The Red Dress Method: Clearing the Clutter and Cutting the Crap

Let me set the scene: It’s 3 am. I’m wide awake, phone in hand, taking yet another screenshot of a random idea I’m probably never going to look at again. My brain’s whirring, tabs are open (literally and mentally), and my to-do list looks like it’s been on a high-carb diet.

Sound familiar?

Look, I wear a lot of hats—lawyer, business owner, hypnotherapist, mum. And for a long time, I wore them all while drowning in the world’s longest list of ideas, half-finished tasks, and screenshots of things I might do “one day.”

Then I discovered what I now call The Red Dress Method—and honestly, it’s been a game changer.

Wait… What’s the Red Dress Got to Do with Anything?

So I was watching a video from Alex Hormozi (you know, the guy with the beard and the tank tops), and he mentioned a scene from The Matrix—a movie I’ve never seen, by the way—where there’s a woman in a red dress who’s meant to be a distraction. That concept stuck with me.

Because distractions? I’m basically their poster child.

From that moment, “Red Dress” became my internal code for anything that looks shiny and exciting but is secretly just pulling me away from what matters.

How I Used the Red Dress Method to Get My Life (and Boards) Back

1. I Cleaned Up My Never-Ending Idea Dump

I had an entire board in my task manager (shoutout to Monday.com) where all my dreams went to die. Business ideas, product ideas, workshop ideas, podcast spin-offs—you name it, it was on there.

So I went through thousands of tasks and started asking one question:
👉 Red dress? Or real deal?

If it wasn’t going to move the needle, it got marked as a red dress and filed away into my “not right now” folder.

2. I Changed the Language

Instead of “URGENT” and “CRITICAL” (which made my brain go into panic mode), I changed the priority labels to things like:

• Let’s do this

• When I get to it

• Dream parking lot

It sounds silly, but it made a huge difference in how I felt about my workload.

3. I Started Adding Realistic Dates

Not deadlines designed to stress me out—but actual timeframes based on capacity. That way, I wasn’t just dumping things into a black hole. I could see when and if something fit into my life.

Why It Works (Even If You’re Not a Business Owner)

This isn’t just a productivity hack for entrepreneurs. You can use the Red Dress Method in literally any part of your life.

• Buying that thing you don’t need? Red dress.

• Agreeing to another commitment you resent? Red dress.

• Starting a new project just to avoid finishing the hard one? Red freaking dress.

It’s helped me reduce the noise, quiet my brain, and stop feeling like I need to chase every good idea just because I had it.

💬 Real Talk

There’s no shame in admitting your brain is full. Mine is practically a hard drive with zero storage left. But if you’re feeling overwhelmed, try this: look at what’s on your plate and ask yourself—
“Is this a red dress, or is this something that will genuinely move the needle?”

If it’s not serving you, bless it and delete it. Or archive it. Or mark it as done and move on. No guilt.

🎧 Listen to the Full Episode

This post was inspired by my off-the-cuff, no-notes episode of The StacyM Show (yep, totally winged it and it actually worked out). If you want to hear how I use the Red Dress Method in my real day-to-day, click below to tune in:
👉 Listen to the episode now

Or if you’re buried under a mountain of ideas and want help working through them, book a call and let’s get you unstuck.

👉 Book a clarity call here