2. The Power of Things and Stuff
Kiera Slye
EPISODE 2 (TRANSCRIPT)
Okay. Real talk time. Do you ever feel completely overwhelmed by things and you feel like there's so much in your brain that you can't start to sort out what you need to do next? I can't be just the only one who feels this way. Usually by Monday, my head is swirling with all the things that I've wanted to do all weekend and haven't been able to get to because I've been in mom mode and especially so after a long break at home with the kiddos. So here's my go-to method for getting everything out of my brain and sorted into lists for me to actually start tackling and making some progress forward. I figured out over the years that this is the method for me to actually get things done. It is called the things and stuff list. And today's episode is dedicated all to the power of the things and stuff list.
So let's get into it. Here's what you're going to need to do to make a things and stuff list. It's so easy you can't not try it. Basically, I need you to pull up a blank Word doc on your computer in Google docs or on Microsoft Word or whatever you use to write down your notes. You can use your phone, you can use a piece of paper, but I need you to sit down and start writing out everything that's on your brain for 15 minutes. 15 minutes sounds like an eternity and it also sounds like not that much time. But I think that you have the time to actually sit down and get all of the thoughts in your head out onto paper. Here's what it's going to look like. I want you to set a timer for that 15 minutes and you're going to just start writing.
You're going to write things and stuff, things and stuff I don't want to write, things and stuff, I'm writing things and stuff, I'm thinking about things and stuff. Oh, here's some things and stuff that are on my brain. I need to call the doctor. I need to change the tires. I need to record an episode for the podcast. You start to think of the things that you need to do, but you can start writing in this free flow form. And I don't want you to stop typing or writing until everything is out of your brain and you feel that moment of...
I promise you're going to get there too. So let me run you through a few prompts that I like to think about when I'm starting to write. First thing you're going to want to do is be a noticer. How are you feeling right now? What does your body feel like? You can write this down. You can think about the senses that you're smelling and the things that you're seeing with your eyes. What's overwhelming to you right now?
I know for me, my house looks like a tornado just went through with the kids being home all week. It's crazy. And my mind kind of feels like that when everything is going nuts. So notice what is affecting you and your mood and your ability to sit down and focus right now and write it down. Write about what's on your mind right now. What feels heavy in your mind? What are you happy about? What is lighting you up today to make you show up to listen to this episode? What is most important to you in general? Give that a think for a few minutes. What are some of your values? What drives you to get up in the morning? What's your mission that you want to show up for, for your kids? What do you want to teach them?
Is there something that you feel like you must do today that has to get done today or else a deadline's going to pass or your bills are going to not be paid on time? So there's something that's driving you that you need to make sure you check off the list today. Write that down. What do you want to do for you today?
I know, that's a big one. What are you going to for yourself? Are you going to sit down and consider this 15 minutes of time for yourself your you time? Is there something more that you can do? Are you going to take a walk? Is it nice out? Do you want to just jump on the Peloton and ride for a few minutes? Are you going to do some yoga, meditate? What is it that you're going to do for you today? Is today just too crazy and you can't do anything for yourself?
Well, when are you going to give yourself some time? Think about that. Write that down. What's standing in your way? Do you need some help and support to build in that time to be able to take time for yourself? What's the next step? Can you ask for help? Can you hire a babysitter? Can you find a way to find a new show that you can give your kids to watch that you can have a few minutes for? Can you do a workout with them? How can you get away to give yourself some time and space? What prevents you from moving forward? Is there a huge hurdle that you need to climb over that you feel like you need to move that boulder before you can do anything else?
I want you to sit on this for a few minutes because I often find myself giving myself excuses for why I can't move forward. If you're feeling that way right now, if you're saying, "Well, I can't hire a babysitter because there's no one in my area," or "I'm new to town and I don't know anyone," or "I don't trust anybody to come into my house and watch my kids right now." Think about those things and then I want you to examine each of those statements that you've just written down and see if there's something behind it.
Is there another way to look at it and a way to get around that argument you've given yourself? Just notice it. Think about it. Just sit with it for a few minutes. You've got 15 minutes to do this so just give yourself that time to think and work through it. Write down what's ever on your mind. And if you get stuck while you're doing this, just keep writing things and stuff until something else comes out. Imagine what life would feel like if you had a system and a process that you started each day to take steps towards your big goals. What would that feel like to you?
How would it feel to start checking things off and having things in order? Let's think about that feeling for a few minutes. Write that down. You know what's neat? If you run out of space, just start writing over your words. It'll feel really good to get things out and you might see all that jumbled mess comes out into a beautiful piece of art that you can later frame and remember how crazy your mind feels sometimes.
But if you don't want to write over the lines, you can just keep adding paper, keep typing in that Word doc, just keep going. Keep going until you get everything that is in your beautiful, sweet mind out of your head and onto paper. This is going to be our next step. I'm going to walk you through how to take everything that you've written down on this things and stuff list and begin to sort it into actionable steps that you can take to start checking things off.
You've probably written down on this list many things and ideas that you want to accomplish today, both for you, for your family, in the future bigger mightier goals that you want to tackle. The purpose of this exercise today is to just show you a way that you can start to categorize and organize your mind. This is a system I'm teaching my members in my Memory Makers Masterclass that they can use to replicate over and over again to work through their goals and their projects, and to start identifying their simple next steps so that they can tackle all of their wish lists and start feeling a little bit more peace.
I'm so excited to grow with this group and to share what we learn along the way. I encourage you to continue to follow along on this podcast. If you enjoy what you hear, please, please hit follow, subscribe, share it with a friend, and please don't hesitate to shoot me a DM on Instagram and let me know what resonates with you. Also, there is going to be a link in the show notes for you to sign up for my newsletter so that you don't miss any of the future episodes that we drop. And we are going to be growing that email list throughout this year as we finish up the Memory Makers Masterclass for our fall launch. I'd love for you to be in there so that you don't miss a minute of the details and that we can start to grow together. I can't wait to see you inside. Thanks for listening. I'll talk to you next time.