Transcribed by https://otter.ai - 1 - Step 4 - The Simple Evening Routine SUMMARY KEYWORDS organizing, minutes, kitchen table, space, breakfast, clear, step, calendar, feel, pile, moms, making, hole, eat, nights, sit, table, kids, unmotivated, dance music SPEAKERS Patricia Sung Patricia Sung 00:02 Welcome back to the disorganized moms guide to a peaceful morning, step four. Hey there successful Mama, I'm your friend Patricia Sung, and I help disorganized moms get their "it" together one step at a time, so that you will feel confident running your family life. We are on step four, high five, you're here, and we are rocking and rolling. Today we are talking about making space. And in this case, we're talking about physical space. We've already discussed some of our common roadblocks, the feelings that we let go of, and that we were taking on, and figuring out where we're going by looking at our calendars, and bringing the future into the present for just a moment. And then we packed your bags for the trip. If you're feeling stuck, negative, unmotivated, whatever's pulling you down, go in to the Facebook group, get some support. Or you can sit there for a moment and think about your Why. Why are you doing this? Why are you making a difference in your life in your kids lives in your family's life? And that will keep you on track? Patricia Sung 01:05 So why do we need space, people aren't using your house every day, more stuff comes in, it never seems to go away. It gets very stressful when you don't have anywhere to make breakfast or to put things in the lunchbox. When your counter is full of old mail that you need to sort in your kitchen table has three half finished art projects on it. You just feel mentally squished by feeling physically squished, it weighs on you, it's not good for you. And you know, moms tend to eat standing up next to their kids, it's not good for us, we're doing too much. Patricia Sung 01:42 So how do we make space for our mornings, you may have to wait until after bedtime to get this one, then you're going to set a timer for 15 minutes. That's it. And I want you to clear off enough space on the kitchen table that everyone has a place to eat their breakfast. Now, that is like literally this much space. Okay, I'm not asking you to clear the entire table or kitchen or anything like just this little hole here for someone to eat their breakfast. If you manage the appropriate number of holes for the people who need to eat, then I want you to do the same thing on the kitchen counter so that you have somewhere to make breakfast. If you still have time in that 15 minutes, maybe wipe it off with the spray real quick or put some of that stuff that you took off that hole and put it where it actually goes like in a cabinet. We are not deep cleaning our entire kitchen. We are not cataloging that box of photos that's 

Transcribed by https://otter.ai - 2 - sitting on your kitchen table from when you were a kid or your grandma's you know wedding photo book, whatever that pile of stuff is. We're not touching the giant pile, we are just taking 15 minutes to make the hole. That's it. Okay, as much as you can get done in that 15 minutes. That's it. Do not let perfectionism steal your joy. Patricia Sung 03:04 Okay, so again, we are going to schedule this on your calendar for every night 15 minutes of clearing space, we are not cleaning we are clear ring. Okay. Now what can you match this with? For me, I do this quick 15 minute pick up when I get downstairs after bedtime. The kids are in bed. And I do it right then yes, I would rather be sitting on the couch. I won't lie. But I know that I'm already moving. I'm just going to keep up the momentum for another couple minutes. And then I will flop down on the couch because once I sit on that couch, I'm probably not getting up for a while and probably not doing anything productive when I do get up. So some nights, you make a lot of headway, you will eventually clear off the whole table as you're doing these 15 minute increments. Patricia Sung 03:53 Some nights, you're just moving the junk that piled up today, Sunday, so you were just d u n done. And you use your arm like a snow plow to shove this stuff out of the way that is okay. Eventually, you will see the progress over time. But right now we're just looking at the 15 minutes. So I want you to also post pics of this stuff in the Facebook group. It helps you feel accomplished when you can look back and see this is what I posted three weeks ago. This is what my table looks like now. And you're creating the pattern and showing yourself that you are someone who has clean counters, someone who has a cleared table, someone who has space in their kitchen, you're taking on that identity of having space, and it takes time to change your identity. So this is not something that's going to happen overnight. I don't want it to if it does, you were listening to my instructions. We're going to take it slow. Patricia Sung 04:52 So your step for today. Remember one thing, set that timer for 15 minutes, clear the hole on the counter To make breakfast, clear the whole for each person to sit at the table and eat breakfast, and maybe you can put on a podcast, or anyone that you love, or you can put on some fun dance music, like make it go by faster by making it enjoyable. Okay, then look at your calendar, see where you're going tomorrow, pack your bag using the list you already made, set it by the door so that you're ready to go in the morning. Now you are persisting you are pushing, and you are making a difference for you and your kids. Patricia Sung 05:30 Now we have just one step left, we have one more video, so I will see you then mamas or you can stick around for the ADHD moment. Today's ADHD moment is about organizing. So if you're like me, organizing is a struggle, we don't have the same linear thinking as most people, our way of organizing things seems a little bit odd. It's why we have trouble adapting the organizational systems of the rest of the world because our line of thinking just doesn't quite match, not the same as theirs. I want to say it doesn't quite line up. It's just not the same. That is okay. Our brains are structurally different than other people's and organizing is part of executive functioning, which we already talked about. Ours is not so great. 

Transcribed by https://otter.ai - 3 - Patricia Sung 06:18 So if your house looks like the tornado went through, and there's just you know, stuff everywhere, or your paperwork system is more like piles than files or if you spend so much time reorganizing what you already organized because it doesn't quite seem good enough. You are in good company. If you don't feel like you fit the Pinterest supermom ideal, you are not alone. You can learn more about executive functioning and organizing on episode 67 where I give you some good tips on how to structure your life to make it more organized, should you want to. So I will see you very soon for video number five.