This is my story of stress, too much stuff and exhaustion

Hi, I am Bridget Johns, a declutter coach, life organiser and the founder of Be Simply Free. I help women create systems in their lives to ease the “mental load” and reduce the physical and emotional “clutter” in their homes, calendars and minds so they can move from stress, to less, and live a life of more!

Past me

I was living a seemingly normal life with a home full of “stuff” that I was forever organising, forever “updating” by buying more “stuff”. My weekends were filled with cleaning rather than enjoying my life with family & friends. From the outside looking in, my life probably looked “perfect”. In truth, I was a sleep deprived mum. I was a perfectionist paralysed by the tasks that look too big to complete - “So why bother starting them?” I put so much pressure on myself to give 110% to each area of my life, except myself.

When it all went wrong

My perfect cookie cutter working mum exterior crumbled when I was freshly back from maternity leave with a one and a three year old. I burnt the candle at both ends trying to be the best mother and career woman I could be but I was floundering at both. In my job, I supported young people’s wellbeing and resilience but I wasn’t supporting my own. One day I was in a meeting, talking about “Are you ok?” day. I left the meeting, to the sanctuary of my car, and tears came. I wasn’t ok. I called my boss and she supported me to strip back all the expectations I had placed on myself and focus on what I truly needed to do and what could be delegated. The next teary call was to my husband. Again, I had placed all the responsibilities for running the household onto myself when he was perfectly capable and willing to do it as a team. When I got home, we talked again and came up with a plan to ease my mental and physical load.

This is my story of moving from stress, to less and living a life of more

New me

That was six years ago and I can honestly say speaking up, communicating (even when your voice shakes), asking for help and accepting it, has made me a happier person. When I started making the consistent and small steps to put myself first, other areas of my life became simpler, I became calmer and our family life became oh so much better!

Life long learning

I’m a lifelong learner so one of the things that helped me along my journey was to learn more about positive psychology. This is the scientific study of what makes life most worth living. I completed a Diploma of Positive Psychology and Wellbeing which added to my other eclectic qualifications mix of a Bachelor of Food Science and Management, Master of Business Administration, Diploma of Community Development, Certificate IV in Career Development and Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.   My big realisation...by filling up my cup first, I had more energy and motivation to be a calmer and more loving mother, wife, employee and friend. When I minimised “the stuff” in our home, it reduced my stress levels and decluttered my brain resulting in our family enjoying a more intentional and meaningful life! We are reminded every time we get on an aeroplane, “Put on your oxygen mask before you assist others” but we don’t do that in everyday life!   In 2019, I also invested in myself and completed Rachel Hollis Life Coaching. A defining moment in that course was when Rachel said, “What is YOUR big, bold and audacious dream”? I wrote down, “I am a Professional Organiser” and from that moment I have taken the baby steps that have led to bringing Be Simply Free to life.

Be Simply Free was born

Be Simply Free blossomed from my desire to combine my love of positive psychology, organising, decluttering and life coaching. I studied and became a Beautiful You Life Coach, an accredited Standard Mental Health First Aider (through Mental Health First Aid Australia) and a member of the Institute of Professional Organisers to further strengthen my networks, knowledge and skills. I want to share what I’ve learnt from my experiences with other women feeling trapped in the hamster wheel of life and I’d love to help YOU find YOU!  

Who are you?

Now you know a little bit about me, how about you?

• What makes you tick?
• What’s working in your life?
• What’s not?

Would you like support to create systems in YOUR life to ease the “mental load” and reduce the physical and emotional “clutter” in YOUR home, calendar and mind?

Ready to start?

Book here for your complimentary call and let me help you get started on your journey!

Other articles that might interest you:

• Use your excess clutter to be prepared for the unexpected - Learn how to put together your own "Just in case" kit
• Is a Thermomix worth it? - I get asked quite often if it’s worth the money - here are my thoughts.
• Experience gift ideas - Before you go looking for presents costing hundreds of dollars, have you considered experience gifts?
• My five simple everyday habits - The five things I do everyday to keep on top of everyday clutter and give me the energy to enjoy life.

If any of these articles have sparked an interest in decluttering, visit here to learn more about my 1:1 declutter coaching services, current workshops and online declutter courses. As author Karen Lamb says, "A year from now you may wish you had started [your decluttering journey] today".