How to Reclaim Time and Live Clutter Free with Megan Sumrell (Ep 321)

About the episode

Time expert Megan Sumrell joins Deanna to show how reclaiming your time is the missing piece of living clutter free, and where to start this week.

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You have cleared the clutter out of your closets, your kitchen counters, maybe even your kids' toy bins. But what about your calendar? In this episode, Deanna sits down with time management expert Megan Sumrell, founder of The Pink Bee and host of the Work + Life Harmony podcast, to talk about why living clutter free has to include your time, not just your stuff.

Megan spent over 20 years in corporate IT before a single Friday morning changed everything. She had rewritten the same unfinished task on her to-do list so many times that when she finally counted, it had been sitting there for six straight weeks with no intention of ever getting done.

That moment sent her looking for a better system, one built around how women's brains, bodies, and lives actually work instead of a productivity model designed for a 24-hour workday with no interruptions.

Deanna and Megan get into what is quietly cluttering up your week without you noticing, why a full to-do list is not the same thing as a plan, and the invisible work that piles up the same way unused stuff piles up in a junk drawer.

What You Will Learn

  • Why a clutter free life includes your calendar, not just your closets

  • The biggest, most overlooked time thief most women never notice

  • How to set up your phone so you're only interrupted for what truly matters

  • Why everyone should have at least two email addresses, and how to use them

  • What invisible work really is, and why it rarely gets seen or credited

  • How household COO time clears the clutter out of your mental load

  • Why a daily to-do list sets your brain up for decision fatigue

  • The real difference between reactive list-making and proactive weekly planning

  • Why traditional time blocking fails women, and what to build in instead

  • How a decluttered home and a decluttered schedule reinforce each other

  • Why rest is not a reward you earn, but a required part of the plan

A Note From Me:

I could have talked to Megan for another three hours. What stuck with me most is how much this felt like every other decluttering conversation I have ever had, just pointed at a different room in my life. You cannot organize your way out of too much stuff, and you cannot plan your way out of too many commitments. Living clutter free means being willing to clear both.

I also cannot stop thinking about household COO time. Just one visible block on the calendar each week for all of the admin work nobody else can see. It is such a simple shift, and it changes the whole conversation from I feel overwhelmed and I don't know why to here is exactly what is on my plate this week.

Resources Mentioned:

Links mentioned in this episode (some may be affiliate links):

LEARN MORE

  • The Pink Bee app, available on the App Store and Google Play, with free training inside

  • The Work + Life Harmony podcast, hosted by Megan Sumrell

  • Skylight Calendar, the shared digital calendar Deanna and Megan both use as their family communication center

CONNECT WITH MEGAN SUMRELL

CONNECT WITH DEANNA

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About Megan Sumrell:

Megan Sumrell is a Time Management Expert who helps overwhelmed women create harmony in their lives through planning systems built specifically for how women's brains work. After spending over 20 years in corporate process improvement, she discovered that conventional time management fails women because it wasn't designed for the realities of caregiving, mental load, and high uncertainty. As the creator of the TOP Program and TOP Planner, Megan teaches women to turn their unrealistic to-do lists into realistic, flexible plans.

BEFORE YOU GO!

✨ Snag my DAILY routine that keeps my home tidy & calm in just minutes a day ✨

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About Deanna Yates

Based in San Diego, CA, Deanna helps high-achieving moms clear the clutter from their homes and lives.

Through coaching, courses, summits, and her top-ranked Wannabe Clutter Free podcast, she supports modern women in building organized, peaceful homes where they can thrive.


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