Sasha Morozov cover

If you’ve ever had trouble setting and reaching goals, this conversation is for you. Sasha Morozov and I discuss why work-life balance is a bunch of BS, how you can make your home fit your lifestyle, and how to create and keep healthy habits to help you move toward what you want. Sasha has a ton of energy and passion that I’m sure will motivate and inspire you.

In This Episode:

  • Enjoying life by challenging the status quo
  • How to find what drives you
  • It’s a pendulum, not a balancing act
  • What it means to design your life
  • Start with the positive to set healthy habits – and stick with them
  • Tips for minimalism as a family

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Guest Bio:

Sasha Morozov

Sasha Morozov

Sasha Morozov is a former executive who holds a Master’s in Social Work and is the founder of Sasha x Home. When Sasha isn’t chasing after her two sons, she now utilizes her clinical skills to coach women who are killing it at work but feel like they are failing at home to have more time, less clutter, and systems for a peaceful life. Sasha believes that working moms are exceptional humans who are skilled, devoted, and unstoppable. Sasha is an avid minimalist, productivity master, and obsessed with organizing and designing people’s lives. Sasha has now developed a 4-Step Method that focuses on Self, Home, Relationships, and Systems to help moms hit start on the life they’ve put on pause.

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Sasha Morozov 0:00

Are you not willing to put up with the hefty mortgage anymore? Are you not willing to put up with a mess all the time because you have so much stuff? What are you not willing to put up with? And those are the things I want you to prioritize to do first.

Ethan Waldman 0:16

Welcome to the Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast, the show where you learn how to plan, build, and live the tiny lifestyle. I'm your host, Ethan Waldman, and this is episode

207 with Sasha Morozov,. My guest Sasha Morozov, thinks that work life balance is BS and I agree with her. Sasha is a former executive who holds a master's degree in social work and is the founder of Sasha x Home. And in this conversation, we talk about work life balance, how you can make a home fit your lifestyle, how to create creative habits and routines or systems to make your life more productive, and really with the goal of helping you move towards what you want. And Sasha has a lot of energy and is very enthusiastic about this topic. So I think you're going to enjoy the conversation. I hope you stick around.

I'd like to tell you about the sponsor of today's episode PrecisionTemp. PrecisionTemp is making one product to solve two issues that I know everyone deals with, running out of hot water and heating your tiny house or skoolie. PrecisionTemp has made the amazing TwinTemp Junior propane tankless water heater, which provides unlimited hot water for your tiny house and hydronic heating. This means you get warm heated floors, so there are no cold spots. It's designed specifically for tiny houses and features whisper quiet operation as well as high efficiency. If you want more information on how PrecisionTemp can make tiny living easier and more comfortable, visit precisiontemp.com. While you're there, use the coupon code THLP for $50 off any PrecisionTemp unit plus free shipping. That website again is precisiontemp.com coupon code THLP for $50 off any PrecisionTemp unit plus free shipping. Thank you so much to PrecisionTemp for sponsoring our show.

Right, I am here with Sasha Morozov. Sasha is a former executive who holds a master's in social work and is the founder of Sasha x Home. When Sasha isn't chasing after her two sons, she now utilizes her clinical skills to coach women who are killing it at work but feel like they are failing at home have more time, less clutter and systems for a peaceful life. Sasha believes that working moms are exceptional humans who are skilled, devoted and unstoppable. Sasha is an avid minimalist productivity master and obsessed with organizing and designing people's lives. Sasha Morozov, welcome to the show.

Sasha Morozov 3:00

Thanks so much for having me.

Ethan Waldman 3:02

Yeah, thanks for being here. I love your energy. And I'm excited to kind of dig in on a bunch of different topics there in your bio. But first, I was hoping maybe you could tell us your story. It sounds like you kind of went through a bit of a transformation from from executive to social worker. And can you tell us about about that?

Sasha Morozov 3:24

Absolutely. So look, I feel like I was always one of the lucky ones where I was in a job, in a career field that I loved. I loved. But guess what? After I had like the best time in my 20s I traveled, I had like no responsibilities, which many people feel that way in their 20s hopefully. And then by the time I got married, by time and kids, by the time we had a mortgage, all of this kind of stuff I felt heavy.

Ethan Waldman 3:49

Yeah.

Sasha Morozov 3:50

I was beat. And you know what everyone I was talking to was like, "Well, that's just how it is." And I was like, "That's, that shouldn't be just how it is." Just like the listeners that are living in tiny homes, probably made the decision along the way of recognizing like, why is a crazy mortgage, okay, for everybody else? Why is having excessive stuff and having like a 3000 square foot house, the norm, right? Like there's different ways to do that. And that's really where things came together for me as well, which is the fact that just like, "Why if I'm not the one enjoying life, when I feel like my husband and I have worked our way up in a career, we're, you know, financially stable, we have lots of friends and family that support us, we're not getting to enjoy life? Who is enjoying life?"

Ethan Waldman 4:37

Right, right.

Sasha Morozov 4:38

That's, yes, that's really where the less is more, which is kind of my motto really comes in and we started to have less. We also started to travel more, and we grew so much more as a family. I've never had better relationships with my kids, as I do now. So that's kind of where I'm at. And I transitioned into even pushing myself further, which is having my own business. You know, instead of doing the nine to five, I was running a great organization. Then I said, "Wait a minute, I could do this on my own, I could actually do the passion that I love, which is helping other working moms discover and go through a process, so that they can live more fulfilling lives so that they can stop living life and being mediocre."

Ethan Waldman 5:27

Yeah, and so there's so much there that I want to get into, because there are many working moms who are either living tiny or wanting to live tiny. And, you know, you describe that feeling of of everything being heavy, and like having to get out from under the big mortgage and all those things. You know, when you when you work with people, or when you give people advice, you know, where should they start? Because I know that that feeling of overwhelm of like, "Oh, my God, the mortgage is expensive, the house is dirty. I don't want to spend time with my kids, I have to go to work." Like there's so much so like, where do you where do you find the crack, and like, kind of expand from there?

Sasha Morozov 6:07

For anybody starting out, the biggest thing I can recommend is honestly, honestly, taking a look at your priorities and values. Okay, so on the big picture, that seems simple, right? You say, "Oh, I just want my kids to be healthy. I just want to have a good paying job." No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying truly, look, what is your priority? If your priority is to travel? If your priority is your kids education, if your priority is steady income, what is it exactly that's driving you? Because when you figure that out, then you're able to have that as a compass for all of the other decisions.

So if you're feeling that, you know, the most important thing is that I feel financial freedom, which I'm sure a lot of tiny home, folks feel, hopefully, right, hopefully. And if your priority is just to enjoy and have fun, that's kind of what I looked at as that I want to just have more fun. So what do I not want, I don't want to spend hours cleaning my house, what do I not want, I don't want to have to have constant fights with my partner and my kids about chores or things like that. That's what I don't want. So that's easy. So anything leading me in that direction, I'm out, I'm out anything of where I'm seeing different experiences, friends doing stuff, I want to be in there. And part of that what I've seen, especially as we get older, a little bit harder to make friends, you have to actually put yourself out there. But at the same time, if you have that compass of I just want to have fun, I want to live free, then you got to find that community that's also doing that as well. Because that's how you get inspired and get actually to the next step. So that holds you not even just hold you accountable. But the you see that it's possible. Like listening to this podcast, you're thinking about living tiny, anything like that you're seeing it slowly seeping in of how it can be possible.

Ethan Waldman 8:04

Got it. Yeah, and it sounds like you maybe help people implement systems that will help them maybe have a little bit more free time or or manage some of those things a little bit better so that they can achieve less, because it's like, it almost feels like sometimes you have to do more like in order to achieve less, if that makes sense.

Sasha Morozov 8:27

Yes, I try to get rid of the noise. That's kind of how I look at it, I try to really get rid of the noise. I try to get rid of expectations. And I try to get rid of that guilt. Especially if you're a mom, there's a lot of mom guilt out there. Even if you're not a mom, even if you're not a woman, guess what, there's always people you see, and you're thinking in your head, oh, well, I want to be like them, or they have everything and all of this stuff. So when you see that my tip for you is not just the surface letter level of like, I want to be them or I want what they have. Why? Why why why? Why? Go in deep look, go a level deeper than that. And think about what is it about them? Okay? Is it that they dress they dress up every time you see them no matter if you saw them at 6am or 6pm. And you're really attracted to the fact that wow, they can really put themselves together and I'm just in sweatpants all day. I love to live in sweatpants all day. Okay, so when I see somebody else, I'm like, I cheer you on girl. Okay, if you are like done with your hair and makeup by like 7am I'm impressed. I'm not jealous. But if somebody else is triggered by something like that, what is it? Somebody driving a flashy car or somebody just, you know, lives the life that you want. What is it? What is it about that life that you're most attracted to?

Ethan Waldman 9:51

Yeah, yeah. So go kind of going towards what, what you want and away from what you don't want. I mean, it's it sounds very simple when I say it back to you. But there's definitely a lot to that.

Sasha Morozov 10:03

Yes, it's a lot of self reflection.

Ethan Waldman 10:05

Yeah.

Sasha Morozov 10:05

Okay. Especially if you're living tiny, you have already started to make those transitions. Nobody. A lot of people anyway, don't just wake up and live tiny, they're making active choices for them. And that choice didn't happen overnight as well, is that you take time to prepare, you think about and you most of the time, you're downsizing. So you're really going through this like evaluation.

Ethan Waldman 10:27

Yeah, yeah. And I would say that most of my listeners are probably thinking about going tiny, they're dreaming about it. And they're in some, you know, some part of that journey. But you know, and I know, I do have listeners who do live tiny, but I would say the majority of them are on the other side of that they're, they're hoping this is something this is something that they want to move towards that that is their dream for their lifestyle.

Sasha Morozov 10:50

Yes. And when I say that is amazing, okay, don't beat yourself up if you're not there yet. Number one, okay. Number two, is the fact that you recognize this is what you want. You're already on your way there. What's the next small step that you can take to make it happen? And what's the next small step from that? Even just going through your closet? Even just Googling things online? That might be where you're at of just like, Okay, well, what does it really look like? Where would I want to be? What kind of tiny home would I want? Where would I you know, all of that. Those are tiny steps. So pat yourself on the back for the fact that you are already for you're listening to this, you're already doing some of those tiny steps and they'll add up, right?

Ethan Waldman 11:34

Yeah.

Sasha Morozov 11:34

And maybe you do need somebody that you can talk to just to plan it out. Maybe you need somebody that will just guide you or be a mentor or who has done it. And that But recognizing what is it that you need to get you to the next step? Because once you're there, you look back, and I promise you, you'll say, Oh, this that wasn't as bad as I thought. Think about it. How many times do we do something and then afterwards, we're like, Oh, I totally procrastinated on that, but at the end of the day, wasn't that bad? You know?

Ethan Waldman 12:07

Yeah, totally. And, and we were chatting a little bit before we started rolling, and I kind of shared that, you know, a lot of a lot of us who are either dreaming of living tiny or on our way to doing it. A big reason is, is that financial freedom because we want to work less and kind of live more. And so you've kind of put out there that you hate, you hate the term work-life balance. And so what do you what do you like to do instead? Or what is what is? How do you like to frame that instead?

Sasha Morozov 12:41

Yes, thank you for bringing that up. Okay. So let me tell you, when I think about work-life balance, I have this like mental picture of somebody, and they have like these balls in the air, and then one ball goes up, then the next ball, then the next ball. And each ball is maybe like home, work, kids chores, cleaning out whatever, right? And it's just this constant game of like going going and going. To me, that doesn't work. Because we're not robots, we're not just automatically, okay, here's the nine to five, and I'm done with work at five every day. And that's it. And I only, you know, have this much, whatever, I'm over that.

Instead, what I try to teach my clients and just anyone else, is the fact that I look at it as a pendulum, okay? Because when you think about it, in the fact that that sometimes they'll be in one direction. And sometimes it'll be in another, guess what happened, the times where you need to work more, because maybe you have a deadline or a client or a boss or whoever, especially if you're trying to build freedom, guess what, you might have to work a little bit more right now. But maybe when that big project isn't, you'll have two weeks off, or whatever kind of line of work that you're in. So instead of saying, Oh, I can't work past five, or I have to make enough time for my family. I look at it as a pendulum where you really just go from one side to the other, and you know that eventually even out.

So give yourself a break, stop trying to do everything by how it should be, and so doing about what's in front of you, especially if you're looking for that financial freedom, and you're looking for that time freedom as well. Well, guess what? You might it might look differently, especially if you're an entrepreneur, if you have a small business, those that looks very different than a nine to five.

Ethan Waldman 14:35

Yeah.

Sasha Morozov 14:35

Or maybe you have a nine to five and you clock out at five and you're like I this works for me. Right? If it works for you. But guess what? Sometimes maybe you want to go climb a mountain somewhere, right? That's like a two day trip instead. And so what if that's on a Monday? Come on, do it. Just know that that you're in one direction and by Tuesday, you might need to spend some extra work good But actual workout work, right? Because you weren't there Monday. Okay? So, live your life. Have fun. Do it your way.

Ethan Waldman 15:10

Right? Right. So just so I understand it's like, rather than thinking about work all the time when you're at home and thinking about home all the time, when you're at work, just kind of be present where you are. Put in the work when you're at work and be home when you're home and stop trying to like, think of both all the time.

Sasha Morozov 15:30

Not just think of both all the time, but recognize that it's not going to be a perfect like, this is the time that I'm doing this, and this is the time don't do that. Stop the guilt of like, well, I shouldn't have to work at night, then bla bla bla bla bla, my husband has been working at like, during the day, and at night, you can see he has lots of projects, whatever, right? And he's kind of sitting there being like, Why do I have to work at night? It's like, this is just what I need to do. This is a time for a bigger project, and I need to be there. So what give yourself some break up, guess what, then that gives us flexibility as a family, because then when we travel, it's so much easier for him to take off, because he's already kind of knock things out ahead of time as well.

Ethan Waldman 16:13

Got it. Got it. Okay.

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So how do you you know, we're talking a lot about what I consider to be like lifestyle design. And I was kind of introduced to that concept a million years ago when Tim Ferriss wrote The 4-Hour Workweek that's kind of got me on to lifestyle design. How do you define lifestyle design? What's What's your kind of personal take on that?

Sasha Morozov 17:27

I can tell you, I definitely have The 4-Hour Work Week.

Ethan Waldman 17:29

I mean, it's a classic tome.

Sasha Morozov 17:31

How do you not, right? How do you not, you know, I will tell you for me, I'm in a different stage of life. Like I have kids, right? So while in my 20s, I was like traveling, living abroad, like doing my thing, enjoying life, that's what you should be doing. And now I'm in a different stage of life. But guess what, I'm setting my life up for the way that works best for me and my family. I'm not just putting travel on hold because I have kids. Instead, we're trying to design our lives around the fact that we're going to stay put during the school year. But we're going to do a month in the winter and three months in the summer abroad. Because that works for us. Why? Because we're still us. We still enjoy travel. We're still trying to live our lives and not wait till the kids are in college to try to do something for ourselves.

Ethan Waldman 18:23

Right.

Sasha Morozov 18:23

Okay. So for me lifestyle design is really like, okay, yes, it may not be Oh, like this ideal because my husband and I both have flexible jobs that we could work, "anywhere", you know. But if we were in our 20s, we would, but that's just not the stage of life that we're at right now. However, how is it that we're taking our passion for that, like financial freedom that travel all of that, and building it around the fact of look, it really makes sense for our kids, again, for our kids personalities, for them to stay put in one school for a whole year versus homeschool, right? So for us, that makes sense. We're building our life around that that's like kind of the foundation of where we're like, Okay, this is our must. Our kids must be one school during the school year.

Ethan Waldman 19:12

Right.

Sasha Morozov 19:12

And then just kind of building upon that as well. You know?

Ethan Waldman 19:16

Yeah. Yeah. Very cool. Very cool. You seem like you're really into kind of systems and habits and routines. Do you have a framework or a way that you like to look at creating new habits and routines so that they they work?

Sasha Morozov 19:33

Yes. Okay. So let me tell you, one of the biggest things I see when it comes to habits is not the fact that we may not want to, like think about a person that wakes up and is like, I'm gonna lose 20 pounds today. Okay,

Ethan Waldman 19:45

"Today."

Sasha Morozov 19:45

Why do people - okay, maybe not today. Well, maybe like today, I'm gonna start. Good point. Today, I'm going to start losing the 20 pounds. But then what happens a week later they give up okay, why does that happen all the time? To me that happens because you don't have the foundation plate. Your WHY is not strong enough your core of why you're doing this is not strong enough. If your why is, you know, I just want to look better. Okay, well, maybe that's enough of a pressure for some, but that's not going to be enough of a push for most people. So in terms of when you're instead of jumping into a habit, I want you to first figure out what is your why is this so important? And is it important enough that you're willing to sacrifice other things? Because if it's not at that point, that's okay. It's just not the right time for that right now. So why waste your breath?

Instead, I want you to figure out what is what are you not willing to put up with anymore? Just like if you're thinking about downsizing, what do you not want? Are you not willing to put up with a hefty mortgage anymore? Are you not willing to put up with, you know, all a mess all the time? Because you have so much stuff? What are you not willing to put up with it? What is your tipping point, and those are the things I want you to prioritize to do first, okay. And when you get the hang of that, then you can work on the smaller half.

However, one of the things I will always say, is the fact when it comes to habits, most people think about restricting themselves. Most people think, oh, I should do less social media, I'm going to go to bed earlier, and all of this good stuff, right? What I say is what are three positive things that you enjoy doing? Okay, maybe you love reading a book, maybe you love yoga, maybe you love hiking, whatever. And instead, I want you to think of a time next week, for one hour. Okay, and calendar it as this is what I'm going to do, okay. And the reason I say three instead of one is it goes back to kind of the whole philosophy of balance, which is the fact that we're not robots. So you may love yoga, but you may not be super interested to do yoga, every single Thursday at 1pm, right? Maybe one Thursday, you want to do yoga, but the next Thursday, you don't. And what I'm saying is, that's okay, I don't want you to miss that hour, just because you're not in the mood to do yoga, maybe you're in the mood to meditate. Instead that hour, maybe you're in the mood to do something a little more active that hour. I want you to instead have a block of one hour. And what and you have three to five options, I usually don't ask people to have more than five options ever, because then we're just, we just get into decisiveness with too many options. But if we have three to five, we have a block of time, then we feel a little bit more control of where we have those options, but that block of time is still dedicated for us.

So focus on the positive, do something for yourself and get into that habit. It doesn't mean that it needs to be I'm going to journal every night, I'm gonna, you know, lose the 20 pounds, whatever it is, start with the positive. And then if you succeeding it that add more positive things, more options that you would like so maybe one one day, if you want to be to more healthy eating right, you have a few options about healthy eating, but give yourself some options. Because the more we try to restrict ourselves, the more we make it harder for ourselves. The more we say I'm only I'm going gluten free all of a sudden, right? Like yeah, the more we want bread that day, like come on, let's think about the positives and make sure we have limited choices and a block of time to do do it.

Ethan Waldman 23:37

Yeah. And that's that's kind of making me think a little bit of when I was building my tiny house, which now it's coming on 10 years. But I remember that I would really feel guilty. Because the project was dragging on it took way longer than I thought it was going to. And like anytime I did something that was just recreation, like going for a bike ride or going skiing, I kind of felt this guilt that like, Oh, this is time that I should have been working on my tiny house or like any thing that I do that isn't working on the tiny house is like delaying this end goal even more. And it sounds like you might have a different take on that.

Sasha Morozov 24:19

Oh my gosh, absolutely. Again, we're not robots. Okay, we're robots. Guess what, you'd be a factory making tiny houses. Right?

Ethan Waldman 24:27

Right.

Sasha Morozov 24:27

Instead, we're creative people. And building is a way of creative rest. But there are seven different types of rest as well. And when we just do something all the time, you may have the best career you may love what you do. That doesn't mean that every doesn't mean that once in a while. I'm not allowed to just be like I don't feel like getting up.

Ethan Waldman 24:49

Yeah.

Sasha Morozov 24:50

Like, I don't feel like doing this podcast today. Right? Like, even though this is amazing. So what we all have good days we all have bad days here. yourself a break. And that's why I'm so passionate about the fact that you have, again, a few options and you understand yourself and what will make you feel better. Instead of just restricting yourself putting more limitations on yourself, you'll end up getting to where you want to be a lot faster. I'm so over the like, you know, you can't do this. You shouldn't be doing that. As long as you're safe. Okay, I'm not saying go crazy. Don't go skydiving without a parachute here. People. Okay. Be like Sasha told me? No. However, I do feel like we put a lot of stuff on our own shoulders that we just don't need to. And we should be starting to kind of figure out how do we get out of that? How do we make make small steps and get out of this fog? So we could just hang out in the daytime in the sunlight?

Ethan Waldman 25:51

Yeah, yeah. I like that. It's, I like how you, you seem like you really use imagery. And I don't know if metaphor is the right word, but imagery to kind of drive these points home. And I think that that's really helpful for people that that vision of hanging out in the daytime instead of in the fog.

Sasha Morozov 26:10

Yes, and if it rains once in a while, that's okay. Do Yeah, it rains in my world once in a while to me, especially if you have kids. Holy moly. They are a lot, right.

Ethan Waldman 26:22

Yeah.

Sasha Morozov 26:23

And I'll tell you a story, you know, for. I mean, I years ago, when, like, the tiny houses really started to come out. I tried to convince my mom like, but think about the possibilities. It was like not for us, like, okay, fine. But when we travel, we, you know, with our two kids, we've stayed in like small, smaller places, especially when you travel abroad, like places are not huge, you know, like Europe looks very different than the US of owning a home. And I can tell you, honestly, just from personal experience, it was so much easier, and so much easier in so many different ways of being in such a smaller place with kids. Even though I swore I was like, no no no, my kids, there's no way that ever make it with like without toys, they'll just be on the screens all day, we just have these like, you know, made up things in our minds. Instead, we spent so much more time outdoors, okay, because they didn't have all their toys, we brought Legos. And we brought like coloring books. That's it. And they played with them. But at home, we have all like, you know, more options. They're telling me they're bored, and they don't have anything to play with all the time. So again, it's just the stories that we tell ourselves, especially when it comes to can we live with less, you know, and another way to look at it. And I usually say this for like career advice. Because I see a lot of women not taking the leap of like, "lean in" and all of like asking for more. It's just a fact of like, what can you get away with? Can you get away with less stuff? Can you get away with asking for more? Can you get away with asking for a bigger role in, you know, company or project or whatever it is? Can you get away with just living less? Right? So that's another way I think for women, especially it, it allows them to kind of think in a different way.

Ethan Waldman 28:21

Yeah. Well, that's actually a great transition into minimalism, because you've been, you know, talking about how, you know, it can be really difficult, you know, to do this work and to kind of maintain this and have family. So, can you talk about, you know, productivity and minimalism with a family?

Sasha Morozov 28:42

Yes, one of the biggest things I will say is please try to not get rid of your, your partner or your kids stuff without them knowing. Okay, so that's like my number one thing because people always say, okay, so when the kids go to school, I'll just like empty their bins, I'm like, Oh, my God, trauma, that kid's gonna come home and be so sad. Okay. Also, is understanding personality. Okay. So when you're working with in a home, living in a home with other people, other people's personalities come in. So what I mean is that in clinical work in therapy world, we have these like Stages of Change, okay? Meaning like, we kind of gauge where the persons that so you may be ready, like, oh my gosh, I'm so ready to get rid of my closeted I'm so ready to do this, this and that. Yeah, but your partner and kids may not be there. Okay? That doesn't mean that you keep up. That doesn't mean that you just forget about it. It just means you need to look at it differently. You need to think of different strategies to help them understand the value. Okay? Me telling my kid that he should get rid of his toys because, you know, it creates more freedom and space and well being is not gonna work. Okay.It's just not/

Ethan Waldman 29:55

I don't think so.

Sasha Morozov 29:57

But again, the education part can look different, like Watching videos. So hey what can we use that space for instead? How can we do fun thing? Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, oh, we can play basketball then in this space because we now are going to have all this space because we got rid of XYZ, right? Like, oh, it's so much easier to find your stuff like it can, it's just communicating the way that people are able to hear it. So that's number two, one, don't get rid of people's stuff without them knowing. Two, communicate in a way that they can hear you. And three is again, it's all about steps.

Alright, I don't know about you. But this is the thing that I've seen a lot, which is like Marie Kondo and everything. And like, you throw everything in the middle of the room, you either love it or hate it, and that's it. And then works for someone that's amazing. But again, I feel empowered when I have choices. So I'm going to give you guys a few ideas for different choices, rather than doing that. Okay. So one is a timer. Okay. One is you go through your closet, a kitchen or drawer, whatever it looks like, with a timer. Again, people work differently. Some people like the feel of pressure, they know they're like, last minute people, you know, those people that like, get something by the deadline of like, 11:59. Okay, you're one of those people having a timer might work of like, set 10 minutes aside 20 minutes, whatever your comfort zone is, okay? No more than like, 25 minutes, but hey, okay, so to say go through stuff, and just be like, oh, yeah, don't even take it out. Just look open the door be like, Yes, this is a yes, this is a no this, this is very, some people's minds just need like, less options, less options. But again, some other people are super attached to stuff. Okay.

So what do we do for the people that everything is sentimental? Everything is like, Nope, I need 10 of these T shirts are exact same thing. And you're like, this makes no sense. So for those, a tip that I can share is the fact of you know, that this might not be the quickest way. However, look at your closet, take a look. I mean, there's the backwards hanger trick, which is like, you put all your clothes in the on one way of the hanger. And if you use it, then you change the hanger way. And then you can see after a little while, how many things you actually wear and how many things you don't. But let's talk about just general stuff that you're attached to. Which is the fact of take there because there's so many things we feel were attached to. We don't actually use Okay, yeah. So take a box, go pick a room, many rooms, how everyone do it, and put all that stuff that's like the maybe, okay, because that's where we kind of get lost is in the maybe like, maybe I could use this. Maybe well, maybe When summer comes around, don't wear this, right? Put all those maybes in a box and figure out a date, whatever you feel comfortable either three months or six months from now. Put that date on it, and see what happens. Put it in another space. Let's see what happens. Do you actually think about any of those items? Do you actually look at those things, put a calendar invite for that date in your phone, or a reminder, because I'm telling you'll be able to hide easier to let go? Especially if those maybes six months, three months down the line, when you see Oh, I haven't touched anything in that box. I've used one thing from that box. But hey, I really haven't used it. So it's also another kind of quick tip on that as well.

Ethan Waldman 33:31

Got it. Those are great tips. Thank you for sharing those. This has been such a fun chat. One thing that I like to ask all my guests is, you know, what are two or three books or resources. You know, there could be people YouTube channels, books, blogs, anything that have influenced you or helped you along on your journey that you'd like to recommend to our listeners.

Sasha Morozov 33:50

Oh my gosh. So I have a four step system that I walk people through - self, home, relationships, and habit. So I'll give you a book from each one, which is kind of like my thing. So first is You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero. I'm telling you. That is a classic. Okay, that's hands down. Classic.

Ethan Waldman 34:11

Yep.

Sasha Morozov 34:12

And then for the home part, it's the home, the Happiness Project.

Ethan Waldman 34:17

Okay.

Sasha Morozov 34:17

And it's a woman who really just spends like a year at home and kind of going through some of the things and seeing her journey. I loved it. And then one for relationships is called Fairplay. So if you are with a partner, and you want to just kind of figure out how to how to better communicate or some strategies Fair Play. Great. And then the Atomic Habits for habits is really kind of like for resources right there.

Ethan Waldman 34:44

That's awesome. Well, thank you so much. And it sounds like you also have kind of some resources of your own. I believe there's a 5 Steps to Coming Home Happy From Work, which I'll link to from the show notes page. Sasha Morozov, thank you so much for being a guest on the show today.

Sasha Morozov 35:00

Absolutely thank you so much for having me. This was amazing.

Ethan Waldman 35:05

Thank you so much to Sasha Morozov for being a guest on the show today, you can find the show notes at thetinyhouse.net/207. There you will find a complete transcript of this episode, as well as the books and resources that Sasha generously shared with us. And while you're there, consider sharing this episode with a friend. We are always looking for new listeners and a personal recommendation is the best way for the Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast to reach someone. So share this show on social media, share it in email, share it however you want. I appreciate your help with that. And as always, I am your host, Ethan Waldman, and I'll be back next week with another episode of the Tiny House Lifestyle Podcast.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

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