Episode 30

Mastering Mental Clarity: Enhancing Your Life through Decluttering And The Four Pillars Approach With Kitti Andrews

Alan speaks with International Best-Selling Author and master de-clutterer Kitti Andrews in the 30th episode of Mindful You! Carroll and Andrews discuss what the purpose of decluttering is and how the four pillars of life tie into this. When we declutter is completely improves the four pillars and we must do things one at a time so as not to get overwhelmed.  

About The Guest:

International best-selling author Kitti Andrews, known as “Your Thought Organizer”, helps successful entrepreneurs to get their physical and mental surroundings under control by helping them to declutter their space and brain.

Kitti has presented at Stanford and Harvard Universities, and contributed articles to the Los Angeles Tribune Magazine and USA Today. 

About Alan:

Alan Carroll is an Educational Psychologist who specializes in Transpersonal Psychology. He founded Alan Carroll & Associates 30 years ago and before that, he was a Senior Sales Training Consultant for 10 years at Digital Equipment Corporation. He has dedicated his life in search of mindfulness tools that can be used by everyone (young and old) to transform their ability to speak at a professional level, as well as, to reduce the psychological suffering caused by the misidentification with our ego and reconnect to the vast transcendent dimension of consciousness that lies just on the other side of the thoughts we think and in between the words we speak.

Personal: https://www.facebook.com/alan.carroll.7359

Business: https://www.facebook.com/AlanCarrolltrains

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aca-mindful-you/

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

Web Site: https://acamindfulyou.com/

Transcript
Alan Carroll:

Welcome, everybody, to the mindful U

Alan Carroll:

podcast. My name is Alan Carroll. And I am your host, as

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we traveled together, down the path of mindfulness, in order to

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develop that power within ourselves. And there's many

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different paths. And many different people have many

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different ways that they achieve this mindful state of

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consciousness. And today's guest, Katie Andrews, has a very

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unique way, but very, very practical. I've been practicing

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her technique for 50 years. And it's just, it works. It works.

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To be able to get your physical environment, your mental

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surroundings are under your control through the process of

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decluttering. So today's podcast, we're going to focus on

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what is decluttering? And how can we begin to declutter our

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own reality in which we live, to free up our thoughts to allow us

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to achieve a more powerful and clear state of consciousness,

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which will we call mindfulness. So please welcome to today's

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mindful you podcast. Kitty, Andrews. Thank you, kitty.

Alan Carroll:

Kitty, welcome to the mindful you podcast. I'm excited to have

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you on today. And I'm excited about the topic that you're

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going to be talking about. So I want to really just want to

Alan Carroll:

welcome you. And thank you very much for being here today.

Kitti Andrews:

Thank you so much for having me. Oh, and pleasure

Kitti Andrews:

to see you again.

Alan Carroll:

Thank you. One of the words that captured my

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attention that you use that I would call your vertical

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expertise is a word called decluttering. And I'd like you

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to share with us a little bit about what that means. And also,

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the the fun trip you might have gotten from the discovery of

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decluttering is something of value. What was the journey that

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led that led you there and a little bit of your of your

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background?

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And then yes, I'm processing two different

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questions there. Well, what I do is I help people to declutter

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their space and their brain, so that they can focus on being

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profitably productive, and getting the right things done.

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Now, that sounds very cut and dried. But what invariably

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happens when I work with clients is they come to me with

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physical, the physical clutter was like the they don't know

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where to start, or it's just too much, it's too overwhelming 30

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years of, of accumulation in a basement or your late mother's

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papers, or just just anything, and it just, it just gets to be

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too much. And what happens is, invariably, the as we start to

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clear, the physical clutter, the the other four pillars of life,

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your heart, your health, your habits, and your head, hence my

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company named declutter the brain. These other areas start

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to come come into play. Now, you asked a bit about my journey.

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And I've I've been pretty much a natural, organizer type person I

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like I like things to be in their place, because I'm ADHD

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and I need to be able to know where to find things. So that I

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don't have that mental moment of frustration, which can kind of

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throw you throw your entire hour off, day off, month off. So I

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need to stay reasonably organized. And I felt people do

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that for a long time. Like my first job was a file clerk. And

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I was promoted to and remember back in the in the days of

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offices and paper files. I do. And I was promoted to the

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accounting department and a couple months later, a lady came

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from where I used to file and she said Would you consider are

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coming in and working for us part time because we can't find

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anything anymore. Where were, you were the best way ever has

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in to me, it seems very simple A, B, C, D, and then good Oh,

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subsections of that, but it doesn't come to everybody. So

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I've noticed over the years that fast forward to rest and to long

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restaurant career, where I was always voted the one to go clean

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out the walk in fridge, because the tie at the end, when at the

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end of their shift cooks just throw everything into the

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fridge, willy nilly, and they just think that they don't care.

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And eventually, you can't find the yogurt, I'd like to be able

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to find the yogurt, waitresses, when you've got a full section,

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you want to be able to find the yogurt. So So I've always had a

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challenge. And not not quite an obsession, but pretty close to

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being able to find things. Now factor in ADHD or it's also need

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to be able to see we often say, Well, I need to be able to see

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it. So I remember that it's there. But if things are in

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their proper place at all times, then that turns into a good

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thing. Now most of my clients, it's coming back to the five

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pillars. If if, if you don't mind to illustrate a point of my

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being clear. Am I being clear so far?

Alan Carroll:

Right? I wanted to Kitty go into the five pillars

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because the five pillars I got I got the home I got the heart I

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got the head I got the health and the fifth one. Habits.

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Habit. Ha bi t right. Yeah. Okay, cuz? Because I bet that

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they they sound like they sound like benefits to me, when you

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when you talk about decluttering. So what do you get

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out of decluttering? And I suspect that that they lead to

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improving the five pillars? Is that true?

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Absolutely. I actually I've been credited, to my

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knowledge by saving three marriages and ending an abusive

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marriage. Wow, my best way of illustrating how it can affect

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how clutter can affect the five pillars is with a client. So I'd

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love to share with you that story of Sarah in Ohio, who does

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not mind? Just she she has just always been the perfect example

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of but yeah, off all five pillars. Most of my clients, by

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the way, have been with me for over three years. Why? Because

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it decluttering is not one and then we keep finding more things

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to declutter. So allow me to illustrate. Sarah came to me,

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along with these other clients. We started a group program

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together. And she had the usual physical clutter. The she never

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Sarah never met a hobby that she didn't like. And the evidence of

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it was all over all over the house. And then the sun porch

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where you're walking where you walk into your home. A there's

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kind of a path to walk through like it was it was chock a

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block. Wow. Wow. So so that's all very well and good. And we

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use my one system to help to start to clear the clutter. We

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started with the entrance and then moved to another room and

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then another room and that's how I do things sequentially. And a

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funny thing happened about two months into were working

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together. She said she just popped up out of the blue. I

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don't know were in the middle of a consultation saying you know,

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I have decided that I'm going to take up the fitness program that

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I have been meaning to do for years. Now. I was reasonably

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new. I was two years into declutter coaching at that

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point, so I didn't really think that it didn't really hit me.

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And oh, okay, good. You're doing a fitness program. Good for you.

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By the way, I'm proud to say that she is still at it. She has

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kept that fitness program. This is where you get into the habits

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part. Okay, so we've covered the health. We've covered the

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habits. She got herself a personal trainer, she

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nutritionist, everything that she needed. Miss lady is so

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dedicated that one time her or her regular vehicle broke down

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and she grew up the family We tracked her to the gym. That is

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how habitual she became 1030, Eastern Natalia there she was

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going. And so, so you've got your health and your habits.

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Now, a little while later, and then maybe about a month later,

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she said, you know, my husband said something to me the other

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day that I'm not really sure that I like. And she told me

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what it was, and it wasn't so aware now, and I was I wasn't,

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it wasn't great, but it wasn't abusive. And I said, Oh,

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interesting. Again, not really thinking too much of it at the

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time. But she said that she said this kind of thing to you

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before. And she stopped and she thought about it. And she says,

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you know, come to think of it. He's been saying that kind of

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thing to me for the 25 years of our marriage. Ah, all right.

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She's one of the marriages I'm credited with with saving. If

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she had an agenda and I'm first she got angry and took it took a

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few months of working on this and as the layers of the onion

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with that, when you're doing physical decluttering the layers

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of the onion seem to kind of peel back and clarity emerges

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and you start to see things that you didn't notice before, like

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the her husband's the snarky for lack of a better word. Gently

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snarky if you can be gently snarky, gently snarky comments.

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I'm not even noticing them and now say, Whoa, hang on a minute

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now that that wasn't very nice. And she started noticing it and

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i She confronted him. And of course that escalated so we

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worked on how she could address it gently. And that that

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actually turned out really really well. For him it it

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brought to Dale Carnegie into action about the right thing to

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say the right thing to handle in the way way to handle things. So

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what have we gotten now we've gotten our habits, we've gotten

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our house we've gotten our heart meaning relationships, and then

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you've got your head I mentioned before that she's never met a

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craft that she didn't like, I like honest to God and and she's

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a DIY er the there's nothing this woman cannot do with her

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hands and she's five, two and full of spunk. She could do

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anything but one of her favorite and one of her passions was

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stained glass art, actually making stained glass art which I

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revere, and she dabbled in this. She dabbled during our time

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together. She had always dabbled in everything, again being

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really ADHD or many, many varied interests. And she put

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everything kind of on hold for a while well, about a year ago,

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the passion she she just started to really realize that she

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wanted to stick with one. Notice I said the one system before.

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Okay, well, one is one of my keywords at declutter the brain.

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She decided to take my advice and stick with one craft and see

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if she could make some money at it, whether that be knitting or

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crocheting or painting or pick a craft out. And she said, Okay,

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well, I'll go with the stained glass. I am over the moon proud

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to report that about two months ago, she accepted her first

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deposit on her for her first commissioned work of art. Wow.

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What I didn't know until just recently is she accepted a

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commission on a second piece of art. Now, I asked her this may

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sound all very random. But I don't believe that I don't think

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you would believe it either. Because of your field of

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expertise and in metaphor or the you know the metaphysics it is

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the university it's not exactly what you see kind of thing.

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Would you agree? I agree. Well, I believe that the universe

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opened up for her because of Her physical decluttering is replace

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perfect now. No, it isn't much it stated she couldn't get it

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right back to perfect in an in in one day it because she has

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the skills to do so the skills and the mindset to do so. But,

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um, yeah, I asked her after the first commission, I said, Do you

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think that you would have been able to do this? Before we

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started? And it was a resounding hell no, no, no, I wouldn't have

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even considered it, I wouldn't have stopped myself good enough.

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I, you know, I just, I wouldn't have thought of it. even dreamed

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of the possibility. So that I believe, is the power of

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decluttering. And most of my clients so well, they're usually

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over 40. When you're in your 40s, I find that people are in

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kind of a transition. They're the the, the they're saying, is

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this all there is, you know, that old song is that oh, there

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is all right, well, you start looking for more you start,

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maybe you're going through a divorce, maybe you're going

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through a job transition, you're not sure you want to do

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corporate anymore. If I would say every single one of my

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clients, except one who was 30 has been they come to me with

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the physical clutter. But invariably, they're looking for

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a change of their life. In fact, one of these three year clients

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just two weeks ago, told me, you know, I've hated my job for a

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long time. Oh, what would you rather do? She's a, she's a

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pharmaceutical researcher. I would work with animal

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psychology quotes.

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And this was after a recent decluttering stint because she

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and I, you know, she'll take a break for a while and defer a

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month or two and then come back and we did a bunch of

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decluttering. All of a sudden, she wants to be an animal

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psychologist in which she had gone to school for us kind of

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thing. That is what I'm trying to talk about is your eyes

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become open as the physical clutter clears, the clarity in

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everything else emerges. And I'd love to hear your thoughts on

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this.

Alan Carroll:

An image comes to my mind of a window. And on the

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window, you you're inside the house, and you're looking out

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through the window. And the window looks out over a

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beautiful garden. And flowers and green and birds flying

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around even some blue sky with white puffy clouds. Yet, when

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you look through the window, the window has dirt on it that a

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film built up over years film and and you're sort of used to

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looking at the world through that window. And that's the way

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the world is. And then someone comes with a rag and some

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Windex, and says why don't we try to remove some of that

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clutter, which you didn't even know was there. And as you

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remove the clutter, all of a sudden the film has disappeared.

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And the clarity of what you now are able to perceive in your

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mind's eye gets better and better and better. And so I'm,

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I'm a, a believer of the what you do in the physical world has

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some connection to changes in the metaphysical world and just

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share a story. When I left the job, I had a job working at a

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computer store and I didn't have the next stepping stone didn't

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have the next job. And I remember my body was shaking.

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And I knew it was shaking because I went down to the

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golfing driving range and I couldn't hit a ball. My body was

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as good at the ball. So I went home and cleaned my house.

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cleaned my The Cabinet Door drawers in the kitchen, the de

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jour that had all that junk you put into that drawer in your

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kitchen and it's like a it was under my control. I didn't know

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about the next stepping stone but my home is under my control.

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Oh, and I found that that that is correlates exactly, to what

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to what you're saying. And, you know, and shortly thereafter,

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the universe opens up and a job appears. And so I am in, then it

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leads to a career and it leads to podcasts. And it's, and it

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has a lot to do with the practice of practice, ongoing

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practice, to maintain a sense of integrity to your physical

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world. And so what I hear you talking about is cleaning the

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windows and maintaining a sense of integrity. So you are more

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balanced as you're sailing through sailing along the river.

Alan Carroll:

That's my, that's my answer to your question. How did that do?

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That? That was awesome. And it's funny that you

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mentioned windows, and the EU, yeah. The coal relation because

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I did my moved into my new home, beginning of May. And it's brand

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brand new construction, and I didn't do everything was done

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for me when I moved in. But windows get dirty, and I noticed

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myself just kind of feeling saggy, you know, and just not

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not lemony fresh, if you will just, and I said to myself, by

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the end of this weekend, I am going to clean the glass in the

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home, that being the mirrors, I didn't clean all the windows,

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because there are a lot of them. But I pinpointed three or four

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glass items and the patio door. By the way, patio doors are

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very, very, very your listeners very important to keep clean,

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because they are the window to the world. You want them to be

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clean. And I'll tell you what, oh, what a difference to be able

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to wake up Monday, and everything was just sparkling.

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And what a nice way to start them to start the week and

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maintain. So I vowed that, that I would keep them clean. And

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I've done this before. It's it's just amazing what, what a

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difference and what a difference it can make. And it doesn't take

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that long, just some Windex and the squeegee and Bob's your

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uncle, or George or John, or

Alan Carroll:

Wow. Let's before we before we end, I'd like to

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have you take a look at some of the practical things that people

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can do. And you and you mentioned one already, which is

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one at a time, rather than the whole house. Let's do the drawer

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of kind of a thing. So share with us some of the things that

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people could could do to, to to taste this water, or this wine

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of my Declutter. decluttering.

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All right, thank you. Well, the one system is in this,

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this will break down. So so bear with me, the one system is one

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room at a time, one area of that room at a time and one thing at

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a time. And the idea of all of that is to reduce the overwhelm

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that people experience with clutter. So they feel like they

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have to do everything at once Well, I'll tell you what I want

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if you're unless your magic wand is better than mine is not going

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to happen. It didn't accumulate overnight, it's not going to go

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away overnight. So cut yourself some slack. That's usually the

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lines that I close with, but I've given it to you early and

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pick the smallest room in your home. The this is where we get

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into the handy tips because I won't go into the whole system,

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I'll just take a smattering. Pick the smallest room in your

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house as opposed to the 30 years, the basement with 30

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years of Christmas decorations. Don't do that to yourself. Pick

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the smallest room and preferably the closet in that smallest room

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usually a spare bedroom so that you can build your momentum,

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build your confidence, pick one area in that room so that you

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can see that momentum as opposed to bouncing from place to place

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to place and really get like multitasking really getting

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nothing done. And if you tackle one thing at a time, is it

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tedious? Yes it is. Is it time consuming? Yes, it can be at the

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start. But is it also the number one way that you can stay

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decluttered for life? Yes, it is. The reason for this is

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you're training your brain to not do what you need. and what

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you don't need an IP. If you don't mind, I'd love to share a

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92nd story with please do please do alright, my very very first

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client hired me. She had a big L shaped desk full on just six

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inches worth of paper, you could not see the top of the desk six

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to eight inches paper maybe. And she needed to do this so she

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could hire an assistant to come in and help her but she said

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this, they won't know what to do here. So we start and my first

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client, mind you and I said okay, well, what's what's this

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first piece of paper here? And she looked at me like I was from

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Venus and said, We are not going through all of this one by one.

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While she relented. I didn't know what else to do. Within

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five minutes, she starts flying through these papers. This is

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why I say it gets faster, flying through these papers saying I do

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not need utility bills. I can get them online. My accountant

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doesn't need my bank statements online. So she was training her

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brain to see other options as opposed to paper. Here's the

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kicker trade magazines. She would buy them religiously every

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couple of weeks, and she threw away 5060 bucks worth of them.

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They were eight bucks a pop. And she had never read them. She

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reports I don't know two or three weeks later, after the

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kitty I was in the store. My arm automatically reached for that

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magazine. No, wait a minute, do I just throw away a whole bunch

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of these Obi Wan every couple of months? See training the brain?

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start bringing in clutter. Yeah. So if you take your time for

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your audience if you take your time, and just do it slowly and

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methodically, yes, I'm impatient too. But it will work. It really

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does work.

Alan Carroll:

I agree. I agree. I've, I've been practicing

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cleaning the cleaner window for a long, long, long time. And it

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really is a feeling of a feeling of a lightness. The analogy

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would be a gondola on a hot air balloon. You want to get higher

Alan Carroll:

you want to reach for the sky, you want to have more energy.

Alan Carroll:

Well, how do you make a gondola go up? Well, one of the ways is

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you throw the ballast off, throw the gunk off, throw the clutter

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off, throw the weight off, and it will rise. And so as you

Alan Carroll:

describe the five pillars, that's like you can visualize a

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hot air balloon just rising and rising as you declutter the

Alan Carroll:

gondola. So I want to thank you very much for sharing your

Alan Carroll:

wisdom with our, with our guests in our audience on the mindful

Alan Carroll:

you podcast. And for folks who'd like to reach out in connect

Alan Carroll:

with your kidney? How would be the best way to do that?

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The best way is to go to declutter the brain.com and I

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have a seven step and seven easy steps to conquer your physical

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and mental clutter as my gift to your audience. And to sorry, we

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had a technical difficulty there. And my contact

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information is there. I'm also available kitty Andrews on every

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almost every social platform except Tik Tok.

Alan Carroll:

Okay, well thank you very much kitty. Wonderful

Alan Carroll:

hearing your words of wisdom for our guests. Thank you very much

Alan Carroll:

for being on the mindful you podcast. Thank you. Bye bye

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Alan Carroll

Alan Carroll is an Educational Psychologist who specializes in Transpersonal Psychology. He founded Alan Carroll & Associates 30 years ago and before that, he was a Senior Sales Training Consultant for 10 years at Digital Equipment Corporation. He has dedicated his life in search of mindfulness tools that can be used by everyone (young and old) to transform their ability to speak at a professional level, as well as, to reduce the psychological suffering caused by the misidentification with our ego and reconnect to the vast transcendent dimension of consciousness that lies just on the other side of the thoughts we think and in between the words we speak.