What if less tech is the key to more life?

Digital Detox: Less Tech, More Flow ⚡️ (Living Lucky® Podcast)

Feeling the drag of tech clutter? 😩 That hidden complexity is draining your focus and creative momentum!

In this episode, we share how a guest visit sparked a full digital detox and studio reset. We expose the psychological cost of tech hoarding and unveil the secret to flow: the Minimum Viable Setup (MVP). Your self-help guide to making gear an invitation to create, not a chore.

Flow Unlocked: Key Takeaways:

• Hidden Cost: Buying new cables is easier than finding the old? Decision fatigue is killing your momentum. Don't waste attention hunting for cords!
• The Silent Trap: Unlike phones, your space doesn't auto-update. Actively declutter the old (physically & mentally).
• Procrastination Cure: "Studio perfect" is just overengineering. The cure: MVP—the smallest setup to press record now.
• Team Harmony: Different work styles cause friction. A shared system creates emotional harmony from physical clarity.
• Creative Fuel: Use constraints (e.g., one-in-one-out) to focus efforts and prevent rebuild.
• Power of Cadence: A small, recurring decluttering rhythm beats a heroic purge. Friction removed = momentum restored!

Ready for clarity, positive thinking, and creative flow? Simplify the start, systemize the middle, and ship more often.

MVP for content creation, basic studio setup, Tech clutter organization, getting rid of old cables, Overcoming creative block, perfectionism and work stall, Reducing decision fatigue, too many options overwhelm, Aligning team organization, creative collaboration friction, Physical space organization, constant clutter accumulation, Maintaining decluttering momentum, preventing clutter creep, Using constraints in creation, benefits of limitations in art/work, Emotional impact of clutter, mindset of tech overwhelm

• How to declutter old technology and cords.
• The psychological weight of clutter.
• Minimum viable setup for content creation.
• How to overcome creative procrastination (overengineering).
• The link between physical space and mental clarity.
• How

Transcript

From Doom Loop to Upward Cycle

Jana Shelfer 0:00

Are you ready to create a life you crave? Let's spin that doom loop of negativity into an upward success cycle and start Living Lucky®. Good morning. Good morning. I'm Jana. I'm Jason. And we are Living Lucky®.

Jason Shelfer 0:18

You are too.

Jana Shelfer 0:20

We have guests coming this week. And so we are guest.

Jason Shelfer 0:25

The our guest.

Jana Shelfer 0:27

Put our service to the test. That's exactly what's happening. They're putting our hospitality to the test. And this has been such a good thing for us. It has. Because we've realized that we how expensive guests are. No. We've realized that we needed to declutter so that people could come into our space.

Jason Shelfer 0:52

We kind of just need to freshen up a bit.

Tech Pileup and Hidden Costs

Jana Shelfer 0:54

We do. You know, technology moves so quickly. And when we first started our business, we bought a bunch of cameras, bunch of cords, bunch of crap, receivers, all sorts of, you know, podcast tables and whatnot. And our podcast literally went from one room and then it grew into two rooms. And then it literally took over the in-law suite. And so in order to make room for people to come stay with us, we needed to go through some of our old equipment. And when I say old, it's only four years old. But because technology has moved so quickly in the past five years, and I believe it's just going to continue to be exacerbated or on this.

Jason Shelfer 1:47

Yeah, and one of the things, like when especially when you talk about technology and things like that, you don't see what's going on. Like we don't see what's going on in our computers or in our iPhones when there's an quote unquote update. So when there's an update inside the phone, there's computer programming that's going in there and they're cleaning out a bunch of stuff and they're putting in the new.

Jana Shelfer 2:09

Yes.

Jason Shelfer 2:10

And we we haven't done that. So because in my mind, I hold on to a lot of things just in case I'm gonna need it later.

Jana Shelfer 2:18

Jason holds on to things, plus he likes toys. Yeah. So we're constantly buying things. And then here's the problem that we face when we couldn't find the right cord attachment or the right adapter, we would simply go to Amazon and buy new.

Jason Shelfer 2:34

Or Best Buy or the Apple Store.

Updates, Hoarding, and Throwaway Culture

Jana Shelfer 2:37

Because our society has become a throwaway society, and I've been guilty of that. However, we haven't done the we haven't cleaned the throwaway through through and cleaned out the old so that the new can continue to come in. And I'm not sure what the answer is. I'm not sure what the answer is, but where I want to focus this podcast is the feeling I have right now.

Jason Shelfer 3:03

Yeah, there's a lightness right now and a freedom and a motivation.

Jana Shelfer 3:08

Yes. I think both of us are so excited to start filming again and to start diving into our YouTube. And the reason is is because we have decluttered our digital space.

Jason Shelfer 3:23

I feel like there's there's a freedom, there's a lightness, and it's opened up this space for creativity.

Jana Shelfer 3:30

It is amazing. I not only see it in you, you're like, oh, these we found GoPros. And you're like, we could use this when we ski, and we could use this when we dance, and even, you know, we've had so many ideas along the way. However, like when we ski every day, and yet when it's time to get the GoPro, it's like we're gonna miss the water. We gotta go.

The Lift of a Digital Declutter

Jason Shelfer 3:54

Because it had gotten overcomplicated. And just like when we started with the podcast, so sometimes we got overcomplicated. Like we built a podcast, like literally a podcast table where with no chords, all that. And that's great, it's beautiful. But it wasn't like we had the million dollars that iHeartRadio has to come in and build the studio and build this out of the video. We just have the engineers, engineers to go on a daily basis and come in and make this the sound crisp and perfect. So, but we were trying to do all that on our own.

Jana Shelfer 4:29

We were updating the set, we were updating ourselves, we were working on our speaking soundboards on like sound suppression systems within the walls.

Jason Shelfer 4:37

It was insanity.

Jana Shelfer 4:39

Trying to hone in on our message. And we, I mean, there's just so much when you start really unpacking.

Overengineering Kills Momentum

Jason Shelfer 4:49

And so just on a simple thing like using the GoPros, I mean, that is that has already been dumbed down by the manufacturer. I know. And then I was I was getting complicated with all the widgets and gadgets with galore.

Jana Shelfer 5:02

You're like the little mermaid.

Jason Shelfer 5:04

I've got gadgets and gadgets galore. Well, sometimes gadgets and gadgets galore complicate things because I wanted to connect it to everything. Yes. So, and all we needed to do was say, what is the first thing? Like, what's the minimum viable product? Which is in the business coaching that I do, like what's the minimum viable product?

Jana Shelfer 5:24

I know.

Jason Shelfer 5:24

Where like what do we want to connect it to first? So and let's just start there.

Jana Shelfer 5:30

We're human, we're human.

Jason Shelfer 5:32

And even though we know the tools, sometimes sometimes you don't why do I know what to do, and sometimes I don't do what I know.

Jana Shelfer 5:40

Well, we all do that. That's the problem in life. We know what to eat, we sometimes don't.

Jason Shelfer 5:45

We know how to exercise, we sometimes we know how to make money, we sometimes don't, right?

Minimum Viable Setup Mindset

Jana Shelfer 5:52

It's it's putting it all together in congruence, and there's so many facets to that, and for us, decluttering, declut. So I'm just gonna. This is a relationship thing right here. Jason operates sometimes with a lot of things happening at once. Jana does not. Jana is needs things to be labeled and in their place, and I need room to move, and my physical space literally affects my brain and my soul.

Jason Shelfer 6:29

Yeah.

Jana Shelfer 6:30

Whereas you tend to be able to compartmentalize those two things. You're like, okay, yeah, so my my desk is a mess, but my brain is fine.

Jason Shelfer 6:39

Yeah, I can and I can set things off to the side. Like I don't have to finish this to get to that.

Jana Shelfer 6:45

Whereas, and this is where we have maybe held each other back a little bit.

Jason Shelfer 6:51

I think also it's in so yes, and because it's where we've held each other back in some places, and it's also where we've propelled each other forward in some places. Yes.

Jana Shelfer 7:00

So but would we both agree that when we really get congruent and aligned with where both of us operate best, it we're gonna soar.

Jason Shelfer 7:12

100%. We are soaring. 100%.

Relationship Styles and Workspace

Jana Shelfer 7:15

And for us, we just want to let you know that going through our digital detox, that's what we've been doing today. A digital detox. Because and if you looked at our space, it looked like everything was organized.

Jason Shelfer 7:34

Yeah, we had some people here just this past weekend and they were just wild and impressed.

Jana Shelfer 7:40

Yeah, like our space is organized and put away. However, you open the closet, you open that closet door and you really start getting into microphone accessories.

Jason Shelfer 7:50

Right.

Jana Shelfer 7:50

It is so there's so many cords in that microphone accessory bin.

Jason Shelfer 7:55

Or if you went through the junk drawer or like things like that.

Jana Shelfer 7:58

And we're we're finding cords that were like the old where you plug into the wall.

Jason Shelfer 8:05

They're like the old phone cords.

Jana Shelfer 8:07

Yes.

Jason Shelfer 8:08

Like I forget what they were called, like DSLR or something like that. I don't I can't even remember what they're called.

Jana Shelfer 8:13

And so it's weird. Yeah. You know, sometimes you high-speed internet cords. So it's easy to go into someone's living room and say, oh my gosh, they're stuck in the 90s or they're stuck in the early 2000s or even the 80s or 70s, whatever. You're like, oh, I don't know about this chartreuse carpet.

Jason Shelfer 8:35

Is that a CD player? However, is that an eight-track player?

Jana Shelfer 8:40

I mean, our equipment is only five years old.

Jason Shelfer 8:44

And well, somebody right now is going, you have five-year-old equipment. Right?

Jana Shelfer 8:49

That that is true.

Jason Shelfer 8:50

Somebody's saying that because they're like, you don't update your equipment every other year or every year.

Jana Shelfer 8:55

And or every six months.

Jason Shelfer 8:56

Oh, half of it.

Organized Outside, Chaos in Closets

Jana Shelfer 8:58

Now that we have decluttered and gone through it, I think we might need to make that a rule. I think maybe come January, we need to go through it. And here's the thing, though, the more you go through it, the more it's less of a chore.

Jason Shelfer 9:13

Yeah.

Jana Shelfer 9:14

It's like the more you stay on top of that mountain, it's not that hard to climb.

Jason Shelfer 9:18

Technology is becoming kind of like um a medical exam. Like you kind of have to stay on top of it, or you you do end up falling behind because catching up with like I remember when I moved from like an iPhone 5 to an iPhone 12.

Jana Shelfer 9:36

Yes.

Jason Shelfer 9:36

And I was like, whoa, how do I like this is a lot to catch up on. And it was the same phone, different systems, and all this. Like, I moved to a new phone because they were like, you can't upgrade this anymore. Like it, you can't update it anymore. Like it's not accepting your updates anymore. I was like, okay.

Jana Shelfer 10:01

I mean, you you said CD or DVD player, CD player. I mean, I have DVDs that I love the content that's on there.

Jason Shelfer 10:09

Right.

Jana Shelfer 10:10

However, it it feels like time is more valuable these days, and I really just don't have the time to go in and watch these DVDs.

Fast Tech Cycles and Friction

Jason Shelfer 10:23

Yeah, or or even just move to the DVD player to watch it. Reject it, put something new in. When you can just literally click a button or tell your television to go to a different movie. And I or different programming.

Jana Shelfer 10:37

I hate to say this, but it's just gonna continue to get faster and faster and faster. It's almost like we need to learn to learn faster.

Jason Shelfer 10:47

And it's cheaper to like taking the things from digital format to a different format. I feel bad. Someone out there right now that is in a business of transferring media from one uh media to another.

Jana Shelfer 11:01

They're gonna be out of business.

Jason Shelfer 11:02

Well, they will always have the photos and things like that. Like other people, like when people have taken the videos of family videos and like those personal things, but transferring like old movies, like things that you purchased, you will never be able to do that more cost effectively than just buying new.

Jana Shelfer 11:25

Yeah, but here's here's the flip side of all that is we have a trash problem. And we are becoming a throwaway society, and eventually the pendulum is going to swing, is gonna have to swing a little bit the other way, otherwise we're gonna we're gonna dirty up our nests.

Jason Shelfer 11:46

Yeah. I like that.

Jana Shelfer 11:47

Right?

Jason Shelfer 11:48

I mean, I don't like dirtying up our nest. But it's a good analogy. That's a very good analogy. And then how do we how do you detox our digital detox or or clean up the only planet that we're currently able to inhabit?

Waste, Sustainability, and Balance

Jana Shelfer 12:01

That's what I'm saying. So I there's mixed messages that we're we're sharing with you today. I just want to tell you though, going through this stuff has just lightened my this heaviness around our career. It has lightened it so much. So I want to thank you for that.

Jason Shelfer 12:22

Well, thank you. I feel like I can fly right now.

Jana Shelfer 12:25

And I also am now putting attention on we need to stay in the now.

Jason Shelfer 12:33

Well, and I think putting intentional constraints on our time, like and maybe we'll do another podcast on intentional constraints because that has forced us into making these choices and making these uh improvements.

Gratitude and Closing CTA

Jana Shelfer 12:48

Yeah, so I want to thank our guests for coming to visit us this week because it really has given us an opportunity to be better. Thanks for joining us.

Jason Shelfer 12:59

Keep Living Lucky®.

Jana Shelfer 13:00

Bye bye. If the idea of Living Lucky® appeals to you, visit us at LivingLucky.com.