Declutter Your Life with Tonia Cordi

Today's guest is Tonia Cordi, organizational coach. In this episode we'll visit about how decluttering and organizing your environment can allow you to become more present, focused, connected and able to make decisions that match your true intentions and strengths.

Tonia works with her clients to figure out their 3 main values and non-negotiables, then works to make their external environments match those values so that their internal environment can thrive. 

Connect with Tonia:
Online: https://www.timeandspacesolutions.com/
On Instagram: http://instagram.com/timeandspacesolutions
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/timeandspacesolutions/
On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/time-and-space-solutions/

Connect with Magic:

A Magical Life Podcast on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amagicallifepodcast/

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wholisticnaturalhealth/

Online: https://wholisticnaturalhealth.com.au

A Subito Media production

Transcript

Magic Barclay 1:00

Welcome back to a magical life. I'm your host magic Barclay. And I'm joined today by Tanya Cordy. Tony helps people declutter and redesign their lives so that they can have time for what matters the most. This helps'em live a more organized life, which supports them in managing time spaces. Mental. And with living their life purpose. She started her career as a teacher and after 12 years in 2014, decided that she wanted to follow her passion of helping people create spaces to match their values and life purpose. Soon after starting TSS, she realized. That while an organized space can be transformative. It was only the first step in making space to grow, evolve and shift attachments. She started to apply her background in education, the arts and psychology, along with trial and error to create an integrated process for individuals to live out their values and to have spaces that support them. This also combines mindset. And lifestyle shifting. Wow. Tanya. Welcome.

Tonia Cordi 2:16

Thank you. Listening to that. I'm like, oh, cool. yeah. It's it's fun work. It's definitely, I never imagined myself doing this growing up as a kid. That's for sure. I

Magic Barclay 2:29

love how you use organization. To really help people sift through. And, and I love that you can then help them with their values because we talk a lot about values here on this podcast. Okay. And I think people have needs and they have wants, they have values and they have. Ideals and many times they don't see the difference and that can be because their living space or their working space, or even their mind space is so cluttered that everything just kind of meshes together. What are your thoughts?

Tonia Cordi 3:08

Yeah, that's a very, very good point. And I think too, um, We, we live in such a culture that we're constantly being distracted and people are in a hamster wheel. Not everyone. However, it is, it is quite common, especially in bigger cities that people are go, go, go. So they lose connection with what's important to them. And it's just this almost like rat race. And so that's why I re I feel repetitive when I talk to people. It's literally a mirror reflection. How you spend your time, how, what your space looks like, how you shop, um, how you think, you know, your belief systems, everything's mirror image. So I, I definitely agree. And so it's, I like to start, that's actually my first step in my process. What are your values, not goals? What are your values? What's the most important thing to you in your life? What matters most?

Magic Barclay 4:00

And then talking to certainly a lot of my clients, people don't really understand what their values are like. Yeah. It's not something we were raised with is.

Tonia Cordi 4:11

Yeah, definitely not in my family. We didn't, we did, but I wasn't like formal. And it was like just a few little things, but it wasn't this solidified conversation of like, this is what's important to us as a family. And this is why, and this is what's important in life. And this is why. Yeah, I definitely agree. Or school does. It's not really taught in school either.

Magic Barclay 4:35

No. And, and I guess you could sum up values. This is my like favorite quote at the moment. What's the hill you are willing to die on. like, you know, oh, I like it. Yes, definitely. Well, what is it? That is a not negotiable for you. What is it that every fiber of your being strives for? Yes. And certainly when I started learning about values, I looked around my home and I went, I've got so much stuff I never use. Yeah. My heart wouldn't be broken if it disappeared. So how does that add to my values?

Tonia Cordi 5:14

Exactly. And I, I like that. You said that cuz when I do workshops, um, when we talk about the organizing aspect, once people have decluttered and we're getting to the organizing step boundaries, come in and if you don't know what your values are, then you don't know what to say no to. and then you don't have boundaries. So that, that's another thing to consider when we're talking about values is they actually give the foundation to know what to say yes. To and know what to say no to. And that helps in all areas of your life, not just with your physical belongings also, how you spend your time. Right?

Magic Barclay 5:49

Totally. I used to be one of those people that someone would move and they'd say, listen, we don't need this anymore. Do you want it? And I would always go. Yep. Okay. I'll take it even though I didn't need it or want it because I didn't have that boundary. Yeah. And I ended up with a house full of. Sorry, listeners here comes bad word, hassle of shit. didn't need. Yeah. And I kept tripping over because I didn't want to not be nice and say yes.

Tonia Cordi 6:16

Yep, exactly. And, and that's, I talk a lot about that and I, I don't know how I, I, I lost count how many blogs I wrote about it, about the attachments people have. And one of them is guilt. People are afraid of one, the person asking them, oh, are you using that thing that I gave you? And then they're like, they're afraid to say, actually I got rid of it. And the other one is they feel bad. Oh, I don't like it. But you know, this person gave it to me and I don't wanna hurt their feelings. And then what, then you're stuck with stuff that doesn't mean anything to you and it's causing you a headache. It's it's not worth it. It's definitely not worth. And

Magic Barclay 6:52

from personal experience, when you end up with a cupboard full of really ugly junk, then you also have to keep that ugly junk in your mind because when the person asks you, you have to recall who gave you which piece of crap

Tonia Cordi 7:07

Yep, exactly. And then that becomes the mind clutter and EV the, the cool thing with the work I've done. How many years has it been now? Wow, it's almost eight now. Um, eight years. Every single person has said the same thing. I feel lighter every single person and it's the psychological weight. So sometimes when someone's struggling with letting go, I say to them, pretend that every single item weighs a hundred pounds. You're carrying all of that on your back right now because it's the psychological weight and the emotional attachment to the physical belonging. It, it creates a D. And so by letting it go, you're, you're literally freeing yourself of that physical density. And that's, that's the cool part of the spiritual aspect of what I do.

Magic Barclay 7:57

And talking about the spiritual, what a great lead in Tanya. I always ask the same three questions of my guests and I speak to people from all around the world, and I'm always amazed by the different array of answers. So here comes your first question. What can your expertise do to accelerate health? Be it physical, spiritual, or emotional

Tonia Cordi 8:20

mm-hmm I say it does all three, because they're all connected. They're they're not compartmentalized. And I think the, the, what I'm noticing the last few years, particularly we have an abundance of distractions and what that creates is a lot of avoidance and a lot of denial of people owning their, as you put it, putting their shit and just really owning their patterns. So when I work with people, they can't, people try to declutter on their own and they're like, yeah, yeah, I decluttered. And then I'll go over there and I'm thinking, no, you didn't, you got rid of one fifth of what you really needed to get rid of. And so my me being there, I'm kind of not forcing them, but they're in a position where they have to do an inventory of their physical space, their belongings, how they're spending their time, and then they have to verbalize out loud. So there's where the accountability comes in. Um, You know why they were holding on, and then it's this mere image of what's going on on the inside and the beauty of it. It's not just, oh, let's get rid of stuff. And you know what, doesn't spark you joy. It's why were you holding onto it for the first, in the first place? What are your thought patterns? What are your beliefs? What kind of limiting beliefs and barriers do you have? What stories are you telling yourself? And earlier we talked about guilt and if you don't address that mindset, um, Things won't change. So it then becomes this process where people are making their life more practical because they're getting rid of what doesn't align for them. Their life is easier cuz they don't have the junk and the cupboards, but then it's also not weighing them down. These belief systems that we're not serving them. And it shifts them to being way more purposeful, um, way more intentional. And you know, it. It brings you to a place of being more present. And so that's how it becomes more of a spiritual process because they're learning about their emotions that come up, their narrative behind it. Um, their physical space transforms and then on a spiritual level. Just think of it almost like I know that onion analogy is used a lot. Think of an onion, no. Or think of a backpack, it's weighing them down spiritually. There's like a shell around them, almost like an egg and they cannot shine. They cannot be empowered because they're holding on for dear life out of fear. And a lot of people live in fear and it shows up in different ways. And so by going through this process, it's addressing those fear. Again, same pattern I've seen with every single client is the, oh, the guilt. I'm afraid of offending someone two, I feel lighter. And three is, you know, what, if I've never had a client not say, oh, what if, what if I need it? What if this, what if that? So they're keeping it out of that belief system of lack and fear, and then it transforms them when they're able to shift. And so I, I know for myself, like, I'm always, I'm the Guinea pig. when you're reading my bio, I was like, oh, that's funny. I'm the Guinea pig, all the stuff I've done. I've always done on myself first. And then I try it with clients and, um, you know, it's, it's really helping people just really with themselves and for myself right now, I'm, I'm really looking at well, how intentional am I being? And where can I up the anti. How am I getting distracted? Telegram. Definitely. And do you guys have telegram in Australia?

Magic Barclay 12:05

Yes, we do. And we have signal and of course we have the usual suspects of LinkedIn and yeah. Facebook and Instagram. And it's just an onslaught and I think, yeah, I'm glad you, you mentioned it because I think there's actually so much clutter. With social media and with being online bombarded with, and certainly on telegram with everyone's opinions and articles that everyone's sharing and yeah, false, that's great. From a sharing point of view, it just becomes too much.

Tonia Cordi 12:37

It becomes gossip. And that's what I'm finding. It becomes a form of gossip and it's like, what purpose does this serve me? What purpose does this serve? My spirit and my soul and my life. And being here and what is it I'm trying to contr, uh, create. And it's another distraction. It's another distraction. And so no matter where you are in the continuum of what's going on in the world, you know, it's, it's a distraction cuz there's narratives on all sides that are pulling people away from being present. And so to me, it's like what matters the most what's getting in the way and what do I need to add in. Because, yes, I help people declutter and organize their life. Then at the end, we look at sustaining those changes, through like habits and routines and like what mindset change do you need to do? But there's also this element of like, just really connecting. And what is it that you wanna create? Who do you wanna be? How do you wanna feel. And how do you wanna show up in a situation, but if you're bombarded by these narrative, like all these distractions, you can't do that. And that, and that dampers your spiritual growth.

Magic Barclay 13:41

I totally agree. And. you know, whether it's your social medias or the people that you're around, how you spend your time or your thoughts on yourself, or even things physically in your home. Mm-hmm, ask yourself that. Who do I wanna show up as who am I? What do I stand for? Yes. Is this someone else's stuff or is this truly me?

Tonia Cordi 14:05

Exactly, exactly. And I think the more. We are, we do those check-ins and I, I, I speak for myself included because I'm a very sensitive person. And so I feel the subtle is shift in someone. And if I cannot own my own energy and my own state of being and who I am and how I'm showing up, then I'm gonna waiver. And then I'm not showing open the world the way I want to. Right. And so I think it's it, the less we're distracted by those things. The easier it is for us to stay connected to ourselves and on the path that we're, that we wanna be on.

Magic Barclay 14:43

I love that. Now we were talking just off air about your blog. And you mentioned about the five steps mm-hmm Can you just quickly tell us what those are and we'll explore those a bit later. Okay.

Tonia Cordi 14:56

Yep. Um, so the first one is, as I mentioned, starting with values. And so we, we do an exercise where we figure out three main values that describe like your essence in your life. And then from there, same step, we look at goal setting. How is there a disconnect in the space, in your spaces? Where is there a disconnect in your time and in your habits and your routines? Then the second step is like, okay, now what? Now, now we have these goals now what? And then we plan out, okay, what areas of your spaces do we need to declutter and organize? Then once we get through the process of that, we do the same thing with time. And so then the second step is actually doing the decluttering and that's making sure that we go back to step one and reference, okay, we're gonna do your close now. What were your values? What were your goals? And that's the foundation. And then once everything's been decluttered and it doesn't have to be in one round, I don't think speed is helpful. It might take two or three rounds before you have your ideal amount. And then from there it's organizing what's left and designing spaces. So that they're purposeful. And one way I describe it as zoning. So if I have a family room, one area that family room is for a meditation corner. If meditation is really important to you. And then the last step is okay, you did all this great work. But how are you gonna sustain it? And so that's where we look at your habits and your routines, you know, the boundaries that you need to set, um, and doing things like an accountability plan. Cause if that's not put in place, then it won't, won't changes won't last. And so that's a quick overview. So it's a balance between, okay, these are these practical things. You can organize your life. And as the process goes, I ask a lot of questions that make people go, oh, okay, fine. and it makes them really reflect and learn a lot about their attachment styles and, and just ways of thinking and mindsets that they can change.

Magic Barclay 17:08

I think that's really important the way you've got that mapped out. And what I would say to the listeners is. Apply that directly to your health. If you're not looking for the root cause if you're not looking for the triggers, but you're constantly treating the last layer, you are actually not going to get any true healing happening. You're not going to be addressing anything, cuz you'll just be moving stuff from place to place, which is what we do in our homes, in our offices, in our bookshelves and everywhere. Exactly. You just end up moving stuff around and you're not actually. Getting rid of things that don't serve you. And,

Tonia Cordi 17:48

and, and I'd like to add to that because that gets into the mindset of quick fixes, right? Because if you look at a home and people are like, oh, I just need the right storage solution. When I first started, I didn't do I do an assessment now to check to see, does this person actually want to change? Are they aware of what needs to change? Or else I'm not working with them because what would happen is people would just think, oh, I need this perfect storage solution and that's gonna fix everything. And I think the exact same thing happens with people's health and their weight. They're like, oh, if I just do this diet, then everything will be fine. What are your beliefs about yourself? You know, what, what are your habits around eating? You know, what, what are the underlying thoughts? Cuz if that is not addressed, then there no diet is gonna change the situation.

Magic Barclay 18:39

I couldn't agree more. Now look, we do talk about wealth here, not just the financial, but also the personal and emotional. And of course, all three are so important. So what are your top three tips to creating wealth?

Tonia Cordi 18:53

I would say the first one is deco your life. Because that process is gonna allow you to clear any energetic, blockages, um, any mindset blockages, and then also notice. And again, I, I find that we just, we have such a negative. View of, of money. And I like how you said wealth, because it's not about the money like it, to me, it's more about what is your vibration? What is your state of being? And the money is almost a reflection of that. Are you allowing abundance of life to you? So if you declutter your life, then you can become aware of any belief systems or attachments that could be affecting that flow. And, and almost like in Chinese medicine, you know, they, they try to balance the yin and Lang they look at the different meridians and they see, okay, where there, where is there a blockage? Is there yin deficiency, for example. And so I think it's the same thing with your space, cuz that gets things moving. The second one, um, is continuing and looking at your, your money mindset. And I I've mentioned this already a few times because I know for myself. I have negative associations to money. And if I don't address that, which I am this year, that's one of my goals. that's gonna block that flow and, and the idea of abundance is really about creation. Am I creating and am I allowing myself to receive, am I creating that cycle? So with your finances, yes. Do a declutter, an organization of how you're spending your. You know, do that inventory and see what your thoughts and beliefs are around it. Also ask yourself, like, do you need to learn a skill? Is there something you need to learn in order to be better with your money that you need to learn, how to budget? Do you need to learn how to do investing better? So it's looking at it from that practical level, but also that deeper spiritual level. And I would say the third one, are the emotions. Because if your emotions are getting in the way, then you're getting out of alignment and that's gonna affect the abundance in your life and your ability to create. And so we mentioned this earlier, it's like showing up into a situation. How do I wanna feel? Who do I wanna be when I go into a situation, what do I want to create? What emotions do I wanna generate in this situation? Um, what do I wanna give to others? Because if you're in that flow and what do I wanna receive in this situation? And again, it comes back to, if you declutter your life, then you can be intentional cuz that's that's the foundation. And then. If you're more present, if an emotion comes up well, you can put it in a box and be like, yeah, I don't wanna talk to you right now. I'm busy. We'll talk later when it's reflection time and then your emotions are not taking over. And again, throwing you out of alignment and it's almost like, you know, doing non-violent communication with yourself on a regular basis. What did I notice? What do I feel? What do I need? And by doing that, You're creating more compassion for yourself. And then that creates more compassion for others. And then it creates connection and there's abundance right there. So it's, it's looking at it on a level for me, um, both on a practical, but also on an internal level. That's, that's how I operate with everything and seeing what's getting in the way, what block is there. And then on a practical level, what is something that I need to learn and change in order to create this flow?

Magic Barclay 22:37

Something that I learned quite recently was I don't have to answer the phone every time it rings.

Tonia Cordi 22:44

Yes. Or a text

Magic Barclay 22:45

message. Yes. Yep. Just leave it be, let it sit there till the time is right till your soul says, I can deal with this now. Yeah. You don't have to be, you know, pulled in every direction by other people a

Tonia Cordi 23:00

hundred percent, a hundred percent. And that's where. Like we talked in the beginning values. What's important to you. And another way to, to like identify values is it's, you know, what do you live by? What principles do you live by? What's important to you? What matters? How do you wanna be spending your time? You mean like how do, what do you need to stay in alignment? That's another way to look at it

Magic Barclay 23:25

and something I ask myself and I've spoken to the listeners here about it as well. Is. Really ask yourself, does that have to be done today? Yes. Will my world come crashing down if it doesn't happen? And if I do that and it really didn't need to be done today, what. That did need to be done is getting missed out on. So really doing that stock take at the start of every day. Yeah. And I've spoken about it in a previous episode about a morning routine. Yes. Part of my morning routine while I'm out on my walk is I check my calendar for the day and I move things around. Is that really important today that I do that? Or can it wait till it's a better day or, you know, what else has to happen? And I. We just have such busy, busy lives, but it's busy just being busy.

Tonia Cordi 24:26

Yes. I, I totally agree on so many levels that you just said. because, you know, I don't like calling myself a life coach, but let's say I'm a life coach. in that personal development world, it, it can get quite, you know, there's a fine line between being a go- getter and balancing being and doing. And that's actually what I talked about my blog last night, uh, last month was the balance between being and doing. And even halfway through the day, I like that you do that in the morning, but even halfway through the day, if you're like, yeah, you know what? This took longer than I thought this came up. I can't do this thing today. That's not realistic. And it's not the end of the world if I don't do it. And for me, I really help clients depending on what end of the spectrum. They're on. Some people don't plan at all. And others over plan. I'm an over planer And so I have to go, is this realistic and be able to let go of things. So it's getting into that middle where you have structured time in your day, and then you also have breathable rooms so that you can go with the flow of life and, and allow because then you're allowing things to come to you. But then if you're just open, everything comes to you and then you're distracted and then you're not really going anywhere. So it's having that balance between both.

Magic Barclay 25:46

And something I've learned recently, I am a planner, a scheduler, my Google calendar is my life. something I've learned is actually put me time in there. And it's a different color calendar tab. And there's gotta be at least five hours every day. That is just me time. It's not sitting with the family watching TV. It's not cooking. It's not anything else. It's just me time. Yeah. And I can do. Anything I want in that time, or I can do absolutely nothing in that time, but it also means I can't take a meeting. I don't record a podcast in that time. You know, I'm not working with clients in that time. It's just me time, whatever the me wants at that time.

Tonia Cordi 26:31

I a hundred percent agree. That's that's my morning routine and my evening routine. And I, I try some weeks are better than others. I like to do. Learn lunchtime. If I can get a walk in, um, that's great. Or I'm, it's winter for me here. I'm in Toronto, in Canada. So, you know, go skating if I can halfway through the day and then come back and have that, that breather, that reset, um, that that's very important and it's, it's a good thing cuz then when we are working and we are doing things that need our full attention. We can give our full attention because we're doing that balance of, of checking in and, and taking care of ourselves.

Magic Barclay 27:15

Totally. Now look, the third question I ask everyone, it's kind of a little bit personal, but you know, we can always offer the listeners some little nuggets of gold. So the question is. Have you ever battled your weight? If so, what was a trigger to lose it? And on the flip side, we know that stress is a key issue in weight problems. Mm-hmm so what can you offer the listeners to reduce their stress?

Tonia Cordi 27:41

Mm-hmm yeah, definitely. It's uh, it's an interesting question. Cuz I'm on the flip side, I had a lot of health problems growing up and it was hard for me to keep weight on. And so my sister struggled with weight and was jealous of me. And it's like, well, no, it's not about the weight. Am I healthy? Do I have vitality? Can I use my body at its best? And so I think it's really important to put the weight aside, no pun intended and just, you know, really look at how do I feel about myself. Right. What does it mean to me to be a particular weight? So if someone's a certain weight and they're not happy with it, what does it mean? What does it represent? Is it protection? Is it comfort? You know, what belief do you need to let go of? And how can you be more in alignment with yourself? Because if you address it on that level, then the change will be much more profound and it will last. if you go starting from the inside and then obviously, you know, externally looking at habits and routines, and are you making time for meal prep? Are you making time for exercise? Are those top priorities? I heard this acronym recently, meds, meditation, exercise, diet, sleep fundamental every day. They are the most common things for stress. They're most practical. The thing is, are you doing it? And. The other part of that question that, you know, I find interesting is the stress. I had a very negative view around stress and I recently was introduced to a study done. Um, I can't remember what university in the states saying that stress is actually good, low levels because it pushes you to learn. It pushes you to up your game and to learn a new skill. And so it could. Having a different relationship to the situation. So one looking on the inner and what does this situation represent to you? If you're dealing with weight and you wanna change it, and then two, how does the stress of it or external stresses in general? What are they telling me? What skill do I need to learn? So that I don't feel stressed out. What is what's going on in that situation that needs to be addressed? That I'm just stressed, cuz I don't know what to do. Do I need to get help? Do I need to take a class? Um, do I need to get a coach to help me with this particular area? So I think it's, it's important to look at it from a lens of how can I be my best? How can I nourish myself in all the choices that I make, uh, make that the priority as opposed to, I wanna lose, let's say for example, 20 pounds and, oh, I'm really stressed out and I keep on eating this way. It, it it's, it's flipping the, it's flipping the perspective of it. Cause I that's, one of the things I do with clients is I really try to get them to see the situation in a different way. And it's like, oh, okay. Yeah, that makes sense. All right, fine. I'll do that. right. It makes it easier.

Magic Barclay 30:58

That's some great advice there. Now, Tanya, people can find you on Facebook at time and space solutions, right? Also on Instagram time and space solutions. Your website is www.timeandspacesolutions.com. You're on LinkedIn at time plus space solutions. And look, we love to offer freebies here. So what is a freebie? You can offer the listeners to help them with their clarity, with just decluttering and redesigning.

Tonia Cordi 31:37

I'm offering a 30 minute clarity call for free. And in that clarity call, it will be a chance for people to understand what has been stopping them, what it is that they want to change, you know, identifying the areas that they want to work on. As well as, you know, getting kind of a sense of how they can move forward and how to do it. And that also means that they get the, how to handbook for free, which I normally, I give to clients once they sign up for working with me. So if they would like they can email me at Tanya time and space solutions. Dot com

Magic Barclay 32:16

fantastic. Now look, Tanya, we have so much more to discuss, so I'd love to invite you back for our next episode. 1, 1 6 listeners for now. Thank you so much for your time. Go forth and create your magical life.