There’s always that one thing sitting in the background. The email draft, the decision that hasn’t been made, the task that keeps getting pushed to later.

It starts small, but it lingers.

It shows up as mental noise, low-grade guilt, and a constant sense of “I need to get to that.” What looks like clutter is often just a delayed decision.

This strategic journaling practice is a way to see what’s actually being avoided, understand what’s underneath it, and create a clear, simple path forward without waiting to feel ready.

Journal Prompts

• What is the pile right now? The laundry, the inbox, the conversation that hasn’t happened. Everything that feels like clutter, physical or mental. Write it all out.
• From that list, what is the one thing that hasn’t been done? The one that brings up that low-grade guilt every time it comes to mind.
• What’s the real reason it hasn’t been done? Not “there hasn’t been time.” Go beneath that. What feels like it might happen if a decision is made or action is taken? What feeling is being avoided?
• Is that fear actually true? What happens if it does come true? What happens if it doesn’t?
• What is one small step that can be taken today? Not the whole solution. Just a tiny, doable action.

Save this episode for the next time you catch yourself putting something off.

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1. Breakthrough Intensive - You already know you should slow down, delegate more, stop overcommitting & be emotionally present. So why can't you? That's what we figure out in 90 minutes + integration call 1 week later. Book your Breakthrough
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Welcome back to Beyond Awareness. If you listened to Tuesday's episode with Tracy Hoth about decluttering, was episode 236, specifically the moment where she said that clutter is just delayed decisions. These are your strategic journaling prompts to help you actually apply that to your own life and declutter both physically and mentally.

Tracy was talking about the laundry on the floor and the papers stacked on the counter. And as she was saying that, I started thinking about kind of like the mental clutter, like the email drafts sitting in my inbox and the conversations that I keep meaning to have, the babysitters I keep needing to text to see if they're available, business decisions I've been circling around. And even now, there's

the letter from the DMV that was mailed to me in January about renewing my license that needs to be done in April. It is currently April. It's been sitting on my kitchen counter and then it was moved onto my desk. And that's all been happening because I've been delaying making the decision to either log onto the computer and just renew it as is or gather the documents to get a real ID or since I live near

Canada, can get the one that allows me to use it as a passport. So again, clutter equals delayed decision. And there's physical and mental clutter that we experience just like that every day, which Tracy says starts to stack up, which I think we can all agree with and that we've all experienced. So quicker decisions could mean then a cleaner house. Quicker decisions...

is also less overthinking and getting more done. And so while recording, and since the recording and thinking more about this, I've been thinking, yes, all of this makes sense, but why? Why does it take so long to make a decision, which is very nuanced, but why do the decisions keep getting delayed? Why does the pile keep coming back even after you tackle it? And most importantly,

How can we get quicker at making decisions and keep the clutter from coming back? So today, we're going to start to crack your personal codes on what that looks like. So let's dive in. Prompt one. What is your pile right now? Your laundry, the spare bedroom closet that you keep needing to clean out, the stack of papers on your counter, your email inbox, even your to-do list. Everything that feels like

clutter, physical or mental, write it all out.

prompt 2. This is a quick one. From that list that you just wrote down, what is the one thing that you want to do but haven't? The one thing that gives you that low-grade guilt every time that you walk past it or that you think about it.

because it would be, or when you think about it.

I'll just say that again. Prompt two. This is a quick one. From that list that you just wrote down, what is the one thing that you want to do but you haven't? The one that gives you that low grade guilt every time that you walk past it or when you think about it?

Prompt three, what's the real reason you haven't decided on that thing or taken the action on that one thing yet? And not what your mind says like, I've been busy or I don't have time. Go beneath that, go beneath that layer. So what are you actually afraid will happen if you make this decision or take that action? Or what are you avoiding feeling? And it might.

be something really big or it might not be that big. I remember I was thinking of just cleaning off a desk. And once I went underneath that layer of I don't have time to clean it, I realized why bother cleaning that desk because it's just going to get dirty again. So for you, what is that belief underneath it or that fear or that thing that's keeping you from taking action?

prompt for. Now, is that thing actually true? Is that fear actually true? Apply this to whatever you wrote down and then write down what would you do if the thing that you're afraid of actually happening happened and what would you do if it didn't happen? So kind of think through it and write down what your day or life, make it bigger than it is, would look like if it did.

or if it didn't. So both outcomes. What is your plan? Either way. If my desk did get messy again, what would I do? And if it never got messy again, what would I do?

And prompt five, now that you have a plan for both of those outcomes, what is one micro action, a teeny tiny action that you can take today to move forward? Not the whole solution, don't clean out the whole closet or answer all of your emails, but just a tiny small step. The one that feels most aligned, maybe even most inspired, now that the fear has a little less

over it because you know what it is. So what is that one small step that you can take today? Maybe right now after listening to this.

Amazing job. That is your journal entry for today. And here's what I want you to notice about what you just wrote down. You just made a decision faster than you have probably in weeks. And it's not because any of your circumstances changed. It's because you looked at what was actually stopping you, that fear beneath it all. And that's your specific code, if you will. For most of us, it's not that we're

bad at decision making, I used to think that I was. It's that A, we just have so much that we're deciding. Just look at what you listed for prompt number one. And B, it's that we've been deciding in the dark without ever asking ourselves what we are actually afraid of, what we are actually afraid of realizing. We already have a plan for both outcomes. Once you have that plan, it becomes so much easier.

And we didn't even talk about what you actually want. That can be whole other episode. But what's more important is identifying that fear. Because when we just keep saying, nope, doesn't matter, all is good, everything's going to work out, that keeps delaying the outcome. It keeps delaying decisions. And it keeps us building up clutter. And that pile keeps coming back, like we talked about earlier. It keeps coming back because that fear keeps coming back.

So we think that doing nothing is safer, and we quote unquote might as well not, until we get inspired again, and then we take action, but then we doubt ourselves again, and then the clutter comes back. But now you have a way to move through it faster. It's these journal prompts. And as always, these prompts are in the show notes, so you can use this process again anytime on any decision or when you want to take action and release clutter, whether it be something big or something small.

So save this episode, share it with the woman in your life whose kitchen counter looks like mine did in January, or maybe she's your friend who is literally never caught up on her inbox looking at you to my twin sister. All right, I will see you guys next Tuesday. Thank you so much for being here with me.