How to Organize Your Business Files (Without the Overwhelm) with Tracy Hoth

Ep. 132 // Tracy Hoth

[00:00:00] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Welcome back to the podcast everyone. I have a special guest today that I personally cannot wait to talk to. It is Tracy Huff. Uh, Tracy h Sorry, say it.

[00:00:13] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: it’s

[00:00:14] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Ho. Thank you so much. Okay, perfect. No, that’s totally fine. It’s Tracy Ho. Tracy Ho. Let me say this again. Tracy Ho is a professional organizer and certified life coach with 17 years of experience helping business owners bring calm and clarity to the back end of their operations.

[00:00:34] She’s the host of a top 1% globally ranked. Organized coach podcast and Tracy teaches entrepreneurs how to streamline their digital assets, time and processes so they can operate with ease and confidence as organized CEOs. So welcome Tracy. Thank you for being here.

[00:00:55] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: Thanks for having me, Jamie. This is so fun.

[00:00:58] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: so fun. What’s actually so fun is what we both discovered, um, as we were planning this interview, was that we went to coach training together and we were in the exact same certification class. And I know I’ve seen you and like, you know, we’ve. Probably crossed paths many times. I recognize you. I know your name.

[00:01:17] I knew your, um, niche and everything, but I didn’t realize we were in the same class. So I just love that.

[00:01:25] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: I know, just think, I mean, it’s so fun to think we, we’ve followed each other,

[00:01:29] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah,

[00:01:30] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: about each other for all those years,

[00:01:32] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: know. So true. A hundred percent. I know, I know. It’s awesome. So actually I’m like. Really, as I was sharing, excited to dive in because I feel like I could use your brain personally because I’m not gonna lie, organization is not my zone of genius. It’s not what my brain naturally does. It’s not, I feel calm when I’m organized.

[00:01:54] I love organization, but it’s just not how my brain. Naturally thinks or works. So I’m so excited to get insight from you and to still learn from you on the podcast. So, um, yeah, probably taking the questions that I ask you and applying them personally, so thank you so much.

[00:02:13] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: Yeah, so ask all the

[00:02:15] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: I will,

[00:02:16] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: you

[00:02:16] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: yes.

[00:02:17] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: what other people need this

[00:02:18] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: I love that. So I’m curious for you, you’ve been doing this for 17 years, and so are you someone who is, do you just naturally think an organization, is it something you’ve always loved?

[00:02:31] Like what called you towards this work?

[00:02:34] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: I feel like I’m really down to earth, organized, and so to start, like organization just means you know what you have and you can find it when you need it.

[00:02:42] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Oh.

[00:02:44] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: simple. It doesn’t mean that it’s like really anal and super fancy and color coded and you know, just perfect. It just means you know what you have and you can find it.

[00:02:54] I even like to add on that 80% of the time. So when I think about it for myself, have I always been like that? Yeah, I tend to want to have things so I know where they are, so I’m not wasting time.

[00:03:08] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:03:09] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: if someone came over, they wouldn’t think it’s perfection or anything like that. Like just the other day I showed the inside of my office and you know, I’d been busy, I’d

[00:03:18] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:03:18] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: some things that I had piles, but I know the steps to get organized, and I’ve practiced them over and over for 17 years, so I know. I can put things back where their homes are quickly.

[00:03:31] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Oh my gosh. I think you just broke my brain because I think I’m actually organized if that’s the definition

[00:03:36] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: gonna

[00:03:36] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: of what. I mean, because it’s one of those things where it’s organized, I don’t wanna call it organized chaos, but if you looked at my desktop, you’d probably cringe. But I know where everything is.

[00:03:46] I can go access it. It’s just not streamlined in a way where someone else would be able to find it necessarily. So I am just curious, is their value too. Cleaning it up. Right, because like versus having organized chaos where you know where things are, but it looks like a mess or kind of feels like a mess.

[00:04:09] Would you say there’s a difference and there’s value to cleaning things up?

[00:04:12] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: That’s the perfect question that I think business owners should

[00:04:16] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:04:17] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: am I finding that it’s causing me problems? Like, am I wasting time? Am I not able to find what I need quickly? And the key is if you have a

[00:04:26] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Mm-hmm.

[00:04:27] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: Or if someone else is looking for stuff, you may be able to find it. But if they’re always having to come and ask where it is, then that’s the friction or that’s the part where you’d wanna clean that up. And so I think if it’s causing you problems, then absolutely there’s probably some foundation, some structure that can get put in place and it’ll be a lot easier.

[00:04:49] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: that makes so much sense. It’s so true. ’cause whenever I brought on a team. My, I was like, I want them to be good at everything. I’m not. So like organization was one of the top things I was looking for as somebody who keeps things nice and tidy and organized so the whole team can find it. So we have that structure in the back end of my business, but it wasn’t created by me.

[00:05:09] It was created by, you know, my team who’s very, very organized and it feels so much better, I have to say. Oh my gosh. I’ve noticed the difference between when I just ran things and it was. All over the place versus now where we have a folder for everything and Yeah, a hundred percent. So what, yeah, I’m just curious for the person who you’re, who’s like, God, I’m so good.

[00:05:33] Like, my business is growing, it’s going well, but I do not pay attention to the backend. Meaning like, I don’t have the SOPs, I don’t have a system and processes. Um, everything’s kind of everywhere. There’s no real systems, but I wanna grow. Like, do you see that as being maybe a bottleneck or what would be the value of them actually paying attention to the backend?

[00:05:58] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: Well, the earlier you start, the better.

[00:06:00] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:06:01] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: that’s the first thing. Get some foundations in place. Know your file structure just so your digital assets are in place because. you don’t do that now, you’re going to have to eventually do it. And that’s what happens is that bottleneck forms either you burn out because you are scrambling and looking and you can’t find what you need, and you’re feeling overwhelmed and frustrated a lot.

[00:06:23] So that kind of, you hit a ceiling there, or it’s that your team can’t help because they don’t know where things are, and you’re wasting a lot of time and money

[00:06:31] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:06:31] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: in that area. So either spot, you’re gonna have to do it eventually.

[00:06:36] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah, totally.

[00:06:38] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: I like that you said you, you looked for that in a teammate. I think a lot of times entrepreneurs try to solve their problems by bringing someone on and I. I I, there has to be some sort of balance there because if we expect that someone’s gonna be able to come on and solve all those problems as the team member,

[00:06:58] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:06:59] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: puts a lot of pressure. It’s hard on them, but if, if you can do it together,

[00:07:03] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:07:03] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: great, but the sooner the better. You start thinking through. What your structure is, what your processes are, and I don’t even believe you have to have like these perfectly documented systems. As a business owner that’s been doing it a long time, I’m still like figuring out what my process is and what’s been great. I’m just, I just was working on this today, working on. Having someone help me now with my podcast and editing and scheduling all this stuff, and so I am like documenting my process. I had little parts of it

[00:07:37] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:07:37] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: someone helping me with a little part of it that was documented, now it’s like documenting it all. Just feels so good. Not fun. Don’t get me

[00:07:48] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Right.

[00:07:48] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: I’m like, I have rerecorded this video too many times, but it feels so good knowing, oh, that part of my business is gonna have documented process. Someone else is gonna come in and do it, and it’s so, oh, it’s gonna be such a relief to have that

[00:08:03] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Totally, totally not something that gives you dopamine for sure, but a hundred percent it is something that your future self will thank you for in such a huge way. ’cause I have had transitions happen where, you know, like I was telling you before we started recording, where I have. Someone on maternity leave now.

[00:08:21] And so someone has to step in. Thank God there’s processes that for everything that she does. ’cause someone can step in easily. It’s not like, oh God, teach ’em in the midst of you having to leave and having your baby. And if she had the baby early, you know, like it’s such a gift to your business. So, oh my God.

[00:08:37] Makes so much sense. So what you’re saying is the earlier you start doing that, the better. Okay. So I know what people are thinking because it’s probably what I was thinking, which is, oh my God, I’m already maxed out on time. I have to get all this content out. I’m delivering so much, I’m delivering so much to my clients, and they’re really focusing on the front.

[00:08:57] End and delivery of their business or how it looks on the, you know, in the front end. I don’t possibly have time for this. How do, like, I’m curious what the mindset is of somebody who both runs the front end and also starts taking these steps on the back end to making, you know, to, to start cleaning things up, maybe creating some systems, some processes, organizing things.

[00:09:21] Um, what would you say someone would have to start. Thinking in order to make time for that.

[00:09:28] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: I like to have people think of it like a project, so it’s gonna have a start and an end

[00:09:33] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Mm

[00:09:34] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: and they’re going to pick something that they’re gonna produce in that time and then break it down. Just like we do with any other project into little steps. And you could do something as simple as every, you know, week, you do 15 minutes or you know, to document something or to put your folder files into folders

[00:09:57] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yep.

[00:09:57] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: the five folder system or it is.

[00:10:00] You just are gonna think, okay, I’m gonna focus on this in Q1 and I’m gonna get all my digital files organized in, in a structure. And then it becomes like. Easier, and you have the structure given to you, and all you have to do is schedule 15 minutes of sorting

[00:10:18] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:10:18] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: day.

[00:10:19] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: that’s so much better. And it feels so much less overwhelming. And you talked about the five folders. So I’d love to hear more because I think that’s another block for people is I don’t even know where to begin. What does that even look like? And that was a hundred percent me. It’s like, what does organization look like?

[00:10:39] Um, yeah, totally.

[00:10:41] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: simple as possible is how I like to look at

[00:10:44] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:10:45] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: and use what you have. Don’t go try to start some

[00:10:49] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:10:49] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: where you’re having to learn the whole thing. So you just start if it’s on your computer, if it’s in your Google Drive, wherever it is. And I like and I think. Almost every business I’ve worked with can sort and have a file structure that starts with five folders. The first one is operations, or some people call it admin. Everything behind the scenes that runs your business legal money. SOPs, that kind of thing. Brand even possibly some people like brand in the next folder,

[00:11:21] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Okay. Yep.

[00:11:22] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: So operations. Then marketing is anything outward facing. This is where I put my funnels in, like as assets to those. Some people put their brand in there, maybe their website, stuff in there. Anything outward facing. Then my content, anything I produce, my programs go in there. My presentations go in there. And then the fourth folder is education. And that’s anything anybody else produces or I download of somebody else’s.

[00:11:54] It’s my coaches. It’s all those freebies, it’s those certifications. All of those things go in education. And then the fifth file is clients.

[00:12:03] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Oh my gosh.

[00:12:04] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: client folders go in clients. So notice how it’s and outward. And then my stuff and other people’s stuff, and then clients. It’s like so

[00:12:15] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Oh my gosh, I love it.

[00:12:17] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: need.

[00:12:20] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Wow. Yes, it is actually very simple. I love it. I was thinking, oh my God, everyone’s gonna have to pause this and take notes, the five folders, but you actually have a freebie on this, don’t you?

[00:12:30] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: Yes, I have a freebie of a class that trains you and shows you exactly like on a Google drive. What does that look like on your desktop? What does that look like? And you just go and make those folders and just start sorting all the files on your computer that are all over, that are loose. Put ’em into those categories. And notice how just knowing there’s five, your brain is like, ugh. I, I, the decision fatigue loosened, lightened, whatever.

[00:12:59] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: No, it’s so true. I feel relieved just hearing that. I’m like, why? That makes so much sense. Yes.

[00:13:05] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: Yeah.

[00:13:05] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah, so good. Oh my gosh. Okay. So we will link up that, um, that class of yours in the show notes if anybody wants to dive in, which I know everyone was gonna wanna, who wants to organize the backend better?

[00:13:17] ’cause that’s such a simple system. And then I guess my next question would be, how does somebody, you know, I think. I tend to be the type of person who, let’s just say in terms of my home, where I’ll clean it, I’ll get it organized, but then within two weeks everything’s everywhere. So the maintenance has been a struggle, right?

[00:13:39] And now that I have a team, I’m like, Hey, help me maintain everything. Where does this go? Where does this go? Like I’ll just send it to them and they organize it for me. But I wanna be, in fact, one of the things that I’m becoming this year is organized. And, um, so. What would you say is, I guess we could start with the mindset of someone who maintains.

[00:14:01] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: Okay. This is so good because now I want you to look at. You know, after two weeks when you’re saying everything’s out of place or whatever, look at this stuff and ask yourself, is it just that I didn’t put it back, or is that it doesn’t have a home? And you can do this on your computer and with your digital assets as well.

[00:14:21] Look at it and say like, my desktop was super messy recently, like today, last night, because I was working on a project and I had downloaded a bunch of stuff and needed to upload it, so I left it on my desktop so I could get to it quickly. But I knew. As I was sorting it back into their homes, that I knew it had a home.

[00:14:41] ’cause I could use my folder system and I knew where they went. It was just that at the moment when I was working on this project, I didn’t want to do that. So notice if it’s that you’re not putting it away. That’s the maintenance part. And then it’s not really a problem. You just notice, oh look, I finished that project.

[00:14:57] I didn’t put that away. There’s the issue. Or is it that the thing doesn’t have a home? Because a lot of times if it doesn’t have a home, we don’t know where to put

[00:15:04] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Right.

[00:15:04] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: it there.

[00:15:05] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: So good. And that’s what’s beautiful about the five folders is that everything has a home and it’s so simple. Whereas I think my process, I’ve been so. Uh, you know, I, I’ve had like a million folders that are so many different homes that I literally forget where home is, so I just leave it there. So that’s awesome.

[00:15:25] What a, what a great way of looking at it. And again, I think simplicity is the key here, so that’s amazing.

[00:15:33] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: Well, and Jamie, let’s go back to that. In your house, like you said, there’s five steps to organizing and they spell the word space, so sort. I always say that just like you’re sorting with the folders. That’s the first step, sort, and then purge. You’re going back through and deciding what you’re gonna keep or let go of. Those are the decluttering steps. Then the next two steps are assign homes and contain. Those are deciding where things are gonna live and using anything to contain that will help you see, oh, that’s getting full. It’s the trigger that it’s to go back through the steps. And the last step is energize. When you look at your organized space, you have the energy, and now you can put that energy into the part of your life where

[00:16:18] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Hmm.

[00:16:18] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: want to. And to maintain that, we have to maintenance to something that we’re already doing. And that’s where if your space isn’t staying maintained, it just means that you are missing that last step, that you’re missing the part where you do a 10 minute tidy at the end of every

[00:16:37] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:16:38] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: you tie, you know, think of a preschool where they. little kids, you think it would be the messiest

[00:16:44] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:16:44] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: it is the neatest place because every day before lunch, they sing the cleanup

[00:16:50] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yes.

[00:16:51] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: because everything has a home. But they’re having these things tied, like before nap

[00:16:56] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yep.

[00:16:57] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: do a cleanup again and put things away. So everything is kept tidy. So when you’re looking at, is it that you have too much stuff

[00:17:04] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah,

[00:17:04] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: not room, that means sort and purge. Is it because things don’t have a home? Or is it because you’re just, the maintenance part is not there?

[00:17:12] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yes. Oh my gosh, that’s so good. When you start working with clients and they start organizing, what do you notice? Shifts in them?

[00:17:23] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: Oh, well, I think it has to start, and this is kind of what you’ve been asking all along, is what you believe about yourself and your

[00:17:30] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Mm-hmm.

[00:17:31] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: So even a client just gave me her password to something. I can’t remember what it was, but it was like, her name is a mess. And I was like, no, no, no,

[00:17:40] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah. Oh no,

[00:17:41] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: We’re not

[00:17:42] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: we’re not holding that identity.

[00:17:43] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: We, are not keeping that. So I think that what, when you’re looking at who you think you are, who you believe that you are, you’re not gonna be able to outperform that identity that you have of

[00:17:57] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:17:58] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: We have to address that first. What are you going to be? Even using the alter ego or method acting, you’re gonna act like an organized person and you’re gonna start building this evidence.

[00:18:09] So when people start seeing evidence, like one client woke up at three in the morning and she went and sorted files for two hours and she said, Tracy, this was so fun.

[00:18:19] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:18:19] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: who would’ve ever thought that you would say sorting files

[00:18:24] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yes.

[00:18:25] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: you have this structure. You actually realize you are organized, like anybody can sort, you have that capability or ability and you know you can do it,

[00:18:35] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:18:36] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: sudden it becomes so real in your life. And maybe the maintenance part, you need to work on that a little bit more. But everybody brushes their teeth. Everybody does laundry and eats on a regular basis, so you know you have the capability. It’s just putting that into practice.

[00:18:51] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: my gosh, that’s so good. And it’s so wild because it goes hand in hand. Like my clients will laugh because. Um, it goes hand in hand with the same work that we do around money and manifestation. We actually have an evidence journal, and that’s what I teach my clients is create evidence that you can create that, like all the wins you put them in there, show yourself evidence that you are abundance, show yourself evidence that you can manifest and that you’re creating a purpose.

[00:19:17] And, um, so I love what you shared and. I love this insight about what do you tell yourself? How do you identify yourself? Because I’m guilty of that. I, like I said, I’m organized chaos. Right? That’s a thought I’m holding or, um, I have a DHD, so it’s harder for me. Right. So I tell myself these stories that I’m sure are not serving the version of me that is organized.

[00:19:43] Right. That identity. Yeah.

[00:19:46] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: Well, and I love that this is your goal this year.

[00:19:48] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:19:49] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: so cool. So now you’re seeing right now just two little thoughts that you have that are keeping you, that will keep you from performing like an organized person

[00:19:59] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:19:59] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: And again, that doesn’t mean perfection. That just means 80% of the time you can find what you

[00:20:04] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:20:05] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: it was easy and, and, uh, easeful versus frustrating and overwhelming.

[00:20:12] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Totally. Totally a hundred percent. And for me, what I just wanna feel is like Zen. I wanna feel that feeling you have when everything’s tidy and the house is clean and it’s organized. Not a hundred percent, but it’s just. You know, there’s not things all over. And me and my husband, we always say, oh, we’re both creatives.

[00:20:29] We both kind of just like, we’re of this like, it’s not like we’re mess like a messy, but it’s, I want that zen feeling of like the minimal feeling when you walk in or after the cleaners come and it just feels so good and I wanna maintain that. So what would you Yeah, please, please. Okay.

[00:20:49] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: First ha, having less stuff is

[00:20:51] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:20:52] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: So you’re gonna have that with the le lesser amount of stuff that you keep, because I even go in people’s homes when I used to do that in person and just be like, there’s no way I could keep this organized.

[00:21:04] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:21:04] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: much stuff in

[00:21:05] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yep.

[00:21:06] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: But start doing this trick that every time you walk out of a room, stop, turn around. Pick something up. Take something with you that belongs somewhere else, or straighten the pillows up, or pick something up off the floor. Just every time you leave a room, stop and turn around.

[00:21:24] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:21:25] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: with

[00:21:25] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Ooh,

[00:21:26] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: gonna maintain that because we come into our kitchen and the bar is where we drop

[00:21:31] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: totally.

[00:21:31] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: countertop and it gets so messy, like nonstop. But every time I walk downstairs, I’m just like, oh, put that away. Oh, put that

[00:21:37] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yes.

[00:21:38] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: maintain that space.

[00:21:40] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: good. And it doesn’t take any time really. I mean, it’s like right, that, you know, you’re just placing it right next to somewhere else and it, it placing it in its home, so. Oh my gosh, that is so good. I love it. I love it. Yeah. And the thing for me is like, I just moved, big move. We purged, I would say 75% of our stuff because we moved from California to Hawaii.

[00:22:02] We had one shipping crate that was massive, but my husband also has a recording studio and we had to fit our car in there as well. So it was like, okay, personal items we get about this much room. So we didn’t bring barely any furniture. Yeah, it was amazing. But after purging all of that and the work it took and how much I had to get rid of, I’m like, oh my God, I, it just woke me up to I wanna be more minimalist.

[00:22:27] I do not want all this. Stuff. And with this new house, it’s a clean slate and I wanna stay on top of things better and more organized. Right? So, um, it was just like the pers perfect invitation for that. So, yeah.

[00:22:42] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: I love thinking of that as an

[00:22:44] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah,

[00:22:44] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: Yeah. One thing that helps me too is before I buy something, I have to think where is that gonna live

[00:22:51] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: yeah.

[00:22:51] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: house and how am I going to, you know, will it fit there,

[00:22:55] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:22:56] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: And then sometimes that just makes me so tired. I don’t wanna think about

[00:22:59] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:23:00] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: so I don’t buy

[00:23:01] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: That’s so good.

[00:23:02] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: the other, yeah. Then the other thing that I. Think about is this year in, so I help business owners and I also help homeowners. And this year in Organized Life Academy, which is the homeowner side of it, as I organize, ’cause we go through an area of our home each

[00:23:18] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:23:18] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: And as I do that, I’m thinking about this.

[00:23:21] Like if I were to move, I wanna be able to have gone through every single thing and know that if I’m gonna move, I could pack it today or list

[00:23:30] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Wow.

[00:23:30] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: would be ready to show. And so just layer by layer. You

[00:23:35] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yep.

[00:23:35] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: wherever you are, wherever anyone who’s listening is in their decluttering journey or

[00:23:41] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yep.

[00:23:42] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: organization journey, they can look at that and, and maybe think differently as they’re working on a room or working on their computer or whatever space they’re in.

[00:23:51] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yes. That’s so good. I bet you save so much money by thinking in this way too, because you’re not just adding clutter and buying things and going to target and ending with 17 things in your, you know, car. So I imagine. With this intention, it goes hand in hand with also being able to put that money elsewhere, invest that money, multiply that money, or invest it in yourself, right?

[00:24:14] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: Ooh. Yeah.

[00:24:15] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: So

[00:24:15] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: thinking of

[00:24:16] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: absolutely,

[00:24:18] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: am I

[00:24:18] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: a hundred percent. Oh my gosh, yes. So good. So what would you say the mindset is of someone? Not the mindset, the identity, right? Because you said, you know, we’re looking at what the identity is, not, it’s not I’m a mess, or I’m someone who has organized chaos, or I have a DD and I don’t know where, how to organize things.

[00:24:39] What would, what do you think is the identity that someone can step into and start? How could you start thinking about yourself if you want to be an organized person?

[00:24:50] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: I would say, I mean, I like to go to the opposite extreme first and see how that lands with you. Like I am extremely organized. What does that feel like? And obviously if initially you’re just like, that’s the biggest lie, like

[00:25:04] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yep.

[00:25:05] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: can’t even say

[00:25:06] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:25:07] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: She can’t even say it out loud because she believes so strongly in the opposite. But there’s other things you could do, like the identity of just having the ability to be organized and that has. impacted me this last year with my ability to be a, you know, multiple six figure business owner,

[00:25:31] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yep. Yep.

[00:25:32] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: I used to always think like, I can’t do

[00:25:35] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Mm.

[00:25:35] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: kinda like just being organized, so it’s showing up in different areas of your life as well.

[00:25:39] But the thing that shifted for me is I definitely have the ability,

[00:25:44] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:25:44] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: it’s not like I’m not capable. So thinking that I have the ability to do this has really helped me shift in how I view myself and how I think about myself. So could be like,

[00:25:57] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:25:58] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: with organizing. Like I totally have the ability, once I get the foundation or the structure, I totally can do

[00:26:04] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah. I love that so much. One of my kind of bridge words that I use a lot is I’m becoming someone who, right. I’m becoming organized or I’m becoming the person who makes their bed every single day or whatever it is. And

[00:26:16] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: Yeah.

[00:26:16] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: know, whatever it is I wanna change in my life, I’m being that person. Yeah. Or I’m capable of it.

[00:26:22] I’m able to do it. I love that so much. Yeah. So good.

[00:26:26] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: fun and for creatives, like you called yourself a creative. is creative. Like you can think of

[00:26:34] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah,

[00:26:34] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: a creative experience or a practice. I’ve even had a client say, Tracy, it’s really a practice that you’re

[00:26:42] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: yeah,

[00:26:42] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: I was like, Ooh. I like thinking of that.

[00:26:44] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: yeah.

[00:26:45] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: Like I am practicing organization.

[00:26:48] I’m stewarding my stuff well,

[00:26:51] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Beautiful.

[00:26:52] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: of it like that as well.

[00:26:53] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: so wild because money is so similar, right? I teach money and I’m like, God, we are literally tea talking the same language, but just about a different thing. ’cause you could apply the word money and it’s the same exact thing. The process, the thoughts.

[00:27:08] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: you are good at that process. So you are good at the organization

[00:27:13] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: right, right. I love that.

[00:27:15] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: you know all the

[00:27:16] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: So good.

[00:27:17] I love that so much. Oh my God. Thank you so much, Tracy. This was awesome. Anything else you wanna share before we wrap up?

[00:27:27] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: Hmm. I would say if anybody is organ or overwhelmed, the one thing I say to myself, Tracy, I just did a podcast episode about

[00:27:38] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:27:38] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: the first step to organizing is to sort,

[00:27:41] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Hmm.

[00:27:41] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: and I just sort. Like with like into piles and that’s it. I don’t have to do anything past that. It gets me out of overwhelm. And the same five steps work for your brain.

[00:27:54] So whenever you notice you’re overwhelm, you just sort. Everything on paper into categories, calls you wanna make,

[00:28:01] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Mm-hmm.

[00:28:02] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: projects, thoughts you’re having, people you’re worried

[00:28:05] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yes.

[00:28:06] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: everything out into categories. And so the skill of organizing is worth investing in learning, practicing because it overflows into the rest of your life.

[00:28:19] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: God. I can only imagine. I love that. That’s awesome. Wow. Thank you so much. And yeah, so I know we’re gonna link up that, um, that, is it a masterclass you said? Yes, we’re gonna link up your masterclass for everyone who wants to dive in a little bit deeper and kind of see the behind the scenes of these five folders and how to start organizing the backend of your business.

[00:28:43] Um, but can you also let listeners know where else to come follow you, find you connect with you?

[00:28:49] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: Yes, my website simply squared away.com, and if you do slash declutter, you can also get my 15 minute declutter.

[00:28:59] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Ooh.

[00:28:59] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: Freebie that that shows you exactly how to declutter and organize in. And it gives you those five steps that I talked about, and you can do that as well. And then I’m on the Organized Coach Podcast.

[00:29:10] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: I love it. Perfect. Thank you for being here. So fun. And I just have to say on a personal level, thank you because you’ve expanded my mind and I’m really excited about all of this.

[00:29:21] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: Oh, I love it. Thanks for

[00:29:22] jamie–she-her-_17_01-28-2026_100655: Yeah.

[00:29:23] tracy-hoth_1_01-28-2026_140654: I.

[00:29:25] ​