Why Do Smart Women Feel So Scattered? Creating Space for Focus and What Matters Most | Ep. 296
episode
PLAN GOAL PLAN | Goals, Transformation for Women, Mindful Time Management, Balance, Working Moms
34 min
1 speaker
7 chapters
transcribed 1 month ago
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Why do many high‑achieving women feel mentally scattered?
Focus isn't something you summon, it's something you set up. And this week on Plan Goal Plan, I'm talking with Tracy Hoth, and we're going to talk about why so many smart, capable women feel scattered and how organization can actually give you your attention back. So let's do this. Welcome to Plan Goal Plan, a podcast where ambulance Ambition meets balance. I'm Daniel McGue. I'm a professor, speaker, mom, recovering overachiever, and self-leadership coach for high achieving women. At the intersection of research, practice, and play, I discovered a path to planning and goal setting that's bold, balanced, and sustainable. Together, we'll reclaim your time, empower your goals, and create a life where you thrive at work and at home.
Grab a pin. Let's get started.
Hey Tracy, well go, I'm so glad. That you're here. Oh, this is gonna be so fun, Danielle. I love thinking about how organization helps with focus. So ooh. Yeah. So have you always been organized? I'd say I'm very down-to-earth organized. The definition of organized in my mind is just knowing what you have and being able to find it when you need it. If you came in my house, I have less stuff than a lot of people I've worked with, but it's not all all color coded. It's not all in alphabetical order. I'm I just I I'm okay if something looks not perfect, but I know where it is and I can find it when I need it.
I love that because it took me a really long time into adulthood to realize that everything that I owned needed a place. Isn't that a silly thing? But it took me a really long time to figure that out.
I love now having adult children too and seeing things that they didn't know and I'm like, Oh, I thought everybody knew that. And it there's a time in in all of our lives when we learn something, which is so fun to think, you learned that as an adult.
Y yes. And so it's been an interesting journey for me because I am actually very mentally organized. I'm very good at organizing ideas and I'm actually very good at organizing my time. But physical things are incredibly hard for me. That is interesting. So I have a learning disability. It's a spatial nonverbal learning disability. And one of the ways that it impacts me is I also have terrible working memories. So I can put things in places and then I forget because I can't visualize it in my head quite the way that other people can. And so it took me a long time to realize also the connection between my physical. stuff and clearing up some mental space for me 'cause I can get very visually overstimulated.
Yes. Yeah, that's interesting thinking about having a home for things because I think when I come into my house, I have stuff that lands on the counter or the bar. And just thinking, is this stuff in other people's homes? Cause I've helped people in their homes for 17 years. Is this stuff on the counter there because I just haven't put it away? Or is it there because it doesn't have a home and I don't know where to put it? And there's Such clarity when you see if that's the case.
Yeah.
And then decide where its home is gonna be.
Yes. And then once you know where that home is, I don't have to keep deciding every time.
Yeah. And I know one of my clients had a real hard time deciding where its home was. That's the one thing that was keeping her stuck because she thought she had to decide the perfect home forever for her item. And once she realized that through coaching, she said, I'm just gonna test this space. I'm gonna try this space out for now and see if I like it. it has changed her life. Like She's now organizing and before she blamed her disorganization on ADHD or she just thought it wasn't possible for her. She thought she was always messy. And now she's it was just because of that.
That's fascinating. I love the way that just shifting her mindset to one of an experiment. Let's just let's just try this out. We're just gonna test it. We're gonna wear this home for a little bit. And if we need to change, we can.
What's amazing is she's noticing that showing up in other areas of her life, like dating.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
Why do many high‑achieving women feel mentally scattered?
0:00–8:06
2
How does Tracy’s spatial learning disability affect her organization style?
8:06–13:08
3
What impact does assigning a “home” for items have on mental load?
13:08–18:56
4
How can shifting from perfection to experimentation change client outcomes?
18:56–24:10
5
What identity stories keep people stuck in a “messy” mindset?
24:10–29:07
6
What are the five steps of the SPACE method for decluttering?
29:07–34:34
7
How does the “Sort‑Purge‑Assign‑Contain‑Energize” system work in daily life?
34:34–34:41
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from PLAN GOAL PLAN | Goals, Transformation for Women, Mindful Time Management, Balance, Working Moms
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