This month we talk with Carrie Koehnline, a certified journal therapist and our journal world's very own Marie Kondo. Her school at Journalversity is A Gentle Approach to Clearing Clutter, and her latest course, Befriending Time, is a 4-week work-at-your-own-pace evergreen course. We sat down for five questions about time clutter.
1. Carrie, you are known in our journal circles as the Clutter Expert. How did you get interested in clearing clutter as a psychospiritual as well as behavioral process?
As a therapist who once owned a housecleaning business, I was always interested in the way inner chaos, confusion, anxiety and overwhelm can show up in your physical environment. Through years of supporting clients with clearing clutter from their spaces and schedules, I learned what a transformational process it can be. As the clutter was released, more of the deep, true, wise self was revealed.
2. Befriending Time is your latest course. What is time clutter?
It's the excess baggage in your schedule that drains your energy, scatters your mind, pulls you from your priorities and crowds your day. It includes the time-wasters that can result from having no plan, pushing yourself too hard, or saying yes when it would be more self-caring to say no.
3. What is going on with time during COVID? There's this Groundhog Day sense at the same time that months seem to zip by like weeks.
The combination of so, so many stressors, losses, disruptions. And there's the isolation, along with an ominous sense of, “What’s going to happen next?” It's all really messing with our sense of time. I think most of us are struggling both to keep track of what day it is and to catch up to the fact that we're now thrust into a life that none of us were planning on.
4. What's your best suggestion for someone like me who works steadily for long hours and then says, "What the heck did I accomplish today?"
If you tend to get lost in your work, it helps to practice the art of taking breaks. Personally, I invite a timer to keep track of the time so I don’t have to. I let it remind me at regular intervals to breathe, stretch, move, drink water, and take stock of where I am in my project.
5. I think I need this class! What will I learn in Befriending Time?
You’ll use journaling to assess your current relationship with time. You'll open the lines of communication and invite a more collaborative relationship with time. Through the lessons and your own writing you’ll discover fresh ways of planning, tracking projects, shifting gears from one activity to another, navigating unstructured time, and bringing more breathing space into your schedule.
