

Kitti Andrews:

wonderful to come to in the morning. Boosts you like you

Kitti Andrews:

don't believe just a A couple of days ago, I did not do this

Kitti Andrews:

because that's right. It was Sunday, and I was in a hurry

Kitti Andrews:

trying to do too many things at once. Surprise, surprise. And

Kitti Andrews:

Monday morning, it wasn't as pristine as it could have been.

Kitti Andrews:

All right, what I always take five minutes at the end of each

Kitti Andrews:

day to make it look like now I wanted to see it at 530 in the

Kitti Andrews:

morning. When you're not feeling all that lovely, fresh anyway.

Kitti Andrews:

Okay, you want your desk to be lemony freshness. Number two is

Kitti Andrews:

my waitress tip. Never walk from one room to another empty

Kitti Andrews:

handed. Ah, where do I get this from, from the best part of 30

Kitti Andrews:

years in working in restaurants we primarily, especially in

Kitti Andrews:

Banff, Alberta, a Greek restaurants are owned by Greeks

Kitti Andrews:

at least. And they trained you, you don't do your getting you

Kitti Andrews:

don't walk through the restaurant back to your station,

Kitti Andrews:

empty handed, there is always a salt shaker that needs to be

Kitti Andrews:

filled, or something needs to be wiped, or whatever. And I have

Kitti Andrews:

been doing this in my home for years. And when I don't, the

Kitti Andrews:

clutter starts to pick up. Like even so there's something like a

Kitti Andrews:

coffee cup in the bedroom on your dresser while you're

Kitti Andrews:

putting your makeup on, bring the coffee cup back instead of

Kitti Andrews:

it. Then you won't have two or three or four and say why can't

Kitti Andrews:

i i should be able to see you're shooting yourself in the foot

Kitti Andrews:

simple habits like this can. After a week, you say, Wow,

Kitti Andrews:

everything is still clean.

Jennifer Takagi:

As you handle that one thing,

Kitti Andrews:

right now on your kitchen counter. You could say

Kitti Andrews:

at the end of the day, you could say, Okay, after I'm done dinner

Kitti Andrews:

with my husband and I've loaded the dishwasher, whatever it is,

Kitti Andrews:

I am going to tackle one piece of mail at the end of the day,

Kitti Andrews:

and just make it one of the one of that's just what I do at a

Kitti Andrews:

certain time your brain is triggered already. So if you

Kitti Andrews:

walk away from that counter without doing it, you're gonna

Kitti Andrews:

feel weird. Try it for a week. I love it. It's a pleasure to

Kitti Andrews:

work. I'd love to hear I'd love to hear.

Jennifer Takagi:

I'm going to try that. I'm going to try that.

Kitti Andrews:

Awesome. Awesome. It'll, it will completely

Kitti Andrews:

eliminate the clutter. No, it won't. But will it keep it? Keep

Kitti Andrews:

it tamed? Yes, it will. Because I have been the queen of letting

Kitti Andrews:

things pile up and pile up physically and mentally. And

Kitti Andrews:

then having to deal with the nuclear fallout after I would

Kitti Andrews:

much rather put in a little bit of effort consistently. Rather

Kitti Andrews:

than have a total mess of an apartment and have to clean up

Kitti Andrews:

before the Super comes in for repair. Or you know you you like

Kitti Andrews:

having company or a nervous breakdown. Frankly, if we're

Kitti Andrews:

talking about physical clutter, and there are just too many

Kitti Andrews:

things happening, then yeah, I'd rather deal with the small

Kitti Andrews:

things and niche them down as much as I can. That's my story

Kitti Andrews:

and I'm sticking with it.

Jennifer Takagi:

And you're sick into it, Kitty it has been a

Jennifer Takagi:

delight. Thank you for joining us. Hey, um, how can people get

Jennifer Takagi:

ahold of you? Or do you have an upcoming event or like, sell

Jennifer Takagi:

something? What do you got?

Kitti Andrews:

Well, I'm available on on social Facebook,

Kitti Andrews:

LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram under kitty Andrews, Kitty

Kitti Andrews:

Andrews MCI. My website is declutter the brain.com and if

Kitti Andrews:

you go there, you can download my seven easy steps to conquer

Kitti Andrews:

your physical and mental clutter. It's an evergreen you

Kitti Andrews:

can use it for any application in your life. And book a quick

Kitti Andrews:

and free call with me and we can we can see if we can get you

Kitti Andrews:

down the clutter road further and further away from the

Kitti Andrews:

clutter. road further and faster. And as a matter of fact,

Kitti Andrews:

I do have a launch of something that's going to sound it's not

Kitti Andrews:

going to sound like it's my wheelhouse, but it is my

Kitti Andrews:

colleague and you would know her through through play host

Kitti Andrews:

Christina Hey, Everett's and I are launching a declutter for

Kitti Andrews:

homes It's called from clutter to college, your 30 day

Kitti Andrews:

jumpstart decluttering your home so that your child has a clear

Kitti Andrews:

and calm learning environment. So I'm excited about this. And

Kitti Andrews:

we're launching now, tomorrow. So that's that's my big news

Kitti Andrews:

right now. Did that answer the question that was

Jennifer Takagi:

really answered the question. So I will get

Jennifer Takagi:

links for all this, drop them in the show notes. And I know

Jennifer Takagi:

everybody's listening probably from their phone in their car.

Jennifer Takagi:

That's fine. Click on the show notes. It's still on the same

Jennifer Takagi:

device and you can get the links that you need to keep in contact

Jennifer Takagi:

with kitty, kitty, you've given us some great insight and

Jennifer Takagi:

information today. And I want to thank you for your time and your

Jennifer Takagi:

valuable knowledge.

Kitti Andrews:

Thank you so much for being the brush a breath of

Kitti Andrews:

fresh air that you are.

Jennifer Takagi:

You're so sweet. I'm Jennifer Takagi and I

Jennifer Takagi:

look forward to connecting with you soon. Thank you for taking

Jennifer Takagi:

your time to spend with me on this latest podcast and destined

Jennifer Takagi:

for success. Please take a moment to leave a review. Share

Jennifer Takagi:

it with a friend and subscribe and get the newest episodes

Jennifer Takagi:

every Monday morning. I'm Jennifer Takagi and I look

Jennifer Takagi:

forward to connecting with you soon

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About the Podcast

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Destined For Success
Destined For Success With Jennifer Takagi

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Jennifer Takagi


I am Jennifer Takagi, an Executive Leadership + Communication Coach who teaches leaders how to play well at work so they can drive better performance from people they lead, increase profitability and create a purposeful workplace where people want to come and play—productively.