Declutter to Get Curious
Clear the canvas first — an empty space is the only place a new idea can land.
- Difficulty
- Starter
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 80%
Declutter to Get Curious is the opening move of Wells' preparation phase. Clutter isn't only physical — it hides in your digital files, your calendar and your desktop — and the sudden urge to clear it is often your first signal that a new season is beginning or something is unaligned. Removing it opens literal space that curiosity can then fill. Even when you can't fix the underlying problem immediately, naming why the clutter exists and giving yourself grace reduces the stress. The goal is a white canvas onto which you can start adding colors.
Origin
Wells noticed that when she was heading into a stressful manufacturing launch she instinctively decluttered a space before she even understood why. Reflecting later, she realized decluttering was how she processed the coming pressure and cleared room to get curious and know her numbers. She observed the same pattern in reverse — her home gets messiest in a bad headspace — and built it into her book as the entry point to preparation.
Core principles
- 01Clutter hides in many places: physical, digital, calendar, and desktop.
- 02The urge to declutter is often your first signal that something is unaligned or that a new season is starting.
- 03Decluttering opens literal space you can fill with something that serves you better.
- 04Awareness without an immediate fix still reduces stress — name why the clutter exists and give yourself grace.
- 05A clear canvas is the precondition for curiosity and new ideas.
How to run it
- 1
Find the clutter across all zones
Look beyond the physical mess to digital clutter, calendar clutter and desktop clutter — the places overwhelm quietly accumulates.
Pro tip Notice which zone you reach for first; it often reveals what you're processing.
- 2
Clear a space and name why
Physically or digitally clear a space, and if you spot a problem you can't solve now, name why it exists and set a date to address it.
Pro tip Self-soothing — 'I'm traveling for two weeks, then I'll fix this' — already relieves stress.
Watch out Clutter with no understood cause needs a deeper diagnosis of what's going on.
- 3
Move onto the white canvas
With space cleared, shift into curiosity — research, learn, and let new ideas land on the blank canvas you've created.
Pro tip Think of it as getting to a white canvas so you can start adding the colors.
In the wild
Facing a new manufacturing line shipping to retail partners, Wells felt panic building and instinctively decluttered a space before she understood why. Once done, the next principles — get curious, know your numbers — opened up and she rolled through them easily.
→ She moved smoothly from overwhelm into productive preparation.
Common mistakes
Letting clutter pile up with no clue why
Clutter you can't explain signals a deeper misalignment that needs a real diagnosis, not just tidying.
Is it for you?
Best for
People facing a big new project who feel scattered and can't get started.
Not ideal for
Situations where the real blocker is a concrete external constraint, not mental or physical clutter.
From the transcript
“the first thing I did... was I went and decluttered a space... and then the next principle get curious it automatically seemed to open up…”
“get yourself to a white canvas where you can then start to add the colors”
From the episode
Tina Wells: The Elevation Approach, How to Achieve Work-Life Harmony While Still Crushing Your Goals
Tina Wells