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[00:00:00] Diana Rene: You're listening to the Decluttered Mom Podcast. A podcast built specifically for busy moms by a busy mom. I'm your host, Diana Rene, and in 2017 I had my second daughter and it felt like I was literally drowning in. Okay. Not literally, but I felt like I couldn't breathe with all of the stuff surrounding me over the next 10 months.

[00:00:30] I got rid of approximately 70% of our household belongings, and I have never looked back. I kind of feel like I hacked the mom system and I'm here to share all the tips, tricks, and encouragement. Let's listen to today. Welcome to another episode of the Decluttered Mom podcast. I am excited to talk to you this week about a specific time block.

[00:00:57] So if you followed me for any [00:01:00] time, point in time and Instagram, then you probably know that I am a big fan of time blocking my calendar and my. It helps me to kind of wrap my brain around different parts of the day. It helps me, honestly, to get things done. I have a D H D and sometimes like the actual starting a project can be really hard for me.

[00:01:20] Also, finishing a project can be really hard for me, but depending on what it is, if it's something I'm really, really interested in, then it's easy for me to start and it's hard for me to finish if it's something I am not interested in, like returning things, uh, to Amazon. , it's hard for me to start because it's the actual, like just getting going.

[00:01:43] That is difficult for me, and I have found that when I have time blocks, it takes a little bit of that away because I know that during this time block, during this time period in my day, during this week, I am doing. Returns. And so if I can just [00:02:00] like, um, almost like schedule or assign that task to me during that time period in my week, I am like 10 times more likely to actually get that done versus just saying like, at the beginning of the week, oh, I need to return these things to Amazon.

[00:02:18] It's probably not going to get done, or it's going to get done like at the very last minute in a stressed out manner and I don't want that. Right. Um, Who wants to be stressed out? When it comes to time blocks, there is, I'm not gonna go into all of time blocking right now, um, but I wanna talk about a specific time block that I use, which is honestly just called errands,

[00:02:44] Um, and we all have errands to run, right? Like some of us love errands, some of us. Hate running errands. Um, some of us, it depends on the errand itself or if it's cold outside or really hot or if it's raining. Like all these things that [00:03:00] make us either love or hate running errands. And for me, I don't, I don't know.

[00:03:05] I have a love hate relationship with running errands, but again, it's just hard for me. To get things done where I like have to go out of the house and go do it. Um, if it's not something that's like necessarily rewarding to me, like making a return is not very rewarding to me. So something I do to kind of trick my brain and also force myself to do it , is I create an errands time block during the week.

[00:03:33] I like to do it on Mondays if possible because that way I can just get it done. I work from home and so. I am able to kind. , because I work from home and I run my own business, I'm able to schedule my time for the most part, how I want to schedule it or how I need to schedule it. Um, and I a hundred percent fully realize that is not the reality for so many of you and I, and I get that.[00:04:00] 

[00:04:00] Um, so when I say that I schedule mine for Monday, because that works best for me, I realize that that may not be a possibility for you based on your work schedule or anything like that. Work with what you are able to and with the hours that you have available to you and the times and the days of the week that work best for you.

[00:04:22] But this is just what works best for me. So I like to do my errands block on a Monday, and what the block basically is, is I try to run. as many errands as possible in like a two to three hour time period during the week, and just get it all out of the way. Like I don't run to Target to get the journal for school on Monday and then do the clothing return at Old Navy on Tuesday and then go, you know what I mean?

[00:04:52] Like. I, I do sometimes out of necessity if like something comes up and I just have to do it. But if I have, if I know [00:05:00] I have specific things I have to do, like for, for, so today's Monday, okay, and I'm going to have an errands block, um, on, actually as soon as this podcast is over, I have several things I need to do.

[00:05:13] I need to make a return to the mall, which sounds. I'm in the nineties still because he owes Soma anymore. I need to go to my PO box. I need to send something. For work. I need to make returns at Kohl's for Amazon. I need to send a return to another company for some jeans I bought that don't fit. So there's all these things that I have to do, right?

[00:05:39] None of them are like really close to each other, of course. But what I'm going to do is I'm going to get everything ready before I go. I have a bin that I'll put in the back of my car and it will have the order of the errands I'm running and I. order it based on where they're located. And so that way I'm not running like back and forth, back and [00:06:00] forth, back and forth, all over the city.

[00:06:02] I am going to one place and then I'm going to the next place, and I'm going to the next place. That makes sense geographically , so that I'm like cutting my time in the car as much as possible. Okay, so I'm mapping that out. I'm figuring out, I'm writing down everything that I need to do for this Aaron's block.

[00:06:20] Oh yeah, I need to go to King Supers also to, because I'm out of my, um, of a supplement I take and I need to take that. So that's another thing, right? So I get everything out of my head. Um, everything is already outta my head because it's on my brain release, which you can listen to an earlier episode where I talk all about brain releases and, and what they are and why they're important and how I do them.

[00:06:42] But everything's out on that brain release. And so I just go through, I see what errands need to be. I put it on a sheet of paper, I map it out and figure out which ones to go to first and then next, and then I make sure I have everything I need for that errand. So do I have [00:07:00] the actual jeans I need to return?

[00:07:02] Do I have the, the shipping label? Do I have. A box or an envelope to put that in. Like everything that I need, I make sure I have, and then I put them in the bin in order. So that just makes it easier when I'm out and about and I have this list and I'm ready to go. So this is just something now that it will probably take me the two or three hours, but then when I'm done, I know.

[00:07:27] I know I will feel accomplished. Um, I know that I will feel like a weight has been lifted because these are all types of things that just kind of like hang over your head until you get 'em done. Right? You know, they have to be done, but you don't wanna do 'em. And then when you do 'em, you feel better.

[00:07:44] And when you do that and like a block and you have a bunch of things that you have been feeling that way about and then they're done, you just feel really, really good and. Um, I take that and I remember that feeling for the next week when I have my next errands block, [00:08:00] when maybe I don't really wanna be doing it.

[00:08:02] But honestly, like, I don't mind running errands nearly as much when they're in an errands block. I always have like an audiobook or podcast that I like, really enjoy listening to. So I just listened to that while I'm going. Or I call my mom and chat with her or like, I, I grab a coffee. I make it like a little bit more of an enjoyable experience that I look forward to.

[00:08:26] And then again, just like that. I don't know, dopamine like hit at the end of being done with it and feeling good. And also that's part of why I like doing it on Monday because then I feel productive and I feel like I'm ahead and it's Monday and then that kind of carries over into the rest of the week because I feel like, um, I've built like a little bit of momentum and productivity.

[00:08:50] and then it keeps going. So then throughout the week I'll have more things I need to run errands for, right? But I don't do it unless it's something that like has to be done right away and I just wait until my Monday errands block and I do it then. So I hope this is helpful for you. Um, some people may think this is like, It's the dumbest idea ever, and that's okay.

[00:09:12] Um, because what works for me may not work for everyone out there. But if it does work for you and if you have a d h d I have a feeling I, I suspect that this may be really helpful for you. Um, but let me know on Instagram, shoot me a dm. I'd love to hear what you took away from today's episode. Thanks for hanging out and listening to the Decluttered Mom podcast.

[00:09:33] If you enjoyed this episode, it would mean the world if you could write a review or share this episode with a friend or your Instagram stories. And if you're on Instagram, be sure to follow [email protected] and send me a DM to say hi. I'd love to hear what you thought about today's episode. I hope you'll come back next week and hang out with us again.