January 27, 2025 • 42 mins
Is clutter in your space—or your brain—holding you back?
In this episode of Powerful Women Rising, I sit down with my friend Megs Crawford, Organizer Coach for Women with ADHD and host of the Organizing an ADHD Brain Podcast, to discuss the magic of decluttering in your business.
Although her expertise is in helping women with ADHD, the strategies Megs shares are life-changing for anyone feeling overwhelmed by chaos in their personal space or in their brains. After all, decluttering isn’t just about cleaning up—it’s about creating clarity, improving focus, and prioritizing what truly matters.
What We’ll Cover:
- How clutter impacts your mental clarity and productivity
- Strategies for decluttering your business, set priorities and stay focused
- The role of small, consistent habits in creating lasting change
- Tips for creating a workspace that inspires calm and efficiency
Whether it’s your workspace, schedule, or mental load that needs a reset, this episode is packed with actionable tips to simplify your life and make room for the things that bring you joy and success.
If you’re ready to declutter your way to a clearer mind and a thriving business, don’t miss this inspiring and empowering conversation!
Links & References:
- Join us at our next PWR Virtual Speed Networking Event!
- For even deeper connections, check out the Powerful Women Rising Community!
- Connect with Megs and learn more about what she does at www.MindfulMegs.com
- Listen to the Organizing and ADHD Brain podcast!
Loved the episode? Here are four ways you can show your support:
1. Buy me a coffee to show your appreciation!
2. Leave a five-star review
3. DM me on Instagram and let me know
4. Share it with a friend!
Connect with Your Host!
Melissa Snow is a Business Relationship Strategist dedicated to empowering women in entrepreneurship. She founded the Powerful Women Rising Community, which provides female business owners with essential support and resources for business growth.
Melissa's other mission is to revolutionize networking, promoting authenticity and genuine connections over sleazy sales tactics. She runs an incredible monthly Virtual Speed Networking Event which you can attend once at no cost using the code FIRSTTIME
She lives in Colorado Springs with two girl dogs, two boy cats and any number of foster kittens. She loves iced coffee, Taylor Swift, and Threads.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello, megan, welcome to the podcast.
Thanks for having me, yeah, soexcited to talk to you today
about organizing.
It's funny that this is a topicthat we're talking about,
because I just this morning waslooking around my house and I
was like I am going to lose mymind.
Like there's just piles ofstuff everywhere and unorganized
that like I just need you to.
(00:23):
I should have just had you comeover and we could have record
the podcast while we organized.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
I would love that.
I feel like that's a goodfuture state podcast episode.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Yes, let's do it, but then I feel like we'd have to
do it on video and I'm not sureI want people to see all that.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Oh fair, but there's no judgment ever, because
there's so many people out therethat have piles of stuff and
I'm just there to help youthrough it, which is really
awesome.
So, totally, totally yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
So, on that note, tell us a little bit.
I just like let me dive in andtell you about my problems.
Tell us about you and how yougot into organizing and what you
do.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah, absolutely so.
My name is Megs and I startedmy business back in September of
2023.
It's mindful moves organizingwith Megs and I also have a
podcast called organizing anADHD brain.
I am passionate aboutsupporting women with ADHD in
their organizing anddecluttering needs, so I talk a
(01:22):
lot about the power of lettinggo, why we hold on to things
doom piles, which is what youwere just talking about.
We call them, didn't organize,only moved doom piles.
So those are things that I haveso much experience in.
I grew up my whole life livingin a home where my parents had
so much stuff and we had movedinto my grandfather's house that
(01:45):
we had inherited and he had allof his stuff in there and none
of it ever left, and so clutterfor me just became a norm, and I
remember going to friends'houses and seeing rooms that
didn't have a lot of stuff in it, and it was mind boggling to me
how someone could live in aspace without a lot of stuff.
(02:06):
And so gradually throughout mylife I've just had this
curiosity of how people haveless, and about two and a half
three years ago now, I wasdiagnosed with ADHD.
I was working in the corporateworld.
I had gotten my projectmanagement certificate.
I was working on my master'sdegree in project management.
I'm in leadership.
(02:28):
I love what I do, and at onepoint I realized I didn't love
what I was doing anymore.
There was so much that justwasn't fulfilling me and I had
to make some pretty bigdecisions and I decided to leave
, and that's been a journey initself, but that's when I did
decide to start my own business.
(02:49):
Originally, I wanted to becomean organizer where I bought all
the pretty baskets and like,came into your home and said, oh
, you need a basket here and alabel here, and to a degree,
that's still somewhat of what Ido.
But I have found finding womenwith ADHD who have so much that
(03:10):
I can show them that I used tohave so much as well.
And there's power in letting goand living the life that you
want versus living the life thatyou feel like.
You need to be prepared foranything that happens, and
that's a lot of what happens.
Right, we hold onto thesethings because we're like we
might need this one day, and soI love just talking about
(03:31):
understanding what does elevateyour life now and what's okay to
let go and it's okay to nothave it in the future.
It's not.
Let me rephrase this it's okayto not be the savior in a story
in the event that somethingcomes up that you need.
And so that's where I come in,because, ultimately, I don't
(03:52):
want to live the life that myparents have, with all of the
stuff, and I want to help womenunderstand that it's okay to
have less, and you can actuallylive an even fuller life when
you have less, because it's notthe stuff that elevates our life
, it's the experiences and it'sthe memories that we're making
along the way.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
I love that and I love what you said about like
it's okay to not be the hero whohas the thing, like my dad is.
He's not a hoarder, he's superorganized, but he does like the
stuff and like he there.
My sister showed me thiscartoon once.
That was like these peopletrying to fix a thing and they
were like you know, what wouldreally work right here is if we
(04:34):
had a piece of wood that waslike two inches by like four
inches and it was just like kindof curved at the top and
attached to a thing and the dadshows up and is like likeda-da,
like he's been hanging onto thatthing in his garage for like
nine years just waiting for thismoment.
That's my dad.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Which is great for me , because he always has the
thing.
Absolutely yeah, he's the heroin your story right, but someday
, when he's not here and all ofhis two inch pieces of wood are
here, I'm gonna be like Megs,help me.
Today we're talking specificallyabout organization in your
business and not necessarily I'mnot talking, like, about
organizing the folders on yourdesktop or on your actual
(05:16):
desktop Maybe it's a little bitof both those things and we're
also not talking aboutorganization in terms of, like
leadership, organization or,like you know, the supervisor
and the managers and the staff.
We're talking about, like morelike being organized in your
space and being organized inyour head ADHD.
(05:40):
But I also think, if somebodyis listening to this podcast and
they don't have ADHD, orthey've never been diagnosed
with it, at least that there isstill a lot of benefit to them
listening to this episode,because organization is a
challenge, I think, no matterhow your brain works and
sometimes we take it to theother end of the spectrum, right
, like I've noticed that withpeople with ADHD is there's a
(06:05):
lot of people that are like Ican't keep up with it, I can't
pick my stuff up, my house hasbeen a mess since 1984.
And then there's other people,which actually generally is the
spectrum I fall into, which islike, if there's one thing on
the counter, it's too muchclutter and it's got to go.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
And I think a lot of just humans in general are like
that too.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
So let's talk about this first.
What does it mean to have anorganized business?
Speaker 2 (06:35):
That's a great question, and so I don't think
there's a perfect answer forthat and I don't think that
there's a one size fits all.
In fact, there's not a one sizefits all because we all have
different businesses we have.
We all have a different way ofrunning them and we all have
different brains, whether wehave ADHD or not.
So, when it comes to having anorganized business, it's sitting
down and actually understandingwhat that means to you, and so,
(06:57):
as far as like your space,having an organized space, it's
being able to go somewhere andfinding the thing that you're
looking for because it has ahome.
It's having less in the spacethat you're working in, because
there's less to distract youfrom the things that you need to
get done.
Because, as business owners,we're really good at the things
(07:20):
that we love to do but, at thesame time, we're not great at
getting the things done that arenot fun to do.
And especially if you don't havethe money to be able to, you
know, to spend to have someoneelse do it for you.
You're having to sit down to dothose things.
And I know, whenever I sit downand I see distractions of
things that I feel like I haveto do in that moment, because we
(07:44):
have two speeds we're eitherget things done right now or
later, and so if I'm sittingdown and there's something that
I don't wanna do and I seesomething that I could do right
now, that is exactly the thingthat I'm gonna be doing in the
moment.
So it's so important that wehave a space that is
non-distracting from the thingsthat we're trying to get done as
business owners, so that we caneffectively run our business in
(08:08):
a way that makes sense.
Now, for some people, that'snot necessarily something they
could do in a day or in threedays or even a week, because
it's taken us so long toaccumulate the stuff in our home
.
We want to be able toaccomplish having this peaceful
space to live in or to work inin a day, because that's what
(08:29):
our mind sees, but in reality,because we're time blind and we
don't necessarily have thecapacity to estimate how much
time it's going to take to getrid of everything.
It takes us, it's hard for usto even get started.
And so what's?
Coming back to the originalquestion, cause I could go on or
off on a rabbit hole here,squirrel what does it mean to
(08:51):
have an organized business?
And so it's different, you know, than the stuff on your desktop
, then the stuff in your home.
And when you actually thinkabout your business is do you
have some main priorities thatyou're focused on, that you're
trying to achieve?
Do you have smaller goals thatyou're working toward on a
regular basis?
Because, again, when it comesto ADHD, it's hard for us to set
(09:15):
priorities, which means thateverything is important and when
everything is important andnothing is important, because
our brain is being divided in ahundred different ways, whereas
if we're focusing on fourdifferent things, we're only
dividing our brain into fourdifferent quadrants to focus on
these four main things that aremost important.
(09:37):
And it's funny because, as aprofessional organizer, I do
focus on the physical space ofthings.
Professional organizer, I dofocus on the physical space of
things and, as I'm in I'm in mysecond year of business Now I'm
now really honed in on theabstract space, like my brain
space and the things that I'mputting my effort and focus into
now, because I see such adirect correlation between the
(09:59):
space and then the clutterthat's going on in my brain and
the stuff I'm trying to achieve.
And so you know it, justbecause I am organized, so to
speak, right, just because youget organized, doesn't mean that
ADHD goes away.
It doesn't mean that you thenlive a life that's perfect.
It just means that things arejust a little bit easier because
(10:22):
we are removing some of thebarriers that are in the way of
getting things done, andsometimes it's those barriers
that prevent us from getting thebiggest things done.
I hired an assistant, probablyabout a month and a half ago,
and I didn't really.
I knew I needed help, but Ididn't know the extent to which
(10:43):
she would be able to help me,and sometimes it was eliminating
just one barrier and I was ableto take care of the rest,
because that one thing wasn't inmy way any longer.
And it's fascinating just tostart to understand what makes
sense.
So sitting down and reallyunderstanding what would
simplify my life to the pointwhere I feel like I'm organized.
(11:06):
And it does come back to thesimplification of things.
I don't need everything rightnow because I can't handle
everything right now.
Not only is the inventory in mybrain too much for me to manage
, the inventory in my space istoo much for me to manage if I
try to keep everything here.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Yes, absolutely.
It's funny we're having thisconversation today because
yesterday I just recorded anepisode about shiny object
syndrome and it's so.
I think it's such a thing forentrepreneurs in general of like
we will sit down Well, I don'tknow if it's like this for
everyone who doesn't have ADHDbut like I will sit down in the
(11:48):
morning with a very solid planof like this is what I'm going
to do today.
And then I go on Facebookbecause I need to look up
somebody's email address and Iknow she sent it to me in a DM.
And then I see an ad onFacebook that's for this course
about how to make reels, and I'mlike, oh, I've been wanting to
know how to make reels, right.
So we just like jump from onething to another, to another,
(12:10):
and I know entrepreneurs whodon't have ADHD do this because
we just think we need to do allthe things.
We see like people writing abook and people speaking on a
stage and people who started apodcast, and we're like I'm
going to do that.
And we often don't stop to askourselves, like you said, number
one is this aligned with mygoals and my values and what I'm
(12:32):
trying to do here, but also, doI have the financial and the
time and the energy capacity toactually make this work Totally.
We just like to go for it.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
We do and I don't think that there's anything
wrong with going for it, as longas we're starting to understand
the lessons that come fromgoing for it.
And I actually saw a post theother day about how this person
was being interviewed.
I think they were a millionaireor billionaire entrepreneur and
they said what sets you apart?
And they said, well, when theother person was thinking so
(13:06):
much about what to do next, Ihad already done the thing, had
three mistakes I needed to fixand was moving on from it to the
next adventure.
And that meant so much to mebecause I think sometimes we're
afraid to take the leap becausewe want to be perfect, but if
we're not perfect we think we'rea failure, but really we're not
perfect.
We think we're a failure butreally we're not a failure
because ultimately at that pointlikely not many people have
(13:28):
seen us as at the perceivedfailure.
So really we're just learningand we're putting ourselves out
there in the capacity so thatthe next time we approach this
same situation or a similarsituation, we can do it with a
different set of eyes, with theknowing that we now know.
We can do it with a differentset of eyes with the knowing
that we now know.
Yeah, and I think that's so key, it's like it's okay to do it,
(13:51):
like, even as far as socialmedia goes, I have been told a
million times stop putting allof your effort in all of the
social media platforms, justpick one and that.
Let that be the one that youput the effort in.
As many times as people havesaid that to me and it sounds
like the greatest idea.
(14:12):
The implementation of actuallytaking myself off of those
social the extra ones is verydifficult, and so I've been
doing it a little bit at a time.
I actually I announced in myFacebook group the other day
that it was no longer going tobe active for my podcast, so
that felt really good.
And then, slowly but surely, Iam taking myself away from
Facebook in general, justbecause it doesn't feel like the
space for me any longer.
And it's through reflectionthat I've been able to
(14:35):
understand that, and I think italso allows me to understand the
shiny objects that are nowgetting in my way in the future,
because I see these things andI'm just like, oh, I need to
take a class, I need to go back,I should finish my master's
degree, I should go and get thiscertification and this
certification, but is that, likeyou said?
Is it aligned with my goals?
(14:55):
And then it comes back to like,what am I really trying to work
on right now?
And so, yeah, it's sointeresting with ADHD, right
Like our executive function isnot very effective because we've
got these beautiful plans andideas and we know what the
future could look like, becauseit's all up here.
(15:16):
But then sitting down andputting it into action and
raking it up into these small,minusc, bite-sized items makes
it very difficult, because wewant the end result right away,
which is funny because this alsocomes back to our homes.
We have so much and we want tomake the big difference right
(15:37):
away, but in reality it'sthrough these minuscule 1%
changes that are going to helpus build into something so much
more in our home than trying tomake the big changes in a
weekend, which ultimately justburn us out and make us never
want to go back to organizingagain.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Yes, absolutely, or we just keep going from extreme
to extreme, like we wait untilit's a complete mess and then
it's completely organized andeverything's in its place and
then it gets to be a completemess again and we just go back
and forth.
Yeah, pro tip for you and allyour great ideas.
My VA made a channel on Slackfor us called brain dump and she
(16:16):
was like every time you have agreat idea, put it in here
because, I think every 30seconds I'm like, hey, me again
got a great idea.
Why don't we do this?
So she made me this brain dumpchannel.
She's like, every time you havea good idea, put it in there,
and so I do, and then it getsout of my head, right.
So I won't forget this greatidea I had.
Half of the time I look back atit and I'm like, yeah, that's
(16:39):
actually not that great of anidea.
But if I do look at it, youknow, a few days or weeks later,
and I'm like this actually is agreat idea.
I think we should do it.
Then she breaks it down intolike okay, here's the steps that
we need to take to do it.
These are the ones I'm going todo, these are the ones you're
going to do.
And then all of a sudden, likeall of these great ideas that I
(16:59):
have that never actually getdone are like becoming reality.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Oh, I love that so much.
I know it's amazing.
That's a brilliant idea.
Yes.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
So what are some you've?
We've talked about this alittle bit, but what are some
signs that we might see thatwould indicate to us that our
business is not as organized asit could be, or optimally
organized?
Speaker 2 (17:23):
I would say a constant dropping of the ball.
You know, I think you knowfollow-up is so incredibly
important for business owners.
Do you have a method with whichyou consistently follow up with
your clients, even having somesort of process with which you
follow to give your clients aconsistent experience on a
(17:44):
regular basis, because that'ssomething that should be
expected of you as a businessowner?
I also think like this is justme off the cusp, thinking about
my own experience, but I dobelieve that it comes back to
your definition of beingorganized, because if you work
in a business where you don'tthink it's a requirement to
follow up with clients, thenthat's what you get to decide,
(18:05):
right, and then you're going tofind the client who really
doesn't care if you follow upwith them or not.
So it's really just about arethere things that you're not
getting done on a regular basisthat you wish you were?
Because you keep following thebreadcrumbs to something else?
Because, like you constantlyare checking email 100% of the
(18:27):
day instead of actually doingthe thing that you set out in
motion to do or you're doing.
I know that you're a networkingqueen, but like you're doing so
many networking meetings thatyou're not actually meeting any
clients, because you're sofocused on meeting people, which
ultimately pays off in the end.
But are you still then buildingyour business?
(18:47):
So like having a really healthybalance of what's going to
build your business, what'sgoing to maintain your business
now and then, what's ultimatelygoing to help you grow, and you
get to define what that lookslike.
If you're growing vianetworking, then you can have a
specific day that you meet withpeople and, coming back to just
(19:09):
that sense of overwhelm, do youfeel like you're constantly
doing so much on a regular basis?
You feel burnt out by the endof the day, but you don't
actually feel like you didanything at all, because the
burnout is really whatorganizing should conquer and
allowing ourselves to slow down.
(19:29):
That's one of the biggestthings that I've been working on
this year is, even while I'mdoing the dishes, reminding
myself that it's okay that Idon't rush through doing the
dishes, because as long as I'mcontinuing to grow each day by
taking baby steps, then that iswhat's going to get me to the
end result, and I should havethis written down somewhere in
(19:53):
my affirmations, because it'shard to do.
It's hard to remind myself ofthese things when I'm like
sitting down and going throughthe motions, but I think of the.
There's a picture, there's thismeme out there.
I posted it the other day.
It's a ladder with baby stepswhere you can easily climb up to
the next step.
And then there's this otherperson trying to climb this
ladder.
That's got these huge rungs onit where you can't even reach
(20:15):
the next rung, but you'reexpected to because that's the
ladder that has been set forthin front of you.
So when everything is important,I often take a look at what is
my biggest goal and what is onestep that I could take towards
getting there today.
What is just one thing?
Because I could, on one hand,sit in a paralysis on my couch
(20:38):
saying, oh my God, there's somany things that I need to do.
I can't possibly like get upand do any of them, because
there's so many things for me todo, I don't know where to start
.
Or I could challenge that andsay what's one thing I could do?
And the one thing I could do isliterally even just simply get
up off the couch and be likeokay, now that I've done that,
(20:59):
what's one more thing I can do?
And breaking it down, becausemy executive function isn't
necessarily going to do it forme unless I start to challenge
it in that way.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
Yeah, I love the idea of just doing it a little bit
at a time.
I remember, when we're talking,I'm thinking about when I was a
little kid and I remember myroom was a mess like mess, mess.
And I can remember my mom beinglike go clean your room, Don't
come out until you're done.
And I remember going to my roomand just sitting there and
(21:30):
crying because like I didn'teven know where to start, Like
what do I even do in here?
And at some point I think shemust've come in to help me.
She felt bad for me and showedme how to start, like okay, well
, first let's just pick up allthe dishes.
First let's just pick up allthe trash.
Now let's pick up all the dirtyclothes.
Now let's pick up all the cleanclothes and put them back where
(21:51):
they go, Like one little thingat a time, because when you walk
into the room and it's likeI've got to do something with
all of this, that's a lot foranybody.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
Yeah, that's exactly how I work with my kids.
Now is breaking it up, butunless someone's telling you, it
can be very difficult to do.
Sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Oh, I was just gonna say what you keep bringing it
back to is like finding whatworks for you, finding your
definition of organization,finding whatever helps you feel
more organized and how you setup your schedule or things like
that, Because I remember like Imean, I know there's a joke in
the ADHD community about how weall own like 25 planners that
(22:32):
like the first week is filledout and that is completely my
life.
But I can't tell you how manytimes I have tried time blocking
because it seems like such agood idea, right, Like to be
able to sit down and map out mywhole week and see like where
everything is getting done,because from nine to 10, I'm
doing this.
From 10 to one I'm doing thisLike, but actually sticking to
(22:56):
it has never happened for me,and every time I've tried it's
ended up with like what is wrongwith me?
Like why can't I do this?
I know so many people who timeblock and it makes them so
productive, and what is wrongwith me that I can't do it, and
realizing that there's actuallynothing wrong with you.
That's just not what works foryour brain, whether you have
ADHD or you don't, and findingthe things that do work for you
(23:21):
because they're not going to beall the same, and it's okay that
what helps you stay organizedis not what helps me stay
organized.
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
And what's interesting about that, too, is
you've likely and I'm going toproject here, but you've likely
taken this incredible calendar,filled it out and time blocked
it and had this perfect plan ofwhat you were going to do.
Every day was planned perfectly.
But what often happens when wecome up with a plan is that
(23:52):
things fail and then we drop theball and then we have to pick
up what's left of the pieces,but because that one week didn't
go perfectly, we look back onit and we're like well, can't do
that.
Accept that Whenever you'vetried to do something new well,
I know, whenever I've tried todo something new, I'm never good
(24:14):
at it right away, but I want tobe, and so when I'm not good at
something right away, it's verydifficult for me to come back
to do it, because there's abarrier there, and so part of it
is just telling myself if thisis something I actually want to
happen, I've got to do it insmaller increments, and I've got
to be able to tell myself orreflect back on what didn't work
(24:37):
last time that could work thistime.
And it's not about consistency,it's about continuity, like
continuing to come back to thedifferent things that we set up
for ourselves.
But the reason why I saidyou've likely, like, had this
grandiose plan, you planned itall out.
It's like when we empty anentire closet to organize it and
(24:58):
then we spend hours putting itback meticulously in the way
that we want it to stayorganized, and then does it ever
stay organized the way thatwe've put it back?
Never.
No, because we want to do thesethings, in these big, grandiose
plans, we overcomplicateeverything because we've got
great ideas, except that when wesimplify things, that's when we
(25:21):
start to make big differences.
So, for example, if you wantedto start time walking, I did
this with my friend the otherday.
I sat down and was like we needto come up with a system for
sending out our emails everysingle week, because we weren't
sending out our emails for ourpodcasts and for things like
that.
So on what day do you want tosend out your email?
So I was challenging her right,and then she was challenging me
(25:41):
, and then we set up a calendarreminder for ourselves.
On that day, actually pinged uswhen it was time to send the
email and that was a checklistmark on our digital calendar for
us to check mark off.
But we didn't do anything else.
We didn't add anything else tothe calendar.
That was the one thing that weheld each other accountable for.
(26:02):
And now, whenever I see heremail go out or whenever she
sees mine go out, we then say,oh, it's time for us to send.
So, like there's a couple ofdifferent things going on there.
It's not only a body doublingexercise because I'm depending
on her, she's depending on me ina way, right Without, we're not
going to yell at each other ifwe don't send out an email, but
we also set up a plan forourselves to get it done.
(26:23):
But that's the one thing I'mnow holding myself accountable
to getting done as I'm goingthrough the next week.
So, instead of making 18changes in a week, I'm just
making one change and I'm seeingif that works for me and if it
doesn't, why.
But if it does, how can I buildupon that?
Is there like a habit or aroutine that I can add on top of
(26:45):
that?
So, like, right after I send myemail, I also check my mileage
for the week and make sure thatit's classified as personal or
business, and that's when I dothat.
So it's not something that'sweighing over me at the end of
the month and I have to do allat once.
So making the changes in asmaller way and, again, figuring
(27:05):
out what works for you, butknowing that if you've tried to
do everything all at once, it'sokay that it didn't work for you
, because it doesn't work formost people.
Most people can't sustain that.
Yeah, just like you can'tdecide to, you know, run a
marathon, I couldn't decide torun a marathon tomorrow.
I mean, I could decide to do it, but if the marathon was
(27:25):
actually tomorrow, I would notbe successful at that and I
would die.
I would literally die likely.
But if I decided that I'm goingto run a marathon tomorrow, in
six months, do I, could I makesmall incremental changes to be
able to run a marathon in sixmonths?
Freaking a million percent, Icould.
And, and that would be thesmall changes I make every day
(27:48):
to build into what I, what Ibecome in six months.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Well, I like that too , because it gives us the quick
wins that we really like.
I have a friend who also hasADHD and she is hilarious and if
she what you said about likebeing instantly good at
something, her whole thing iseverything's boring.
So like if we, if she startssomething that she doesn't know
how to do and she doesn't likeinstantly figure it out, or she
(28:13):
tries something and a hundredpeople don't instantly buy it or
whatever she's like, that'sboring, I don't want to do that
anymore.
Yeah, so if we can giveourselves those little things
it's like oh look, you did that,you did that thing, like that
wasn't boring at all because youdid it Right, and then just
keep adding to those, it seemslike that would work much better
.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Yes, A adding to those.
It seems like that would workmuch better.
Yes, a million percent.
Well, I mean, it's not all me.
I read the book um atomichabits by James clear and that
has helped me so much.
And it was a lot of me beingpreachy when I was a leader in
the corporate world becausesometimes people would try one
thing and they would try it withone person.
They were like that wenthorribly, I wouldn't, I will
(28:54):
never try that again.
And I'm like what a bummer,because like that could work if
you learn how to say it in a waythat made sense for that
specific person.
And so, yeah, it's just aboutapproaching it with that mindset
, cause I hate when I'm not goodat something and I also know
when I continue to try thingsthat I'm not good at, I get so
(29:15):
much better.
I mean, even with the podcast.
I wanted to be so good at mypodcast right away and I wasn't
like and, like I could say, Ispoke very well.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
No one actually is, but we think we're going to be
the one person on earth.
It's like day one of my podcastEvery.
It's number one on the charts.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
Yeah, Like you're welcome everyone for showing up,
but you know there's also theaudio part of it and the visual
and like what platforms do youput out to it?
Or like the marketing aspectthat comes into the podcast and
are you going to monetize it, oris it simply going to showcase
who you are?
There's so many differentaspects of that.
I thought I needed to have itall figured out and guess what?
(29:56):
However, many months later, I'mstill figuring it out.
And that's okay because I'mbuilding upon what I know each
and every week, each and everymonth.
It's brilliant, yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
So you've given us lots of good tips that have just
kind of been interwoven in thisinterview that I think will be
good for people to start doing.
I mean, there're little thingsthat we can start doing right
away that are going to help usbe more organized in our lives
and in our businesses.
Is there anything that wehaven't touched on that?
I mean I'm sure there's a lotwe haven't touched on that.
(30:27):
If somebody is listening andthey're like gosh, I don't even
really know where to start.
Is there like one little thingthat's like do this today?
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Yeah, I'm going to take a step back because I'm
like this could be different foreveryone.
So a generic blanket.
This is where you start.
Understand what the change isthat you want to make and let's
use decluttering your office.
For example, do you want youroffice to be less cluttered so
that you can see what you haveand things have a home?
Then start today by setting atimer for 15 minutes and see
(30:55):
what you can get done in 15minutes.
It doesn't sound like a lot oftime but it's actually huge.
You can get so much done in 15minutes by simply just setting a
timer and what that does foryou too, because we're timeline
at least those with ADHD ithelps us get into the project.
But to also know that when thattimer goes off, we're allowed
(31:16):
to leave that project.
In fact I recommend that you do, because if you get into
hyper-focus mode, you can getinto that burnout mode really
easily when, like it's threehours later and you're like what
have I done with my life?
So 15 minutes allows you to getlittle increments done in a
reasonable amount of time sothat you can keep coming back to
(31:37):
it day after day and thenultimately, if you're doing that
for five days in a row.
That's an hour and 15 minutesnow that you've put into
creating a space that's going toelevate your work.
So after a month and what isthat?
Five hours later, you've nowcreated a space that feels so
(31:59):
much better for you to work in.
And a month seems like a longtime, but in the reality, when
we're still taking care of kidsand having to make food for
ourselves and having to likelive a healthy lifestyle, 15
minutes is a very small amountof time for you to be able to
dedicate to that little space,for you to make those little
(32:20):
differences in your world.
And I still do it to this day.
I've there's still stuff I'mgetting out of my home.
I'm always decluttering, justbecause that's now a part of my
life, but it's a healthy habitthat I've created for myself.
I don't do it every day, butsometimes I do it in the morning
, sometimes I'll do it in theevening, and one thing that I
(32:41):
like to do is before I go to bedat night, if there's dishes in
the sink and I don't want toclean them.
I first talked to myself abouthow morning Megan would be
really ticked off at nighttimeMegan, if she didn't do anything
here.
So nighttime Megan makes adecision to set a timer for 15
minutes to see what I can getdone, just in the cleaning sense
, I do 15 minutes and when that15 minutes is over, honestly
(33:05):
most of the time I still havelike a minute or two is going to
get me to be able to finisheverything, and I do it and I
feel so much better.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
Whereas morning.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
Megan is very happy.
Oh my gosh, she is so proud ofnighttime.
Megan yeah, so it's.
And you know, the thing is isjust reminding myself like it's
going to have to get done,whether I do it now or later.
It's going to then accumulatethe next night too.
So if I continue to put it off,it's just a delayed decision
for me to have to come back tolater and ultimately, a lot of
the stuff in our house is just adelayed decision for me to have
to come back to later andultimately, a lot of the stuff
(33:37):
in our house is just a delayeddecision.
We haven't figured out what todo with it yet.
So making the full decisionsand putting a timeframe around
it can make it so much easier toget the things done, even when
we don't want to, because it itgives us all of the.
It does not give us thedopamine we are seeking in the
moment.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
I love that.
I heard once somebody I can'tremember even where I heard it.
But for people who likestruggle to work out or go to
the gym or something like that,it's like don't even tell
yourself that you have to gowork out.
Like just say, I have to put onmy workout clothes and my shoes
, like that's it.
Or like put on your workoutclothes and my shoes, like
that's it.
Or like put on your workoutclothes in your shoes and do
(34:19):
five minutes on the ellipticalmachine.
All you have to do is fiveminutes.
Because then your brain's like,okay, fine, five minutes.
After five minutes you're like,okay, I'll just keep going,
like I'm already on here anyway,right, but just breaking it
down into those little steps oflike and giving yourself
permission.
If I get on the elliptical forfive minutes and five minutes
later I'm like I still don'twant to freaking, do this, then
(34:39):
I'm done Exactly the worldsurvives, yeah, but it comes
back to that all or nothing.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
We think we need to go to the gym and we need to be
sweating, we need to be likelifting weights, we need to be
doing everything.
You need to be there for twohours, yeah right, and
incorporating all kinds ofdifferent, but really, if we did
five minutes of exercise everyday, that's five minutes more
that we're dedicating to ourbodies than we would have
(35:04):
otherwise.
And I say that's a win, youknow, and just kind of bringing
it back.
And we need to, especially withADHD, take care of our bodies
in that way, because that's sucha fresh start to the morning.
It gives us such a pump offocus and energy that we need to
conquer the day in a way that,just in a way that makes us feel
(35:25):
better, versus just trying todo everything all at once and
get it all done in a day, whichis so unrealistic.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Yes, absolutely.
This is so good.
I feel like we could keep goingfor another hour, but we won't,
probably.
But maybe I'll have you backfor a part two.
I would love that.
These are really, really greattips, I think, for anybody who
is struggling with organizationor anyone who is a human with a
brain and a home and stuff.
(35:52):
Yeah, if people want to connectwith you more, if they want to
get more of you, what's the bestway for them to do that?
Speaker 2 (36:00):
Yeah, check out my website.
It's mindfulmegscom.
You can reach me on all of mysocials there, too.
There's also a connection to mypodcast there.
So organizing an ADHD brain.
I'm on Apples and Spotifyanywhere you listen to podcasts
and then I like to spend a lotof my social media time on
(36:21):
TikTok and Instagram, so checkit out there, and I would love
to hear from anyone who'sinterested in a more organized
journey ahead of them.
Speaker 1 (36:31):
I love your videos.
I love your organizing tips.
I also love that sometimes yourlittle kitty cat makes an
appearance in your videos?
Speaker 2 (36:39):
He does.
Yeah, he's like my littlemascot.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
Petty, he's so cute.
Is he very organized?
Speaker 2 (36:46):
No, no, yeah, he's not.
I would say his sleep is quiteoff lately, not very organized
at all, which has set us offinto like a frenzy in this
household.
But his cuddles are are onpoint.
I will say that when he's readyto cuddle they're on point.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
One thing at a time, teddy, baby steps.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
Actually I will say he's organized in the sense that
I have, like, this little pettreat container in my pantry and
it has just a little label onit that says pet treats and he
climbs in there to sleep.
So sometimes when we can't findhim, I will go into the pantry
and find him sleeping in alittle labeled box and it's
freaking adorable.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Because he is a pet treat.
Speaker 2 (37:30):
Yeah, he's so sweet, that's so cute.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
I love it.
Thank you so much for coming onthe podcast.
This has been awesome.
Thanks for having me.
Hello, megan, welcome to the podcast.
Thanks for having me, yeah, soexcited to talk to you today
about organizing.
It's funny that this is a topicthat we're talking about,
because I just this morning waslooking around my house and I
was like I am going to lose mymind.
Like there's just piles ofstuff everywhere and unorganized
that like I just need you to.
(00:23):
I should have just had you comeover and we could have record
the podcast while we organized.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
I would love that.
I feel like that's a goodfuture state podcast episode.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Yes, let's do it, but then I feel like we'd have to
do it on video and I'm not sureI want people to see all that.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Oh fair, but there's no judgment ever, because
there's so many people out therethat have piles of stuff and
I'm just there to help youthrough it, which is really
awesome.
So, totally, totally yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
So, on that note, tell us a little bit.
I just like let me dive in andtell you about my problems.
Tell us about you and how yougot into organizing and what you
do.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah, absolutely so.
My name is Megs and I startedmy business back in September of
2023.
It's mindful moves organizingwith Megs and I also have a
podcast called organizing anADHD brain.
I am passionate aboutsupporting women with ADHD in
their organizing anddecluttering needs, so I talk a
(01:22):
lot about the power of lettinggo, why we hold on to things
doom piles, which is what youwere just talking about.
We call them, didn't organize,only moved doom piles.
So those are things that I haveso much experience in.
I grew up my whole life livingin a home where my parents had
so much stuff and we had movedinto my grandfather's house that
(01:45):
we had inherited and he had allof his stuff in there and none
of it ever left, and so clutterfor me just became a norm, and I
remember going to friends'houses and seeing rooms that
didn't have a lot of stuff in it, and it was mind boggling to me
how someone could live in aspace without a lot of stuff.
(02:06):
And so gradually throughout mylife I've just had this
curiosity of how people haveless, and about two and a half
three years ago now, I wasdiagnosed with ADHD.
I was working in the corporateworld.
I had gotten my projectmanagement certificate.
I was working on my master'sdegree in project management.
I'm in leadership.
(02:28):
I love what I do, and at onepoint I realized I didn't love
what I was doing anymore.
There was so much that justwasn't fulfilling me and I had
to make some pretty bigdecisions and I decided to leave
, and that's been a journey initself, but that's when I did
decide to start my own business.
(02:49):
Originally, I wanted to becomean organizer where I bought all
the pretty baskets and like,came into your home and said, oh
, you need a basket here and alabel here, and to a degree,
that's still somewhat of what Ido.
But I have found finding womenwith ADHD who have so much that
(03:10):
I can show them that I used tohave so much as well.
And there's power in letting goand living the life that you
want versus living the life thatyou feel like.
You need to be prepared foranything that happens, and
that's a lot of what happens.
Right, we hold onto thesethings because we're like we
might need this one day, and soI love just talking about
(03:31):
understanding what does elevateyour life now and what's okay to
let go and it's okay to nothave it in the future.
It's not.
Let me rephrase this it's okayto not be the savior in a story
in the event that somethingcomes up that you need.
And so that's where I come in,because, ultimately, I don't
(03:52):
want to live the life that myparents have, with all of the
stuff, and I want to help womenunderstand that it's okay to
have less, and you can actuallylive an even fuller life when
you have less, because it's notthe stuff that elevates our life
, it's the experiences and it'sthe memories that we're making
along the way.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
I love that and I love what you said about like
it's okay to not be the hero whohas the thing, like my dad is.
He's not a hoarder, he's superorganized, but he does like the
stuff and like he there.
My sister showed me thiscartoon once.
That was like these peopletrying to fix a thing and they
were like you know, what wouldreally work right here is if we
(04:34):
had a piece of wood that waslike two inches by like four
inches and it was just like kindof curved at the top and
attached to a thing and the dadshows up and is like likeda-da,
like he's been hanging onto thatthing in his garage for like
nine years just waiting for thismoment.
That's my dad.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
Which is great for me , because he always has the
thing.
Absolutely yeah, he's the heroin your story right, but someday
, when he's not here and all ofhis two inch pieces of wood are
here, I'm gonna be like Megs,help me.
Today we're talking specificallyabout organization in your
business and not necessarily I'mnot talking, like, about
organizing the folders on yourdesktop or on your actual
(05:16):
desktop Maybe it's a little bitof both those things and we're
also not talking aboutorganization in terms of, like
leadership, organization or,like you know, the supervisor
and the managers and the staff.
We're talking about, like morelike being organized in your
space and being organized inyour head ADHD.
(05:40):
But I also think, if somebodyis listening to this podcast and
they don't have ADHD, orthey've never been diagnosed
with it, at least that there isstill a lot of benefit to them
listening to this episode,because organization is a
challenge, I think, no matterhow your brain works and
sometimes we take it to theother end of the spectrum, right
, like I've noticed that withpeople with ADHD is there's a
(06:05):
lot of people that are like Ican't keep up with it, I can't
pick my stuff up, my house hasbeen a mess since 1984.
And then there's other people,which actually generally is the
spectrum I fall into, which islike, if there's one thing on
the counter, it's too muchclutter and it's got to go.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
And I think a lot of just humans in general are like
that too.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
So let's talk about this first.
What does it mean to have anorganized business?
Speaker 2 (06:35):
That's a great question, and so I don't think
there's a perfect answer forthat and I don't think that
there's a one size fits all.
In fact, there's not a one sizefits all because we all have
different businesses we have.
We all have a different way ofrunning them and we all have
different brains, whether wehave ADHD or not.
So, when it comes to having anorganized business, it's sitting
down and actually understandingwhat that means to you, and so,
(06:57):
as far as like your space,having an organized space, it's
being able to go somewhere andfinding the thing that you're
looking for because it has ahome.
It's having less in the spacethat you're working in, because
there's less to distract youfrom the things that you need to
get done.
Because, as business owners,we're really good at the things
(07:20):
that we love to do but, at thesame time, we're not great at
getting the things done that arenot fun to do.
And especially if you don't havethe money to be able to, you
know, to spend to have someoneelse do it for you.
You're having to sit down to dothose things.
And I know, whenever I sit downand I see distractions of
things that I feel like I haveto do in that moment, because we
(07:44):
have two speeds we're eitherget things done right now or
later, and so if I'm sittingdown and there's something that
I don't wanna do and I seesomething that I could do right
now, that is exactly the thingthat I'm gonna be doing in the
moment.
So it's so important that wehave a space that is
non-distracting from the thingsthat we're trying to get done as
business owners, so that we caneffectively run our business in
(08:08):
a way that makes sense.
Now, for some people, that'snot necessarily something they
could do in a day or in threedays or even a week, because
it's taken us so long toaccumulate the stuff in our home
.
We want to be able toaccomplish having this peaceful
space to live in or to work inin a day, because that's what
(08:29):
our mind sees, but in reality,because we're time blind and we
don't necessarily have thecapacity to estimate how much
time it's going to take to getrid of everything.
It takes us, it's hard for usto even get started.
And so what's?
Coming back to the originalquestion, cause I could go on or
off on a rabbit hole here,squirrel what does it mean to
(08:51):
have an organized business?
And so it's different, you know, than the stuff on your desktop
, then the stuff in your home.
And when you actually thinkabout your business is do you
have some main priorities thatyou're focused on, that you're
trying to achieve?
Do you have smaller goals thatyou're working toward on a
regular basis?
Because, again, when it comesto ADHD, it's hard for us to set
(09:15):
priorities, which means thateverything is important and when
everything is important andnothing is important, because
our brain is being divided in ahundred different ways, whereas
if we're focusing on fourdifferent things, we're only
dividing our brain into fourdifferent quadrants to focus on
these four main things that aremost important.
(09:37):
And it's funny because, as aprofessional organizer, I do
focus on the physical space ofthings.
Professional organizer, I dofocus on the physical space of
things and, as I'm in I'm in mysecond year of business Now I'm
now really honed in on theabstract space, like my brain
space and the things that I'mputting my effort and focus into
now, because I see such adirect correlation between the
(09:59):
space and then the clutterthat's going on in my brain and
the stuff I'm trying to achieve.
And so you know it, justbecause I am organized, so to
speak, right, just because youget organized, doesn't mean that
ADHD goes away.
It doesn't mean that you thenlive a life that's perfect.
It just means that things arejust a little bit easier because
(10:22):
we are removing some of thebarriers that are in the way of
getting things done, andsometimes it's those barriers
that prevent us from getting thebiggest things done.
I hired an assistant, probablyabout a month and a half ago,
and I didn't really.
I knew I needed help, but Ididn't know the extent to which
(10:43):
she would be able to help me,and sometimes it was eliminating
just one barrier and I was ableto take care of the rest,
because that one thing wasn't inmy way any longer.
And it's fascinating just tostart to understand what makes
sense.
So sitting down and reallyunderstanding what would
simplify my life to the pointwhere I feel like I'm organized.
(11:06):
And it does come back to thesimplification of things.
I don't need everything rightnow because I can't handle
everything right now.
Not only is the inventory in mybrain too much for me to manage
, the inventory in my space istoo much for me to manage if I
try to keep everything here.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Yes, absolutely.
It's funny we're having thisconversation today because
yesterday I just recorded anepisode about shiny object
syndrome and it's so.
I think it's such a thing forentrepreneurs in general of like
we will sit down Well, I don'tknow if it's like this for
everyone who doesn't have ADHDbut like I will sit down in the
(11:48):
morning with a very solid planof like this is what I'm going
to do today.
And then I go on Facebookbecause I need to look up
somebody's email address and Iknow she sent it to me in a DM.
And then I see an ad onFacebook that's for this course
about how to make reels, and I'mlike, oh, I've been wanting to
know how to make reels, right.
So we just like jump from onething to another, to another,
(12:10):
and I know entrepreneurs whodon't have ADHD do this because
we just think we need to do allthe things.
We see like people writing abook and people speaking on a
stage and people who started apodcast, and we're like I'm
going to do that.
And we often don't stop to askourselves, like you said, number
one is this aligned with mygoals and my values and what I'm
(12:32):
trying to do here, but also, doI have the financial and the
time and the energy capacity toactually make this work Totally.
We just like to go for it.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
We do and I don't think that there's anything
wrong with going for it, as longas we're starting to understand
the lessons that come fromgoing for it.
And I actually saw a post theother day about how this person
was being interviewed.
I think they were a millionaireor billionaire entrepreneur and
they said what sets you apart?
And they said, well, when theother person was thinking so
(13:06):
much about what to do next, Ihad already done the thing, had
three mistakes I needed to fixand was moving on from it to the
next adventure.
And that meant so much to mebecause I think sometimes we're
afraid to take the leap becausewe want to be perfect, but if
we're not perfect we think we'rea failure, but really we're not
perfect.
We think we're a failure butreally we're not a failure
because ultimately at that pointlikely not many people have
(13:28):
seen us as at the perceivedfailure.
So really we're just learningand we're putting ourselves out
there in the capacity so thatthe next time we approach this
same situation or a similarsituation, we can do it with a
different set of eyes, with theknowing that we now know.
We can do it with a differentset of eyes with the knowing
that we now know.
Yeah, and I think that's so key, it's like it's okay to do it,
(13:51):
like, even as far as socialmedia goes, I have been told a
million times stop putting allof your effort in all of the
social media platforms, justpick one and that.
Let that be the one that youput the effort in.
As many times as people havesaid that to me and it sounds
like the greatest idea.
(14:12):
The implementation of actuallytaking myself off of those
social the extra ones is verydifficult, and so I've been
doing it a little bit at a time.
I actually I announced in myFacebook group the other day
that it was no longer going tobe active for my podcast, so
that felt really good.
And then, slowly but surely, Iam taking myself away from
Facebook in general, justbecause it doesn't feel like the
space for me any longer.
And it's through reflectionthat I've been able to
(14:35):
understand that, and I think italso allows me to understand the
shiny objects that are nowgetting in my way in the future,
because I see these things andI'm just like, oh, I need to
take a class, I need to go back,I should finish my master's
degree, I should go and get thiscertification and this
certification, but is that, likeyou said?
Is it aligned with my goals?
(14:55):
And then it comes back to like,what am I really trying to work
on right now?
And so, yeah, it's sointeresting with ADHD, right
Like our executive function isnot very effective because we've
got these beautiful plans andideas and we know what the
future could look like, becauseit's all up here.
(15:16):
But then sitting down andputting it into action and
raking it up into these small,minusc, bite-sized items makes
it very difficult, because wewant the end result right away,
which is funny because this alsocomes back to our homes.
We have so much and we want tomake the big difference right
(15:37):
away, but in reality it'sthrough these minuscule 1%
changes that are going to helpus build into something so much
more in our home than trying tomake the big changes in a
weekend, which ultimately justburn us out and make us never
want to go back to organizingagain.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Yes, absolutely, or we just keep going from extreme
to extreme, like we wait untilit's a complete mess and then
it's completely organized andeverything's in its place and
then it gets to be a completemess again and we just go back
and forth.
Yeah, pro tip for you and allyour great ideas.
My VA made a channel on Slackfor us called brain dump and she
(16:16):
was like every time you have agreat idea, put it in here
because, I think every 30seconds I'm like, hey, me again
got a great idea.
Why don't we do this?
So she made me this brain dumpchannel.
She's like, every time you havea good idea, put it in there,
and so I do, and then it getsout of my head, right.
So I won't forget this greatidea I had.
Half of the time I look back atit and I'm like, yeah, that's
(16:39):
actually not that great of anidea.
But if I do look at it, youknow, a few days or weeks later,
and I'm like this actually is agreat idea.
I think we should do it.
Then she breaks it down intolike okay, here's the steps that
we need to take to do it.
These are the ones I'm going todo, these are the ones you're
going to do.
And then all of a sudden, likeall of these great ideas that I
(16:59):
have that never actually getdone are like becoming reality.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Oh, I love that so much.
I know it's amazing.
That's a brilliant idea.
Yes.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
So what are some you've?
We've talked about this alittle bit, but what are some
signs that we might see thatwould indicate to us that our
business is not as organized asit could be, or optimally
organized?
Speaker 2 (17:23):
I would say a constant dropping of the ball.
You know, I think you knowfollow-up is so incredibly
important for business owners.
Do you have a method with whichyou consistently follow up with
your clients, even having somesort of process with which you
follow to give your clients aconsistent experience on a
(17:44):
regular basis, because that'ssomething that should be
expected of you as a businessowner?
I also think like this is justme off the cusp, thinking about
my own experience, but I dobelieve that it comes back to
your definition of beingorganized, because if you work
in a business where you don'tthink it's a requirement to
follow up with clients, thenthat's what you get to decide,
(18:05):
right, and then you're going tofind the client who really
doesn't care if you follow upwith them or not.
So it's really just about arethere things that you're not
getting done on a regular basisthat you wish you were?
Because you keep following thebreadcrumbs to something else?
Because, like you constantlyare checking email 100% of the
(18:27):
day instead of actually doingthe thing that you set out in
motion to do or you're doing.
I know that you're a networkingqueen, but like you're doing so
many networking meetings thatyou're not actually meeting any
clients, because you're sofocused on meeting people, which
ultimately pays off in the end.
But are you still then buildingyour business?
(18:47):
So like having a really healthybalance of what's going to
build your business, what'sgoing to maintain your business
now and then, what's ultimatelygoing to help you grow, and you
get to define what that lookslike.
If you're growing vianetworking, then you can have a
specific day that you meet withpeople and, coming back to just
(19:09):
that sense of overwhelm, do youfeel like you're constantly
doing so much on a regular basis?
You feel burnt out by the endof the day, but you don't
actually feel like you didanything at all, because the
burnout is really whatorganizing should conquer and
allowing ourselves to slow down.
(19:29):
That's one of the biggestthings that I've been working on
this year is, even while I'mdoing the dishes, reminding
myself that it's okay that Idon't rush through doing the
dishes, because as long as I'mcontinuing to grow each day by
taking baby steps, then that iswhat's going to get me to the
end result, and I should havethis written down somewhere in
(19:53):
my affirmations, because it'shard to do.
It's hard to remind myself ofthese things when I'm like
sitting down and going throughthe motions, but I think of the.
There's a picture, there's thismeme out there.
I posted it the other day.
It's a ladder with baby stepswhere you can easily climb up to
the next step.
And then there's this otherperson trying to climb this
ladder.
That's got these huge rungs onit where you can't even reach
(20:15):
the next rung, but you'reexpected to because that's the
ladder that has been set forthin front of you.
So when everything is important,I often take a look at what is
my biggest goal and what is onestep that I could take towards
getting there today.
What is just one thing?
Because I could, on one hand,sit in a paralysis on my couch
(20:38):
saying, oh my God, there's somany things that I need to do.
I can't possibly like get upand do any of them, because
there's so many things for me todo, I don't know where to start
.
Or I could challenge that andsay what's one thing I could do?
And the one thing I could do isliterally even just simply get
up off the couch and be likeokay, now that I've done that,
(20:59):
what's one more thing I can do?
And breaking it down, becausemy executive function isn't
necessarily going to do it forme unless I start to challenge
it in that way.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
Yeah, I love the idea of just doing it a little bit
at a time.
I remember, when we're talking,I'm thinking about when I was a
little kid and I remember myroom was a mess like mess, mess.
And I can remember my mom beinglike go clean your room, Don't
come out until you're done.
And I remember going to my roomand just sitting there and
(21:30):
crying because like I didn'teven know where to start, Like
what do I even do in here?
And at some point I think shemust've come in to help me.
She felt bad for me and showedme how to start, like okay, well
, first let's just pick up allthe dishes.
First let's just pick up allthe trash.
Now let's pick up all the dirtyclothes.
Now let's pick up all the cleanclothes and put them back where
(21:51):
they go, Like one little thingat a time, because when you walk
into the room and it's likeI've got to do something with
all of this, that's a lot foranybody.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
Yeah, that's exactly how I work with my kids.
Now is breaking it up, butunless someone's telling you, it
can be very difficult to do.
Sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Oh, I was just gonna say what you keep bringing it
back to is like finding whatworks for you, finding your
definition of organization,finding whatever helps you feel
more organized and how you setup your schedule or things like
that, Because I remember like Imean, I know there's a joke in
the ADHD community about how weall own like 25 planners that
(22:32):
like the first week is filledout and that is completely my
life.
But I can't tell you how manytimes I have tried time blocking
because it seems like such agood idea, right, Like to be
able to sit down and map out mywhole week and see like where
everything is getting done,because from nine to 10, I'm
doing this.
From 10 to one I'm doing thisLike, but actually sticking to
(22:56):
it has never happened for me,and every time I've tried it's
ended up with like what is wrongwith me?
Like why can't I do this?
I know so many people who timeblock and it makes them so
productive, and what is wrongwith me that I can't do it, and
realizing that there's actuallynothing wrong with you.
That's just not what works foryour brain, whether you have
ADHD or you don't, and findingthe things that do work for you
(23:21):
because they're not going to beall the same, and it's okay that
what helps you stay organizedis not what helps me stay
organized.
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
And what's interesting about that, too, is
you've likely and I'm going toproject here, but you've likely
taken this incredible calendar,filled it out and time blocked
it and had this perfect plan ofwhat you were going to do.
Every day was planned perfectly.
But what often happens when wecome up with a plan is that
(23:52):
things fail and then we drop theball and then we have to pick
up what's left of the pieces,but because that one week didn't
go perfectly, we look back onit and we're like well, can't do
that.
Accept that Whenever you'vetried to do something new well,
I know, whenever I've tried todo something new, I'm never good
(24:14):
at it right away, but I want tobe, and so when I'm not good at
something right away, it's verydifficult for me to come back
to do it, because there's abarrier there, and so part of it
is just telling myself if thisis something I actually want to
happen, I've got to do it insmaller increments, and I've got
to be able to tell myself orreflect back on what didn't work
(24:37):
last time that could work thistime.
And it's not about consistency,it's about continuity, like
continuing to come back to thedifferent things that we set up
for ourselves.
But the reason why I saidyou've likely, like, had this
grandiose plan, you planned itall out.
It's like when we empty anentire closet to organize it and
(24:58):
then we spend hours putting itback meticulously in the way
that we want it to stayorganized, and then does it ever
stay organized the way thatwe've put it back?
Never.
No, because we want to do thesethings, in these big, grandiose
plans, we overcomplicateeverything because we've got
great ideas, except that when wesimplify things, that's when we
(25:21):
start to make big differences.
So, for example, if you wantedto start time walking, I did
this with my friend the otherday.
I sat down and was like we needto come up with a system for
sending out our emails everysingle week, because we weren't
sending out our emails for ourpodcasts and for things like
that.
So on what day do you want tosend out your email?
So I was challenging her right,and then she was challenging me
(25:41):
, and then we set up a calendarreminder for ourselves.
On that day, actually pinged uswhen it was time to send the
email and that was a checklistmark on our digital calendar for
us to check mark off.
But we didn't do anything else.
We didn't add anything else tothe calendar.
That was the one thing that weheld each other accountable for.
(26:02):
And now, whenever I see heremail go out or whenever she
sees mine go out, we then say,oh, it's time for us to send.
So, like there's a couple ofdifferent things going on there.
It's not only a body doublingexercise because I'm depending
on her, she's depending on me ina way, right Without, we're not
going to yell at each other ifwe don't send out an email, but
we also set up a plan forourselves to get it done.
(26:23):
But that's the one thing I'mnow holding myself accountable
to getting done as I'm goingthrough the next week.
So, instead of making 18changes in a week, I'm just
making one change and I'm seeingif that works for me and if it
doesn't, why.
But if it does, how can I buildupon that?
Is there like a habit or aroutine that I can add on top of
(26:45):
that?
So, like, right after I send myemail, I also check my mileage
for the week and make sure thatit's classified as personal or
business, and that's when I dothat.
So it's not something that'sweighing over me at the end of
the month and I have to do allat once.
So making the changes in asmaller way and, again, figuring
(27:05):
out what works for you, butknowing that if you've tried to
do everything all at once, it'sokay that it didn't work for you
, because it doesn't work formost people.
Most people can't sustain that.
Yeah, just like you can'tdecide to, you know, run a
marathon, I couldn't decide torun a marathon tomorrow.
I mean, I could decide to do it, but if the marathon was
(27:25):
actually tomorrow, I would notbe successful at that and I
would die.
I would literally die likely.
But if I decided that I'm goingto run a marathon tomorrow, in
six months, do I, could I makesmall incremental changes to be
able to run a marathon in sixmonths?
Freaking a million percent, Icould.
And, and that would be thesmall changes I make every day
(27:48):
to build into what I, what Ibecome in six months.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Well, I like that too , because it gives us the quick
wins that we really like.
I have a friend who also hasADHD and she is hilarious and if
she what you said about likebeing instantly good at
something, her whole thing iseverything's boring.
So like if we, if she startssomething that she doesn't know
how to do and she doesn't likeinstantly figure it out, or she
(28:13):
tries something and a hundredpeople don't instantly buy it or
whatever she's like, that'sboring, I don't want to do that
anymore.
Yeah, so if we can giveourselves those little things
it's like oh look, you did that,you did that thing, like that
wasn't boring at all because youdid it Right, and then just
keep adding to those, it seemslike that would work much better
.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Yes, A adding to those.
It seems like that would workmuch better.
Yes, a million percent.
Well, I mean, it's not all me.
I read the book um atomichabits by James clear and that
has helped me so much.
And it was a lot of me beingpreachy when I was a leader in
the corporate world becausesometimes people would try one
thing and they would try it withone person.
They were like that wenthorribly, I wouldn't, I will
(28:54):
never try that again.
And I'm like what a bummer,because like that could work if
you learn how to say it in a waythat made sense for that
specific person.
And so, yeah, it's just aboutapproaching it with that mindset
, cause I hate when I'm not goodat something and I also know
when I continue to try thingsthat I'm not good at, I get so
(29:15):
much better.
I mean, even with the podcast.
I wanted to be so good at mypodcast right away and I wasn't
like and, like I could say, Ispoke very well.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
No one actually is, but we think we're going to be
the one person on earth.
It's like day one of my podcastEvery.
It's number one on the charts.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
Yeah, Like you're welcome everyone for showing up,
but you know there's also theaudio part of it and the visual
and like what platforms do youput out to it?
Or like the marketing aspectthat comes into the podcast and
are you going to monetize it, oris it simply going to showcase
who you are?
There's so many differentaspects of that.
I thought I needed to have itall figured out and guess what?
(29:56):
However, many months later, I'mstill figuring it out.
And that's okay because I'mbuilding upon what I know each
and every week, each and everymonth.
It's brilliant, yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
So you've given us lots of good tips that have just
kind of been interwoven in thisinterview that I think will be
good for people to start doing.
I mean, there're little thingsthat we can start doing right
away that are going to help usbe more organized in our lives
and in our businesses.
Is there anything that wehaven't touched on that?
I mean I'm sure there's a lotwe haven't touched on that.
(30:27):
If somebody is listening andthey're like gosh, I don't even
really know where to start.
Is there like one little thingthat's like do this today?
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Yeah, I'm going to take a step back because I'm
like this could be different foreveryone.
So a generic blanket.
This is where you start.
Understand what the change isthat you want to make and let's
use decluttering your office.
For example, do you want youroffice to be less cluttered so
that you can see what you haveand things have a home?
Then start today by setting atimer for 15 minutes and see
(30:55):
what you can get done in 15minutes.
It doesn't sound like a lot oftime but it's actually huge.
You can get so much done in 15minutes by simply just setting a
timer and what that does foryou too, because we're timeline
at least those with ADHD ithelps us get into the project.
But to also know that when thattimer goes off, we're allowed
(31:16):
to leave that project.
In fact I recommend that you do, because if you get into
hyper-focus mode, you can getinto that burnout mode really
easily when, like it's threehours later and you're like what
have I done with my life?
So 15 minutes allows you to getlittle increments done in a
reasonable amount of time sothat you can keep coming back to
(31:37):
it day after day and thenultimately, if you're doing that
for five days in a row.
That's an hour and 15 minutesnow that you've put into
creating a space that's going toelevate your work.
So after a month and what isthat?
Five hours later, you've nowcreated a space that feels so
(31:59):
much better for you to work in.
And a month seems like a longtime, but in the reality, when
we're still taking care of kidsand having to make food for
ourselves and having to likelive a healthy lifestyle, 15
minutes is a very small amountof time for you to be able to
dedicate to that little space,for you to make those little
(32:20):
differences in your world.
And I still do it to this day.
I've there's still stuff I'mgetting out of my home.
I'm always decluttering, justbecause that's now a part of my
life, but it's a healthy habitthat I've created for myself.
I don't do it every day, butsometimes I do it in the morning
, sometimes I'll do it in theevening, and one thing that I
(32:41):
like to do is before I go to bedat night, if there's dishes in
the sink and I don't want toclean them.
I first talked to myself abouthow morning Megan would be
really ticked off at nighttimeMegan, if she didn't do anything
here.
So nighttime Megan makes adecision to set a timer for 15
minutes to see what I can getdone, just in the cleaning sense
, I do 15 minutes and when that15 minutes is over, honestly
(33:05):
most of the time I still havelike a minute or two is going to
get me to be able to finisheverything, and I do it and I
feel so much better.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
Whereas morning.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
Megan is very happy.
Oh my gosh, she is so proud ofnighttime.
Megan yeah, so it's.
And you know, the thing is isjust reminding myself like it's
going to have to get done,whether I do it now or later.
It's going to then accumulatethe next night too.
So if I continue to put it off,it's just a delayed decision
for me to have to come back tolater and ultimately, a lot of
the stuff in our house is just adelayed decision for me to have
to come back to later andultimately, a lot of the stuff
(33:37):
in our house is just a delayeddecision.
We haven't figured out what todo with it yet.
So making the full decisionsand putting a timeframe around
it can make it so much easier toget the things done, even when
we don't want to, because it itgives us all of the.
It does not give us thedopamine we are seeking in the
moment.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
I love that.
I heard once somebody I can'tremember even where I heard it.
But for people who likestruggle to work out or go to
the gym or something like that,it's like don't even tell
yourself that you have to gowork out.
Like just say, I have to put onmy workout clothes and my shoes
, like that's it.
Or like put on your workoutclothes and my shoes, like
that's it.
Or like put on your workoutclothes in your shoes and do
(34:19):
five minutes on the ellipticalmachine.
All you have to do is fiveminutes.
Because then your brain's like,okay, fine, five minutes.
After five minutes you're like,okay, I'll just keep going,
like I'm already on here anyway,right, but just breaking it
down into those little steps oflike and giving yourself
permission.
If I get on the elliptical forfive minutes and five minutes
later I'm like I still don'twant to freaking, do this, then
(34:39):
I'm done Exactly the worldsurvives, yeah, but it comes
back to that all or nothing.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
We think we need to go to the gym and we need to be
sweating, we need to be likelifting weights, we need to be
doing everything.
You need to be there for twohours, yeah right, and
incorporating all kinds ofdifferent, but really, if we did
five minutes of exercise everyday, that's five minutes more
that we're dedicating to ourbodies than we would have
(35:04):
otherwise.
And I say that's a win, youknow, and just kind of bringing
it back.
And we need to, especially withADHD, take care of our bodies
in that way, because that's sucha fresh start to the morning.
It gives us such a pump offocus and energy that we need to
conquer the day in a way that,just in a way that makes us feel
(35:25):
better, versus just trying todo everything all at once and
get it all done in a day, whichis so unrealistic.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Yes, absolutely.
This is so good.
I feel like we could keep goingfor another hour, but we won't,
probably.
But maybe I'll have you backfor a part two.
I would love that.
These are really, really greattips, I think, for anybody who
is struggling with organizationor anyone who is a human with a
brain and a home and stuff.
(35:52):
Yeah, if people want to connectwith you more, if they want to
get more of you, what's the bestway for them to do that?
Speaker 2 (36:00):
Yeah, check out my website.
It's mindfulmegscom.
You can reach me on all of mysocials there, too.
There's also a connection to mypodcast there.
So organizing an ADHD brain.
I'm on Apples and Spotifyanywhere you listen to podcasts
and then I like to spend a lotof my social media time on
(36:21):
TikTok and Instagram, so checkit out there, and I would love
to hear from anyone who'sinterested in a more organized
journey ahead of them.
Speaker 1 (36:31):
I love your videos.
I love your organizing tips.
I also love that sometimes yourlittle kitty cat makes an
appearance in your videos?
Speaker 2 (36:39):
He does.
Yeah, he's like my littlemascot.
Speaker 1 (36:42):
Petty, he's so cute.
Is he very organized?
Speaker 2 (36:46):
No, no, yeah, he's not.
I would say his sleep is quiteoff lately, not very organized
at all, which has set us offinto like a frenzy in this
household.
But his cuddles are are onpoint.
I will say that when he's readyto cuddle they're on point.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
One thing at a time, teddy, baby steps.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
Actually I will say he's organized in the sense that
I have, like, this little pettreat container in my pantry and
it has just a little label onit that says pet treats and he
climbs in there to sleep.
So sometimes when we can't findhim, I will go into the pantry
and find him sleeping in alittle labeled box and it's
freaking adorable.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
Because he is a pet treat.
Speaker 2 (37:30):
Yeah, he's so sweet, that's so cute.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
I love it.
Thank you so much for coming onthe podcast.
This has been awesome.
Thanks for having me.
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