Spring Cleaning

Samantha Bauer(00:01.333)
Welcome back to Sisters in Law of Attraction, I'm Sam.

Christine Goforth(00:05.202)
I'm Christine.

Samantha Bauer(00:06.611)
And we're so happy you're back with us and Christine, it is always so fun to see your cute little face and be back with you. And you know, on my walk this morning, know, it's springtime has sprung in this, right? And it's just so lovely outside, right? I was just.

Christine Goforth(00:12.43)
I'm so happy to be back with you. I know I love it.

Christine Goforth(00:24.139)
my gosh, yes, it sure has.

Samantha Bauer(00:31.351)
walking and looking at the blue sky and the beautiful sun where you can still actually have a light sweatshirt on and you're not totally sweating and all of that. And so for our listeners who don't live in beautiful sunny California, we're sorry. Because, right? I mean, actual air conditioning in the car.

Christine Goforth(00:38.632)
Yes, it's like the perfect weather.

Christine Goforth(00:49.614)
Yeah, I was hot today. Right. Yeah.

Samantha Bauer(01:00.311)
But I was reflecting, springtime brings with it that sense of renewal and bringing in the sunshine after all the dark days of the winter.

Christine Goforth(01:07.881)
Mm-hmm.

Christine Goforth(01:12.352)
opening up the windows, letting the fresh air in, the breeze. yeah, it's the best.

Samantha Bauer(01:17.277)
Yes, yes, it is the best. this whole idea of spring cleaning, you are, you're opening up the windows, you're looking around your house, you're like, really? I got some cleaning to do. And really thinking about the importance of not just a clean environment,

Christine Goforth(01:28.856)
boy. Got some work to do. Exactly.

Samantha Bauer(01:43.179)
but an environment with less chaos, clutter, and the impact that it has on your mood.

Christine Goforth(01:47.16)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Christine Goforth(01:47.16)
Mm hmm. Absolutely. I when I first started listening to podcasts, I listened to a podcast who she's an author also Gretchen Rubin. You've probably heard of her. Yes. So she would say all the time, Outer order, inner calm. And so it's like when everything is in its place and and has a place, the feeling on the inside is just

Samantha Bauer(02:02.812)
yes, yes, love her.

Samantha Bauer(02:09.813)
Yes.

Christine Goforth(02:19.593)
so much more at peace.

Samantha Bauer(02:21.876)
Yes. And you get that sort of sense of accomplishment when everything is sort of in its place. if you've got that, just for example, we all have it, just that stack of papers that just kind of accumulate on the kitchen counter, whether it's mail that you need to attend to or whatever. just, and yeah, and I am one of those people that I can't, and it's so funny because we remodeled the kitchen.

Christine Goforth(02:26.913)
Mm-hmm.

Christine Goforth(02:42.12)
yeah.

Samantha Bauer(02:50.21)
recently, and now the island is, is, huge. And so there's huge opportunity for clutter on that damn thing. And I, I told my husband, I said, don't you dare come in and put all your accoutrements on this, on this big, you know, island. so, right. Yeah, exactly.

Christine Goforth(02:51.797)
Yes, it's beautiful.

Christine Goforth(02:51.797)
There really is.

Christine Goforth(03:08.801)
all of your excess crap. Leave it in your pockets until you get to the bedroom.

Samantha Bauer(03:17.664)
But you know, I mean, obviously we love a good study. And so of course, you know, this whole idea of keeping your environment clutter free has been studied. And so there was an article that I read in Psychology Today and it highlights a study by Caroline Rogers and Ronna Hart. And they explored the impact of clutter on wellbeing, mental wellbeing, right? And...

Christine Goforth(03:41.133)
yeah.

Samantha Bauer(03:42.761)
And of course they found that people who feel they are managing their clutter experience positive emotions and is in that sense of accomplishment, you know, that we were talking about. And that, you know, really a tidy and orderly home frees your mind.

Christine Goforth(03:51.457)
Yep, absolutely.

Samantha Bauer(04:01.482)
to focus on other perhaps more important things because I mean think about it right if you're walking through your house subconsciously you're like my god I've gotta I've gotta go through that mail or that the stack of papers or or

Christine Goforth(04:10.893)
Yep. It's the mental weight that just every little thing, no matter how big or small, it is mental weight. And that weight carries the same. It's the same amount in your head and it is, and it just adds up. Yeah, go on.

Samantha Bauer(04:17.077)
Yes.

Samantha Bauer(04:27.722)
Right.

Samantha Bauer(04:27.722)
Yes. Yeah, no, no, it's so true. you know, we all have it, right? That thing called the junk drawer in the kitchen, right? It's got.

Christine Goforth(04:39.869)
yeah. I mean one or two or a closet, whatever. A junk closet. Whatever.

Samantha Bauer(04:46.39)
It's a junk closet. Yeah. You open up the door, throw and then just run. But you know, like the junk drawer in my kitchen, right? It's just random. Like it's dead batteries. It's pens, pens that don't work. Paper clips. Right. Why throw them away? Right. Yeah. So, and so I really started paying attention to when I opened the drawer, what would happen mentally. It's like, I'm annoyed.

Christine Goforth(04:58.189)
Because why would we why keep those why throw them away just keep it

Christine Goforth(05:13.106)
Mm. Ugh. Uh-huh. Frustrated?

Samantha Bauer(05:15.572)
I'm irritated that all this crap is in here. so anyhow, so the point is you don't have to clean out every flippin closet. Just do the little stuff. Just commit to, okay, that stack of papers that's been living on the kitchen counter for how many months now, it's now time to purge. Cause guess what? If it's a bill, it's late.

Christine Goforth(05:28.246)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Christine Goforth(05:38.967)
Yep. Well, it's it's bill, it's late and anything else toss it. no, I, I, there's a couple of things that I have learned to do that have helped. Obviously it's still, you know, chores and tidying and all of that stuff. But, one thing, and I believe it was from Gretchen Rubin's podcast also long ago.

Samantha Bauer(06:06.485)
Uh-huh.

Christine Goforth(06:07.624)
And she was saying basically any task, any small thing, if it is going to take less than a minute, do it right now. Don't let yourself put it off because typically it's that's how all of the little stuff piles up. And instead of having a pair of shoes to put away, now you have a pair of shoes, a sweatshirt, a pen, a coloring book, a whatever it is. And now it's a big mess. Whereas if you took

Samantha Bauer(06:17.098)
Yeah, good point.

Samantha Bauer(06:34.282)
Right.

Christine Goforth(06:35.71)
the 25 seconds to go put it in its home when you see it, that it's just makes everything easier. yeah, exactly. Exactly. Exactly. and the other one now chores that you dread things that you dread set a timer. And I promise you, it takes so much less time than what your brain is telling you. Like,

Samantha Bauer(06:42.452)
Right, and it doesn't live in your brain anymore, right? It's freeze up, freeze up your mind.

Samantha Bauer(07:03.368)
Okay, I love that!

Christine Goforth(07:05.632)
I'm telling you, I hate unloading the dishwasher. It literally takes me less than four minutes. So it has never one time taken me more than four minutes out of my life to unload the dishwasher. Am I really not gonna do it? Four minutes, come on, just do it. Like it's less than five minutes, go do it.

Samantha Bauer(07:09.204)
Yep.

Samantha Bauer(07:16.811)
Right.

Samantha Bauer(07:22.699)
Yeah.

Samantha Bauer(07:26.046)
Right? And all that mental energy that we spend, right? gosh, I have to do this and I have to unload the dishwasher and I got to move along the laundry and then how about, how about just free your mind? Just, just do it to your point. I love that. Cause if it puts it into perspective, we're not talking hours out of your day. Holy shit. It's a couple of minutes.

Christine Goforth(07:29.353)
Yep.

Christine Goforth(07:35.115)
Yep.

Christine Goforth(07:39.755)
Yeah.

Christine Goforth(07:39.755)
Right, exactly. No, but I can build it up to be that like, dreadful, I really don't want to do this. I have to do that. And then in order to, you know, do the dish or if I do the dishes in the sink, I have to unload the dishwasher and then I'll, but it's really not a big deal. Like set a timer. You know how long this takes.

Samantha Bauer(07:59.689)
Yeah.

Samantha Bauer(08:06.164)
Right, right. Well, and I think, and thinking about, you know, cleaning up, decluttering, so that it frees up your mind and it gives you, it gives you a mood boost and, and, and you feel a sense, again, a sense of accomplishment, right? I have a chair by my bed that I fling clothes on.

Christine Goforth(08:18.898)
Absolutely.

Samantha Bauer(08:26.87)
And like you said, the shoes turn into a sweatshirt, turn into like whatever. And so through the busy week, you just kind of throw, you don't rehang or you don't put it in the dry cleaning bag or whatever you need to do with it. And so, yeah, when I wake up in the morning and I see all that, I'm just like, ugh, yeah.

Christine Goforth(08:27.081)
Mm-hmm.

Christine Goforth(08:27.081)
Yep.

Christine Goforth(08:36.126)
Right?

Christine Goforth(08:43.766)
like yeah it brings down your mood it brings down just the overall feel

Samantha Bauer(08:50.972)
Right, right. So just, so next time I'm going to time myself on how long it takes to deal with the articles of clothing that I have flung on this chair, you know, during, during the week. So I love, I love that. I think that's.

Christine Goforth(08:55.594)
Mm-hmm.

Christine Goforth(08:59.083)
Yeah.

Christine Goforth(09:04.556)
And I, I, it's such a game changer. And you know, the other one too is when it comes to laundry and dishes, people have a tendency to say, is it done? are, when are we done with it? You're not ever done with it. It's a cycle. And so where saying, where am I in the cycle of, doing the laundry or doing the dishes and that little, that little mind swap can, can help.

Samantha Bauer(09:20.778)
Yeah. Now, right.

Samantha Bauer(09:30.186)
Right.

Samantha Bauer(09:34.849)
Well, and I gotta tell you, that is the one of the things that I love most about having an empty nest is I don't have the laundry. Sorry, I'm gonna totally brag. And so I am. so laundry is not a thing. Before when the kids were home, right? It was just like, okay, well, it's laundry day, right? You gotta make a big old thing out of it. Here it's like, yeah, it's time to throw a couple loads in. I'll just move it along and.

Christine Goforth(09:45.618)
You are bragging and I'm so jealous.

Christine Goforth(09:56.639)
Uh-huh.

Samantha Bauer(10:03.882)
Fold is like not a big deal. It's not a production. So I will, I am bragging.

Christine Goforth(10:06.644)
wow.

Christine Goforth(10:06.644)
Listen, I don't wish anything away. I'm not wishing time away, but you know, the day that we have less laundry, I won't be crying about it.

Samantha Bauer(10:13.366)
Yeah.

Samantha Bauer(10:18.384)
Right? Exactly. you know, less, less of everything, right? I mean, less, less cooking and less, you know, dishes and all of that. But also, you know, know Gretchen Rubin, you know, she hits on this too, right? It's just, you know, the happiness around your home and the energy of the things that are in it too. And so,

Christine Goforth(10:22.859)
Yeah.

Christine Goforth(10:37.985)
Mm-hmm.

Christine Goforth(10:41.984)
Mm-hmm.

Samantha Bauer(10:43.52)
particularly if you've lived in your home for a really long time, you accumulate things and you just sort of have things around because quite frankly, they've always been there.

Christine Goforth(10:49.034)
Yep. Yeah.

Christine Goforth(10:56.468)
Well, and then they it's like a visual blindness that or a what do they call it? A clutter blindness where you just don't see it anymore. It's just part of the house. Yeah.

Samantha Bauer(11:00.542)
Yes. Yes, don't see it. You don't you don't see it. Yeah. Or, you know, it's that that little, I don't know, the little trinket or the painting that no longer means anything to you or the piece of art like it was attached to a different time. And it's actually kind of amazing on how many things we keep in our home that are attached to some

Christine Goforth(11:17.788)
Right.

Samantha Bauer(11:29.96)
like negative emotion. And we just walk by it. We just walk by it. But not consciously realizing that that item's just being there creates some sort of negative reaction in you. And you don't even realize it. And I've done that. mean, it helps when you move because you have to purge and you have to make decisions. You're like, okay.

Christine Goforth(11:32.756)
Right? gosh. Yeah.

Christine Goforth(11:46.964)
Right. Right.

Christine Goforth(11:54.983)
Right?

Samantha Bauer(11:57.815)
If I have to pack this and move this, is it really that important? And then the other thing is when you're remodeling, right? And so when you remodel, it's that natural purge and you get the clean walls, kind of like me. I mean, it's been over a year and I'm still looking at bare walls because it's like, I love it. But also there's a lack of energy.

Christine Goforth(12:00.499)
Is it worth it? Yeah.

Christine Goforth(12:09.769)
Mm-hmm.

Christine Goforth(12:14.826)
Huh.

Christine Goforth(12:19.305)
Yeah.

Christine Goforth(12:23.723)
Sure, sure. Well, and she says, going back to Gretchen Rubin, and to your point, it's not about having more or less stuff. It's about wanting what you have. And so then it's like, okay, do I really kind of reevaluating everything? And do I really want this? Do I really need this? Do I use this? Is it bringing negative energy into my home?

Samantha Bauer(12:35.026)
Yes. Yes.

Samantha Bauer(12:49.748)
Right, right. Yeah, no, and it takes, you know, again, just being conscious of the things in your home and placement too, right? The whole feng shui and the different, right? I mean, I got into that years ago. Yeah, right. I had to have, you know, the fire element and the water element and, know, it all had to be balanced. And it's like, okay, a mirror here and...

Christine Goforth(13:02.259)
Yeah. yeah.

Christine Goforth(13:02.259)
I was gonna say, remember you getting into that. Yeah.

Christine Goforth(13:14.59)
Yep.

Samantha Bauer(13:18.368)
piece of wood over here and.

Christine Goforth(13:19.829)
and the stairs can't face the door because then money flies out or something like that, right?

Samantha Bauer(13:23.932)
Right? Yeah. yeah. Yes. You lose energy. Yeah. No. But, you know, there really is, you know, when you walk into a room and you get a feeling, right? That's what it's all like. That's what it's about. It's the energy in the room and the placement of the items. And then if there's just too much stuff.

Christine Goforth(13:36.383)
Mm.

Christine Goforth(13:40.947)
Mm-hmm.

Christine Goforth(13:46.793)
Yeah. Yeah. And the, yeah, absolutely. The clutter and I think too.

Samantha Bauer(13:48.042)
And that's where the clutter comes in.

Christine Goforth(13:56.04)
At least for me, I can't concentrate on

Christine Goforth(13:56.04)
trying to have a good time. I can't concentrate on getting work done. can't do the thing that I need to do if I am surrounded by clutter or messes. I need to take care of all of this so that I can focus better, have a more clear head.

Samantha Bauer(14:15.284)
Right, right.

Samantha Bauer(14:21.77)
Right.

Samantha Bauer(14:26.184)
Absolutely. And I think those of us that work from home, know that this this is absolutely critical because you know, it's your place where you live, but it's also the place where you work. And so it's really I remember when I start, you know, quit my full-time all the time job and I stayed home and I was a consultant and worked from home for the first time and I remember like, okay, I gotta chill. Like I can't run around like cleaning this house because before

Christine Goforth(14:29.931)
Mm.

Christine Goforth(14:37.588)
Right.

Christine Goforth(14:50.634)
Yeah.

Samantha Bauer(14:53.974)
I'd run around in the morning, get the kids ready, get them to school. I'd get myself ready, get them to school. Let me tell you, my house was not perfect when I left. No, I mean, actual dishes in the sink, Christine. But it didn't bother me. It didn't bother me because I wasn't there. I wasn't there. I had to get out.

Christine Goforth(14:54.011)
huh.

Christine Goforth(15:02.357)
I don't believe that. I don't believe you.

Christine Goforth(15:02.357)
No.

Christine Goforth(15:13.963)
Okay, this is shocking. Okay. Yeah, true. Yeah, there you go.

Samantha Bauer(15:21.49)
of house and I had to deliver the kids to school and and and and then I was like okay that's but yeah when I came home I was pissed and whatever I had to do deal with it then but

Christine Goforth(15:25.322)
Yeah.

Christine Goforth(15:30.633)
Right, who wants to walk into a dirty house? But I mean...

Samantha Bauer(15:33.363)
No, it's, it's, yeah, it's, it's not fun. But also, you know, and so then when I started working from home, I got very obsessed about my kitchen being in a certain state before I could even sit down, you know, in my chair in my home office. Like I couldn't, to your point, I can't, I can't ignore that chaos out there. Cause I've got, but it was so funny because I could go to work, drive to work.

Christine Goforth(15:47.643)
Mmm. Mmm.

Christine Goforth(15:47.643)
Yeah. Yeah.

Christine Goforth(16:00.926)
Right?

Samantha Bauer(16:02.144)
kind of knowing those dishes were there most of the time, obviously.

Christine Goforth(16:05.205)
just so much easier to forget about it when you're out of the house, right? And it's like, well, and, the ability, I think it's different. I will compare it to like, when your kids are younger and you have to leave them, Greg and I, my husband and I, if we left, somewhere two or three hours away, you better believe I would want to drive back.

Samantha Bauer(16:08.925)
Yes.

Christine Goforth(16:32.596)
to get back to them ASAP. If we're on the other side of the world, okay, it's fine, I miss them, but like the ability to see them is not there, right? So it's like with the dishes, if I'm at home, I know it'll take me 25 minutes to wash them, put them away, go and do it. If I don't do that, I'm gonna sit here knowing that on the other side of this wall is something just more chores waiting for me.

Samantha Bauer(16:35.04)
Right.

Samantha Bauer(16:38.581)
Yes.

Samantha Bauer(16:42.59)
Right, right, right.

Samantha Bauer(17:00.436)
Right.

Christine Goforth(17:00.863)
where it's like, just go do it, then I don't have to have the mental load while I'm trying to focus on work.

Samantha Bauer(17:06.578)
Exactly. The mental load I love because we don't realize the drag that all of that has on us because we have to have just an orderly, chaos-free environment so that we can manage all the things that we need to manage. Particularly when you're working from home.

Christine Goforth(17:09.574)
Mm-hmm.

Christine Goforth(17:18.56)
Yep.

Christine Goforth(17:30.59)
Right, right.

Samantha Bauer(17:35.479)
So trash versus treasure, right? mean, it's like everything in our home has meaning, right? And so my treasure could be somebody else's trash, right? And so it's wading through that and sometimes you just leave the, like I said, you just leave the things there because they've always been there. Just because they've always been there, it's like...

Christine Goforth(17:47.762)
Right, right.

Christine Goforth(18:01.308)
Right. Mm-hmm.

Samantha Bauer(18:03.4)
Okay, well, guess it's supposed to be there but also moving some things around or getting rid of some things, right? It really can be a cleansing thing. It's really fascinating.

Christine Goforth(18:15.976)
Absolutely. It's like you're shedding stuff that is useless to you, that you don't need anymore, that has served its purpose, and now you can let it go. Mm-hmm.

Samantha Bauer(18:26.932)
And now you can let it go. it's, and, but really and truly how much our environment plays on our subconscious, right? And we're, we're not even realizing the impact that the, know, the environment of where we live, you know, so, so really and truly, mean, this is the time to, you know, start spring cleaning. And again, it's daunting. It's daunting. Right.

Christine Goforth(18:36.522)
Absolutely.

Christine Goforth(18:51.186)
I really would like to, I got work to do now. It really is. It is. But I will say too, I just read, and I should, I should figure out who it was that said this, but I just read somewhere about a lot of anxiety is the mental weight of the things that you're putting off doing. And so if you just do the thing,

Samantha Bauer(19:17.994)
Yes.

Christine Goforth(19:20.594)
then it alleviates so much of those of that anxiety, the icky feelings. I just, yeah.

Samantha Bauer(19:27.156)
Right. And like you said, you built up, you know, unloading the damn dishwasher in your head, as if it was like a half a day task. Right. Exactly. And, you know, to our listeners, hopefully we have inspired you to, you know, again, you don't have to clean out every flippin' closet in your house. Start small. Start with that stack of paper or start with that junk drawer.

Christine Goforth(19:34.11)
Like, right, right. For like literally four minutes less than. Come on.

Christine Goforth(19:52.059)
Mm-hmm.

Christine Goforth(19:56.518)
And also give set a timer and say, I'm going to do this one thing for 10 minutes. And that's it. And that's more than you would have done before. Yeah.

Samantha Bauer(20:02.026)
There you go. There you go.

Samantha Bauer(20:02.026)
Right, right, exactly. But yeah, no, just the freedom and again, that sense of mental well-being that you get by having a clutter-free environment is, it's so worth it. So, and spring is the perfect time to do it.

Christine Goforth(20:18.506)
Yeah.

Christine Goforth(20:22.236)
Yes it is! Now I'm gonna go dump out all my drawers!

Samantha Bauer(20:26.854)
Yes, well here we are Christine we just have so much fun here I'm just so thrilled to be with you but thank you for joining us and we can't wait to welcome you next time this is Sisters in Law of Attraction I'm Sam and we'll see you next time. Bye!

Christine Goforth(20:30.538)
You

Christine Goforth(20:37.748)
Same.

Christine Goforth(20:43.626)
and I'm Christine.