38 | Stop Hoarding, Start Thriving: The Art of Needing Less

Can decluttering your workspace actually lead to greater success? In this episode of the Annoyingly Optimistic Show, we tackle just that by diving into how streamlining both your physical and digital environments can reduce cognitive load and mental pressure. Join us as we chat with Tim about the transformative power of organization—from clearing out unnecessary items on your desk to tidying up your digital files. We’ll explore how these small changes can spark new ideas, reinvigorate your energy, and make you more productive. Less mess equals more focus, and we’re here to show you how.

In our second chapter, "Voicemails to Tim on Optimism," we wrap things up with a heartfelt reminder that Tim represents all of us who are tired and in need of a boost. Staying annoyingly optimistic can help us push through life's challenges. We invite you to visit voicemailstotim.com to leave your quirky thoughts, burning business questions, or just share what’s on your mind. Your voicemail might even be featured in a future episode. Remember, if life gives you lemons, leave a voicemail and let's keep that optimism alive!

If you are self-employed or run a small business and feel more like you're self-annoyed then get in touch, visit the website www.theannoyinglyoptimisticshow.com where you can submit a question or problem and start your journey to becoming self-enjoyed! 

The majority of 'business advice' out there isn't aimed at self-employed or micro businesses, following it leaves you frustrated and chasing quick fixes. I specialise in tools, systems, techniques, inspiration and help specifically designed for YOU, the person who has to do it all, who doesn't have a team of people, unlimited resources or the time to spend months learning complicated techniques. 

Transcript

Decluttering for Success

Speaker 1 0:00

Hey there, listeners, it's your annoyingly optimistic host here bringing you another season of the Annoyingly Optimistic Show. Welcome to Season 2, voicemails to Tim. Now let's meet Tim. He's been running his own small business for almost three years now and let's just say he's hit a bit of a rough patch. You know how it is Sometimes you get so stuck, you make yourself busy and just avoid finding the real problems. Well, that's Tim. So, as a good friend, I decide to leave him a daily voicemail, if I can't get hold of him, filled with nuggets of inspiration, insight and wisdom and downright brilliant ideas to help get him unstuck Every day. In just under 10 minutes, I'll share some tips, tricks and a healthy dose of optimism to get Tim, and maybe even you, back on track, because, let's face it, we're all a little tired, in need of help and muddling through. So here we go. Oh wait, never mind Tim's being busy. Here's the voicemail I left him today. Hi, tim, hope you're well. Sorry I missed you. Ok, less, not more.

Speaker 1 1:01

It's something that I've been having a bit of a move around in my office. I think I mentioned um, which always prompts diving into boxes, into folders, to, you know, to kind of move stuff around and I've been moving stuff around on the computer so the digital boxes and folders that we you know, that we collect over time and it's just that kind of reminder of, yeah, there's nothing nicer and it's very cathartic when you kind of clear out and and get rid of stuff that you don't need and you know there's there's a lot of stuff into both on your computer and your workspace. If it's neat and tidy and clear, psychologically there's less that your brain's having to filter out and deal with so you can get on with that. But kind of within that it is just this thing about consciously, you know, trying to step away from getting sucked into the mentality of more, more, more. You know more equipment, more apps, more software, more devices. You know more subscriptions. It's it's more, more, more. Where you know more subscriptions, it's more, more, more. Where you know we are very much a consumer culture and that has an effect that kind of drags us down. It means we're juggling a hundred things, whereas wouldn't it be better to juggle 10? There was always juggling, but it's how many balls we want to have up in the air.

Speaker 1 2:20

So it's about kind of systematically spending some time to declutter Declutter your business, declutter your workspace, declutter your computer, declutter your life and really make that decision to kind of go through it. In the business, you know, we end up with little routines, little systems, little things that we've saved because it might be useful for that one thing and all the rest of it. And you know there's a cognitive load which comes with that, there's a pressure, there's a mental pressure which comes with all of that and it's making that decision to go. Do you know what? I don't need some of this stuff. And again, it's boring, it's the task that we tend to kind of put off, but a bit like, you know, when we're tired, you know, in the afternoon, go for a walk, do some exercise. You know, look at what you're eating and things like that. Same way that if you're not firing on all cylinders in the business, if you're feeling distracted, you've been procrastinating more than usual, unusual then you know, rather than kind of beating yourself up about it, use that, that kind of frustration, as it were, to kind of go right.

Speaker 1 3:31

I'm just going to sort my desk out and I'm going to clear this, because it's amazing what that can do, in that it can re-energize you, can reinvigorate you and often it can. You know there's. There's a certain practicality behind movement. You know, as I said, listening to an audiobook while you're walking, but actually just getting up out your chair, pushing it out the way and tackling your workspace, grabbing a black sack, recycling some stuff, whatever, just by moving and engaging, you know, moving around, getting the blood flowing, you'll probably think up some ideas, some things you could have done. You might find something that, oh, I was going to do this and it can suddenly spark an idea. So just by doing that it's a win-win. If it doesn't spark an idea or anything like that, you've got a much better workspace, you've got a more focused mind and you can be able to use that. If it does spark an idea, then you might only get half a sorted workspace, but you've got an idea to kind of go with. And it's the same on the computer.

Speaker 1 4:31

We, you know I'm one for screenshotting all the time and they sit on my desktop, on my phone, and it's kind of like they're useful in the in the moment and very important in the moment and I'll often use them straight away. But I won't then go back and tidy up. So I did sit there the other day and it took me about half an hour. But I cleared a load of files out. There was a load of empty, untitled folders. There were some random bits that I didn't need and I sorted some stuff into some folders. So there was just a level of organization like, yeah, cool, okay, I've got lots of things that I need to be doing, but I'm just going to do that to kind of free things up and clear some space and so that I can I can get on with other things. So it's this kind of less, not more. It's it's getting into this.

Speaker 1 5:19

You know whether you make it a monthly every couple of months, just to kind of reassess that the workspace and you know, know your computer and everything else? Do I need these things? Is this something that I need? God, that was a great idea at the time. I signed up for that bit of software. I've taken to, particularly with apps and things like that.

Speaker 1 5:38

If there's something that I think is you know quite good and invariably that you have to now stick your card in and you get seven days free or something like that. What I do without fail now, because I've been caught out too many times, is, as soon as I do that, I go straight into the settings and I cancel it. So if I'm going to use that thing now, if that service is going to be really amazing, I've got to proactively go in and put that back on, which is much better than kind of like, oh in the moment and playing with it and then getting distracted and all of a sudden, gosh, where's that five or tenner come from? Oh, it's the app that I never cancelled. So you know, if you do need those things or you're signing up for those things or looking at those things, then put those little checks and balances in place so that they will automatically cancel rather than automatically renew, because then you've got to make a conscious decision and if you kind of go, oh well, it might forget. Well, if you're using it every day, if it's really useful, you're not going to forget, um, but you will forget if you're not using it every day. So it's it's. You know, make it work for you, not the other way around. But every time you do do that.

Voicemails to Tim on Optimism

Speaker 1 6:45

A new app, a new system is it replacing something else? Is it better than something else? Or have you now got 17 apps that you're having to use regularly? Is there one thing that can do? Do all of it. So, like with workflows, like with you know the way that you you work and all the rest of it is constantly kind of going. Can I do this with less steps? Can I do this with less pieces of software? Can I do this in a way that is going to? You know, there's less steps for me to do, so it's always trying to simplify things and to embrace this kind of less is more. So just a kind of quick one, because I was sorting some things out and I thought, oh, I bet you know, as, as with with most of us, I put it, put you in, in with that. The same as me, tim, having a regular kind of clear out and a simplification and simplify things down is great for kind of clearing the mind and cracking on with things. So hope that helps and I'll speak to you soon.

Speaker 1 7:37

Cheers Tim, bye, and that's it for today's episode of Voicemails to Tim on the Annoyingly Optimistic Show. Now, remember, tim might be busy, but we're all in this together. Whether you're tired, in need of help or just muddling through, tim is here for you because, well, tim is you. Yes, you heard that right. Tim isn't just my friend, he's a reflection of all of us who are struggling to make it work. T-i-m stands for tired, in need of help and muddling through. So if you're feeling like a Tim, you're not alone For all those ambitious listeners. If you've got a burning business question, a quirky thought or just want to see if you can leave an even weirder voicemail, head over to the website voicemailstotimcom, submit your question and maybe, just maybe, you'll hear your idea in a future voicemail to Tim. So until then, stay annoyingly optimistic, keep pushing forward and remember, if life gives you lemons, leave a voicemail about it.