Clutterbug - Real-Life Hacks and Tips to Declutter, Organize and Clean your Home Fast - Cleaning Routines with Jamie’s Journey | Clutterbug Podcast # 202

Episode Date: December 18, 2023

Do you feel angry, overwhelmed or resentful about the state of your home?  In today's podcast, YouTuber Jamie from Jamie's Journey joins me as she shares the best bang for your buck cleaning tips and tricks. Jamie shares her wisdom of cleaning routines so that we can have a clean and tidy home!   Follow Jamie's Journey on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@JamiesJourney   You can find more Clutterbug content here: Website: http://www.clutterbug.me YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clutterbug TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clutterbug_me Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clutterbug_me/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Clutterbug.Me/   #clutterbug #podcast   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, Clutterbugs, welcome back to the Clutterbug podcast. Today, I'm going to be honest with you. I'm feeling angry, overwhelmed, resentful about my home, my lack of family help, all the things I have to do. And the holidays is right around the corner. So I'm really excited to have an incredible guest with us today, Jamie from Jamie's Journey. I follow her on YouTube. She has a really awesome Instagram and TikTok. So,

motivating. So I'm hoping not only that Jamie motivates me and you listening, but also can offer some insight because she's also a mom and she's busy. And there's a lot of the plates. So hello, Jamie. And welcome to the Clutterbug podcast. Hello. Well, thank you for having me here.

It is honestly, it's just an honor to be here with you. I have been watching you for years when I started my channel years ago. So it's just an absolute honor to be here. So thank you for having me. Oh, thanks for being here. This is Jamie's first podcast. So this is very exciting. I watch your channel when I don't feel like cleaning, which lately has been all the time. And I just moved to a new home. I know you recently moved as well. We did. Yeah, a year ago. And it's coming with challenges that I didn't expect. And I don't like this sounds so horrible to complain, but it's a bigger house, which means more work, more to do. And everybody said that to me, but I was like, it'll be fine. It was so easy at the last house. I'll just find my rhythm.

I am not finding my rhythm, Jamie. You know what? How are you feeling that it's totally normal? We moved in December 30th of last year. And I am just getting to the point where I feel like I can. read a little bit and I'm getting to the point of where I know like what I want to organize and how I want to do things. And I'm still feeling overwhelmed with that. And it's been a full year. So how you're feeling is totally normal. Yeah, I'm overwhelmed. That's a really good way to put

it. And also like the Christmas season's coming. I'm going to be honest, it's December 8th. I have not bought anything. I've bought zero things. It just snuck up on me. And I feel like I'm just constantly like swimming just keep swimming just keep swimming just to keep my head above water and then some people are now tossing presents at me and I'm like I can't breathe I'm drowning so yeah I'm definitely feeling overwhelmed but I also know that I'm the type of person when my house like it's easy to say oh just take a break and let things go it's okay I know that that affects my mental health when things are out of control then I feel even more out of control and I feel even more out of control I start to really spiral and that's when I can't get off the couch and I'm just laying in bed all

the time. So that's never helpful. So I guess, Jamie, help us. Help us. You are like a queen of routines and you've kind of figured out a real rhythm to managing it all. And I would love to hear your wisdom, Jamie. But maybe before we get into your wisdom, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you started on this journey? Sure. So I started, well, I'll even go back just a little bit. So growing up, I was not a very, I wasn't always clean. If my parents were sitting on this podcast, they would laugh because growing up, my bedroom was always a disaster. And I think that once I got my own space, when I moved into college, got my dorm and then my first apartment after that, that's when I really started focusing. on cleaning. And I think growing up in a household where cleaning was always important. My mom taught me a lot about cleaning and I was always helping with her. And so I had that foundation, I think, with cleaning. But obviously as a teenager, all of that goes out the window most of the time. And then once I got my first, my own space, that's when it started, I think when I started,

like I think you use the word control. And I think that's when I realized that was my way of controlling my space. And so. I can fast forward a little bit. It was 2017, I believe, and I was working for a nonprofit organization. And at the time, I was going through infertility. I've struggled with infertility for years. I've had to go through IVF, fertility medications, multiple procedures and surgeries to get my children. And in 2017, I had a two-year-old. I was working full time. And I think not being able to get pregnant, I felt very, out of control. And so, you know, when, because you're, you know, you're doing everything that you think you should be doing and it shouldn't be this hard to have children. And so you're making all these right decisions, but then you realize I'm not getting the results that I want and you just feel like I'm out of control. So how do I gain control? And gaining control is by cleaning for me. And so I got to that point where initially my first video that I made on YouTube was about infertility because I was

going through a lot mentally, and I wanted to find a community that I could relate to, and I wanted them to be able to relate to me. I needed to get all these feelings out. So I went to YouTube as a way to create a community that I know I needed, and I was hoping that I could be that community for those people who are maybe struggling with infertility as well. And once I started that, you know, I did a few infertility videos and explained what was going on. And then naturally, I just started making videos about something that I was really passionate about, and that is cleaning. Because after infertility, it's like, okay, what else do I talk about? I don't think that I have, you know, a lot of talents.

So I'm like, you know what? I love to clean. So I'm going to make cleaning videos. And that's kind of how it started. And I think cleaning helped me gain control in my life at the time and because I felt completely out of control. So that was in 2017. And here we are in 2023.

and I can't believe I'm still on YouTube. Yeah, I feel like that every day. I can't believe I'm still on YouTube. It's great, though, because I'm sure you feel the same way. It holds you accountable to other people, and it gives purpose, and you feel like you're helping, and you get to be home with your babies. Right. There's so many incredible benefits about having a YouTube channel and being a content creator,

and it's creative, and it's fun, and you're doing all these. these fun things yeah yeah i mean i i i started this podcast kind of complaining i was like poor me poor me um it's definitely the mind frame that i'm in right now but also i'm really blessed and and so so lucky to be doing this i think what's happened though like as my channel has grown and you've probably seen this too there's extra work behind the scenes that now kind of take away time as well. And I feel like I woke up one day and I was working 60 hours a week and I'm like, wait a minute, this is crazy pants. It didn't start this way. And then you also still have to be a mom and take care of the home and worrying about all the other things. So working full time and juggling a

business, a career, home life, kids and activities, doing all these things. Do you also struggle with this? Like, do you find finding a balance sometimes is tough? Absolutely. I would say there's very little balance right now. You know, having three kids, I have an eight-year-old and then twin four-year-olds. They are involved in activities. My husband luckily works from home, so he's able to, you know, help here and there with stuff during the day. But we are, we're busy. And I spend a majority of my time. I mean, right now I can get a lot of filming done during the week. my twins are in school three days a week, not the full day, but they're old enough now. You know, I can kind of prep them and say, okay, you know, in the afternoon, we're going to relax. We're going to watch a movie and, you know, mommy's going to do some cleaning.

I do a majority of my editing at night. There's very little time, I think, and I'm okay with this. There's very little time for myself. And, but I also look at it as, to me, YouTube is something, it is, it is a hobby. It is a creative outlet for me. So I do get something from that. It's not just all work for sure. But there's very little time, I would say, for myself right now,

because any extra time I have, it's going to go to my kids right now. So I for sure, yeah, I struggle with it all of the time. And I, like, lose my mind more times than I can count. But I don't want to complain. But I just want to say that I appreciate you because I think, you know, listening to your podcast, you're just so open and honest. and you're vulnerable and I think that's why everyone loves you so much. And I think that we're all feeling the same thing right now. We have a lot on our shoulders, you know, every single day of the year, but especially during this time of the year. So I appreciate you being open and honest and just saying like, I'm struggling right now because honestly, so am I. Yeah, I'm struggling. And I think, yeah, it is this time of year. And I want to be really open with people. And I'm not looking like, I guess I was. I was like, solve my problem.

it's Jamie. But I think the truth is, is like, this is a universal thing and it ebbs and flows. Sometimes we feel like we got this and things are going well. And then sometimes we feel like I'm drowning and it's okay to be doing both of those things. It's okay to be in both of those phases and sometimes they flip-flop within the day and you're like all over the place. Yeah. Yeah, I think we as women should really admit it because social media, is, I mean, your house is gorgeous. I was looking at your Instagram today. I'm like, look at that perfect lady in her perfect house with her gorgeous kitchen and are polishing everything. And sometimes we viewing it, we don't see behind the scenes. And it can feel really, we can feel bad

about ourselves and we can feel like we're not doing enough and why is this so hard for me when it's so easy for everyone else. And so I love that you're like, no, I'm struggling too. Yeah, I think the here is, you know, that's the problem with social media. You know, you're seeing an edited version of everything. You're seeing, you know, all the stuff that I get done that I accomplish. You get to see my to-do list that I cross off. You don't see the things I don't get done or the shortcuts I take or the stuff that I maybe delegate or there's just so many things that don't get done the way that I want them. And of course, you don't see that on social media, but it is there. And I think we all do that. And I think it's right, you know, I think it's important to recognize where can I make shortcuts.

I think for me, it's there are things that just take more energy out of me, like being super creative, going above and beyond with maybe decorating or around the holidays. It's, you know, wrapping these perfect presents and adding the bows and the personalized cards. That is not me. I don't enjoy doing that. It sucks the energy out of me. So I don't go above. and beyond, you know, with those types of things. I realize that, you know what, there's other things that I want to pour my energy into and put my time into. And so I do make shortcuts. And I say, yes, I wish my, you know, gift wrapping looked better. And I wish I had the pretty bows or my front porch was perfectly decorated. But I didn't have the energy or desire to do anything outside

today. And I said, you know what, that's okay. So I think that's, it's really important to recognize, you know, where do I make shortcuts? But again, going back to social media, people don't see those things that we say, you know what, I'm going to let it go. It's no big deal. Maybe I just use a gift bag instead of wrapping that gift or, you know what I mean? So yeah, it's crazy too because we're scrolling through, right? So we like scroll and we're like, this mom's wrapping these perfect gifts. Then we scroll and like, oh my gosh, this kitchen's so perfect. Then we scroll. Like she's baking everything from scratch. She's making sourdough. She's milking a cow in the morning. And we're kind of like combining all of these people into this one imaginary person that somehow is doing it all, but nobody's doing it all.

That doesn't exist. That person isn't there. Everyone has different parts where they're excelling. And if they're sharing that on social media, sometimes we can all become like a little disillusioned of what our lives are supposed to look like. Absolutely. I always attribute it to those moms who are maybe doing these above. and beyond activity, you know, holiday activities with their children or maybe going above and

beyond and decorating for the holidays or for their kids' birthday parties. They're going above and beyond. And I think sometimes you have to look at it. Maybe that is something that they love doing. So it's a combination of something that they love doing. It is a hobby and you combine that with an activity and it looks beautiful. But again, going back to it, all of those things are just energy sucking for me. And there are other things that I want to be doing. So I think it's, you know, I think it's important that we recognize that I may not have the perfectly decorated house and the, you know, maybe we're not going to go above and beyond with all of these, you know, holiday activities. But at the end of the day, I know what my kids and my family, they need and

they want. And that's really what I focus on. I have a friend who just, we were chatting recently. and she had said her daughter's birthday is coming up, her four-year-old daughter's birthday. And she's like, yeah, I just, I don't think we're going to do much. You know, we'll get some decorations. And I don't know. I just, she just made it. I think she felt guilty because she wasn't going above and beyond for her four-year-old daughter's birthday party.

And I said, listen, you know, at the end of the day, what do your kids, when it comes to a birthday party, what do they want the most? Okay. I know for my kids, they want their best friends there and they want the cake, the ice cream, and the presents. You know, as long as you have those, nothing else matters. So don't worry about going above and beyond. But social media today, when you're scrolling through Instagram, you see all these.

Holy, the birthday parties. Right. And I think that I, you know, there's nothing wrong with people who go above and beyond because I think I believe those people just truly, they enjoy doing that. And so I don't. So I keep it pretty basic when it comes to that stuff. But then I think you can turn it around with cleaning. I know people look at my channel and they're. like, Jeannie, man, I feel like I'm not keeping up with cleaning as much as you are. I'm not doing all of this deep cleaning like you are. And I'm like, listen, I love cleaning. That's where I pour my energy into. It's my expertise. So I want to do that. But please, please, please, do not feel like you have to do this the way that I do it. And I think that's really important that people know. Yeah, I think it's also like, let's talk about comparison to past selves too. So there was a point in my life.

where I was like all about the themed birthday parties and handmaking everything. And I used to like hand make Easter gifts and, you know, for all the kids in the class. One year I made Harry Potter wands on Halloween for each kid got a custom Harry made out of real wood. Like now I can barely shower. Right. And so I look back and think like how was I able to manage so much more then and I can't today. So not only am I comparing myself to these imaginary women, but I'm also comparing myself to a younger version of me when the truth is that younger version of me was in a very different phase of her life, whether it was health-wise, energy-wise, workload-wise. And so we do need to look at today where we have limited spoons. You ever heard spoon theory

that you only get so many spoons in the day? And what's really worth our time. I love organizing and my house is tidy. I'm going to tell you the truth. It's tidy all the time because I have these routines. But last night I worked late. I worked till 11. I came upstairs. The kitchen was destroyed. It was spotless when I went down at 8. I came up and it was destroyed. Everybody had they had baked and they had not put away their dishes and everyone had made snacks. The fridge door was open and beeping. And I'm just like I had to hold back tears. because now I'm in charge of screaming at everyone else and making the lists of what they have to do and following up on them to tidy up their own messes. That's mentally and physically exhausting too.

And I know you have younger kids. But do you ever also feel this like almost like you're the leader now of the household for some reason? And we have to kind of keep everyone in line and running on this this routine and running in this rhythm. And when we stumble, I feel like there's nobody around to kind of catch and keep it going. So that's why I'm so cranky right now, Jamie. I feel you. I totally do. I think, you know, it's interesting because my four-year-olds actually are better helpers than my older daughter because the four-year-olds, it's fun. I can say, hey, I'll give you a cookie if you help, you know, clean up or something like that or even just motivating them. We're going to put on some Taylor Swift and clean. And they're like, yeah,

okay, my almost nine-year-old, you know, that doesn't work, you know, work as well. But I was telling my husband this, you know, recently I said the problem with when I come downstairs or if I walk into a room and it's messy, I immediately, number one, my brain perceives that as a mess. And so then I feel like my brain is a mess and I already have enough going on to my brain that I don't want to add any more mess or chaos to it. But then also when I walk down to a mess or just like you, what it signals to me is now you have another to do because when I see a mess, it's like I'm going to have to clean that up. Or like you said, I'm going to have to ask someone else to clean that up and then make for sure they follow up and do it. And every time I see a mess or a load of laundry, like my husband will fold

laundry, keep it in a basket, and it may sit there. And I'll, I, you know, I try to tell him, when I see that, it signals to me that I have another to-do. And I already have enough on my to-do list. So sometimes it's just like, I just need, you know, I need someone to take the initiative. I think, you know, and that's the initiative is really important. But I think, like, my husband is very helpful. But, you know, they still, he just doesn't see the messes like I do. He doesn't have the eyes like I do just like the kids don't either so yeah I feel that I feel that in my soul um even when the house is tidy I'll walk around and I'm like there's pee all over this toilet seat yeah no one how is there's toothpaste gobbed all over and I'll be like clean the bathroom but

they don't wipe the mirror or it's they wiped it they've smeared it even worse and I have a 17 year old a 15 year old, 11 year old, and a grown-ass man husband, okay? And I just feel like dudes, you know, everybody's really good, I think, at the tidying portion, but then it's the struggling, like it's the cleaning where I feel like we're really kind of slipping through. And I'm not a big lover of cleaning either. So do you have a routine or tips or something, not for the tidying aspect? because I think also a lot of people listening to my channel, we're getting the tidying. We're getting the organizing. But the cleaning is a whole other ballgame.

Yeah, keeping up on the actual dirt and grime. It's tough. So for me, and I think this is something that I even did when I worked full-time. So I had left my full-time job about three years ago. And I kind of have the same system. And it's a common question I get asked. Do you have a set routine? And I don't.

and here's why because every single day is a little bit different for us for a variety of reasons, whether it's activity or what we have going on or even with, you know, how I'm feeling or like you were talking about earlier, like energy levels that can all change. So what I do is I sit down on Sunday. Every Sunday I sit down. I kind of look at my planner. What do I have, what do we have going on this week? So it's something else my husband and I will actually like go over like, okay, who has what, who's taking who, where. And I sit down and I plan out our meals and what I'm going to be cleaning for that week because not every Tuesday looks the same. And when I worked full time, you know, I would break up the cleaning a little bit each day after work. And I would kind of be realistic about

what I could get done. And I think it's really, really important whether we're creating a routine of any sort is to recognize or be realistic. And you don't, because you you don't want to, and you also don't want to set yourself up for failure. So what I mean by that, when I worked full time, there were some jobs or some days where I would be on my feet at 5.30 until I got off of work at 530 p.m. 12 hours on my feet, go, go, go. There were other days I would be sitting in front of a computer. Those two scenarios, you know, when I would get home, I would feel completely different depending on if I was standing all day, presenting, because I was a presenter, like a guest speaker or if I was sitting at my desk.

So what I would do is say, okay, on Tuesday, I'm going to be on my feet all day. So when I get home from work, I'm going to do something very simple, very easy, not much energy. And on Wednesday, I am going to be sitting at my computer all day. So when I get home, I'm going to do bigger cleaning tests. Like, oh, I know our dishwasher hasn't been deep cleaned in a long time. So I'm going to deep clean that. And I think this is important to look at your week and, right? recognize on days where you're like, we're going to be go, go, going all day long.

Like, let's not add five deep cleaning tasks to that day because what's going to happen is you're going to get home and you're going to be angry that you have to clean. You're not going to have the energy and you're probably not going to do it well. So I think it's really important to not set yourself up for failure and be realistic about what you can accomplish. And so that's why for me, I don't say it every Monday I'm going to do X, Y, and Z because every Monday looks a little bit different for a variety of reasons. And so, you know, if I sit down on Sunday and I plan out what I'm going to be cleaning that week, then, you know, that's kind of helpful.

And this system has really, really worked well for me because, again, I'm not, you know, I'm, I'm prioritizing the things that really need to be done on the days that I'm going to likely feel my best. Mondays, I'm always a little sluggish. Tuesdays, for whatever reason, I just always wake up on Tuesdays feeling good. Even if I didn't get much sleep the night before, Mondays, I can Sunday night I can get all the sleep that I want and I still feel a little bit slower. And so I know that about myself. And so I structure my cleaning, my workouts, all of that around my week. I like that. Yeah. I'm a nighttime person. So I'll get like bursts of energy at like 10 o'clock at night from 10 to midnight. That's my jam for some reason. So that's when I'll do the things that I don't

really want to do because I have more motivation at that time, which I know is not appropriate, but I do need to work with like my body's natural kind of rhythms. And to hear you talk about deep cleaning, Jamie, listen, shame, shame, I don't deep clean anything really ever. I'm lucky to get the floors vacuumed and I have room buzz that vacuum. But I'm noticing like, yeah, I need to I need to clean more often. Obviously. But when it comes to deep cleaning, I also know that this is important because it helps maintain our home and stop things from getting ruined. Is there a few things that you would recommend that people kind of neglect to deep clean or deep cleaning things that make a bigger difference than maybe some other things? Like what can we deep clean that gives us the biggest bang for our back?

Well, I would say, you know, every family will be a little bit different. But I think one thing that I notice that a lot of people forget that will forget to deep clean that I think is really important is deep cleaning fully your cleaning tools. You know, a lot of people don't want to clean their vacuums. They don't want to clean. You know, you don't think of cleaning your dishwasher, pulling out the filter. It can get really gross out there. Or, you know, deep cleaning are like if I have a couple of wet, dry vacuums, you know, the, like the Bissell crosswave or the Tinko eye floors. So those vacuum and mop, and you got to maintain those.

And if you don't take care of those, then they're not going to be working as well. So if you don't take apart your vacuum and clean it somewhat frequently, I know that we all don't do that type of stuff as much as we should, then it's not going to perform well. And your vacuum isn't going to be vacuuming as well as you want it to be. And we also forget that we need to clean our tools that clean for us, our washers, our. dryers, you know, all of that is really, really important that I think a lot of people forget about. That's so good. That's so good. I just actually had to clean the filter in my Dyson. So I took it out. And like it was so clogged. The whole Dyson was clogged. Like up in the the tube was clogged and then like inside everything. And I cleaned the filter. It was disgusting. And it vacuumed so much better. Like I had so much more suction.

And I'm thinking, wow, just doing that five-minute cleaning of my vacuum now is saving me so much time every time I vacuum because I can go twice as fast because it sucks twice as hard. Absolutely. Like it's so much better. And when I cleaned my front loader, there's like, I didn't know this for the longest time. There's a filter on my like front loader washer. It was so gross and filled with money and coins and goo and slug and disgusting. this, it smelled better after that. Like my washer didn't get that skanky smell, even if I forgot about the clothes for a couple of hours. Pretty, Jamie, you're right. We've got to clean our cleaners.

Yeah, it's not fun because, you know, we spend most of our time. Like I know with me, it's just like the tidying, like you said, it's just because that happens multiple times the day. You know, there's just stuff you have to pick up and clean. And that takes up a majority of our time. So I think it's something that we just, honestly, we just forget about and we're limited on time. So, of course, you're going to think about clearing your kitchen countertops before you're going to think about cleaning your deep cleaning your vacuum, but it is something that is important to do. I got to interrupt this podcast for just a second to thank today's sponsor, ORA frames. Christmas is right around the corner and the best gift I've ever given or received

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Use the promo code Clutterbug. That's A-U-R-A-Frames.com promo code Clutterbug. Okay, I'm going to ask you more cleaning questions. How often do you clean, like, the inside of your? shower in your tub, I neglect this. I'm going to tell you the truth. I neglect it. And I have a glass shower. It looks so, I just gave up, man. I gave up. How often should we do this? Well, I want to say that I am not the expert on how often. I don't want to say that somebody should do it a certain amount of time because like I think going back to what I was saying is

everyone's life is so different. And so I think, I mean, ideally I would like to deep clean my shower probably every two weeks, but realistically, it gets done once a month. And I have gone longer than that. Because at the end of the day, if I have to prioritize my primary shower, I mean, no one is seeing that except for me and my husband and occasionally my kids. So if something has to go to the wayside, it's going to be, you know, that. So I think for me, it's just really, we all have limited amount of hours in a day and a week. So it's prioritizing. And I think, it's important to know that we can't do it all. We can't clean all of our houses from top to bottom. And so I think recognizing when it's it's okay to let things go. And this is something that I struggled with because when I

just had one child, it was really easy for me to stay up top of everything because I, number one, I didn't have as many messes and I would get home from work or whatever. And I would just say, tell my husband, hey, do you want to go take Avery and go do something? I'm going to go cleaning. And I would do it. And then once we had the twins, you know, our lives completely changed. And I had to get over the fact that my entire house can't be clean fully every single week. And I think people have this misconception that when they watch my videos, they see me cleaning. And I may clean most of my house, you know, on camera, but I clean one room one day. And then the next day when I go to clean, that first room is already messy again. And so I had to work through that and realize I'm one person. And I'm one person. I can only do what I can do. And I have to be okay with not keeping up with what they say. I think it's good to have parameters and saying like, okay, you should wash your bed, you know, your bed sheets once a week or whatever. But you know what? Real life means that sometimes things are going to get crazy and maybe you can't wash them once a week. And I mean, that's not ideal. But guess what?

It all, it happens. I love that. Permission to just not always. Yeah. So good. So good. I think, I know for myself when I start feeling like this, when I start feeling really like overwhelmed and the to-do list start piling up. And I'm like, I'm just having trouble keeping up. Something that always helps me and I and I need to do this today as soon as I get off this podcast is decluttering. Because when I get things out of the house, I instantly feel more in control. I feel proud of myself, but tomorrow's easier. And so maybe my clutter threshold, I'm slowly getting over it because I haven't done a really big declutter in a while. And maybe my family is also now having a hard time. Because if you're spending a lot of time just maintaining the tidy, it's taking energy away from cleaning the shower and cleaning the toilet.

So I'm just managing mess. Do you declutter on a regular basis? So I kind of do it. I would say I look at it in terms of a calendar year. So we're coming up on that time after Christmas, after the holidays, that's when I, in January, that's when I really get this bug to like, let's start decluttering. Let's get stuff out. We brought new stuff in towards the, or, you know, we likely accumulated more stuff throughout

the year. That's, you know, normal. And so let's get rid of stuff. So I do, I would say, I usually do a decluttering session in the beginning part of the year. Maybe I'll kind of take a glance around the summer. that's a good time because my kids are home. So if we need to go through their closets or things like that, we can do that. And then for the most part, I don't really do much towards the end of the year. But talking about decluttering, I'm just getting to this point where, okay, it's time to declutter. And last year at this time of the year, I did not declutter because we were moving. And of course, you naturally declutter when you move. But I got into a, we got into the house and we just kind of like through everything in closets or spaces. And so we've been slowly working on decluttering those areas. But I was just in my bathroom yesterday.

And, you know, I was sitting there and I'm like, okay, we need to organize this bathroom. I have never organized our primary bathroom. And I was feeling very, very overwhelmed because you're looking at this space and you're saying there's, there's a bunch of stuff. I know I need to get rid of stuff. I want to organize. And I was just honestly sitting there and I just didn't even know what to do. I was feeling very overwhelmed. Yeah.

I think what I'm going to do today is some trash bag therapy because I, because I have teens and because I have a 10 year old, no, 11 year old, he just turned 11 who when they're done with a snack, listen, they're shoving it in a couch cushion, they're shoving it in a drawer. There's just a lot of hidden spaces that have actual trash in them in the shower. There's like 40 empty like shampoo and bottles and things. I just haven't had time to do. a little bit of trash bag therapy. And I think that will help clear things out go through my bathroom or is anything expired? Is there any like old makeup I don't use anymore? Sometimes we look

at decluttering like we have to take everything out and make a bunch of piles and make really hard decisions. But a trash bag and just hunting like Easter egg hunting for actual garbage can make a really big difference. So like this is my, I'm going to rage clean today a little bit with my garbage bag and just like have less stuff. I'm looking at my desk and there's like all these post-its of things I've already dealt with. Why have I not thrown them out? I haven't prioritized some trash bag therapy. And I need it today, Jamie. I need it. And if you're listening to this, grab a trash bag, open up drawers, open up your bedside table, look in your bathroom drawers, look in your shower, look in your pantry for stale potato chips. And let's get some.

stuff. I think just having that bag there, it empowers you to just keep going. And that way, sometimes even if you're on the fence, you're like, nope, I'm just going to throw it in there. I know I do that with my kids. Kids just bring in so much. They get the, they have all these like little like toys. I don't even know where they come from. But they, and it's just these little toys. They're just everywhere. And I feel I am kind of known. My kids know if they can't find something right away, they're like, mom, did you throw it away? Because I just like, I'm constantly, you know, it's kind of a joke now, but most of the time they don't even notice when I get rid of stuff.

Yeah, my son was looking for his coat the other day, like his winter coat. He was like, Mom, did you declutter my coat? And I'm like, no, obviously, you left it in the backyard. But that's always my kids first thing, too. They're like, did you declutter my, and it'll be something that ridiculous that they use all the time, that I obviously did not. But I think it's also good to normalize letting go for children because I was never growing up. I never thought of decluttering. Like that was never something we did.

It wasn't even a normal part of house cleaning. So managing a house was so much harder than it had to be because we had so much extra stuff that we had to shuffle around before we could clean. We had to clean before we could clean. And I thought that was normal. And it wasn't until I normalized decluttering as part of just a regular day, letting things go when we found things, that my life got a little easier. So I think, yeah, talking to you, Jamie, thinking I need, I'm feeling overwhelmed. I think I need to start with a good old-fashioned trash bag decliner session.

You can do it. I think that it's, it is a process. You know, I think the more we do it, the more we realize the benefits of it and how good it makes us feel. And I think, you know, once people get into the hang of it and they realize, okay, wow, just decluttering one small space can make a big difference, then it kind of motivates you to keep going. So I believe in you. You can do it. Thank you so much. Okay. I love spending time with you. Do you have another words of wisdom? A tip, a cleaning tip you would like to share with the listeners to get them up. I hope they're listening to this. They're actually cleaning,

but something they could do right now that won't take long that will make them proud and make a difference in their home. I'm putting you on the spot, Jamie. Do you have a space you recommend someone tackle? I would say one of my big thing is, well, I guess there's two things. I think recognize. I think there's things that areas that we want to clean or declutter or organize. And it's a big project. And then there's times where, you know, we don't have that as much of a big product.

or projects. So I think knowing, will I feel more motivated if I knock that smaller thing out first? And then if I knock that smaller thing out first, I'm going to feel good. I'm going to feel motivated. I'm going to want to keep going. Sometimes, you know, that can work. I know other times, and I don't think you have to be one or the other. Sometimes it just depends on the day or the week. Sometimes it's like if I tackle that hard thing first or that thing that I really don't want to do, that, you know, that space that is just going to take me so much energy, if I knock that out first and I just feel so much more lighter that I want to keep going. So I think it's recognizing, I mean, if there's a space that you really want to tackle, whether it's cleaning or decluttering

or organizing, is, you know, recognizing should I start out small first and work up to the bigger stuff or should I knock that big thing out first because it's just going to make me feel so much lighter. I think recognizing which one of those will motivate you to keep going. And then I think the other piece is if there's like a cleaning tip that I know that works for me. It works for my kids. You know, I'll say if you don't want to get up and do anything, just pick a set amount of time, say 15, 20 minutes. I'm going to get up just for 15 minutes and I'm going to clean. And when that 15 minutes is up, I'm going to stop. And most of the time, you know, you want to keep going because you feel good that you accomplish something and then you see another space and you're like,

you know what? That didn't take me as long as I thought or it wasn't as bad as I thought. So I'm going to move on to the other space. And maybe after that 15 minutes, you don't want to keep going and that is totally okay. But I think if someone is struggling with the motivation just to get up and do something, I think, you know, that's something that I think has always been helpful for me. And then something else, I think that, you know, be, if you're going to clean or be clutter like a big project, I think be realistic about how long that could take you. Because I know for me, when I dive in, like if I say, because you know, we're all limited on time. If I say, okay, I have this, you know, two hour window.

Okay, my twins are watching a movie. My oldest is at school. I'm going to tackle in two hours this closet. And then I get in there and it's taking me way longer. And then I get angry. I get mad. So what I like to do is actually give myself more time than I think it will take me. because again, I don't want to set myself up for failure.

If I say two hours and then the end of the two hours starts creeping up and then I get flustered because I'm like, I'm nowhere close to being done. So I think, you know, it's really important to be realistic about how long a project will take you. And it does not matter if you're decluttering or cleaning a space. If it takes you three weeks, that is okay. It does not matter. You know, go at your own pace. And I think just don't put pressure on yourself.

I think a lot of us feel like if it takes Jamie this long to clean her kitchen, it should take me, you know, the same amount of time. We're all different. And so I think just being realistic with yourself and not setting yourself up for failure or putting pressure on yourself is really, really important with cleaning and organizing. And this is something that I've learned on my cleaning journey, that when I put the pressure on myself and force myself to do a lot, then it usually doesn't go the way that I want it to.

Yeah, and I feel burnt out. When I take, when I'm like, you're cleaning the whole house today from top to bottom and I'm like going like a crazy woman, I'm so exhausted for the next two, three days that I do nothing and it gets immediately messy again. It's like the slow and steady works for me because I'm able to maintain some semblance of control when I don't overdo it and then feel tired and can do nothing. So that burst nothing, burst nothing. wasn't really helpful for me in the long term because it's great in some areas of my life. But when it came to my house, yeah, I just, I had to be consistent. So if you're listening to this, we can start with trash bag therapy. We can start with just cleaning the kitchen counters. We can do, or if you're feeling like Jamie said, you're feeling like, I'm in it to win and I'm motivated, then do a bigger project, but maybe give yourself a bone, like an extra hour. If you think it's going to take three, say it's going to take four and make sure you have that time that you can dedicate to it.

Okay. Well, thank you, Jamie. Let everybody know where they can find you and how they can follow you for cleaning inspiration. My YouTube channel is Jamie's Journey. My Instagram is Jamie Lins. Jamie's journey was taken. So it's Jamie Lins with an S. dot journey.

And my TikTok, I believe, is Jamie. Jamie.jee. Yeah, that's how you can find me. I, you know, what I like to say is I have an amazing community on YouTube. The community is the most important part of my social media. I can't say enough of how great everyone is. So I would love to have anyone come over and join our community. I try to make cleaning fun and exciting and maybe be that friend.

If you need someone just to be there with you, you're feeling down that day. if you need cleaning motivation, a tip or a trick, I hope I can be your girl and be there, you know, and help you along the way. Thank you, Jamie. Thank you so much. You're right. Sometimes we just need someone to clean with. And virtually cleaning with you, I'll watch you while I also clean my house.

It's motivating. It's inspiring. And it makes me feel like I'm not alone. So thank you, everyone, for listening to. And I'll see you guys next time.