Ep 11 - Finding Time for Creative Projects Through Decluttering your Home
As a busy Mom, it can be super hard to find the time to create art and juggle everything when you’re making a million decisions a day and constantly cleaning up your house. Today I’m sharing something that’s changed the way I do things and is the number one thing that’s helped me to find time to do the things I love - Decluttering!
In This Episode Keita Discusses:
· Time is your most valuable resource
· Helpful tips on how to get started with decluttering your home + why it’s worth it
· Combatting decision fatigue by decluttering
Mentioned in this Episode:
You can find Allie Casazza and her courses at alliecasazza.com - Allie has helped me so much, I’d really encourage you to check her out if you’d like to go deeper into decluttering your home!
00:05
Hello, and welcome to the painty mama podcast. We're taught that artists are poor. Throw kids in the mix, and it seems impossible to thrive, while balancing motherhood creative projects, and building a business along with everything else is hard. I believe the universe gave you your unique talents and children so you could live a full inspiring, creative, beautiful life together. Join me for conversations about creativity, motherhood, business, and finding calm in the chaos. I'm Keita Thomas and this is the painty mama podcast. Hello, lovely. Thanks so much for being here. I am so appreciative that you came to join us today for the painty mama podcast. It's fast becoming a realization in our generation in our time of life, that time really is our most valuable resource. And as a mom, I think that motherhood really highlights even more how precious time really is. When you've gone through a phase, especially with tiny newborns, and having little like, little little kids, when you struggle to find time to eat, or sleep, and cover the basic human needs that you have. It really makes you think about how you're spending your time. (And again, just like a little caveat), I'm not saying that time isn't as precious when you don't have children. It's just that's my personal experience. When I became a mom, it really kind of compounded that feeling of time being so precious. And I really realized that I needed it even more than ever, just to get by as a human. And yeah, it really makes you think about how you're spending your time our kids grow so fast. And that's a cliche, I know, but I do find with cliches, you know, they're sayings for a reason. And they're just true. That's why they're a cliche. So how are you spending your minutes? hours? Your days, your weeks? And then they roll into years? So how are you spending them? How are you using your most precious resource? I just want us to kind of think about that a little bit today. And I don't know about you, but blindly to coping with an endless list of tasks in the past and putting anything I want to do to one side has left me bitter at times and resentful and just rolling through life feeling unsatisfied and even guilty for not enjoying every moment of motherhood in a way that I didn't expect. You know, I guess I didn't really think through. Before I had my first child about the day to day experience of being a mom, I knew that it would be hard, but I didn't know in which ways it would be hard. And I think it's the kind of relentless, (that sounds really negative. But that is the negative side). I mean, just like any experience, I found it really, really hard when my kids were little that the constant 24 hours a day, being needed, and having no room for myself, and just yeah, having all these tasks to do, and not having enough time to do the tasks nevermind actually take care of myself.
03:32
And that's why I chose to share with you today, one of the biggest game changes that's affected my quality of life, the quality of my motherhood, and has really blasted me into a state of freedom and flowing joy, unlike anything else really. And it's not sexy, it's not cool. It's definitely not a quick fix. It's simple, not easy, but as simple as decluttering my house.
04:04
I've always been one for having a good old clear out and, you know, ransacking the cupboards and having a spring clean. But last year, I felt like I'd got to a point where I knew I was hitting a ceiling with the way that I could organize things. And I still wanted my life to be better and clearer. And I ended up taking a course which I'm constantly working through slowly and I've retaken about three times and I dip in and out of it. And each time I've felt lighter and better about my time about how I'm spending my days and it makes a huge difference every time so I feel like I'm slowly getting closer and closer to a life that feels less overwhelming and just brings ease to everything.
04:54
So my top tips for going about the decluttering process are: Number one, would be take it room by room or drawer by drawer, rather than trying to tackle the whole thing at a time. Because when you make the decision to go, "Okay, I'm going to clear out the entire house", it seems like such a huge task that has to be done immediately. And it's so easy to feel defeated that way. But if you kind of compartmentalize it and go, "Okay, I'm just going to do this one room", or "I'm just going to do this one corner", or "I'm going to do this one draw" even or "this one shelf", and just take it like a tiny chunk at a time. And that's what your intention is, you can feel that little bit of a reward, by the end of it, rather than feeling defeated, that you didn't finish the entire room, or you didn't finish the whole, you know, level of the house or the entire house in a weekend, which is just kind of unrealistic, especially when you have kids. But also when you don't have kids, I mean, we accumulate a lot of stuff that we don't really need. And there's constantly things coming into the house, that are just not used, not treasured, and could really do with just not being there.
06:10
The second thing that's helped me is really setting an intention for this space. So instead of just going "right, I'm going to walk in, I'm going to clean everything out of all this junk's got to go" when like, reorganizing the furniture in a way that maybe won't even work that well, (which I've definitely done that a few times before I like change for the sake of change). But if you actually stand in the room that you're looking at, let's take let's take the bedroom, for example, because that was one of the rooms that really made a big difference to me mentally like mental clutter wise. So in my bedroom, it was like the last room of the house that I ever thought needed prioritizing. It was the place where I had extra boxes and stuff after we moved in. So it was like a catch all area at the bottom of my bed. Like all the stuff I didn't really have a place for was in there like shoved in a corner or like hiding under a table with a sheet thrown on top of it to make it look slightly better. But so embarrassing to actually talk about that! But that was the truth. Like, I wanted the kids room to be functional for them. But I didn't really prioritize my space. But once I actually got intentional, I sat on my bed one day. And then I was just like, "Okay, how do I want this room to feel like what does it need to do? What do I actually need in the room?" Not what is happening to be there at the time, but "what is it actually for?" So that is a place for me that has to feel really restful and calm. And as an artist, you might realize that I I love color. I love decorating with color. I love colorful things, I love interesting things. But in the bedroom for me, that is a space where I just need everything to feel calm and color is exciting to me. So I decided to pull anything colorful out of there. And it's pretty much just like neutral tones. And then I've got some like soft pink rose artwork in the all tones together. So it's kind of like a pink and creamy white, kind of a blank space. But to me, and I'm not saying that's the same for you, because maybe certain colors would feel more restful to you or you prefer that kind of space or a darker space or whatever, you know, you do you. But for me, that's what I really wanted to feel like and and smells are really important to me for relaxing. So... Not like my bedroom stinks or anything haha!
08:40
But I just like having like aroma therapy things. So I set up like a little cute space on my nightstand. And I only have out the things that make me feel calm on that nightstand. So I have like an aromatherapy spray. I have my journal and a pencil. And I have a candle, a lamp. And that's it really. So it's pretty minimal and clear. And it feels really clutter free. And it's made such a difference. Because when you think about when you roll out of bed first thing on a morning, the last thing you want to see is like a bunch of like kids toys in theere, and the iPad that my son's been playing math games on forever, because he's obsessed with math and leaves it in my room. I don't want it in there and I make sure that I keep that space clear. And it doesn't sound important. It really doesn't. But for me, it gives me like a clarity to start the day with. And I've really invested some thought into how I want it to feel. And then that's kind of like grown and I've added things in there that helped me to sleep better. Like I have my singing bowl in there that used to be in the living room and I will just use that when I want to like clear the energy and I do meditations. It feels like I really like safe relaxing cocoon, and we don't play in there. It's the one room of the house where it's just for rest. And I've also found that the kids really like it in there too, because sometimes they need just to rest, and then I'll find them, like, they'll take a book into my bed and like, snuggle in their sheets. And then if they're not feeling well, or they're upset, then they will usually go to my room, because that's kind of the sanctuary space. Anyway, that's kind of what I mean for setting an intention. And obviously, the intention for every room changes like the living room, I really want that to be like a playing space, and like where we can dance, and it's a really active room, so I have some more color in that room. So I've really set an intention for each room. And it really helps me to make decisions on a daily basis as well as to like, where does this pile of clutter go? If it accumulates, and I know where it goes, because I know what the intention and the purpose and the feeling of each room in the house is. I mean, as I said, this is this is not like, this is not like a "cool conversation" to have, like decluttering your house is not like an exciting, fun thing to do, necessarily. But there is a really big rewarding feeling that comes with only being surrounded by the things that are really useful and really serve you and your family and bring beauty and joy into your life and not having too much of it laying around. Because it honestly it makes so much difference to your time going back to time. That's why we're talking about this today.
11:45
So my third tip would be when you are actually in the process and you like "right, I'm gonna get decluttering now" is to prepare yourself for decluttering. So you don't have to have loads, especially if you're going like bit by bit, but having like a garbage bag, and a box for donations. As soon as they get full, then you get it out of the house. So you fill the garbage bag. Once that box is full, I really try - I'm not the best at this. But like, I try to get it in the boot of the car immediately. As soon as I put the lid on my next action is: walk out to the car, put it in the trunk. And then I know next time I'm around the area where I can go to donate it, I have stuff in the back that's ready to donate, rather than having to like remember to put it into the boot of the car. Because it's just one more step, one more hurdle to get over before you actually get rid of it. And the idea is to just like, get it out of the house before you have chance to miss it and don't reopen the box to go, "Oh, well, maybe I'll keep that" because you can end up talking yourself out of the decisions that you've made. And then the clutter ends up finding its way slowly back into the house. If you leave the boxes actually in the house, I have really stopped myself from going "maybe I'll use this one day". Because the truth is, if you haven't used it in the past year, yeah, you don't need it.
13:15
And then my fifth tip is donate somewhere. I think it feels really good to and it helps me to go through and let go of certain things that I might be on the fence about to think I'm going to donate it somewhere. That really feels good to me. So I like to imagine somebody that needs it. Somebody else absolutely loving it and, and then being so grateful for it. And just a sidebar here. I like to donate to the women's shelters around here because I have been that Mom. I have been that mom who (I don't want to cry on the podcast. But if I cry, I cry and we'll just have to deal with it). I've been that mom who's been to the food bank. And I've been that mum who has struggled to close my children and the women who have donated you know, the clothes that their children have grown out of and have donated food to the food banks and have donated, you know, the extra little things to the thrift store that would just make my children's birthdays light up. I am so grateful to all those women who are strangers to all of those, (I'm not just saying women I mean obviously like men donate too) but all those people who have given in that way has literally changed my life at certain point like that, while that particular point in my life. It really really helped. And I like to think about, I'm not in that position anymore. But there are people who are in that similar position. So if I'm not sure if I should donate something, then I think about that previous version of me and how much I would have valued that, and what a difference you can actually make in people's lives. So, sorry for that emotional tangent! But I do think it's worth saying, because once you do actually research, some of the places that you donate, some of them actually end up in the landfill. So it is worth doing a little bit of research, if that's important to you, if it's important to you more just to kind of get it out of the house, like, do what you need to do. But that's kind of my stance on it. And it does help me to sort through things like that I actually need as opposed to I'm just hanging on to it because of whatever reason I feel slightly attached to it for.
15:56
So my point number six is about selling things. I used to sell bundles of baby clothes on Facebook. And at the time, as I talked about, this was a few years ago, and I was really struggling. And it was so good. I had this little system where I would, you know, one of my kids would grow out of their clothes, especially when they were babies. And I would package up that last size of clothes, sell it on Facebook, and I had a jar and I would put the cash in that jar. And then that was my budget for buying another bunch of clothes for the next size up. So that they constantly had a rolling wardrobe. And it honestly worked really well for me at that time in my life. But if it doesn't sell, this is the thing, because a lot of the things that you can put on Facebook, when it sells, it's great. And when it doesn't sell it ends up again, in your cupboards in the corner in a box, you don't really know what to do with it, and it's just hanging around. So now I have a rule if it doesn't sell and it doesn't get off my porch within three days, then it's getting donated.
17:05
My seventh tip would be doing a little bit and doing it often rather than (which I've kind of already covered a little bit) but trying to tackle the entire house in one go is so overwhelming. So even if you can just set aside like half an hour a week, it's enough to keep on top of things and go at your own pace. Also, my eighth tip is if it's in the maybe pile (and this is kind of a little mind trick I do with myself). So I go like I make like a yes. like a like a keeper. Yes. And then and no, I'm going to get rid of it pile and then I let myself have a maybe pile. I get like harsher with myself towards the end of the process. Because I'm kind of done. And I'm like, I'm so over this like decluttering this right now. It's annoying me and then I'll just be like, if it's a maybe it's a no. So the things that were on the fence about are usually the things that like maybe we're a bit emotionally attached to it for whatever reason, or we do feel like we should let go of it, but we're not quite sure about it yet. But usually if it's a maybe it's actually just a no. So that also helps me to like get rid of a lot more stuff.
18:16
And the last thing that's helped me is kind of something that I mentioned right in the beginning is I took a course, I never thought that I would take a course in decluttering my own house because as I say, I've never really been one for holding too much. Or it's not like my house was like an absolute pigsty of a disgrace. Well kind of was at one point when I was like in the thick of it with the tiny, tiny baby situation. But you know, generally as a person, I'm not an overly cluttered person. I'd say I'm somewhere in the middle range is where I would put myself - but I kind of reached a ceiling and I knew that I could be doing things better, but I didn't really know how or how to approach it. So I ended up taking a course and the course I'd really love to recommend to you if you if you've you know feel called to it or if this is helpful in any way. (And this is not sponsored by the way or anything. Like she doesn't even know that I'm talking about this). It's just helped me an absolute amazing amount and I can't shout her praises enough. And it's a course that I did called "your uncluttered home with Allie Cassaza, and I'm not that I'm saying you have to buy her course because actually a lot of her free content is also absolutely amazing and I will link in the show notes where you can find her on Instagram and on her website and stuff. So she has really really helped me to streamline things when it comes to decluttering and man is that ever helped my productivity like so much!
20:00
We talk on the painting our podcast about having, you know, a creative life and making art, but a part of all of that. And a part of, you know, if you are running a business, or if you're just trying to be living into your most creative, ease filled version of yourself, then I do find like, this really helps. And I don't want to sit here on this podcast and give you a bunch of fluff, that's interesting, that is not actually going to help you. I want to sit here and give you things that have really helped me that I know will help you. So that's why I'm talking about this today, even though I feel a bit silly talking about it, but it's honestly helped so much.
20:42
And there is - I'm mentioning all these little things because there's there is actually research on how we get decision fatigue. And when you have a day, you know, every day, as a mom, with like, "Mom, can I have a million snacks?" And you know, "where does the Lego go on?", "Shall I vacuum the carpet now? Or should I do it later? Or what shirt should I wear today?" And you go through 20 shirts, and it's like, "No, no, no, no, oh, maybe I'll wear that one", try it on, it doesn't look good, or don't feel comfortable in this, take it off, pick another shirt. That is our day to day life. If you actually think about how many decisions you're making, as a mother, not only for yourself, but all those micro decisions that you make every single day.
21:33
It is a lot. It is a lot of decisions. And I'm not saying that they're huge decisions, but it's all these like micro moments, all these tiny decisions you have to make in a day. What if you just could limit the amount of decisions that you had to make? I think there's like, is it Mark Zuckerberg?... I don't do my research. Before mentioning this, it just kind of popped into my head. But, I think as Mark Zuckerberg he like, only has like the same color shirt, or like he basically has a uniform every day. But yeah, only has like, one outfit that he wears every single day. And it's to limit the decisions because you want to save your brain power for other important things, things that are more important than "what do I wear?" every single day. It's a lot of decisions. And we do get fatigued like I've read this research on how you kind of get maxed out. And there's only a certain amount of decisions you can actually make in a day until you can't really make any more and your brain just gets foggy. And I'm sure we've all been there before, where towards the end of the day, you just feel like your brain is like done. And somebody asks you a question and you're like,"whaaaat?".
So thanks for listening to this episode today. I hope you found it helpful. And most importantly, I really, really hope that you give yourself the gift of decluttering your home to make way for more art making creativity, ease and enjoyment of life. If you need more help with the nitty gritty of decluttering your home and life I'd highly suggest checking out Allie Casazza's work and courses. She's really really helped me a ton so I will link that again. I appreciate you spending your most limited resource here with me on the painty mama podcast. Your time is so precious. You are so precious. If you found this helpful, please leave a written review. And you can find all things Art by Keita at keitathomas.com and on Instagram @artbykeita. Until next time, have a clutter free, ease filled, creative week!
