Clutterbug - Real-Life Hacks and Tips to Declutter, Organize and Clean your Home Fast - When is the Last Time You Recharged Your Battery? | Clutterbug Podcast # 190

Episode Date: September 18, 2023

Slowing down and prioritizing rest can be the key to reigniting your passion for your home and your life. In today's podcast, I share some ways that I recharge my battery and feel more relaxed. By taking time to recharge your inner battery, you can find renewed energy and excitement in your daily routine. So take a deep breath, let go of your worries, and get ready to feel inspired!   You can find more Clutterbug content here: Website: http://www.clutterbug.me YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clutterbug TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clutterbug_me Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clutterbug_me/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Clutterbug.Me/   #clutterbug #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When is the last time you actively recharged your battery? And I'm not talking about just zoning out to social media. I mean purposefully doing things that make you feel energized. That's what we're going to talk about in today's podcast. Hey, Clutterbugs. Welcome back to the Clutterbug podcast. Today we're talking about recharging your battery, recharging your mental, physical, and emotional battery. And I want to talk about this right now

because it's fall in this time of year is the time where we all need to, like collectively, as a society, kind of slow down a little bit. I'm not saying that this isn't a busy time of year. I have my kids' birthdays and hockey season starts up and things are really hectic. But we also need to realize that it isn't healthy, us as human beings to run at 100% 24-7. The summer's crazy and we're outside and we have extra yard work and we're doing things. We're going places and we're doing all this fun stuff. And just like nature needs to have this period of like going dormant, right? It kind of slows down. All the trees drop their leaves. They're just like, I'm not, I'm not dealing with you leaves.

I'm not feeding you anymore. I'm just like chilling for the winter. We kind of kind of have that same vibe. We need to let some things go. We need to make sure that we're prioritizing rest. And doing this as seasonal changes is really helpful because it's kind of that reminder to us. As it starts getting cooler outside, as nature starts slowing down, maybe we can start slowing down too. And actively doing things to recharge our battery. We can't hibernate like bears, though I wish I I could. That's definitely not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about being really mindful when it comes to slowing down and making sure that we are nourishing ourselves and our brains and our bodies and our emotional state with lots of rest. And so when I think of this,

I'm like, because I'm always like, I have ADHD, so I'm like a ping pong ball, right? And I used to think that I would need to recharge my battery. I would need like lay in bed for a day and just watch TV or have naps or just basically do absolutely nothing. Because my brain tells me everything's all or nothing. I'm either working like a crazy person or I'm doing the nothing. And there's no in between. But what I've found for me personally is that any time I literally, lay around like a loaf and do absolutely nothing for an extended period of time.

I'm not talking a couple hours. Like if I take a full day and lay in bed, while I do feel physically rested, I don't feel like it's recharging my emotional or my mental battery. What I mean by this is I don't feel energized the next day. I still feel kind of like sluggish and unmotivated. It doesn't make me motivated to do nothing. Physically I feel better because I've had some rest, but I don't feel like my battery on the inside.

I have no other better way of describing this, but my internal battery for me personally doesn't feel recharged by doing nothing. So let's talk about some things that I have noticed have recharge my battery. But I also want you to think about yourself and your own life because everybody is so different. What I'm talking about here is you feeling that zest again for life, for your day. You feeling the energy on the inside, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally, you're like, yeah, let's crush some things. Because when we run at full steam for an extended period of time, we're exhausted and we're

depleted. And even when we rest and get a good night's sleep, that's something that we have to actively like kind of build back up again. So what are some ways that you recharge your battery? and I'm just going to talk about mine because having a battery that's depleted, here's what happens. Yes, physically we're exhausted and we don't feel like doing anything, but we also are grumpier.

We feel more stressed. We feel lethargic. We feel moody. And it usually results in us not taking steps to do things we know we should do because all this adds up to we're feeling very unmotivated. When our battery is depleted, we don't feel like doing anything at all. We literally want to resist any more work. We can't possibly, we're empty. We're nothing left to tap. So we resist. And even if we rest, even if we lay around to do nothing, that, for me, I know this for a fact, doesn't recharge my battery.

I still feel mentally tapped. I still feel drained. I still don't feel motivated to do anything. Because everyone is so different when it comes to what makes them feel reinvigorated, recharged, re-energized, I think you have to identify yourself and what really works for you. For some people, it's actually being around people. those extroverts. I don't know what's wrong with them, but being around other people, just being with friends, going out for coffee or sitting and chatting, even having a phone call with a friend

can really recharge their mental and emotional battery. For other people, it's being around no one. It's being in solitude. It's spending time reading or doing other activities that they enjoy in soulless, right? Like by themselves. That really gives them that feeling. Some people love exercise. which to me sounds badog-a-dongs, but I know I have a really good friend, Christine, who exercises to feel more energized. That sounds exhausting to me, but again, everybody's different. What I've noticed for myself, it isn't just sitting around doing nothing, though I am an introvert and I recharge my batteries kind of in peace and being by myself. I like to do like small, small little cozy tasks, I guess that I could call them.

So the other day I was like, I'm exhausted. I've had a really stressful month. I'm just going to lay on the couch and watch practical magic. It's a good movie. If you haven't seen it, it's old. It's excellent. Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, totally recommend. But when I was done watching this movie, I felt like it was great and I enjoyed that.

But I felt like a little. empty. And maybe some of this is me like I have this workaholic mentality a little bit, but what I decided to do the other night instead, because I have a bucket list for fall, I want to watch all these awesome movies. I grabbed my laptop. I opened my laptop. I sat down on my bed. I grabbed a basket of laundry and I just sat there and kind of sorted through clothes. And then I move my laptop into my master walk in closet. And I just put like hung clothes while watching this movie. And when I was done, the movie wasn't even close to done, but I had done this little task, I felt like, I didn't even really realize I was doing it because

I was so into the movie, but because I had accomplished this kind of nagging thing, but not in a rushed way, not in a, I got to get this done, hurry up and go way, in a very slow kind of puttering, really just yeah almost like a meditation type way i felt really good and so this i've really come to realize lately is how i can recharge my battery it's that slow by myself just relaxing while doing something slightly productive whether it's in the garden planting some plants. Again, not the rushed hectic got to get this done, but the puttering, the puttering around. Baking. I've been baking a ton. I baked cookies. I baked muffins. I even grabbed a pot and like sliced up some oranges and threw in some cinnamon sticks and some

nutmeg and some cloves and just simmered it on the stove. And I felt like really good. It's a silly thing. I felt really energized and relaxed at the same time. And for me, that's exactly what I mean by recharging your battery. Feeling physically relaxed, feeling like, you know, you're not exhausted, but your brain feels like, yes, excitement, go mode. I can't wait for tomorrow. I can't wait to do all these things. I'm excited about life.

And that is something that for me, it's like this less rushed puttering around. Being mildly productive is exactly the recipe for me to recharge my battery. And so when my house is a disaster because I'm so exhausted or when I'm just like crazy overwhelmed, I can grab my laptop, I can grab my iPad, I can put on a show and I can just maybe do some dishes. or put away a load of laundry or sit and I don't even knitting even doing something doing something maybe this is ADHD it's like flaring up in all its glory but yeah I don't feel maybe it's because also I don't feel proud of myself I don't feel that same rejuvenation when I'm doing absolutely nothing I've got to do these slow puttering mind

mindful, mildly productive tasks. So I wanted you to think about this as an option for yourself and to give this a try, to think of this as sort of a meditation thing. I'm wondering if you've ever cleaned your house in this way, in this slow, not this, oh my gosh, company's coming frantic clean, or the why does my family never help? This house sucks. Why is it so dirty? Rage clean. But the puttering around with a duster, slowly swishing and wiping things, maybe while listening to calming music or a podcast, have you tried this? Taking deep breaths and treating it as a form of almost meditation, keeping your body moving, doing really, just, yeah, pushing the needle of life forward while also doing it in a relaxed manner. This is the sweet spot for me. This literally is what

recharges my battery. I'm getting that physical rest of not rushing around, so which I need but I'm also getting that kind of mental you can do it Cass good job look at you making progress look at how nice this space looks look at how great your kitchen smells now lighting a candle planting a new plant making something crafting crafting making a new wreath for your front door in a not a frantic energy mindset, but a slow, relaxing mindset. It's energizing, which is probably why those homesteaders can get up at 5 in the morning, like milk their cow, bake all day, clean, take care of 7,000 babies

and all their children while homeschooling and whipping together a homemade dinner from scratch and like still have energy at night to hang out with their spouse and like, I don't know, play board games or something like, how are these people doing all these things? Maybe their battery is full. Maybe their battery is at peak performance because all of these things they're doing, they're doing in a way, in a mindful way that's charging them, that's giving them rest and giving them energy at the exact same time. I want to take a second to thank Cozy Earth for sponsoring today's podcast.

My bedroom is a top priority in my house, especially when it comes to recharging my battery and gaining that little bit of extra rest that I need. I need my bedroom to be a place that feels like an oasis. And climbing into a bed with beautiful, cool, luxury sheets is a must. I switched to Cozy Earth a few years ago, and I especially love their bamboats. They're temperature regulating. They're nice and cool, really soft, but also affordable. I have their pillows, I have their waffle blankets, and it really is a treat to myself because I deserve my bed to feel like a luxury hotel. And so do you. And right now, my listeners can save up to 35% sitewide going to cozyearth.com and use the promo code Clutterbug.

That's cozyearth.com. Use the promo clutterbug. Since we've moved into our new house, we actually don't have a television anymore in the bedroom. And people say that like TVs in the bedroom are bad. And again, I think this depends on you and your personality and how you recharge. I really miss it. I'm not a huge TV watcher, but I do love like cozying up at night, especially with my heart. husband and watching a show or watching a movie together. And I've just find it more relaxing to do in the bedroom. I also love having a bedroom in the TV because I love putting away laundry with something in the background, some sort of like something to distract my brain from the

suckage of putting away laundry, whether it is a podcast or watching a movie right now, I'm like really into all these fall movies. I've watched Goodwill hunting for the 50th time. Fantastic. Mr. Fox, October Sky. I'm going to be watching Hocus Pocus again with the kids. It just feels like fall, doesn't it? It feels like it's like something we need to do as this new season comes in, make time for stuff like this. But we can also get some amazing things done. We can have the best of both worlds. We can relax, spend time with family even. and still have this little puttering slightly, you know, productive way of living our lives. So that when we wake up in the morning, we feel really good.

We feel relaxed. We feel recharged. We also feel motivated. And that's something that's hard to get. For me personally, again, everybody's different from just doing nothing, from avoidance relaxation, which is what I used to do. I would just curl up and and just do absolutely nothing but crush 10 hours of Netflix or Amazon Prime and never feel like it was enough or scroll TikTok or waste hours on Facebook. Just consuming other people living their lives

or turning my brain off, would never really feeling like it was enough, never getting to a point where I'm like, okay, now I'm motivated to tackle things. That just never came after long periods of like couch potatoing. I don't know what else to call it. Just zoning out. The motivation never followed. But when I combine that zoning out with small, really relaxed ways of being slightly productive, that's the sweet spot. That's the magic maker, you guys. I want you to give it a try. Now again, maybe that isn't your way of recharging. Maybe you're like, I need vacations. Vacations are amazing. But every time I come back from my vacation, I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation. I feel like I'm like, I'm dead to the world, can't do anything. I certainly

don't feel motivated. Maybe you can relate. You know, when do you feel that like da-da-da-da-da, I can tackle the world? Maybe you're a person who feels that way after physical exercise and make time for that. Maybe you feel that way after you've hung out with friends or gone to a concert or play, gotten out of the house, gone for a hike in nature. For me, it's the puttering. It's doing these sort of like small little tasks, but treating it like a meditation type activity. Last night, I grabbed a bucket of paint, an old bucket of like trim and door paint and a little paintbrush. And I was listening to some relaxation music. And I was just touching up, on the windows and the doors and the baseboards. I was just like walking around with the paintbrush,

kind of like humming to myself. The kids that were already in bed. Joe was upstairs. He was like watching a movie. And I was just, I was just touching up paint. And it was awesome. It was awesome. It's something I wanted to do for a while. It's something I've been putting off. It's something I, instead of treating it like a chore, I was treating it like a treat to myself. And I'm not suggesting that we work 24-7, but for some reason, these little tasks sprinkled into my day like this, treating them as a form of recharging my battery, it gets me a house that's tidier, it gets me a house that's cleaner, and it gets me feeling more motivated to tackle all the other things in my life. It might work for you to give it a try. You can grab a piece of paper. You can write a list of little tasks that you can do,

whether it is baking, cleaning up the kitchen, maybe switching your clothes for your fall clothes, washing all your favorite sweaters and getting them ready. Maybe it's reorganizing your shoes and your winter boots or fall boots. Maybe it's touching up your scratched paint. I don't know what would recharge your battery, but make a list. of some ideas and give it a try today. Remember, we're not rushing through these. We are treating this as a form of meditation, of soothing your soul, of relaxation, doing it slow, taking your time, and combining productivity with relaxation to recharge you for the next day. Thank you guys so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed and I will see you guys next time.