🎯 Clearing Space to Support What Matters
All along my path as a small business owner in textile craft I have felt periods of overwhelm. Too much to do, everything feels like wading through thick mud. To a point where it’s hard to distinguish between a lack of motivation, just plain exhaustion or an inability to choose what’s next.
It can be really hard to find a way through the EVERYTHING of it all. Mental, digital, spatial and emotional clutter is a thing and it slows us down. It builds up over time because we are so busy. Too busy to tidy, too busy to organise, to busy to declutter and get some air.
What we need is to shift and look at organising as making space for what matters most. A simple dusting off and tidying for the sake of it isn’t what we are looking for here.
When I talk about decluttering, I talk about the Organise step in the Ja WOL Framework*—the heart of alignment through structure.
*
- Wayfind
- Organise
- Launch
1. What “Organising” Really Means in Business
What we are looking for is creating supportive systems, ways of working that honour your energy, values and your actual life. Simplifying our offers and products, streamlining your email list and setting boundaries around the time you want to spend on your business.
I’m very attracted to colour coded calendars, minimal dashboards on Notion and all the YouTube videos to help you organise your business. It’s a rabbit hole covered in chocolate. It sucks up so much time and what I have learned in almost two decades of running my business; find something that works ‘good enough’ and try to stick with that. If you find a system that you can tweak to your needs along the way, even better. But sticking with something will be a lot more efficient then trying out something new every other month.
I know you want to believe that something else will be more magical. But it hardly ever is. It’s you who still needs to do the work.
The other side of this is that it has to be something that works for you. Are you a visual person, a minimalist, you might have to trial and error a few times, just don’t turn it into a hobby in itself.
For me it has been Bullet Journaling for years. My practice has changed a lot, deepened, aligning more with what I need with every journal that I start. But I also use some digital tools to fill in the blanks. My digital calendar, my Notion for organising data-base style projects. To land on these tools I have tried Trello, Asana, apple notes and a few more)
I need to have less rather than more. A good structure to my day, my week, my month and ways to reflect and look ahead. My Bullet Journal / digital calendar / Notion setup offer it all and I don’t experience much overlap, they all serve their own purpose.
2. Why Simplicity is Kindness (Especially for Neurodivergent Brains)
Simplicity can feel like a slap in the face AND the answer to all of your prayers/dreams. You can long for it but it might feel limited for your every creative and active brain. You might fear boredom. I understand. As someone with ADHD these are all very real feelings for me. But what I do absolutely, without a doubt, know, is that I don’t function wel when my work and life is cluttered. A clean desk helps me think, the mess does not. Although I have told myself this many times. It has been an excuse not to get into action and declutter my spaces.
I know that a full disk space on my computer feels like full disk space in my brain, everything is slower and constantly ‘on’ without white space to let information sink in and become part me.
From the ADHD perspective, but it works like this for lots of us, when there is complexity, there is friction. Meaning; clutter can literally stand in the way of you moving forward. And figuratively. Think about notifications on your phone, pick up your phone to do something and half an hour later you realise you picked op the phone to do something else entirely. When you open your shop to start the day and there is mess everywhere, you know you won’t be able to get to what you actually need to do to grow your business.
Mess = Friction = not helping you to move forward.
What happens if you declutter your space, your computer, your mind? You stop working IN your business and you can start working ON your business. You move away from busywork because now you have time to get back to your core, your creativity, your intention. You can start building a values led business.
3. The Emotional Side of Decluttering
Sometimes letting go of certain elements of running your business can bring up feelings of fear or guilt: “But I should be doing this…” this seems to be the case a lot when we look at social media presence. Or the way we ‘need’ to show up. But you don’t need to do it all, you don’t need to do it like anyone else. In fact, it’s so much healthier and will make you feel so much better if you take the time to listen to what feels hard and heavy and what feels energising and motivating and build your business around that.
Take the step back to feel what you need. You need space for that, a pause. And remember that if you do what everyone else is doing, you’ll offer what everyone else is offering.
Make it a point to find out who you are as a business owner, and what YOUR business looks like. It’s ok to do things differently. It’s actually better to do things differently. For you, your health and for shining through the clutter of all the other businesses who are working at similar things.
4. Small Shifts That Create Big Space
I hope you feel inspired while you are reading this, but I urge you not to throw everything overboard all at once. Making small shifts can create big spaces. Here’s some examples from what I have been working on:
- Restructuring your newsletter
- Cleaning up your offers
- Redesigning your week around what actually works for you
These changes aren’t massive and didn’t take all that much energy. But it feels huge because they have created more clarity and calm around what I do. For myself, but also for my potential clients.
5. Organising as a Creative Act
- Planning and organising aren’t just admin—they’re part of your creative practice
- Systems = freedom. Boundaries = space to breathe.
- Business can be soft, spacious, and structured
You’ll love what comes next. Because planning and organising aren’t the work of an office manager or secretary, they aren’t just admin, they are part of your creative practice.
Systems allow you freedom and boundaries allow for space to breathe.
I can always open my Bullet Journal and know what is next, even when I haven’t looked at it in a few days. I can rely on the system. So it takes away my stress of not knowing and always being ‘ready to put out fires’. I don’t work on the weekends or at night. I don’t work out on the weekends either, unless I take a hike. This gives me a breather. Sometimes something to look forward to when I need it. It also functions as the space I need to let things simmer. If you are always going going going you will most definitely burn out. I used to be that. I have literally said out loud ‘I don’t believe in burnout, this will never happen to me.’ And it did. And it has happened in the past, but I blamed my body, my physical health, I didn’t know what it was back then.
We can lead a soft, slower, spacious and structured business, without losing our creative spark, our ability to play and frolic in open fields of flowers.
It’s not either-or and honestly, I think it should always be both. The magic lies in finding what works for YOU. And when you do, when you have created space, you can frolic all you like, feel happy and stay healthy.
(Anyone now thinking of those eighties shampoo commercials with Swedish blonde long hared women skipping with flower crowns in slow motion and soft focus in luscious fields… or is that just me?)
✍︎ Journal Prompt
“What is one thing I keep doing in my business that’s no longer serving me?”
“And what would it look like to let that go, or make it easier?”
This post is your invitation to simplify with intention. If you like to organise your business in good company, consider joining the Ja, Wol Community.
For the next post I will be talking about the last step in the Ja, Wol Framework; Launch - where we talk about bringing your ideas into the world in a way that aligns with your capacity and vision.