Ep 86 Digital Clutter to Clarity - What Your Browser Tabs Say About the Life You’re Avoiding

In this refreshingly relatable and introspective episode, Lori Gouhin explores what your digital browser tabs might be saying about your emotional life, your intentions, and the dreams you keep postponing.

From the 82 open tabs on her own computer to the metaphor of tabs as emotional placeholders, Lori invites you to take an honest look at the mental clutter we all carry.

With her signature mix of creativity and deep insight, Lori breaks down five types of “tab personalities” (you’ll definitely see yourself in one - or all!) and reveals the powerful connection between your digital habits and your inner world.

If you’ve been feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or scattered in your focus, this episode offers a gentle nudge toward real momentum, not by closing everything down, but by opening up what really matters.

“Clarity doesn’t come from doing more, but from choosing one thing and going all in.” ~ Lori Gouhin

Episode Highlights:

➤ Why open tabs often reflect our hopes, distractions, and emotional patterns
 ➤ The 5 types of "tab openers" - which one are you?
 ➤ How browser tabs can represent our future selves, unfinished dreams, and avoidance
 ➤ What it means when you can’t close a tab (emotionally or digitally)
 ➤ The shift from multitasking to mindful direction
 ➤ A powerful real-life example: how one open tab turned into Lori’s most popular product
 ➤ The difference between clarity and productivity and why action leads to insight
 ➤ A weekly challenge to help you move forward with intention

This episode is your invitation to stop ghosting your own potential. You don’t need to clean up everything, just choose one thing that matters, and take the first honest step.

Ready for real results in your momentum? Apply to work with Lori one-on-one and finally turn your open”to-do’s” into momentum.

Thank you for sharing your time with me and remember to show up in your life like the masterpiece you are because YOU are the ARTwork!!!

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Have a fabulous day!

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Transcript

Lori Gouhin: [00:00:00] Hello my friends. I am so glad that you are here with me today because today I wanna talk about something that might seem a bit strange, but I want to talk about your browser tabs. The tabs on your computer or your phone that you've left open maybe for hours, maybe for weeks, and maybe for months, maybe things like articles you wanna read, courses you want to start a dream vacation that you keep researching, but haven't booked, maybe a [00:01:00] random recipe that you wanna make soon, because these tabs, they can really add up quickly, at least from my experience.

And it's easy to make jokes about it or to dismiss it as no big deal. I've started to realize that it's worth asking what are all of those tabs actually saying about you? Because I've started to notice my open tabs usually have a lot less to do with my schedule and a lot more to do with my state of mind.

And so let's talk about why you might be holding on to so many of those open tabs. What they reveal. And what might shift if you choose to fully open just one. And so a few months ago, I was convinced that my computer was broken. It was lagging, freezing. Some of the tabs weren't even showing. When I opened them, it was making the noise that the fan makes, that whirring noise.

seriously. I thought it was a distress signal. And so I did what any rational adult would do and I blamed the [00:02:00] computer and I even told my husband, I think this computer is on its last leg, but no, it wasn't broken. It just had 82 tabs open. 82, oh my God. 82 tabs. And when I looked through them, I realized something.

Sure, some of them were useful, like the private coaching membership that I'm in and the human design course that I'm working through and my art inspiration tabs. But the rest, I guess you could say it was like a digital scrapbook of my brain. I had YouTube videos of house tours, new places in Italy that I want to visit but haven't planned a handful of recipes.

I'll probably never make books that I wanna read. Garden and landscape ideas, old houses for sale, and places that I would never want to live and. Honestly, tabs that had been open so long that I forgot why I even opened them in the first place. And so here's the observation that really stuck with me.

 It's that we don't just [00:03:00] browse, we bookmark our future selves, to-do lists and wishes. In other words, the open tabs aren't just about information. They're really about intention and they're about the version of us we hope to become. When we finally maybe watch that video or read that article or book, or take the course, book the trip or make the recipe, all the things And think about it. If someone looked at your browser right now without knowing you, what would they assume that you care about? Because in a way, our open tabs are little declarations of interest and intent and avoidance and of curiosity, and sometimes procrastination. Your tabs don't lie. They tell a story and sometimes they tell the truth before you're ready to see it. Again, at least from my experience.

 So I thought I would put my creativity to use for this episode and name the different type of tab openers, because I think we all probably have a signature style, [00:04:00] even if we're not aware of it. So let's see if you recognize yourself in any of these. Number one, we have the research rabbit.

 This person opens one tab and then suddenly they're maybe 37 links deep into a black hole of information. They were just looking for a light salad recipe, and somehow now they're reading about sustainable farming somewhere in the world, say Croatia, they convinced themselves it's all useful and maybe it is, but finishing things.

Yeah, not their strong suit. Then we have number two, the aspirational self, and their tabs are like a vision board. Maybe they have workout plans, business courses, articles on habits of millionaires, dream vacations, luxury kitchen makeovers. Everything that they intend to do one day. In other words, not today, it's like their future self saying, just in case you're ready tomorrow, I saved this for you.

And then number three, we have the [00:05:00] avoider. They have that one article open that they've been meaning to read for three weeks now. And every time they see the tab, they feel a little bit guilty, but they don't close it because that would mean letting go. They're not ready to commit to that or to admit that they most likely will never read it.

And that tab, honestly, that's emotional baggage. Then we have the task hopper number four. This is the ultimate multitasker, or at least that's what they think. They have five different projects going on at once, and they're all in mid progress. They feel productive, but nothing actually ever gets finished.

And if tabs were to-do lists, theirs would say something like, started abandoned, started, forgot, reopened, lost interest. And finally, number five, we have the clutter blind. They don't even see the mess anymore. 56 tabs open at a time. That's their [00:06:00] baseline now. They toggle through it like it's normal. They forget half of what's there, swearing.

They'll get to it eventually. they've built a mental tolerance for chaos and call it quote unquote, being creative. And if you're like me, you might be all five depending on the day. And maybe that's the point. Your tabs are less about what's on them and more about the role that they're playing in your life.

Some are hopes, some are distractions, some are proof that you haven't given up. But what I am personally coming to terms with is that not all tabs deserve to stay open because underneath every tab, there's something more than curiosity or forgetfulness. There's usually a feeling or a pattern or a need, and some tabs stay open because we're afraid to start and others stay open because we're afraid to let go.

 And some stay open simply because we haven't made a clear decision yet, and we think of [00:07:00] tabs as digital clutter, but really I think they're more like emotional placeholders. The tab with the human design course. It might be my way of staying connected to my growth and expansion, even when life feels busy.

The ones with recipes, I don't know, maybe they reflect my desire for nourishment and creativity or caring for others because I like to cook for others even if I never make the dish. The idea of it gives me something to look forward to. The Italy tabs, the historic homes. That's not just travel inspiration.

That's possibility, right? That's an escape. That version of me who says yes to more beauty and wonder, the coaching membership portal, that one's about staying committed to myself, I guess you could say. Even if I'm not logging in every day, I'm keeping that door open. The art inspiration tabs, I guess they're more like a digital waiting room for that version of me that doesn't feel like going in my studio today.

And so here's what I wanna ask you. What are your tabs [00:08:00] protecting? What are they postponing? What are they waiting for? Because keeping a tab open is not the same as engaging with it. It might feel like you're doing something, but you're not. You're in limbo. And sometimes that limbo is a way of avoidance.

It says, I'll deal with this later, and that's okay. Because not all tabs are meant to be closed, but again, not all of them are meant to stay open either. And maybe if you closed all of them, you would feel a sense of relief in a way. Ah, it's like a clean slate. But if I'm playing devil's advocate, I would say that clarity doesn't live in the absence of your tabs.

It lives in the presence of direction. Because here's what I know, you can close every single tab. And still feel overwhelmed. It's not the tabs that are heavy, it's the indecision. what we're really craving is not a clean browser. It's a commitment to something anything. To [00:09:00] one next step, to one decision, one direction. We think we're overwhelmed by too much, but more often we're stuck because we haven't chosen something, and I'm not talking about productivity or optimizing your digital life or clearing out your brain or anything like that. It's more about being honest with where your attention actually wants to go.

So sometimes clarity doesn't come from closing all the tabs. Sometimes it comes from saying, this is the one thing I'm opening. Fully right now, even if the others are still sitting there. And you know what's funny is that one of my favorite things that I created recently, the pink and orange leather cross body purse with my original artwork printed on it.

 It started out as nothing more than an open tab, a design, a mockup photo of a painting. I loved a leather supplier site. Notes about materials and dimensions. And it lived in a [00:10:00] tab for months. I'd open it, look at it, think, I don't know, maybe, and then I'd just move on to something else. It felt like a cool idea, but I didn't do anything with it.

And not because I didn't want to, but because it wasn't urgent and I wasn't clear about it and it wasn't quote unquote important. And then one day I clicked on that tab and thought, why not? Why not follow this curiosity, even if it doesn't lead anywhere, even if it's not perfect, even if it's not the smartest move right now, and even if no one likes it but me.

So I did. I got the sample made. I t got delivered. I held it in my hands and I instantly thought, oh yeah, this is something. And that purse went from an ignored tab on my browser to a tangible thing in the world, something I could hold, something I could sell, and have sold a lot of, actually, it's the most popular design right now, and.

I've [00:11:00] created two other designs since then, and so when I say that clarity comes from choosing one tab and opening it all the way, I'm not just talking in metaphors. Sometimes we're waiting for clarity to show up so we can take action, but a lot of times, most of the times, I would say, clarity only shows up because we took the action.

And so here's what I wanna leave you with today. You don't have to close all of your tabs. You don't need to get your digital life perfectly organized. You don't need to prove you're productive or efficient, or doing it right. And I say right in quotes, but you do deserve to feel clear. And that kind of clarity, the kind that brings momentum and meaning usually doesn't come from trying to do everything. It comes from choosing one thing and then going all in one tab, one idea, one direction that feels honest to you, even if it's uncertain. And so here's your [00:12:00] challenge this week. Look through your open tabs on your computer, on your phone, in your mind, and notice what you've been avoiding, what you've been saving, what you've been delaying.

Then pick one, not to tidy it up, not to prove something, but to move something forward. That's it. That's the shift. And if you're someone who's sitting on ideas, goals, or creative projects that never seem to finish.

And if you're someone who's sitting on ideas and goals or creative projects, but you never seem to finish them, this is exactly where my one-to-one coaching can help. We'll take those open loops, things that you keep saying you'll do, and finally get them done. Not by throwing more ideas at you, but by creating a customized plan, giving you structure and holding you accountable every step of the way.

You'll create momentum. You'll create real results and a totally different level of clarity about what you're working [00:13:00] toward and why. If you're serious about making the next 90 days count, go to the link in the show notes and apply to work with me. You do not need another course or more information. You need direction, strategy, and someone who won't let you ghost your own potential.

That's what we'll do together, and who knows? Maybe that one tab you finally decide to open fully is the beginning of something really great.