The Life You Want: Clutter Free and Sparks of Joy w/Caroline Thor -38

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Shawna Rodrigues 0:00

Welcome to The Grit Show. Growth on purpose. I'm glad you're here.

Shawna Rodrigues 0:06

I'm your host, Shawna Rodrigues. And I'm honored to be joined me on this journey. As part of this community growing together as seekers, and thrivers. If you haven't gotten your copy of our free coloring pages to support you on your self care journey, jump on over to coloringpages.thegritshow.com to download those and get added to our mailing list. The link is in the show notes, which makes it easy to find. Now for a little more about today's guest.

Shawna Rodrigues 0:33

Caroline Thorne is a professional organizer and a Konmari consultant. The three important things you need to know about her before we get started, are that she is not only a wife and mother of three, she's also a proud pet mum. She is passionate about helping others. And this is where her role as a KonMari consultant really comes into play. If you know anything about this method, it's focused on sparking joy and letting go of what no longer serves a purpose, which can really transform your relationship with things that you own. She wants to empower others to create a home, supports their values and their goals. And lastly, she is practical and compassionate, which is what you want with someone you are inviting into something as personal as your organizing and decluttering process because we all know that's not easy. So join me in welcoming Caroline, I think we are going to gain a lot from her today. Thank you so much for coming.

Caroline Thorne 1:28

Thank you for having me. I'm looking forward to this chat.

Shawna Rodrigues 1:31

This is such an important part of everyone's life. And I think it's a great time right now. We're getting closer to spring cleaning. I think a lot of us are still dealing with the winter weather, but we're starting to look around at the things in our house and go. Like there's a little too much going on in here. Tell us a little bit about how you got to be a Konmari consultant and focused on decluttering.

Caroline Thorne 1:51

It's a weird story because I started off as a very, very disorganized and stressed mum when my kids were little. And I haven't been reading a copy of Good Housekeeping from the UK one sunny day. I'm now living in Germany, but originally from the UK. And there was an article about this book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, and the person writing the article or tried the method and it sounded really cool. And I got straight onto Amazon and ordered a copy. And the rest is basically history. Icon married our home for myself. At that point, my son was two years of age, he's now 10. And during COVID my business that I had been running teaching little kids English in Germany couldn't happen. And it got me thinking, what else could I do and I just the Konmari method had changed my life completely. I'd been stressed to being calm. The day my little girl said to me, mommy, you're a much nicer mummy. It made me realize what an amazing impact it had not just on me, but on the family as a whole. And so I decided to train as a Konmari consultant. And I happened to see they were doing online trainings because of the COVID situation. And I jumped our chance and and that's how I got started as a Konmari consultant.

Shawna Rodrigues 3:17

That's wonderful and I remember when I read The Life Changing Art of Tidying Up that it was such a different paradigm for looking at things because everything else had been like, oh, you know, turn things around in your closet. And if you have the hanger turned a certain way, if you haven't worn in a year, get rid of it. It was about time and practicality. But this whole concept of sparking joy and your connection to things and if things had served their purpose, why you have things like this deeper level was such a different way of looking at things. And it sounds like for you, it really made such a difference to kind of look at things in that new way as well.

Caroline Thorne 3:53

Absolutely. And it's not just about your stuff. It's about looking at your whole life and what sparks joy for you. And before you start the whole process, what you need to do is visualize your ideal lifestyle. And then you're working towards your home supporting your ideal lifestyle. So for me, I wanted to be less stressed. I wanted to be less overwhelmed. I wanted to know where things were, I wanted to have more time to spend with my kids. I wanted to have time for me to be able to do things on my own, which I wasn't feeling like I was getting once the house is working for you, you can then work towards actually being able to live your ideal lifestyle. And that's sort of the crux of it really, and everything that you keep, as you quite rightly said are things that spark joy for you. I think some people find this spark joy a bit woowoo, a bit difficult to get their heads around.

Shawna Rodrigues 4:50

What does that mean?

Caroline Thorne 4:51

Exactly.

Shawna Rodrigues 4:52

Back to it. Nothing sparks joy or everything. Like, what is that?

Shawna Rodrigues 4:55

Yes. I think people can't wrap their head around.

Caroline Thorne 4:57

I mean, it's basically saying okay, what things do you love what makes you feel happy? What makes you feel confident? What do you enjoy looking at? These are the things that spark joy for you. But if you want to call it something else, then that's absolutely fine too. And as you said, it's a different concept. Because you're deciding what to keep. You're not deciding what to let go, you're only making a decision about what you can. And once you know what you want to eat, then it's very clear that the other things are no longer serving a purpose in the life that you want to create for yourself. And therefore you can let them go with gratitude. And that's the big difference I think.

Shawna Rodrigues 5:34

Yes, I think you nailed it right there as you're deciding what to keep when everything else is about deciding what to get rid of which is completely overwhelming, that you're deciding what to keep. You're deciding what's important at that does that applies to so much more than just the things in your life that applies to everything in your life, that makes such a big difference. So with your clients, you usually start with visioning what they want as what they start with, because that feels to me like that's an, I might have missed that in the book. It's been a while since I read it. But that's like, it's even bigger than what I got out of the book. That's exciting.

Caroline Thorne 6:06

It is really exciting. And I do. We talk about how they would like to be living, what would they like to have time to do so I have had clients that say, I would love to be able to do a bit of yoga every day. But I, by the time I've got all this stuff out, I can't be bothered anymore, it's just too much hassle. So therefore, we're working towards creating a space in our home where the yoga mat can stay out all the time. And they can just get on with it. Or I've had clients that would love to be able to paint. But by the time they've got the easel out and all the art stuff, and it's just too much hassle, and therefore they never get round to it. But when things are actually there and set up that one step is taken out of the equation, and you're more likely to follow your hobbies and make time for them. So it's really looking at okay, what do you want to have time to do? How do you want to feel in your home? So do you want it to feel calm? Or do you want it to feel energizing. And then as we go through the process we're working towards once everything has been decluttered. And everything's got its place to go back to that it then supports this vision of how you would like to live. And her new book, Kurashi at Home, which has come out recently, this room

Shawna Rodrigues 7:25

Oh, I didn't know there was a new one.

Caroline Thorne 7:27

It's a new book. It's beautiful. It's a beautiful coffee table. But it's also a beautiful example of how to follow the Konmari method. It talks a lot about your lifestyle rather than just the stuff that you have. And there are some amazing guides at the back to help you visualize and things that you can fill out to help you really get to the crux of what it is that you would like life to be like for you and how your home can support you in that.

Shawna Rodrigues 7:55

That's wonderful. We'll have to put that in the show notes. It's great to have that because I've missed that entirely. I think that part of it is that prioritizing because I almost feel like clutter comes from the overwhelming desire to do things and have things and but what's most important, because I think that I love art, I love reading I love, I love, I love that at home, I actually, would just want to have a haven and a quiet place and relax. And if I have all my art stuff out and my yoga stuff out, and my stuff out, and my cooking stuff out and all those things that I do feel relaxed that I'm home because there's too much stuff everywhere. And so it's a matter of what do I really want? What do I want to feel at home, I want to feel like this. And I can't feel like this if I do have those things out. But if I come home, and the first thing I want to do is paint every day, that I need to have that out. And that's what's gonna bring me the most joy. But really the most joy is coming home and having a quiet space and then having the option to get the stuff out. If I want it. I think that prioritizing

Caroline Thorne 8:55

Absolutely. And as you say, I mean, if you love books, or you love art, then keep lots of books and keep lots of art. People have got this, this concept that the Konmari method is about minimalism. And it has nothing to do with that you can probably see I mean, you can see the people listening can't but behind me on the shelves, there's lots of bits and bobs and stuff. And it's because they're things that I've chosen to keep because I like having them around and they make me feel great about the space that I'm in. And I had a client at the weekend who loves books, loves books. So we got all the books out on this huge dining room table. And it took her five hours to joy check all her books. And at the end of it, she had kept the books that she really, really resonates with that she wants to read again, or just have a very emotional attachment for her and she realized going through the process and talking it through with me that actually most of them she could let go. But the ones she kept then when she looked at her bookshelf, when we'd finished and it was still full, it was the rest of all being rammed behind.

Shawna Rodrigues: 10:10

Yeah.

Caroline Thorne: 10:10

She was like, wow, I just love all those books. And therefore you're looking at ones that you know, are really important and special to you. And that's, that's what you're aiming for that every corner of your home, when you look at, it makes you think, wow, great, or you open your closet in the morning. And you know, every item of clothing in there fits you. How cool is that as a woman to know that every item of clothing in your closet fits you. Because we've all had those jeans, we don't fit in anymore, just in case. But every time we open the door in the morning, they're almost mocking us like how you don't fit in them at the moment. And it doesn't make you feel great about yourself. So let those things go. And keep the ones that fit you and that you love the color and you love the fit. And you feel sexy and confident in the menu. Even if it's jogging pants, but they feel great on you, then you keep them. And you know that everything in your closet sparks joy for you. And what a way to start the day opening your closet and you know that you could put on anything and you'd feel amazing in it.

Shawna Rodrigues: 11:14

Yes. So what I did, when I Konmaried my closet that I had at the time, it was so funny that I realized that I did not like beige pants. So I had for business. I had beige pants, and I didn't like them. And I didn't realize that until I went through and did that I wore them even though I didn't like them was a matter of me wanting to have the variety and wanting to have options and whatever else. And that's what you had and they fit and they looked nice, and I got a good deal on them. I wore them because they fit and they look nice. And I got a good deal on them. And it was like no, these do not bring me joy. I don't like them. I don't like the way I look in most of these pants, why do I own them. And there was one, one pair of beige pants that I had, like they had this really cool cut and whatever else that that I loved. But I actually that's a whole other story actually split those pants at a wedding. By the way, everyone that's a great shot sounds like but that's a great story. It's a great story. Somebody ought to come pick me up at that wedding anyways. But those pants I love like they're the one pair of beige pants I ever loved. But other than that all the ones I had in there, because that's something you had as a professional as part of your wardrobe. But they did not bring me joy. So it was interesting when I use that perspective and went through my closet how much it changed what I owned, because instead of just having things because I got them on sale, and it looks nice on me. It was actually what brought me joy. And I enjoyed wearing and I really liked and it was amazing that concept of how much it changed things for me.

Caroline Thorne: 12:36

Absolutely, yeah.

Shawna Rodrigues: 12:37

It makes a difference. So when you start so obviously knowing what's important to you is what you're going to start with. But it's overwhelming. I know that when I first started doing the Konmari method to my house, that kitchen, the closet, clothes, like my clothes, it's recommended to do a whole closet. It was overwhelming and actually took me multiple days to get through my closet because I had a lot of stuff at the time. Like it's a, it's a process to get through it. So with your clients, do you recommend starting with one space? Or did they decide what's most important to them? Or how do you usually figure that out?

Caroline Thorne: 13:09

If you follow the Konmari method to the letter, then you should start with clothes. The Konmari method is split up into five categories. And the idea is you start with clothes and then move through the other categories once you've done clothes. If I do clothes with a client who like you has a lot of clothes, and normally, I tend to work with clients for a maximum of five hours in one go. Because I think I've found that to be the sort of the sweet spot that people can concentrate for. And people will go five hours that's so long, and we get to the end of it. And I'll go if that's never five hours go because I've been so into it, it goes really fast.

Shawna Rodrigues: 13:46

Yeah.

Caroline Thorne: 13:46

It's crazy. But if they have got a lot of clothes, then we'll do just tops to start with. So we get out all the tops on the bed and go through all the tops. And once they're sorted, and we've got time, then we'll get out all the pants or all the dresses and do it in categories of clothing, it makes a lot more sense to do that. And then I can spread it over sessions if people have got an awful lot of clothes. But for most people, if you're working with a Konmari consultant, it really focuses you to make decisions. And not procrastinate and keep thinking oh, I'm not sure about this, maybe I should try it on or there's backwards and forwards. We help you stay on point and it probably goes faster than if you were doing it on your own because we can keep you motivated. We can keep the ball rolling. And I can normally do an average closet in five hours and get things put back away with people.

Shawna Rodrigues: 14:44

Wow, I might have had somebody might have helped me do a little faster than you know my own for sure. And how do you handle trying things on? Is that something that you do as part of that five hours or no, it's just they should know if it fits or not? And that's kind of part of the thing because I honestly don't know if everything in my closet fits me or not, I shouldn't say that I love but I don't. I'm honest. Sorry, guys.

Caroline Thorne: 15:05

That's, that's fine. I have things in my closet that fitted me last year that I'm quite sure don't now it's an ongoing but I go through once a year and just have a check. But when I'm working with clients, we the first thing I do is ask them to show me something that they know they love because everyone's got their favorite piece of clothing, haven't they? So once they've shown me that, and we've talked about it, and we've identified what it is they love about it, I'll then ask them to show me something that they know they really don't like. And they're just hanging on to it. Because you know, they spent a lot of money on it, or they feel they should have a pair of beige pants in their closet or whatever, whatever the reason happens to be. And then we move through the other clothes and there are ones that will come up where they'll go, Oh, I don't know if they fit in, or I'm not sure if I like it. And we create a pile of clothes that are maybes, but I always I'm really careful to talk them through each so that they are sure that it really is a maybe and not a keep or donate or sell. So we have these piles going on. And then if clients want to try things on, once I've gone, they can then do a call with me or the next time I come back, we can talk about those clothes again, some of them want to fit so they know then there for donation or sale. And the ones they're unsure about they can, they can then sort of discuss with me and I can help them come to a decision about that. But the more you practice it, it becomes really clear to you the clothes you want to keep by the time they finished, they don't even have to think about it anymore. It's just like, yep, that's, that's a definite keep. Because they start to realize that it's a color, or it's a fit. Or they'll pick it up and go oh, no, this one the light is really scratchy. When I wear this. I don't want to wear things that scratchy. I'm going to let them go. So it becomes a bit more obvious the more you practice it. It's like training a muscle. Basically, the more you train in, the easier it gets to work.

Shawna Rodrigues: 17:07

Yes. Yeah, I always thought it was interesting that the Konmari method started with clothes. And when I read the book, even I remember thinking that's because I didn't start with clothes and I started working on things was I almost wondered if there was like this association. I feel like women, and I'm from the US that it might be US saying that there's an association with clothes and weight and sizes that I wondered if because Marie Kondo isn't from the US. There's a consistency and size that she may have experienced in her life. And in her writing this book, that there wasn't such an association with fitting clothes and with having this thing that there's clothes in my closet from what I fit them when I used to fit them with all sizes I have clothes are too small for me and too big for me. Because there's this piece of when I lose weight or gain weight, I don't want to have to go shopping, every time I lose or gain weight, I want to have clothes, I look good. And I feel comfortable. And and I fit that I can lose weight or gain weight. And so I would prefer that I was comfortable and confident in my weight and my size. And that's a whole different conversation. And there's two episodes of Grit Show that deal with, that deal with that separately. And so that's a great thing for me to resolve independently. But until that's resolved, I almost feel like I need to have a space in my closet for clothes that are a little bit smaller and a little bit larger so that I'm not attached to if I gain weight or lose weight, I can go into my closet and have clothes I can wear and feel comfortable and feel good in without having to go shopping anytime that happens. If that makes sense.

Caroline Thorne: 17:20

Absolutely.

Shawna Rodrigues: 17:30

And if, and if that's not a thing. So I feel like there's like and there's a bigger challenge with women and clothes related to body image stuff. That might be a Western thing and not that so I was surprised to start with clothes because for me it feels like it's easier for me to declutter my kitchen than it is for me to declutter my clothes. And so it was strange to me that it started with that because of all of those other pieces that go with it.

Caroline Thorne: 19:09

Yeah, it does make sense but I think the reason clothes and I can see where you're coming from I have no idea what Marie Kondo's past history with clothes and experience in Japan working with people with changing sizes and stuff. I've no idea what her background on that is. But the reason for clothes being first is because it's something that as women we have a connection with, that we can really relate to. So we're very clear when we see, let's take a sweater for example, we see a sweater we love and we know we love it and we can tell someone that we're with I love this because and therefore it helps you train this spark joy, muscle for want of a better word. And therefore, by the time you come to do your kitchen, or come to do books, you're very clear in your own mind about this concept of sparking joy because you've worked on it with something that you feel quite passionate about. Because you're, you're wearing them close to your heart. And therefore, you know, instinctively whether something sparks joy for you or not. And therefore, I think it makes a brilliant first category. And also, I find it really inspiring for women when we do their closet first, because it really makes them see, by the time we've finished their clothes, what really is possible with the rest of the house. Because to open a closet, and it just looks amazing, it really motivates you to want to carry on and do the other categories.

Shawna Rodrigues: 20:48

And because it is contained like that, whereas multiple drawers and multiple categories, I see that that's helpful. This was very helpful for me to hear that reasoning, because when it happened, I was like, wait a minute, that's too hard. But I guess starting with something that has more connection and closeness to learn that it's a good place to learn maybe because it is harder in some way to work through that stuff. And to figure out what it actually means to spark joy because it does spark joy. And maybe yeah, don't get joy from you know, their makeup or toiletries or they shouldn't be this.

Caroline Thorne: 21:20

Yeah, it's like, what where's the joy in a spatula in the kitchen. But if you've already worked out for yourself what sparking joy means by the time you get there, it's a lot easier to work through their stuff. Can I give you a top tip on your different price clothes, what I recommend is it's fine if you have clothes that are a size or two sizes too big, or in a size or two sizes too small. But there are items of those clothes that you know you love. And if you could wear them you would because you feel great in them when you're that size. What I always recommend is that they don't stay in the main part of your closet. If you have a high up shelf, or another area where you can pack them away or a suitcase that you're not using at the moment. Put them away out of sight. You know you've got them should you need them, but only have clothes that fit you at the moment in your closet. And therefore you can keep clothes if they really spark joy for you that don't fit you at the moment. But you don't need to have them taking up space in your current closet of clothes that do fit you. So that would be my top tip.

Shawna Rodrigues: 22:31

Yes, yes, I have it. It's actually plastic bin it goes into my basement because my closet's small right now. But yes, it's a bit in my basement, which probably needs to be resorted. Yeah, that's what I ended up doing with that. And it does help though, to only have the things that spark joy because we all have stuff that does not spark to it. Size that we have because it was on sale. And I felt at the time whether it's too big, too small or otherwise. And so that stuff that yeah, get rid of that be glad that you no longer need that size. And so definitely let go of those things. But I like that. So the your current closet is the things that actually fit you. So you can go in there and freely grab and you know, move it aside when you should move it aside. I think having on a higher shelf is a better idea. That's great. Yes. What's one of your favorite experiences with one of your clients, I liked the story about the book that you were able to do in one of your clients.

Caroline Thorne: 23:22

Well, it gets even better with the books. It gets even better. Last Saturday was just incredible. So this was last Saturday, I did the books with this lady. And we have a website in Germany where you can sell your books secondhand. And there's an app for it. So I have an app on my phone. And you can literally scan the barcode and it will tell you how much money it will give you for the book. If it will take it at all. She was joy checking. I was taking them out of her hand if she was saying this is to let go. And I was scanning them and I was making a pile for donation because they weren't going to be taken and another pile for books that the website would take. At the end of it. She had made 245 euros.

Shawna Rodrigues: 24:08

Oh my word. That's amazing.

Caroline Thorne: 24:11

Just incredible. 245 euros. Yeah. And

Shawna Rodrigues: 24:17

That's a good reward for letting go. That's a good reward.

Caroline Thorne: 24:19

Amazing. I mean, there is money in your clutter. So yeah, decluttering can also be a way of making money. It can be a way of creating donations, which is also a wonderful thing. And maybe some charity will benefit from that and they're further down the line. Some human will benefit from that. There is also the possibility of it really creating new shopping habits with you. So I had, I do an online course where people are working through different categories in their home with me and we had our online meeting last night and one of my ladies had gone shopping to the supermarket, and there was a two for one offer on shampoo. And she said, I stood there, and I would have got it in the past, I would have got it. But she'd done her bathroom at the weekend. And she was like, No, I do not need it. It starts to and then she said, and then there was coffee and coffee was on offer. And I was like, No, we have coffee at home, I don't need to take another one home at the moment. So it does start to really affect your shopping habits. And it saves you so much money in the long run, because we end up buying things that we don't really need but we're sucked in by the 2-in-1 offers. And it can just end up saving us a huge amount of money, which is wonderful.

Shawna Rodrigues: 25:42

Yes. And that's another thing I remember from the book, there's this great benefit that you're saying where you can sell things and actually get money back. But this concept in the book I remember about your things are sitting in your drawer not serving you not doing you any favors, you're neglecting them, you don't need them, you don't want them. And you give them another life when you let them go and they go to somebody else. And it's easier, I know that I have an easier time like, oh, this shirt would look so good on such and such and give a specific person like it's easier for me to let go in that case. And it's not as easy when I don't have a friend that will read that exact book. But in fact, you don't need that book. When you don't need that shirt. It goes to somebody who's going to wear it or read it or give it another life or experience that. And so being willing to let those things go so that they can fulfill their purpose elsewhere. Because you're not.

Caroline Thorne: 26:37

Yeah.

Shawna Rodrigues: 26:38

You're not. You're not giving it that attention and letting it do it serve its purpose because you have too many things and you don't need more things and you're not reading it and you're not wearing it and you're not using it.

Caroline Thorne: 26:48

Absolutely, yeah, you're completely right. And you asked about other wonderful things with clients. Another really lovely thing I had was I'd worked with a lady on her closet. And we've joy checked everything. We put everything away. I taught her the Konmari fold. It looks amazing. And a week later, she sent me photos of her daughter's closet, and her daughter had come in and said, Mommy, I have to have my closet looking like that. So she had had ended up getting mom to show her how to do it. And they've gone through the process together. And she taught her the folding. And it's really sweet. And I had another couple of girls who I did their bedroom with them. These were teenage girls, and they shared a bedroom and we did all they had a lot of times we did all their clothes. And it just they've got really into it. And they had a great five hours and it was really fun. Mum phoned me the next day she's and you're not going to believe this. They've had dad get all his clothes out on the bed. They've had joy check everything. They've, they've taught him the fold, and they've got him to put everything back away. And and they've they I know they've maintained it. I've stayed in touch with them. And they've all maintained it. And as long as I was saying to everyone on my course yesterday, it creates this ripple effect through the family.

Shawna Rodrigues: 28:02

Yes, yeah.

Caroline Thorne: 28:03

So, those those are lovely moments.

Shawna Rodrigues: 28:06

That is love it. I love it. That is so wonderful. So I can't believe we've been talking as long as we have this is wonderful. And I really hope that people have gotten a lot out of this. We talked about Feng Shui and clutter previously. And it was a little bit about the reflection of your internal environment externally. But I love this concept that you're giving us the ways that we can reverse that and start starting with what we want to experience and how we can then reflect in our environment. This is so valuable.

Caroline Thorne: 28:30

Cool.

Shawna Rodrigues: 28:31

So as we wrap things up, we always do something that's called grit wit or something that's a takeaway that everyone can immediately apply. So what is something that you'd like to give our audience today that we can just take away and people can apply to their life in their world.

Caroline Thorne: 28:45

I thought I would give you five quick tips for your kitchen because kitchen is something that is just great when it's organized. So these are my five quick tips for the kitchen. First one, do not have multiples of things that aren't being used. So say for example, sharp knives, everyone's got their knife they love to use, everyone grabs the same one to chop the veg because they like how it feels in their hand. So look which members of the family grab which knives and then look which ones are left and the ones that are left probably never getting used. So those can go. So that's a good way or mugs for example, everyone's got their favorite mug for their coffee in the morning. And all the other mugs get left sitting there because no one likes using them. So really thinking about whether you need to keep those ones. That's tip number one. Tip number two, if you use a lazy susan in your cupboards, so one of the rotating platforms it means that things that would normally be at the back of the shelf that you forget about because they're at the back you have access to because you can just turn the table and see what's on there. So that's a great tip. Don't save things for best. So your best wine glasses but you never use them they just stay in the cupboard. The best in a service never gets used. That's always a bit of a shame. Isn't everyday special?

Shawna Rodrigues: 30:02

Yeah.

Caroline Thorne: 30:03

Just putting it out there. Decanting things into containers. We've all seen home edit style, matchy matchy, everything gets decanted out when you bring it home, great. If you like that look, go for it. If you can't be bothered, don't, it's as simple as that. Yeah, you have to do what works for you. And if it's quicker for you to have things in the packets and put a clip on, and you just organize them according to packets and you're happy with that look, then fine. I've got some things I'd account out. But I don't bother with pastor because I know when I opened the pastor, for my family, I use the whole packet. So what have I done, I've decanted it into something to only tip it all out again. So with pastor I don't bother. So go for the least line of resistance and do what works for you. And my final one would be once you've got your kitchen to a certain point, planning meals in advance so that you know what you need. And you make sure you're using up stuff in your cupboard, so you aren't going out and buying stuff that you've already got. That is also a really, really good tip.

Shawna Rodrigues: 31:06

Yeah, we just went shopping and got more stuff and filled up our freezer. And I need to have my freezer organized. So I have all of the meats together and I have all the vegetables so I know what's in there. And my fiance is fabulous and helpful and put things away for me. But he does not organize necessarily. And so I was the one that put things away this time and really organized and actually made a list of what was in the freezer cause we are buying more of the same. Running out of something and not realizing we're running out of it. And it makes it challenging for meal planning. So I actually have that list because our freezer is in the basement so actually had the list upstairs so that when we want meals, I'm like, Oh, that's right, we have a pork loin that we can defrost this in the freezer in the basement that we forget about. It's in the basement, and I don't he's wonderful and goes down to the basement gets things but I never look at it that way. But it was down there. Yeah. So it is helpful to know what you have. Yeah, that way you can plan accordingly.

Caroline Thorne: 31:57

Because eventually you suddenly realize stuffs out of date, like really, really out of date, and then you can't use it. And that's just a waste. So it helps with food waste, it helps you save money. And it helps the stress because you know, okay, today I'm cooking that and you're not scrambling around when you're already tired trying to work out what you're going to cook.

Shawna Rodrigues: 32:17

Yes, yes. And you mentioned about like saving the nice glasses and saving the nice Civil War, et cetera. My mother loves her God rest her soul. She was that way about food. So she would have like a chocolate frog somebody gave her or because she was into frogs or gave her like a package or something or candies or whatever she was saving. And she was eating them and they would go bad and never eaten and then I would come to town was like Mom, this is like a year old. This has expired. I'm throwing this away now. And no one ever ate it. And so like dish is you should use the pretty China you should use the pretty wine glasses. You should use it beautiful things you like, I let kids use wine glasses at my house for holidays and parents were mortified. I never had a kid break a single wineglass I had more than one adult like a wineglass. But never kid. So definitely I let kids use those things. But the food like it goes bad. If you're saving like this special box, you know, mix for something for holiday, and you never use it, then you're gonna throw it away. So you might as well use those things.

Caroline Thorne: 33:16

Absolutely. I totally agree.

Shawna Rodrigues: 33:19

The other thing we always talk about on The Grit Show is self care. So what do you do for self care, Caroline?

Caroline Thorne: 33:26

I make sure that I get out every day on my own well, not on my own with the dog for a really, really long walk. But even if I before we had the dog, we've only had a couple of years, I would do it every day anyway, just so that I get out, I get away from screens, I get some fresh air, it gets me thinking time sometimes I'll put my earbuds in and listen to a podcast, just so I have some time on my own. Because I think that's really important. I don't think we have enough downtime where we're disconnected from everything.

Shawna Rodrigues: 33:56

Yes, and running your business and having your three kids and I'm sure it's a lot. So that's very important. And so glad you do that.

Caroline Thorne: 34:03

Yeah.

Shawna Rodrigues: 34:04

And as a thank you for coming and sharing your wisdom with all of us. We always give our guests a copy of one of our coloring books. So you can add that to your repertoire of self care items.

Caroline Thorne: 34:14

Thank you. That's lovely.

Shawna Rodrigues: 34:15

Yeah, so you get to choose. So we have two of them. We have Vintage Mermaid and Magnificent Ocean. Or we have You've Got This, which is inspirational things. So which of those two can we send you?

Caroline Thorne: 34:27

Oh, I think You've Got This sounds good.

Shawna Rodrigues: 34:30

Perfect. So we will send you a copy of that as a thank you. So I will get your information and get that off to you. And so how can people get in touch with you? I know you have a podcast. What is your podcast?

Caroline Thorne: 34:41

My podcast is called Living Clutter Free Forever and it's on all platforms so you can find it everywhere.

Shawna Rodrigues: 34:48

Wonderful. So if you want to hear more of this, check that out Living Clutter Free Forever. We'll have that in the show notes. And you also have a website. What is your website?

Caroline Thorne: 34:56

My website is caroline-thor.com.

Shawna Rodrigues: 35:01

Perfect. And you're also on Facebook and Instagram. Do you want to give us your contact on those?

Caroline Thorne: 35:06

Yeah, Instagram is caro.thor. And Facebook is @carolineorganizer.

Shawna Rodrigues: 35:14

We'll have all that in the show notes for you guys. But I know that I love to hear things out loud so that I can track them and know how to find them. You guys can definitely keep up with Caroline and all the wonderful information that she has to share. And you also have we're gonna have this in the show notes. I'm very excited about this for our parents specifically, can you tell us a little bit more about this wonderful free guide that you're, you're providing for folks?

Caroline Thorne: 35:35

Yeah, I've got an amazing guide, everyone that's had it as been raving about it. It's five, super easy hacks to get your kids to tidy up without them even realizing it. So it's loads of tips and tricks on five different themes of things you can do as a parent, to get your kids involved in helping you with the tidying up, which what parent doesn't want that. So that's available as well.

Shawna Rodrigues: 36:02

Yes, and it's such a good habit to get kids into that can make such a big difference. Because I know that I've worked in early childhood, and it's great when you get kids involved in the process, it makes such a difference with tidying up and doing those things. And it sets some great habits up for them for life as well. So having tips and tricks, yeah, very valuable. So we'll have the link for that in the show notes. Click on that, yes. Click on that. And they'll also get you on Caroline's email list. So yeah, and hear more about the other things that she's offering. And your course. Is your course going to open up again soon that you have, how often does that open up?

Caroline Thorne: 36:39

My course is going to be coming out again in September. But if you're on my email list, every month, I do free workshop just for people on my email list. So actually, this week's was about how to get kids involved with tidying up. So everyone could come along to that for free. And then I can meet everyone, which is great.

Shawna Rodrigues: 37:00

So get on that email as it sounds like there's some great perks to be in on that. That's great. And then you can hear more about in September getting connected to Caroline and you have individual clients or people just get your services through your workshop.

Caroline Thorne: 37:12

No, I have individual clients, I go to people in their homes, which for some of your listeners will be tricky, because I'm in Germany, but I also, I do one to one online sessions with people as well. And those are really popular. So wherever you are in the world, you can work with me. I'm on Zoom, you're on Zoom. It's as if I'm in the room with you. And we just do the normal process together. Just online, and it works brilliantly. So if people fancy working with me, they can get in touch with me over my website for that.

Shawna Rodrigues: 37:41

So definitely check that out and get on the mailing list so you can get access to those other workshops as well. Yeah, perfect.

Shawna Rodrigues: 37:46

Thank you so much. It has been such a joy chatting with you, Caroline. I think we all got a lot out of that and I'm sure people are excited to connect with you. So thank you for sharing with us today.

Caroline Thorne: 37:54

Thank you for the opportunity. I've enjoyed it.

Shawna Rodrigues: 37:57

Just a reminder, your self care is very important. And we do have samples of those coloring pages, you can grab them off of our website, thegritshow.com.

Shawna Rodrigues: 38:06

I know right now thing was pretty busy and pretty stressful. So it can be easy to forget that you are the only one of you that this world has got and that means something. I look forward to connecting with you next week.