Find Your Paper Management Flow (Live Session Recording)

Paper is one of the most challenging kinds of clutter. Become aware of all the emotions that come up for you while dealing with paper and learn how to create your paper management flow & maintain it. There is a short guided meditation/visualization to help you become aware of all the emotions and triggers that may come up for you when thinking of paper.

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Transcript

Good morning everybody!

Can you guys see me and hear me?

I'm starting to see faces here!

Happy Friday everybody!

Just playing with my singing balls.

Thank you Linda for confirming that you can see me.

Good morning Christine,

Good morning Linda.

Good morning Christine,

We have two Christines today.

How are you guys doing today?

How has your week gone?

How was your week?

Nice,

Same.

I can still on today,

Will you record this session?

Yes,

I'm recording this session.

I'm gonna show some visuals too,

So you may miss those because it will be only audio.

But hopefully you can get the main takeaway and planning on doing a little practice too at the beginning.

Once people kind of join.

So guys,

My name is Emilio Jose Garcia.

I am connecting from Waterloo,

Canada.

From Los Angeles,

California.

Amazing,

Where are you guys connecting from?

And why are you here today?

I know you are here because of paper,

But I want you to be more specific.

What would you like to get out of the session today?

What would this session,

How can I make this session a 5 out of a 5 for you?

I always like to know your expectations so that I can make the session flow in the right direction.

I love my name,

Happy my parents choose it.

It's a beautiful name.

I love learning new tricks.

Ok,

New tricks about what?

Christine,

Can you be more specific please?

And are there any new people here?

Any new people to my live sessions today?

Filing system,

Ok.

Just curious,

Christine,

Do you have a filing system right now that you are using or are you planning on just creating one?

I want to release whatever my mental or emotional attachment to paper and clear the clutter.

I am new here.

Welcome Jay.

Beautiful what you said.

Good morning,

Would love to figure out how to go,

How you go down to only one box from your house too.

Yeah,

If you guys are curious like,

So he means this.

This is my filing system,

My family's and business filing system right?

So I will talk about it later but this is what he means by how to go down to this,

Ok?

It's pretty heavy but it's very compact and this is just one solution.

You don't have to,

This shouldn't be your goal,

Ok?

Because our needs may be so different to your needs and there is not a right solution for everybody,

Ok?

So there are thousands of possible solutions that you can implement just to fit your specific needs,

Ok?

I use an old-fashioned file cabinet but the papers on the counter waiting for a home.

Ok,

So you are just,

You just have some papers flowing in and out of your home that maybe didn't make it all the way to the system.

So that's good and normal.

You are new here.

Hi Erin,

Thank you for joining.

I have a pile of filing which feels heavy.

Christine,

It's nice because I am noticing a trend here guys of,

You guys are talking and someone really shared it beautifully in the comments.

About the emotional aspect of paper,

Right?

So Jay said,

I want to release whatever my mental or emotional attachment to paper and clear the clutter.

And she is new here.

Beautiful and honestly from my own experience of helping a lot of people do paper sessions,

I can tell you that it all starts with the awareness.

It all starts with those emotions that are stopping you.

Because guys,

Paper is paper,

Ok?

Paper is just a piece of paper that requires an action.

And you may have one paper,

A hundred papers,

One paper but it's finite,

It's limited.

So you just need more time or less time to deal with them.

But for a lot of people it's not about the physical action of dealing with the paper,

What's stopping them.

It's the attachment.

It's the uncertainty.

It's the lack of confidence.

Should I let it go or not?

Will I need it in the future or not?

The lack of information.

There are so many reasons and most of them are emotional reasons that may be blocking you.

I want to get down to one caribou folder with only the essential.

Paper that I can take with me in an emergency.

Amazing video.

Do you understand what essential means to you?

Because sometimes I ask people what's essential?

And for some people essential is the flyers that come every day from the mailbox.

That's an essential thing to have.

For some other people essential is the papers from the home that they own.

Very little.

So you need to define that.

And so many times you guys may not have all the information that you require to make those decisions with confidence.

In that case,

I will invite you to speak with whatever professional helps you out.

And if you don't have one,

Speak for one.

For example,

In our case,

When we started our business back in 2012,

I remember that the paperwork was not easy for us.

We didn't know how to do it.

Let me read this.

I want to get down.

Yeah.

So it's the bondage of paper.

That's a great question.

Essentially,

It's the papers that the government requires.

Yeah,

Absolutely.

So for our business,

For example,

On tax purposes,

And then we are collecting HST.

So there were a lot of uncertainty because we have never done that before.

So the first year it was a mess.

We had no idea.

We were keeping everything,

But we didn't know what we needed.

So what we did,

We sat with an accountant and we sat with a bookkeeper and then we sat with the person who filed our taxes.

So at the end of that year,

We struggled through the year and we finally found the papers,

Spent hours trying to do the taxes.

But then what do you think we did for the following year?

We understood the outcome.

So for us,

At the end of the year,

It was to have specific numbers.

It was to have specific categories with the papers that prove our expenses,

Our income.

So we had that clarity and that clarity came from us consulting with professionals,

With our financial advisor,

With our bookkeeper and with the person who filed our taxes.

So once we did that,

What do you think happened?

We created a system because it doesn't matter the system or the step by step that you follow.

Keep in mind,

What is the outcome that you are seeking here?

For us,

The outcome was to have a spreadsheet with all the totals.

How much money we spent and the excess need to be categorized by office supplies,

Gasoline.

So there are specific categories that Canada,

The revenue agency requires from us at the end of the year.

Once we had that information,

That was the outcome that we were seeking for.

So we designed our filing cabinet,

We designed our spreadsheet to match the final outcome that we needed.

So now for us to do taxes,

We just go to the spreadsheet,

We send that to the accountant and then she does all the taxes she files in and she doesn't need to see a single paper.

She doesn't need to go through a shoebox of paper receipts and she does,

We don't have to pay her for that time every year.

And she just files that and then if we were to get out of it,

We have a filing cabinet that matches that spreadsheet,

Matches all the columns that we have in there.

So that's an example of a thing that we created.

So once a month,

We close the month.

We close the month for personal and we close the month for business.

What does that involve?

Putting in that spreadsheet all the expenses,

All the income and then having the documents that push things up.

And that takes us probably one to two hours a month,

One time every month.

And then that saves us hours,

Headaches,

Stress at the end of the year.

And we are certain that our taxes are done properly.

And if we get audited,

Everything is searchable very easily.

Robert De Niro gets the board-fied paper in Terry Gillian's receipt.

That's that's funny.

I haven't seen that,

Heather.

OK,

So guys,

Would you like to do to start with a little practice,

A little I can play my singing balls and I can guide you through that emotional aspect.

I can try to tap into whatever you are feeling,

All those resistances and hopefully become aware.

And that will help you also connect with the new reality that you are trying to create.

So do you guys want me to do a little five to 10 minute practice?

I just want to make sure that because I don't want to do it if if you guys dive into the step by step,

I'm OK with that.

But from my experience,

Connecting with those emotions,

Becoming aware of that can really help you connect with also the new reality,

The new possibility.

Trish says sure.

If I get a couple more sure or OK,

I'll do it.

Meditation,

Great.

Just need one more and I'll do it.

OK,

Lisa,

Thank you.

You are the one.

OK,

Amazing.

So let's do it.

OK.

So,

Guys.

Just get comfortable.

OK.

Sit down.

You can lay down.

Feel free to close your eyes.

OK,

Just do whatever you need to do to feel comfortable.

Whatever that means to you.

OK.

I want you to take a couple of deep breaths.

I want you to do a quick body scan.

OK.

Why?

I want you to become aware of any tensions that you are feeling now in your body.

Because when we are going to talk about paper,

Majority of the times,

New emotions,

New triggers may come up and I want you to be able to notice them.

So please focus your energy.

Start with in your feet and then visualize with every breath.

Visualize like energy,

A light just going up from your feet through your legs all the way up to your head.

Try to do a body scan.

Try to notice any tensions that you may be feeling.

OK.

Any pains.

Any discomfort.

Just become aware of it.

Just connect with it.

Feel free to breathe into those areas if you are feeling tension.

Just inhale.

You can visualize a bright light going into your body from the universe into your body through your nose.

And then focus that light into that spot of tension.

And then with every exhale visualize that light carrying out some of that tension away.

Out through your mouth into the universe and dissolving there.

Let just that energy kind of flow in and out and let those tensions,

That discomfort that you may be feeling,

Just dissolve completely or at least a little bit into the universe.

Feel free to breathe into the same spot if you need to.

OK.

Just keep doing your body scan.

Take as long as you need.

And when you feel complete,

Just keep breathing normally.

By now hopefully you are aware of what's in your body right now.

Now I want you to focus on your paper world.

What do you feel when you think about your paper?

What emotions are coming up for you right now when visualizing your desk,

Your filing cabinet,

All those piles sitting on the table,

On the couch,

In your car?

How do you feel when tax time comes?

Do you feel stressed?

Do you feel overwhelmed?

Just become aware of what's coming up for you.

Just keep doing that body scan and notice any new tensions that may appear.

Just locate them in your body.

Just observe them.

You don't have to do anything with them right now.

Just let them be there.

Now I want you to visualize your paperwork in order.

If you could snap your fingers and visualize your paperwork completed.

Everything is organized.

Everything is easy to find.

Your desk is neat and tidy.

Your incoming paper and upcoming paper have a great flow.

You are no longer stressed.

You are no longer overwhelmed.

How do you feel now?

Just connect with that new reality,

That new possibility that you have access to.

How will these changes in your paper world impact you in other areas of your life?

What would you be able to do that you cannot do right now?

I want you to really connect with that new reality,

That new possibility.

Really feel it with your entire body.

Let it sink.

Embrace how you feel.

Does it feel good?

From this place of calmness,

From this place where you feel just in flow,

I want you to look back at your reality.

This reality that you can change anytime.

What would you do right now to change it?

What steps would you take?

What does feel aligned to you right now?

What do you have clarity about?

What are the challenges that you are facing?

What is the resistance that you are facing?

Are you feeling overwhelmed because you have a big volume of paper and you are afraid that you don't have the time to deal with it?

Are you feeling not confident because you don't know what to keep or what to let go?

Are you feeling guilty because there is something that you need to do with your paper that you haven't done yet?

And every time you look at that pile,

It's a constant reminder of your failure.

A constant reminder of something that you have to do and you never find the time to do it.

Is it stress and family conflicts because there are more people involved in the paper world and you just can't find a way to communicate with each other nicely,

Respectfully,

And you just gave up and the other person gave up and no one is really doing anything because it's just too stressful?

I want you to observe anything that's coming up for you.

Please don't judge,

Don't block,

Don't think.

You don't have to do anything right now.

I want you to see them,

To feel them,

To become aware of these things.

They are happening for a reason.

You need to learn something from this,

Even if you don't like it,

Even if it feels uncomfortable.

How many times have you tried to get control of your paper but you just couldn't?

How long it's been?

It's been weeks?

Months?

Years?

Decadence?

I just want to remind you that every present moment is a new opportunity for you to start doing something different.

Maybe it's time for you to be intentional about your time and go through that pile of papers that you want to publish because that's really important to you and you have been neglecting it for years.

But that thing is still there,

Kind of tapping your shoulder saying,

Hey,

You really have to do this,

You really deserve the time to do this.

Many people out there can benefit from this and you are preventing them from getting those benefits because you are just not publishing that,

Because you are just not taking the time to go through those papers,

Allowing yourself the space and the energy to do what you have to do.

And you know you have to do that because it feels good,

It feels aligned,

It feels right.

But you just let the business of life to get on the way.

But every present moment is a new opportunity for you to change,

To get started,

To ask for help,

To try something different.

The past doesn't define who you are.

Whatever you did in the past doesn't define the person that you will become.

Because if you do something different now,

The future will look different for you too.

And you can do this,

You can find a different way,

You can create a different way for yourself.

So I want you to focus on the goal or goals,

The outcomes that you want from your paper,

Rather than on the how to deal with your paper.

Just think about if you could snap the fingers again,

What is the outcome that you are seeking?

And I want you to be very,

Very specific.

Is your outcome being able to publish that thing that you wanted to?

Is your outcome to be able to access effortlessly every year?

Is your outcome to have an office that looks tidy and organized without piles of papers everywhere that are distracting you every single day?

What is your outcome?

You need to be clear.

Because if you are not,

You will never get there.

Because you don't know what you are aiming for.

So what is your desired outcome?

You need to all your decision.

Once you decide something,

You have to go for it 100%.

You always have the opportunity to change your approach.

But what really matters is for you to know your outcome.

The how to,

The steps to get there can change a thousand times,

It doesn't matter.

But if you don't keep,

If you don't lose focus of your outcome,

If you keep reminding yourself of why you are doing this and what's the final product of this process,

What do you want it to be?

You will get there eventually.

It may take you one day,

One week,

One month,

One year.

But you will get there.

So when you are ready,

I want you to come back to the present moment.

If you have a notebook,

Piece of paper beside you and you felt something that you don't want to forget,

I invite you to write that down so that you can remind yourself of any emotions that came up,

Any triggers,

The desired outcome that came up for you.

Write everything down so that you don't forget.

Why do you have to write it down?

Because we forget,

Guys.

We forget how we feel.

We forget what we ate.

We forget what we did.

If you don't write things down,

You will forget.

Especially the things that really feel aligned to you.

If you don't remind yourself of them every single day,

Life will dictate what you are doing and how you use your time and you will not be able to be intentional.

When you remind yourself of the things that are truly important to you,

You are going to keep being intentional every day and you're going to be able to create the time for those things.

It's not going to happen overnight because you have been doing something for so long.

There is familiarity.

There is resistance.

Change requires time and repetition of new habits.

If you don't repeat and you have it a lot,

You will not create it and the old habit will take over because that's what you are familiar with.

It is the same with your paper world.

If you don't find a way to remind yourself of the changes that you want to do and why you will get stuck in this place and you will not be able to.

I'm going to check the chat now.

Thank you,

Christine,

For your donation.

I see one donation here.

Yeah,

Heather donated.

That's the only one I see.

I don't know what happened,

Heather,

With your donation.

I just threw out all my old college papers,

Notebooks,

Etc.

My goal is not to burden my kids with disposing of mountains of stuff.

Amazing.

Amazing.

That's a great reason.

Next is all my OK's proceedings from countless veterinary conferences.

Most medical information changes every three years anyway.

Be gone.

Amazing.

So you have the clarity that every three years these changes,

You have the clarity that those papers are not relevant for you anymore.

And I would like to say that it's important also to find the balance between how much space you have and how many papers you are trying to keep.

Because sometimes people have a huge filing cabinet.

Massive.

They have the space for it.

If that's your case,

You don't have to get rid of everything if there is something that is kind of nice to worry and you do have the space and it is organized and you can find it easily.

The goal here is not to let go of everything just just for the sake of it.

The goal here is to be intentional.

OK.

To create something that you can manage,

To create something that you can.

It's functional for you.

So if you have a big space where you can have three filing cabinets and you can keep everything that you have from your life and you can organize it nicely,

Go for it.

You don't have to get rid of everything.

The problem becomes when you don't have enough space or when you don't have a clear system to and then papers are yet on piles and there is no way for you to find anything in there.

And when that stress you out,

That's a problem.

And this journey only makes sense when you are frustrated,

When you decide that you need to change because you don't feel well.

It's not someone else coming telling you you have paper clarity,

You have to do something.

My dad used to have piles of papers everywhere.

And I remember asking him that I need this.

He knew where things were.

He went to the third pile on the left.

He grabbed something from there and he knew.

So some people have a system.

Even if you don't see it,

The problem comes when you have to share that system with someone else and that other person doesn't understand.

So there are a lot of moving pieces here that you need to take in account.

One is the balance between how much you have and how much space you have to store.

The other one is,

Are you the only one using the system or are other people involved in the process?

And the third one,

Do you have all the information for you to understand what to keep and what to let go?

So when you put all those things together,

You can create a very robust system that you will feel containing.

Christine,

Donation that happens to me sometimes.

My other teachers have said that it does eventually show up for them.

Yeah,

I did ask to Inside Time about this specific thing because I had this happen before.

And they did that sometimes because there is some sort of problem with your payment processor.

So you click on the donation,

But for any reason,

Maybe your credit card wasn't put in correctly there or maybe there is something happening there.

And sometimes it's what they say.

It shows up later.

So I don't really know.

I can't really help you here.

But thank you so much.

I really appreciate you donating.

If you're not using it anymore,

It goes.

Here's a good example.

I thought I would need these things later,

But then I started teaching veterinary technicians,

But I have the Internet to look up.

Yeah,

The Internet,

Guys.

But I have the Internet.

Yeah,

I've kept some books,

But the papers are no longer relevant.

Thanks for the Internet.

Yeah,

Guys,

Internet really gives you access to information very quickly.

The other day,

For example,

I had a friend over and he was talking about his mom trying to find in the car manual where the fuse box was.

So she went to the to the manual and then she was looking on page nine hundred and twenty.

And then she was trying to find the page.

And then his her son in a minute went to Google and type how to find a fuse box on Toyota Matrix,

Whatever.

And he found it in 10 seconds.

And she was struggling with the manual.

But she's always she always did it that way.

So that's why sometimes older people have a hard time with technology because they are not used to it.

They don't know how to use it.

It's something that is not familiar.

So they have to relearn.

And sometimes it's hard.

But the Internet has a lot of answers and like owner's manual stuff like that.

You can find all of that on Internet very easily.

So I always recommend people with limited space.

Those things can go because you can find them online.

You can find a PDF and you can search.

That's the thing.

You can search.

And when you search,

It's like imagine that you have a pile of papers with a thousand papers in there and you have to go paper by paper trying to find something.

Versus imagine if you could say,

I don't know,

Something a key word and then one paper shows up from the pile and it shows you the information that you need.

That's what the Internet can do sometimes.

OK,

I have a problem throwing out my daughters at work.

She's six and I feel sentimental about her stuff.

Again,

There are two opportunities here for you.

OK,

One opportunity is for you to work through that attachment.

And the other opportunity is to show your daughter how to let go of things with love and with intention.

When I work with clients that are facing this problem,

I take up different approaches,

Right?

Sometimes they are happy snapping a photo and then you can create a blog or a folder of all the photos of all the things that they made.

But you don't keep the physical one,

The physical one.

You can create some sort of boundary.

So many times I just invite them to use a bin or a shelf or a trunk or whatever they have in their home.

And then they communicate to the kids.

This is how much space you have for your art.

You choose whatever you want to keep in there.

But this is the limit.

So they learn boundaries.

They learn to prioritize.

They learn to let go of things and don't get attached to them.

And snapping a photo is a great way to keep the memory,

But don't keep the clutter.

If you guys have any other tips about this,

Please share them,

Because everybody has different approaches and every family is different.

And honestly,

There are so many ways of dealing with this.

But those are two strategies that I found that work really well.

Photograph the artwork and store as digital file.

Amazing.

The dependency on the grid can affect the paper collection.

I have a parent showing up.

Yeah.

Then you keep the ones that move you to put aside those and moving the little touch them up.

Yeah.

I still have some of my kids and they're 41,

34.

Yeah.

So,

Guys,

Again,

And so many times we parents keep everything for our kids thinking that they are going to want everything later.

And the truth is that they don't want everything later.

They just want a sampling of whatever they did.

But majority of the times the kids that are when we help people and they have kids,

Majority of the times the kids have different different kind of mentality,

Different kind of like a design at home.

They are more minimalist.

They want something that they didn't have at home.

And their parents are trying to impose their style,

Their organizing style in their homes.

And that doesn't work.

So you have to respect whatever they decide.

And majority of the times they choose not to have a lot.

Yes,

The data storage is great.

That's true.

OK,

So guys,

What came for you?

What came up for you in the meditation?

What is some emotion or what is something that you notice like,

Wow,

This is stopping me from making progress?

This is stopping me from actually doing what I need to do.

What came up for you?

And what are the specific questions that you have that I can help you with?

I have piles of old greeting cards.

True.

I only keep a few things from boxes I like from home to home.

Yeah.

Moving boxes from home to home is a very common thing because no one wants to open them because they know that once they open them,

They will have the time to go through everything and they are going to be facing very difficult decisions.

So in that case,

I will say if you have the space for those boxes and you want to keep them as mementos,

Just label them with a date and keep them as mementos and don't go through them.

If you don't have the space,

Then you have to keep them or should I let them go?

Just open them up.

But with a strong intention,

You will be able to do more intentional decisions.

Right.

To make them.

I have to follow.

So greeting cards,

Guys,

Again,

Be intentional about greeting cards.

How many do you need?

How many do you send?

And sometimes,

Listen,

Some clients,

They have an entire room for cards and gifts.

Wrapping.

Honestly,

They have an entire room.

Wrapping greeting cards,

Bags for gifts,

Because that's a priority for them.

They have a big home and they can afford to do that.

Some other people,

They live in a one bedroom apartment and they have a little box like this.

And they can get everything that they need for greeting cards,

Birthday party,

Stuff like that.

So be intentional with your situation.

Caro,

Where do you live?

You have a lot of space or you have little space.

Can you organize a thousand cars or do you need to limit them to 100?

Do you send every year 50 cars,

20 cars,

10 cars or a thousand cars?

So once you start becoming intentional about those limits,

You can then decide what kind of system you want to implement.

I will say that if you are feeling that you have piles of cards,

That means that either you don't have the space to store them,

Either you don't have a good system to find them,

Or either you don't need as many.

And I feel that they are bugging you because you brought up that topic.

So I will ask you,

Why are they bugging you?

Are they frustrating you?

And what is frustrating you from those cards?

Is it the volume?

Is it you not having the time to organize them all?

Just try to get deeper and then make a decision that feels aligned to you.

You heard me say I was afraid to release my writing.

Heather,

Being afraid of releasing something that you created,

It's real.

I have done this for so many years that now I don't feel it as much,

But I still feel it so many times.

Anytime you are creating something that is your own and you're putting some sort of love,

Intention,

Opinion into it,

You are opening yourself up for anybody to say anything about you.

Good things and bad things.

Anytime we put a course out,

Guess what?

We get great reviews and we get really bad reviews and we have to eat them.

We have to digest them.

We have to accept them.

So in your case,

You are trying to share something with the world.

And you know that that something,

It's intentional,

Comes from a place of love from you.

But I have to say that some people will love it,

Some people will hate it.

And you have to be OK with that.

You cannot make everybody happy.

Whatever you create cannot suit everybody on earth.

So you will always find people criticizing you.

When that happens,

You are going to ground yourself and you're going to think,

OK,

This person didn't like my work.

This person didn't take this the way I would like them to do it.

But this is not your responsibility.

You are not responsible to making everybody happy.

You are responsible to share whatever you are aligned with,

Whatever you feel is helpful for others.

And whoever can find that information helpful,

They will love it.

And other people,

They won't care.

And other people will be mean and write you something really negative.

But that's maybe because they are in a negative place.

That's maybe because they are not grateful.

Who knows?

It's not about you.

It's not your fault.

And you cannot control that.

So,

Yes,

You are facing something that is very normal.

And I will invite you to just be mindful about that.

When you share something,

You have to be OK with the good and the bad.

Learn from the bad and from any feedback and enjoy the good because you will get a lot of good.

OK.

So I feel sad and frustrated about how much work there is on on the paper.

Then I want to have the office neat and tidy so I can breathe better.

Trish,

And this is for everybody.

I always,

Always recommend that you tackle your physical space before you tackle your paper.

So for those of you who have papers everywhere in the house,

I will recommend take all the papers,

Put them in a box,

Put them somewhere contained in a corner and declare it and organize your physical space.

OK,

Why?

Because once you get that visual change,

You are going to feel calmer.

You're going to feel inspired.

You're going to be in a space that is nice.

It's creative.

Is it's decorated with the things that you love.

So the mental health that you are going to experience in that space is going to be very different than the mental health and the feelings that you are going to experience when you are surrounded by clutter,

Especially papers.

So I will always recommend tackle your physical space first and then start doing your paper.

OK.

Clutter paper exposes fear.

I have no idea.

Amazing.

Yeah,

Lisa,

That's perfect.

I have 40 photo albums of my mom's and my kids.

Don't even know any of those.

I'm going to throw.

Yeah,

Photos are a huge one.

Yes,

Heather,

The world needs your voice.

Absolutely,

Heather.

If you have it in you and you're feeling the need to share it,

That's that's a reason.

That's a sign that someone else needs to hear that from you.

So I don't know what is it that you have to write.

But guys,

Let me ask you something very clear.

Like what I share,

It's are decisions helpful to you?

Are you learning stuff from these sessions that I'm doing?

So how would you feel if if I so how how would I benefit you or how how would the world benefit from I have to offer from my experiences?

If I was afraid of sharing it and I decided not to do the lives because they are too scary.

Would you guys be happy about it?

Would you be upset that you no longer get to spend time with me and learn from me?

Like,

How would you feel?

So now put yourself on the shoes of the other person,

Right?

The other person maybe we love what you have to share,

But then you decide not to do because you are afraid.

Like,

Are you being selfish?

Like from the other person perspective,

You are being selfish.

Just imagine your favorite singer deciding like,

No,

I don't want to share my music.

No,

I don't know.

People are going to hate it.

Some people are going to tell me bad things.

So I rather don't share my music.

And all of a sudden you stop hearing from from your favorite singer because they are afraid of someone saying something bad to them.

Imagine not being able to read any more books of your favorite writer because they decided not too scary.

I got some negative comments from people.

I didn't like them.

So I'm not writing anymore.

How would you feel?

So now you are on the other side.

You're responsible for sharing what you have,

Especially if you are feeling it inside you.

This is not someone else telling you what to do.

This is something inside you burning you saying you have to do this.

You have to do this.

You have to share this.

So just think about it.

OK.

It's just something to think about that sometimes thinks is is not everything about us.

Everything is about everybody else too.

And so many times we get from us on how we feel.

Oh,

No,

I'm feeling I'm not feeling energized this morning.

I don't want to do a live session on Inside Timer this morning because who am I to do it?

And so many people will know more than I do.

And so if I start going down,

I will never do live sessions here.

So I admit like,

No,

Emilio,

You're going to do your best.

You're going to share your truth and your experiences.

And that may help other people.

Who is this guy?

And I have to be OK with that because I will not be able to be to make everybody happy and fulfill everybody's expectations.

And that's impossible.

So just make sure that,

Yeah,

Fear,

False evidence of appearing real.

Amazing.

Fear.

Amazing.

I'm confused,

Emilio.

What are you talking about?

Jana,

I just went on.

I was talking about Heather.

She was sharing that she has piles of paper that she wants to publish.

But one of the emotions that came up for her on why she has those piles of paper is the fear of sharing her world with the world.

So that fear,

That emotion is blocking her from actually dealing with the physical paper.

That's just one example of an emotion blocking you from moving forward with your paper.

OK.

Vulnerable,

Right?

We have to,

Especially if you are sharing something and opening yourself up to being.

That's that's not helpful.

I didn't like that.

Yeah.

Lucky for us,

You're courageous.

We must be OK with being vulnerable,

Right?

Yeah,

I got it.

Indeed.

So the same way again,

We did the same practice,

Guys,

To help you become aware of those emotions.

For her,

It was that specific thing about the writing.

And she uncovered that criticism,

That fear of being judged,

That fear of herself too much.

And then they're going to attack her.

And that's a point of view that she has.

But she can change that like this and change.

No,

Whatever I'm doing,

I don't care what people think about.

I feel aligned to share this and I have to do it for other people.

That may be lack of confidence deciding what to keep and what to let go for some other people,

Maybe for us from family members and they are facing emotional attachment,

Love members of the family that pass away.

And maybe they have a lot of photos there and it's too painful for them to like deal with them.

So there are so many different emotions that are stopping you from tackling your paper clutter.

That's why I went with that example a little bit.

None of my business.

Yeah,

Exactly.

You cannot control those things,

Guys.

You cannot control what people think about you.

The only thing that you can do is be true to yourself.

OK,

So what are the specific questions that you guys have?

Someone talk about photos.

Someone talk about like the fear of sharing your work.

Like what?

I have some visuals here to help you with the how to.

So what what is something specific that you need help with right now?

So what are some of the challenges that you are facing right now after doing the practice and after looking what we have took?

What is what are the challenges that you are facing right now that are stopping you from actually.

Tackling your paper clutter.

Clarity on what to keep and what what to toss.

OK,

VD.

What kind of clarity do you need?

Are you talking about financial papers?

Are you talking about taxes?

Are you talking about like who has the decision here?

Is it your own decision or do you have to ask approach?

Like the example that I gave about our own business and the first year doing taxes.

We had to seek for professional guidance before we could make confident decisions and know what to keep and what to toss.

Regarding our finances and taxes.

So you have to get clear on who has the answer.

Is it you and your emotions because you are dealing with sentimental papers,

Photos,

Or do you need to seek for guidance from a professional?

Think about that.

And then depending on what that answer is,

I will have different questions for you.

I would have been doing a panic attack,

Worrying about my daughter and can get back to sleep.

Wow.

Can I ask first,

I'm sorry that you feel that way.

Like,

What does this have to do with paper?

Like,

What is the connection with this feeling on paper?

Can you help me out here?

Because I don't really see it right now.

Years of papers in folder.

Should I scan them in and shred the paper?

OK,

Trish,

You are talking about backlog of paper.

And I would like to share more about that because there are different approaches.

My goal is to get rid of enough paperwork,

Kids artwork,

All greeting cards so that I can get boxes out of my living room.

What to do with paper calendar books?

They contain records of my family.

No,

My daily growth.

My fear is that I will throw something out and then that person dies and I feel horrible.

All I mean,

I have a mountain of papers from an old business,

But you just answered what I was about to ask.

I have to ask legal papers a lot.

OK,

Guys,

These are a couple of strategies that you can follow for those of you who have a big volume of paper and you are overwhelmed with it.

First question that I will ask you is,

Do you need anything from those?

I don't want you to let go of anything,

OK?

I'm not telling you to let go of things.

I'm just asking you,

Do you need something from those piles right now?

Do you need to find something to do your taxes?

Do you need to find something you have to pay?

Or are those papers that you don't want to let go of,

But you don't need to access them immediately?

Because if that's the case,

What we recommend people to do is grab all the papers,

Contain them in boxes,

Label the date and just keep them there.

OK,

So,

For example,

Juliana mentioned I have papers from a business.

Maybe grab all the papers from that business.

Don't go through them.

Just put them all together.

And that's a Catechesis papers.

You are not sure if you want to do something with them or not.

You are not sure if you're going to get audited or not.

But the taxes are done for those papers,

But you don't have them organized.

Don't waste your time trying to organize that.

Label them with a date.

And if you have the space,

Keep it somewhere else.

When seven years happen or five years or whatever,

You can let them go at the time trying to go through the back.

I always recommend that you start a new system now,

Starting now,

Not trying to do all the backlog,

Because that's very overwhelming for a lot of people.

I don't know if that makes sense for you guys,

But there is no for some people,

There is not enough time to do so many papers.

There is just not enough time.

They need help.

They will need weeks to go through all of them.

And I always ask the same question.

Do you really need to go through them or are you just keeping them just in case?

Because if you are keeping them just in case,

Start being intentional today.

Start tracking,

Create a system today that you can follow and all the backlog paper,

Put it away somewhere else.

You are not letting it go,

But you are just keeping it somewhere.

If you were to need it,

You can always open the box and try to find it.

But if you don't,

You are saving yourself a lot of time and energy.

OK.

Thank you for the session realizing I have a way of dealing with boxes of sentimental papers and photos because I was assuming I should go down to zero,

But a small coded approach with only a few meaningful boxes collection is fine,

Too.

Yeah,

Rosemary,

We were talking about this before.

Like,

If you have space to keep things and you want to keep them,

Like,

Why are you letting them go?

It only makes sense to let things go in space or when you are feeling very frustrated with those things and you know that you have to let them go.

But that's your you know that that's why you have to ground yourself.

And that's why you have to do practices at the beginning,

Like what we did to become aware and to connect with what what's going on inside of you.

I'm afraid some money might be stashing there.

For seven years that we have to keep here in Canada is seven years for tax purposes.

So if we as a business were to get audited,

They can go back up to seven years.

So that's why our filing cabinet is designed to have seven years.

So six,

Seven years.

And then we let go of this of the seventh year every year.

But again,

In your specific situation,

If you maybe don't have a business,

If you just have personal papers,

Ask a professional and ask,

Get an informed decision so that you are confident.

OK.

My husband was a he had holding tendencies.

OK.

He was an a holder.

He had holding tendencies.

I have to take every book magazine catalog box and back for a specific legal document.

Finance info,

Etc.

Yeah,

Creative.

It's a big challenge that you are facing because you are dealing with another person and that other person is not on the same boat of maybe creating the same system.

So I will invite you to I don't know if it's possible to have clear communication with him to maybe come up with a happy,

Happy balance between the two of you.

So that you can have a system that he also understands he can follow.

Sometimes setting healthy boundaries on space wise like this is your space.

This is my space and letting him deal with his space the way he wants to.

It's this is a very tricky point that I I don't have enough information to dive deeper with you,

But I will say clear communication,

Creation of healthy boundaries and getting connected together with what is the outcome that we are seeking for when it comes to paper.

And maybe defining some basic boundaries of anything that is finances or anything that is required for us to do taxes.

It needs to be in a specific place.

It's non negotiable because if not,

We're going to have a financial struggle.

So that should be something clear.

And then if he's on board with that,

Then you decide where those papers are going to leave and all the rest.

If he wants to keep doing what he's doing,

Then maybe you don't have the power to change everything all at once.

I mean cash stuck in between papers.

I am in the dealing with.

Yeah,

He passed away.

I'm so sorry,

Creative.

It must be a very hard situation,

Especially when someone is has holding tendencies.

They are not willing to change.

And you just can't control that.

So for those of you who are talking about like maybe I have cash in those papers,

Maybe there is something in there that is important.

Guys,

Truly honest,

You need to own the decisions that you made in the past.

OK,

You have to accept them.

Decided to for whatever reasons you chose to create piles.

You chose not to deal with papers.

Your life situation put you in that situation that you couldn't control that.

Or you didn't have time or you didn't know how to or you didn't want to do it.

Whatever reasons happened,

Put you in a specific situation and made you neglect paper for years sometimes.

And then that was scary.

It's frustrating.

It's overwhelming.

But it is the way it is.

And you cannot change that.

So for those of you that are facing that,

You need to accept.

You need to embrace that.

You know,

You cannot change what happened.

OK,

You can only change what's happening from now on.

So from now on,

You are establishing new habits,

New routines,

New systems from now on.

All the backlog,

I will invite you to put it aside.

Try to contain it.

Try to recycle as much as you can.

Get a fresh start,

Guys.

Get a fresh start from now.

OK.

And if there is cash in there,

But time or you don't want to go through the paper,

It's lost.

And you have to be OK with it.

Be intentional and set a time to go through them.

You understand what I'm saying?

You need to own whatever decision you make,

Whatever you decide on it and go for it.

And sometimes I recommend people declare a bankruptcy,

A paper bankruptcy.

I don't know if you guys are familiar with this concept.

Some people say I have thousands of emails.

I am declaring an email bankruptcy and I'm starting fresh now.

That means that they forget about the past and they start fresh now.

Paper.

And yes,

It's going to be chaos.

Yes,

It's going to be scary.

Yes,

You may lose cash that is in those papers.

But if you are willing to go through them,

What's the point of you struggling through the same process over and over?

It just doesn't make sense.

So you have to own whatever you decide.

And if you decide to work your time to go through papers.

Just let it go.

If you think that this was you know that there are a thousand dollars in their stock,

So then invest the time in going through the papers.

But you need to own what happened.

You need to embrace the reality,

Accept it and then start moving forward with new approaches.

I hope that's helpful.

I hope that's truly honest.

I'm being completely honest with you.

If it triggers you,

I'm sorry,

But that's the reality.

We cannot change the past.

We cannot change the financial papers that we have.

We can only change now and we can start from now.

OK,

So you have to decide either you have time to go through the past or either you don't.

Either you decide to do it,

Either you don't.

Whatever you decide is your decision,

But you have to own it.

OK,

I did that.

I deleted 18000 gmails once.

I was so relieved.

Now I have 100.

Yeah,

Sometimes you have to do that.

Sometimes you just need a fresh start because whatever happened in the past is too powerful.

It's too big,

Too overwhelming for you to do something about.

Amelia,

I wish you were my neighbor so you could be seeing my progress.

Becca,

I would love to see your progress.

I am on social media and you can send me an email with before and after.

Guys,

Reading from people like you that is able to make progress after being in one live session,

After taking a course,

After.

So seeing how my content and my work is impacting you is the most rewarding thing that you can give me.

And I get reviews from courses I get like before and after photos from people.

So if you feel inspired,

I would love if you share your story and make me aware of it,

Because so many times I feel unmotivated,

Especially when I do live sessions and there is not engagement.

I question myself,

Like,

Am I wasting my time?

Are people really finding value from this?

And so many times you need something like that to keep you going.

So I invite you to do that if you feel inspired to.

What to do with all your notes?

Keep your thoughts.

Start fresh.

Journals.

Do you have the space to store them?

Do you feel inspired to store them and be able to reflect on them?

Journals are very personal,

And I find that going back to a journal and opening up and reading it is like going back to your life,

Is becoming aware of how you were feeling.

It's a huge reflection,

Too.

In my case,

I keep mine.

Unless I move into a space that is very limited and I don't have space to keep them,

Then I will advertise.

But if I do have the space to keep them,

I don't have a lot of them,

But I have maybe 10,

8 or 10,

Something like that.

And I did let go of some from my past because when I went traveling,

I couldn't carry them and I didn't want to pay for storage.

So I did let go probably of five or six.

But now I do have some of them.

And like I find them very helpful because sometimes I revisit them and I read my reflections,

How I felt,

The challenges I was facing.

And I realize how much more I have advanced,

How much progress I have made.

And it's just nice to read.

You are a gifted leader.

Thank you,

Christine.

So it's great we can send photos of our progress.

Thank you,

Milly and Tim.

Yeah,

I know that Inside Time has specific limitations and it's difficult sometimes to like interact with each other and share files and documents.

But there are other ways to connect with me.

And I invite you to do that if you feel inspired.

I recently retired,

So I have a lot of time.

I chose a project daily,

Even if it's cleaning a drawer,

A cabinet,

A shelf in my pantry.

Small goal each day.

Yeah,

Monica,

And small goal each day,

It adds up so quickly because we realize like I'm not going to make any progress if I go through this paper every day.

But guys,

If you are consistent and every day you go through this much paper,

Just this,

And maybe it's 10 minutes,

In one week is 70 minutes.

In 10 weeks is 700 minutes.

So you start adding up and I can tell you that you are making huge progress if you are consistent.

So yes,

Absolutely.

Small steps but steady sometimes are better than bigger steps that you'd never take.

Or you maybe take once and that's it.

Hard to regret when I already let go of something I need later.

That's why,

Becca,

That's why you have to become aware,

That's why you have to be confident and aligned with your decision.

Okay,

And if you are not,

I will invite you to first get clear,

Get aligned.

And if you are unsure,

Keep those papers or whatever you're trying to decide.

Maybe pile on a maybe box and go back to that later.

Allow yourself a little bit of time,

But get to enjoy your space finished.

Get decluttered and get to enjoy the new system that you are creating today.

Don't let the backlog of paper or all the decisions that you made stop you from making progress.

Okay,

So it is okay to have a maybe pile off.

Just put it somewhere outside of your day to day use and set a reminder in your calendar to assess that maybe in one month,

Maybe in three months.

Or maybe you just keep it as a memento and you don't want to even open it but you know it's there and you're not letting it go.

Sometimes guys,

We have to grieve,

Time to digest,

Sometimes we are not ready to face something in life and that's okay.

I'm sorry to tell you but don't have in the mind energy.

Thank you regarding papers.

It's the quantity and the amount of hidden info that is overwhelming more than sentimentally.

So creative,

In your case you have a very specific situation right and for so many years,

Your husband has contributed to something that you didn't have control over.

And now you are facing that reality.

So,

Again,

You need to have a clear goal in mind,

What are you trying to get from here,

Are you trying to find the important financial documents.

Get help,

Honestly get help.

I don't know where you live,

But I know professional organizers in Canada,

In the US,

In Europe,

I don't know where you live but try to find someone that can help you go through the process.

Like,

When we do paper sessions guys.

Sometimes it's my wife,

Myself,

And the client,

Or myself,

Another helper and the client,

And we can make such an impact in just a few hours that the client is like,

Wow,

Because we go there,

We can get the clear outcome,

And there are extra sets of hands helping,

And you can make a lot of progress with help,

With the right help.

So,

Sometimes you need help,

And in your case,

Maybe you need some help to work through that volume of papers,

If you need to find something specific from it okay.

This session I entered on impulse was profoundly helpful.

Thank you Heather.

So make the decision and commit to accept it right.

Yes,

Guys.

With paper and with anything else in life.

You need to get,

You need to become aware.

And then you have to make a decision.

And once you make the decision,

You have to start taking action.

Okay.

And if you don't start taking action what happens is that you start procrastinating,

You will not learn anything you will not try anything so you are going to get stuck,

And you're not going to make progress.

So you need to decide something with the information that you have right now,

Decide something,

Whatever feels more clear to you right now,

And go with it.

You can always change it,

You can always change the approach,

But always keep in mind the outcome.

What is the outcome that you are seeking.

Okay.

And I go back to my analogy of a sailing boat,

Imagine that you are on a sailing boat,

And you're trying to go to an island.

And you are on a sailing boat aiming for somewhere.

Okay,

So you cannot just be in on a boat drifting,

Like I mean you could if that's what you want to do but majority of the times,

You are going to aim,

You're going to direct the boat into somewhere,

And you will decide,

You are on this island,

And you are here,

Right.

So,

Maybe you are here you're trying to go to that island,

This is your outcome.

I'm trying to access easily I'm trying to pare down my paper bags,

I'm trying to publish my work I'm trying to whatever the outcome is,

And then how you get there.

It doesn't matter.

There are 1000 ways to get there.

This boat,

You can do this,

Then do this.

Maybe you do this,

And then wind happens something happens in your life and then you get here but then from here you still can go back to your destination.

You have to remind yourself of your of your destination,

But the how to.

The how to is not the most important thing the most important thing is the destination and owning your decision right.

That's quite big.

I let the declutter in my door,

Through my house a year ago and dump a lot of my stuff.

I live with the two things,

I was traumatic but I was really after work.

Yeah,

Like imposing this kind of change into someone I don't think is the best idea,

Because you have to deal with your own stuff yourself,

If someone comes and does something that you don't understand you didn't participate.

That person is not respecting you,

That person is not allowing for that safe space that you need to process.

But yeah,

It feels good after what if that's your case,

I'm very happy for you but so many times people are not happy after that happens.

Thank you media have fun to professional organizers just haven't pushed myself to make that call yet.

Creative explore the idea,

Really do make sure that you get on a call with them,

Make sure that you share with them your outcome and just get a feel of it,

If it feels good,

Give it,

If it doesn't feel good.

Find someone else.

Okay.

And I always tell people this when you are trying to find a professional organizer.

It's okay if you make a few calls before you decide,

It's totally okay,

Because so many times it's about personalities.

It's about the feeling that you get.

And if you don't get a good feeling,

And you are not comfortable,

Find someone else,

But if it feels.

It's okay if it feels a little bit anxious.

It's okay if you're feeling a little bit uncertain because something new,

And that's normally,

That's okay that's totally normal.

Okay.

I always ask my clients when I go on a scale zero.

How much anxiety are you experiencing.

And I can tell you the majority of the people are six to nine,

Sometimes even 10 sometimes they told me like,

I was almost calling you to cancel.

And then I listened to that and then I go through the session,

And then halfway maybe one or two hours later,

I always ask them,

Where are you at zero to 10 with your anxiety,

And every single time,

They are down three or four points they are,

I feel a three I'm feeling a two I'm feeling a four versus a seven,

Eight or nine.

So their anxiety levels start slowing down because they are starting to feel comfortable they are starting to see change,

And they're starting to be able to receive the help that we have to offer.

So just be aware of that it is normal to feel anxious.

Okay.

It is normal to feel discomfort,

Because you are doing something that you have never done before,

And you are opening the doors to someone,

Exchange to see your mess,

And you're getting very very vulnerable.

So it's,

It's normal.

Sometimes family members are not the right person to help you because they are too attached emotionally to you.

And,

And maybe they don't have all the information that you require,

And maybe they don't have the experience that you require.

And guys when you do something,

100 times,

You're gonna be way better than if you have never done it before.

So that's what happens,

Professional organizers like me,

If we have done something repeatedly hundreds of times,

We're gonna get you to the destination who has,

Hasn't had the opportunity to do it before,

100 times right.

It's all about repetition remember repetition.

Okay,

So guys.

It's time,

What,

How do you feel like,

Is there anything else that you want me to cover before I go.

It's been over an hour.

Very true.

Thank you my brother in law has been going to help for years but health issues and timing have been a problem.

Guys,

If you enjoy,

I suggest not watching shows about holding the other side to make you feel bad to get ratings.

Yeah.

Sometimes we watch those kind of shows and,

And I think that is,

There is the main piece that is missing for me from my experience is getting that person excited,

Getting that person to,

To connect with the outcome that they are seeking with their own outcome,

Not the out that someone else is imposing on them.

Okay.

Because when they are there,

And they are,

They are connected with a new reality that is exciting them.

The way they look,

The way they approach the new changes the way that they behave is so different than when they are forced to do something that they don't want to they don't understand or they didn't connect with yet.

That's something that I always see that is missing in those shows.

Okay guys if you enjoyed this session as always,

I would love if you could support me with a donation.

The nation's are the best way to support my work.

You can also join one of my courses,

I have two courses on insight timer.

One is about self care 10 day course.

And the other one is about minimalism and the minimalism one is going to help you go through the journey.

And there is one day that is only about paper,

And there is one day,

Your home.

So those components are going to help you,

Like,

Get resolved very quickly and become aware,

And there is a full day about time management too.

So,

I can join one of those courses and if you do join the course classroom engaging there,

Ask questions I'm there,

I will do an audio for you with your specific request.

And I really love seeing what you guys share.

And you can also join my circle that is called your thriving,

I'm gonna write it down.

Your thriving lifestyle is a circle here on insight timer that you can join.

And you can share whatever you want in there.

I normally share the replies from from sessions I share them there,

Any new course I create I share them there.

So,

Feel free to join is free and feel free to participate there.

I'm working through,

Through your minimally practice and info from you and others.

And I donate it.

Thank you so much Carol.

I really appreciate your support.

Okay guys,

I hope that you have an amazing day.

If you have any other questions I'm happy to stay for a few more minutes.

And if not,

I'm happy to let you go with your day and I hope you guys have an amazing day.

Thank you Vicky Thank you.

I don't know your name is a flower.

I love it.

For your donations,

I really appreciate them.

Thank you very much Emilio taking your courses very soon.

Thank you so much for recording these sessions.

You are most welcome.

Oh,

I'm going to take your course to thank you,

Hannah,

Or Jana.

Thank you,

Thank you,

Juliana.

The second name Christine is your thriving lifestyle.

Okay.

Hopefully you can find it.

Amazing guys.

Just got it.

Yeah,

Amazing.

Okay.

Have an amazing weekend.

I will see that I don't remember the topic but it's the live session is created so I will see that and it's also my birthday.

I will be turning 42.

So I hope to see you on Tuesday.

Okay.

Have an amazing weekend and see you next week.