Clutterbug - Real-Life Hacks and Tips to Declutter, Organize and Clean your Home Fast - The Dark Side of Productivity | Clutterbug Podcast # 288

Episode Date: August 25, 2025

Uncover the dark side of hustle culture with me.  In this episode, I reveal how our obsession with productivity can trigger burnout and share real strategies to slow down, set boundaries, and reclaim your time.  I also get real about my own struggles, holding myself accountable for making a change.  Tune in for honest insights, laughter, and a fresh approach to working smarter, not harder.        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 #mondaymotivation #productivity #productivitytips #productivityboost Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am always talking about laziness being the secret to true organization. Before you set up any system, we should think, how can we work as little as possible? How can we move and just exert as little effort as possible? But our current productivity culture kind of tells us that's the opposite, that we should work harder and do more, and that's a sign of integrity, good work ethic. That's what we're talking about today, that sometimes we do. You need to butt against that and really just take it easy. Welcome to the Clutterbug podcast.

Today I want to talk about the dark side of productivity. There's a book by a fellow Canadian. He is an author and he wrote a book about going from a barista to a billionaire. And he has this amazing quote that I can relate to. And it's most successful people are walking anxiety disorder harnessed for productivity. and that hit hard, friends, because I do feel like my fuel for getting stuff done is just anxious energy. That's it. That's my motor. Deep down inside, I know there's another way. I know that it doesn't have to be this drive of, you're not enough, you've got to get it done or else, that there's a way

to still live the life we want without that frantic hustle energy. But first, before we get it, into all the let's slow down and take it easiness. I really want to motivate you to get up and take action on something today. Usually I'm like, declutter. We got to let things go. But maybe you've been decluttering a lot. We can focus today on organization, actually setting up systems. And this can be a little bit harder. It can be also like, where do you start and what does it look like? And everybody's home is different, so it's hard for me to give you direct directions, but I want to offer some solutions or suggestions. One is, what about your batteries? Are all your batteries organized in one spot? And are they not dead? Like maybe if you're not sure if this battery is

dead or not, we take it out and we put it in a separate spot and we organize the batteries. Also, light bulbs. Why every time that I organize someone's home, do I find random light bulbs? A half a box here, some shoved in the closet. I want you to think about your random household items today. Do they have a proper home? Your command strips, the felt pads for the bottom of your furniture, all the random spare keys, you're not sure which doors they open. Can we give a home to that today? Or what about your bathroom closet? Can we organize your medication, your first aid supplies? Can we make your home a little more functional while we also talk about working less? Because yes.

Just a reminder, before you get started, definitely go to a space that you've already decluttered, that you've made that first pass, but also know that while you're organizing, you'll probably even find more to declutter too. So we declutter one area, then we organize. And while we're organizing, you may find more to go. let's talk about the root of productivity, which is just getting a lot of stuff done. And honestly, getting it done relatively quickly. It's all about what did you do today? And there's this thing when you, when you were talking with somebody you haven't spoken with a long time,

and they say, so what's going on in your life? We all say, I've been so busy. Like this is a badge of honor. And it feels good to get stuff done. It feels good to be productive. But I also think it feels good to rest and relax. And somewhere along the way, we started seeing as resting and relaxing before we get our stuff done as laziness, as a negative thing. But the reality is our to-do list is never done. So if we have to wait until we're done before we can take a break, we will never take a break. And this is the productivity hustle culture that we live in. We are seen as good, you know, oh, on a pedestal if we're working our butts off and we're seen as lowly and lazy if we're sitting and reading a book. That's bonkers. How did that happen? And how can we not only

stand up and fight against that, but switch it in our brain so we don't feel guilty while we are resting? I do feel like our culture kind of makes success in this like hardworking work ethic seem really like virtuous. Is that the word? So, oh, like, this is what we all should strive to be. But I also think it goes deeper than that because our parents were raised with that sort of attitude. So not only do, are we being signaled in every book we read and and every social media post and just, yeah, on TV, but we're also raised if we have parents who have fallen into that. So it's even more deeply ingrained. My mom, worked like a dog, honestly. She was raised by her mom, who was a stay-at-home mom, so work like a dog

in the home. And then my mom had to work 40 hours in a factory and then come home and also work like that in her home as well. So the evenings were filled with dishes, laundry, DIY projects, cutting the grass, pulling weeds, watering the flowers. And weekends were like insane, like painting the fence or taking all the screens out and washing them. There was never a moment of let's just do nothing. It was always, if I'm good enough and get all my things done, then maybe I can sit and have a beer at the end of the day. Like what? Where did this come from? But being raised like that, I rebelled in my teenage years and was like, I ain't doing that. That's crazy. Like I had the foresight at least to see that that was nutso butto and I wasn't going to go there.

but but then as I became older I started it did feel good to be good and to do things and I fell 100% into the trap of the more I get done the better person I am period ugh and that's a hard trap to pull yourself out of I mean I've been my own boss for a really long time but thinking back to all the workplaces I ever had to I don't want to say like the man but of course like our culture of our work culture, our bosses are like whipping us like we're Clydesdale horses too. Like how much can you produce today? How much can you work? Go faster. I remember being a waitress and having like 12 tables and my boss like, hurry up, get the food on the table, refill all their drinks, blah. It was not like I'm just like what I'm not, I haven't peed and I can't I need,

I'm so thirsty. I'm so thirsty. It's nuts. And it's just run, rush. Make, build, go. How much can you get done as quickly as possible? And our poor hearts, man, our poor brains, our poor souls. When at work and at home and everywhere, everywhere we look, it's this like, do more, hurry, go. No wonder we're burnt out. No wonder we are filled with like just every morning dread. No wonder we're also filled with this guilt and shame if we're not doing that on a regular basis. And it's time to say enough is enough. My husband Joe has been saying something to me recently. And it's like annoying, but it's annoying because I know it's so true. I'll write a to do list every single day. And by 10 o'clock at night, I'm looking at it and he'll

see me like looking at it of the things that I haven't checked off and he says you're still a good person even if you haven't checked everything off your list cass and that like oh it feels so emotional because where along the way did we start to feel like emotionally fulfilled and satisfied by the number of things we did that day why is it not only like we can't feel good about what we did that day, but we can't feel good about ourselves unless we are like working and doing a lot of things that we deem as worthy. There's like this emotional dysregulation that not only happiness, but like self-respect and self-love and all of this is tied to how much we checked off the list that day. I've read every self-help book, like honestly. I've read every self-help book,

Like honestly, I'm like, give me all the productivity books. How can I get more done? How can I stop procrastinating? How can I have a better life? And the messaging all of them is push through it. You got to have grit. You got to determination. The antidote to procrastination and your miserable life is working harder and getting up at 5 a.m. and take a cold shower and then cry yourself to sleep at night. Like everybody else, what are you doing, recruit? Get move. And while I do feel like I need to pull on that sometimes to get me out of a funk and get me up, that is not a state that should be our constant state. That is a lie we've been fed because that is like the gas, but we also have to have the break and we have to have the idol. We can't just sprint

our way through lives because we'll get sick, we'll get burnt out, and we'll just give up entirely. I feel like everything in life, it's like too much of a good thing is bad. Does that make sense? So there is a lot of good in these books that I'm reading. And I'm writing a self-help book right now about how to be more productive. So the irony of this podcast, okay, just stop it. I'm literally writing a book on how to get more done by being lazier so you can get more. It's bonkers. It's just The point is there is a time and a place for this energy, this productivity, this hustle, but too much of anything is bad. And that's what we need to understand where the line is.

We need to understand when we can turn it off and that it's okay to turn it off and when to turn it back on again. We have to understand that it isn't tied to our integrity and our goodness. It is just a tool that we use when we need to use it. and then we put it back in the toolbox when we're done with it. I did read one book that was actually really helpful. It was called The Lazy Genius, and it was genius in that it talks about using productivity as a tool where it matters.

Like what's going to actually push the needle forward? What is going to make your life better in a way that it's worthy of spending that energy on? And also, what can you give up in order to not be like, overworked? overwhelmed and exhausted. And that is what it really comes down to here. So when I talk about organizing for laziness, it's not, I mean, it is laziness, but it's really about efficiency and being practical and conserving your energy. So doing things in order to be done good enough so that you still have gas in the tank to do things that matter more. Even if that's laying on the couch watching

freaking Netflix, man, like the worst thing. And this is I think why I get pushback when I talk to people about doing things shitty and just take a break and do it lazy. If I was to just lay in bed all day and do absolutely nothing, the next day I'm going to wake up to piles of dirty dishes, laundry, I'm going to feel behind. But that doesn't mean I have to work all day. There is this beautiful balance that we can find where we have little routines that feel effortless. When we have a home that helps us doesn't hurt us and makes it easy to kind of keep up on our lives, that's where we find that magic sweet spot, where we have just enough gas in the tank to make our lives easy and effortless and feel good and we can be happy and we can feel proud

of ourselves. But we're not working like a dog to get there. I have not found the balance. I have found the balance in my home. I will say, like, I don't work. crazy at all. I feel like I never really clean and my house stays really clean and tidy. What I have done that I want to make sure you don't do is the extra time that I gained in organizing my house and making my house functional, I filled it with other things. So it almost, I'm going to be totally real with you. When I first moved from that transition of like super slob, I was working constantly managing the mess. I was so exhausted just like trying to. deal with the mass amounts of clutter that I was in that go hustle mentality, even though it didn't

see like progress. When I got organized and I decluttered, it was like, well, it was, you know, eight o'clock at night. And I'm like, what? I have nothing to do. I have nothing to do. And it felt there was a wrongness there, if that makes sense. And I immediately filled that time with other product, productivity thing. So I started a business, a side hustle, because that's what you do when you have a spare minute. You start a side hustle. And then I like planted gardens. And then I started volunteering. And then recently I got a second part time job and I'm writing a book and I'm doing a new course. And it's just I managed to reduce a lot of that in my home and then I filled it with other things. And I want to really be your cautionary tale here because as you declutter and as you

organize, you're going to have the exact same effect. You are going to add hours to your day. You are going to be left at the end of the day feeling like, I have nothing to do. I'm totally caught up. And you've gone from living in chaos to hustling and rust, even if your house is a disaster, you're working your butt off to manage the mess, my friend. And when that comes to a screeching halt and you're suddenly filled with more time, and it can be very easy to try to fill it with something productive. I am not an expert on this. So why am I doing this podcast right now? You know, why am I here telling you you need to slow down when I am not slowing down? And the reason is like, we're a team here. And this is a message I need to hear. And this is

something I have committed to working on that I need to find that balance for my health, for my relationships, for just, oh my gosh, if you've been following me, you know I've been having migraines, I've been going blind, honestly, totally going blind. Eight times in the last three weeks, I have not been able to see. It's insane. Just, yeah, autoimmune. I have a rash that won't go away, full body. I need to slow down. And maybe you need to, to, to. So together, let's commit to each other that we are going to start taking steps in the other direction, that we are going to fight back against the man telling us we need to work harder, that we can still have the things we want in life without killing ourselves to get it.

And we're going to do that together. Let's talk about some steps, some real steps. I don't want to even, I'm feeling like, I don't want it because I need to do these steps too. Okay, real things we need to do in order to slow down. We need to understand that our time is a precious commodity and we need to respect it and we need to manage it better. Not manage it better like all the books tell us, which we're like cramming in more things and like color corded and ate our calendar and use a bunch of time blocking. No, but also if you are like me and your calendar, you live and die by it and you try to, you know, manage it, we need to put in their rest. We need to schedule time off.

We need to schedule doing absolutely nothing and not let the work bleed into that. And I'm so guilty of this. So lately I have been scheduling time where I'm like, okay, I'm not going to do anything after eight o'clock at night. But it's really easy for me to be like, oh, well, maybe just 10 more minutes. And I don't want to burden tomorrow's me. I better get this. so tomorrow's easier. Tomorrow's never easier, Cass. You're just going to fill tomorrow too. What are you doing? Stop the madness. I have to make it a non-negotiable. Just like I have to clean my kitchen and that's a non-negotiable before I go to bed. I have to have rest as a non-negotiable. I have to be in bed and to sleep at a certain time as a non-freaking negotiable. You feel me? You feel me? So this is where I'm

telling you to actually bring out your calendar, bring out your phone, and start scheduling nothing. And it's so hard. And I know it's hard. What's hard is not putting it in our calendar. What's hard is sticking to it. And what's really hard is when we're in that doing nothing, not feeling guilty. So we're catching those thoughts of, oh, I'm so lazy and I'm so, and we're reframing it to rest is also productive. Recharging your battery is also a form of productivity. It is healing our brain. It is healing our body. It is healing our soul. And it is just as important as every other thing on our to-do list. A lot of experts will tell you to manage a sustainable pace. So come up with a pace that doesn't ever feel like burnout. But as someone with ADHD, I have moments of insane hyperfocus, which is the driving

force of anything that I've ever done that's been cool in my entire life. I also have periods of crash where I literally, I call it bed rotting, where I lay in bed and do absolutely nothing, except I'm not allowing myself to have that. So we have two options here. And we can pick one or we can have a combination of both. We either have to set a pace for our lives that's maintainable even on our worst day and make sure we're never kind of over-scheduling ourselves and we're taking time to rest or we need to be real on those days where we want to burst and we feel the energy and we feel the motivation. We have to know that the next day we have to recharge. And what I'm doing is I'm so busy now. It's like I'm not giving myself that full recharge day. There's just not time for it.

So maybe instead of a full day, I have recharge hours. Maybe I allow myself to burst and then I'm taking five hours to do absolutely nothing. It really comes down to knowing yourself, knowing your schedule, being real with yourself. If you've got a busy family and kids, there ain't no way you can take a whole day laying in bed. It just isn't possible. It just isn't possible. Who's going to feed the children? Not your husband. You know, I'm saying?

But maybe we can schedule a four-hour mini break in the day. Yeah. I'm totally burnt out right now. I'm burnt out and I'm continuing to push through. And I know I'm burnt out because I cry for no reason. Or maybe I have reasons. But I find myself, when I am in burnout, I'm really emotional. but I also have physical reactions to the burnout.

So I'm really good at pushing through and I'm really good at like just hypercaffeinating myself to like, you know, and kind of like whipping myself like, go, go. You just, it's just one more day. It's just, it's never just one more. Just one more hour. It's never just one more hour. But what I find happens to me is now I'm getting headaches, getting migraines. I have an autoimmune reaction. And did you know that like 80% of people who have autoimmune disorders are women?

And 100% of those people feel stressed, which is right? Okay. So full body rash. I have Hashimoto's, which means my immune system attacks my thyroid. And I know I'm having a flare up right now. I have rheumatoid arthritis in my fingers and my toes. And I'm having a flare up of that. I have gout.

Like, who's this old woman? Hi, it's me. It's Cass. She's an old woman. But I'm having all these physical manifestations of my emotional burnout. And you may be burned out and not even realizing it. What it looks like is you being a little bit more moody. It looks like the aches and the pains.

It looks like exhaustion, but you can't actually fall asleep or stay asleep. It looks like little subtle things when what's really happening, is you need a break. Can you be addicted to productivity? I think so. I think there is this root in not only to we feel pressure everywhere to get more done, but we, because we reward ourselves for getting things done, we had to have this dopamine receptor reaction to checking things off the list, whether we're physically checking it off or we're just getting stuff done. And that very easily creates the addiction. And the antidote to addiction is connection. But unfortunately, when you're addicted to productivity, you aren't thinking about sitting and having a fire with your husband

at night or going out for coffee with your friends. And even if you are doing those things, if you're there thinking about all the stuff you got to do when you get home and needs to get done, you're not really connecting. You're not really there emotionally and mentally. So the antidote to this like, I want to get more done. I want to get so much done. I should be getting done. Is turning off the brain and spending time with people and being present. And that is so much easier said than done. I think the worst part, I mean, maybe this is just me, but the worst part is even when I am, I'm like, okay, I'm not going to work today. I'm just going to hang out with my kids. I don't always love it. Okay. Like sometimes,

I like working. I do. Sometimes I like making or getting something done and I would rather do that than watch a movie with Joe. So when I force myself to sit and watch a movie with Joe, part of me is like, don't think about work, don't think about work. But the other part of me is like, I'd way rather be working looking over at him like, oh, this is kind of boring. Why? Because we are addicted to the rush and the hit and the dopamine because we've trained our brain that that is what feels good. And it is going to take time to shut that off. But we have to because it's not healthy. Because that is cocaine, my friends. And we can't just be like, Coke feels good. Let's do another line. Let's snort another line. You doing the next freaking project or working on whatever you're working on is snorting a line,

friends. No. No. The other thing. we're supposed to do, listen, this is what we're supposed to do, to turn off this productivity addiction and slow down. We're supposed to have clear boundaries. And what this means is saying no to more things instead of yes. Even though I tell you all the time to say yes to everything, what? Because this is like, I mean, it was helpful for me to say yes to every opportunity. But where's the line, Cass? It's either all or nothing. We have to put boundaries. And I think a really good way to start with boundaries is in your gut if you really don't want to do something, let's say no, even if we think we should. Do you really want to go watch your niece's ballet? Nope. You don't even really like that niece that much.

I mean, she's all right. You love her and everything, but she's terrible at ballet. And maybe you don't want to take your Sunday afternoon. And it's okay to say no. It's okay to say, no, I'm not going to do your summit thing, even though you're my friend. And it's okay to say, I don't want to volunteer for that thing, even though I should and I have the time. If in you, you're like, oh, that's a boundary. That's a boundary. It's about self-love and self-respect, even if we disappoint others, even if it's something that like we feel guilt and shame about saying no to. This is not including watching a movie with your husbands and spending time with your children. Don't say like, you know what I mean? Know the difference. Know the difference. Connectivity, we can also feel like eh to because, you know,

it's not that that hit. But anything that is work that is being productive, but isn't something that we feel we want to do for ourselves, we're just going to put up that boundary wall and say no more. This, like decluttering and organizing, is a muscle. Not only setting up boundaries is going to be hard in the beginning and a muscle we have to build, but, you know, making time for our loved ones is a muscle that we have to build. And maybe you're listening to this and you're like, Cass, you don't want to spend time with your husband and children or your friends. What a terrible person. Listen, I'm just not a people person. Even the people I love more than anyone else in the planet. I just like, I'm like, I got way cooler stuff I could do than hang out

with you right now. It's awful. I'm saying this to you. I'm trying to be vulnerable and real. It's awful, but it's true. But when I do it, I'm glad I did. And so like any other kind of working out, who wants to lift weights at the gym, but we got to do it for our stupid body and mental health and physical health. We also have to make time just spending time with people we love. And as we do this over and over, we'll grow that muscle and we'll replace that drive for getting more done with that drive to relax and connect and just be present. I'm sharing this podcast with you today for accountability. I hope that we hold each other accountable to this.

Because if you are feeling this way, or even if you're not, you don't feel like a productive machine, but you are living with the guilt and shame that you're not a productive machine, you still fall into the we're addicted to this mentality because in your brain you are. You're thinking you should be like that. So together, let's make a change. And here's what I really want to commit to. I want to commit to being in bed by 10 p.m. every night with everything turned off. Like no reading, I just lie there like a dummy and try to count sheep or something. 10 p.m. I'm also going to commit to not working past eight. And working includes housework stuff. No laundry, no dishes, no little tidies past eight. Things have to be done by eight. And if they're not done, they're not done.

Also, once a week spending one-on-one time with someone without a screen. One-on-one time, without a screen, which means family movie nights don't really count. One-on-one time means not just having dinner. Like, we eat dinner as a family together, but like when have I sat and connected and had a real conversation with another human being? I'm just going to try doing that once a week. That's like a baby step. I'm going to put it in my calendar. Also, last but not least, start saying no more. Replace the, I'm going to say yes to everything with I'm going to say no. Because that's the season of life that I'm in. I need less yes and more no. I have to take a second to thank today's podcast sponsor, Skylight Calendar. We talked a lot about

productivity and how we need to slow down. And I'm using my Skylight calendar to help make that happen by actually scheduling downtime and rest and connecting with loved ones right in my calendar. Skylight connects my digital calendar, my entire family's calendar, all in one place, it manages tasks like grocery shopping and my to-do list, but it also gives me the opportunity to see my month or my week at a glance. So when I'm making dinner, I know what's coming up. I look at my calendar and I know tonight at 8, you're watching a movie with your family and you're not working. And when I'm not using it as a calendar, it is displaying all my favorite family photos and memories right there. It's a command.

center, it runs my life, and you've got to give it a try. Right now, Skylight is offering our listeners $30 off the 15-inch calendar by going to my skylight.com slash clutterbug. I do want to talk about productivity and how it connects to the different organizing styles. I find it really fascinating because there's one style in particular when you're thinking about productivity. It's the busy bee. And it isn't that bees are getting more done than other styles. I think bees just tend to overcomplicate and stack more projects than any other organizing style. And crickets, too, it's that perfectionist. It's that detail mindset. It's the planning and it's the making sure you're doing all the steps in a row that can really drag out something that otherwise could be done very, very quickly. And when you drag out

all of these projects, they stack very quickly on top of each other. And also, it feels like I have so much to do. So a solution, I think, for Bees and Crickets is to embrace like the good enough, the just get it done. So it's off your list because all of these nagging to do is whether you're working on them or not, it feels like that same, I got to go, I've got to be productive energy that's making us sick and burnt out and tired. When we look at butterflies and ladybugs, I feel like they can also be like, I'm a ladybug and I do way too much, you know what I mean? But instead of me dragging out all these projects, I like start a bunch of crap and then don't

finish it. You know what I mean? Or I even start a bunch of crack and finish it and then immediately start something else. Because I'm like, oh, yeah, quick, let's splash in the pan. Big picture thinker. I'm not going to worry about all the details. So I'll start something, but I haven't planned any of the details, so I can't actually finish it. So then I also have a bunch of unfinished projects.

So it's like this double is the other side of the spectrum. And so for ladybugs and butterflies, I think there's a real decluttering component there. We have to realize like, okay, what can you reasonably finish and what can you not? And let's declutter the things that obviously is not within your wheelhouse. And it's fine. Let's throw that project right in the freaking trash, even if it's not a physical project. It could be something you started that's ridiculous online or something. It's like, no, it goes in the trash too.

I guess the solution for every bug is decluttering and doing things shitty. I am actually so curious, the correlation. So let me know in the comments below what your organizing style is and how that you think connects to productivity, Like are you, do you think that it's aiding to your productivity or how it's affecting, how you feel like you've got to get stuff done or how much you get done? Let me know. In the comments, let's see if we can make a connection. Now it's time for my favorite part of the podcast, which is Talk to Cass. And we're going to start with a question from, this could be a typo. It says Minnie, but it could be Mimi. So I apologize if I'm saying this wrong, but let's hear from her. Hi, Cass, quick question for you. How do you get rid of sentimental clutter when you're still grieving? I moved into my apartment five years ago in the same apartment building as my mother. Two weeks later, I moved in with my mother and was her caregiver for six years. She just recently died in March.

So I'm trying to unpack my stuff and also go through sentimental clutter that's taking up valuable space in my apartment. it. So I'm looking for tips, hints, and yes, motivation to work my way through grief and get rid of items that are very sentimental to me. Please help. And did I mention I'm legally blind and don't drive, so there's a bit of a struggle getting items to thrift centers and Goodwill and Salvation Army. Thanks very much, Cass. I'm very sorry for your loss. And I can feel that the fact that you recorded this message means that you are now in a place where you're like, I want to be ready. So that's the first step. Like don't push yourself before you're ready to let go. But I can hear that. You're like,

okay, now is the time to start letting go. So here's what I would suggest doing. As soon as you capture those memories, the most special memories somewhere, it's going to be a lot easier to let go because you've prioritized the things that are the most special. So right off the bat, I want you to have a memory bin for your mom. That's your memory bin, but a place, a safe place, just one, for things to go in that you don't necessarily want to display, but you also like want to keep. The other thing that's so important is to grab a notebook or even record something on your phone where you're recording, just like you did ask this question. Record the stories. record the special moments because the reason we hold on to the physical item is because we're so

afraid to forget the memory, to forget the feeling, that we're going to forget the way they sound when they laugh, that we're going to forget what their face looks like, that we're going to forget, you know, that memory of us sitting and having coffee with them or going on that trip. We're not going to forget if we capture those memories in a recording or in a notebook and immediately as soon as you do that, you're going to feel the sense of relief because you've protected the thing that is the most cherished, which is the memory part of the sentimental clutter. So that's the thing I would suggest is have a physical memory bin, limit yourself, but then also take time to record the memories now. You're going to see once

you've done that, it's going to be a lot easier for you to let go of the physical thing because you've maintained the legacy. Next, we have a question from Emma. Hello, Cass. My name is Emma, and I'm 14 years old. So I just want to start. Thank you so much for making your videos and podcasts. You've really helped me organize my school space in my room and just my general life,

as well as help me develop decluttering and organization skills at a very young age, but a young age. Anytime I have a big task, I always turn on one of your podcasts, and it goes like 10 times fast. which is amazing because of your motivation and body doubling it's so nice but my question is does the things that you teach still apply to teens and kids especially with ADHD you mostly teach solutions for your whole home but all I have to deal with is really my room and a few things like downstairs so like would you what I use would you teach in like a smaller scale or something like that. Also, do you have any hacks or tricks or anything for teens with, like, decluttering and managing your life? And especially this upcoming school year.

Yeah. Thanks so much. And you've helped me bring dress levels down. And you've helped me hide more time for the stuff I love and help me manage my life in general. Thank you so much, your whole team and keep up the great work. Emma, my heart is so full right now. This makes me be ridiculously happy. I am so proud of you. I just feel like you're setting your entire life up for success because organization, decluttering, these are like core life skills. And when you can manage them at such a young age, everything else will be easier. Your home is the foundation for your life. And when it is in control, you're going to do better in school. You're going to have more energy. You're going to feel more relaxed. It's just, oh, it's so good. And yeah, I love your question.

I think you do take the exact same technique and just do it on a smaller scale. So I would encourage you, instead of a 15-minute nighttime kitchen clean, you do a 15-minute bedroom reset. So you get to wake up to a refresh bedroom every day. I would suggest that you know your organizing style in that small space. If your visual, get wall shelves so that you can take advantage of that vertical wall space. So everything has a home. If you're hidden, get some under the bed storage, make your bedroom an oasis and a retreat and a space that you have control over. I do think as a teen, especially if you are a teen with ADHD, it's so frustrating because we live in our parents' house and our parents make all the rules and it's all their crap and all they do is bosses around all day and control our lives.

And that can feel like, especially as a teen with all your hormones, you're just like, get bent mom and dad. You know what I mean? And there's this like the sense of you have no control over anything. So the fact that you can take control of your bedroom, the fact that that is a space that you take ownership of and you are the master of is so, it's just liberating. And I think it's really healthy for teens to have that kind of autonomy over their own space. So I'm proud of you, Emma. You're amazing.

And keep up the good work. So cute. She's also so mature. Like, what? Sounds like a 40-year-old with her life together. Now we're going to have a story from Anne. Hi, Cass. My name is Anne and I'm at Lady Buck. I stumbled upon your YouTube channel in January 24 and honestly feel your help is exactly what I needed. You are an amazing inspiration and your advice is so practical and easy to implement. Decluttering and zoning my home has been life-changing. An example of my greatest decluttering and zoning achievement is my kitchen. It is now so quick and easy to maintain and clean.

I have gotten rid of about 50 to 60% of stuff out of my kitchen and I don't miss it. My kitchen only has things that I use daily in it. I like to bake and I have moved my baking pans and entertaining items to boxes in the laundry and it takes me a minute to collect the items when I want to. to bake. Now I have zoned my kitchen. It takes me two to three minutes max to unpack my dishwasher and about 15 minutes in total to clean and shut down my kitchen after dinner. This includes taking bins out and mopping the floor. My husband was helping me clean the kitchen and he said it was great to wake up to a clean kitchen and set you up for the day by clearing your head

and getting you focused on the day. I beamed with pride at my accomplishment. The other day I was cooking dinner and was feeling overwhelmed, anxious and over the day. While I was stirring dinner on the stove, I opened my upper cupboard and just started to look for things to go. I then discovered that things were out of date. So I decluttered the cupboard in about three minutes, added a basket to a shelf and stood back. I instantly had the overwhelm and anxiety disappear, felt back in control and was motivated again. Three weeks on, the cupboard still looks great, functions well, and brings a smile to my face. So I guess it's time to do another pass over the house. From the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank you for everything you do. I love this. Oh my gosh. Okay, thank you,

Anne so much. And I love that you brought that out because it's so true. We talked today about that productivity and that overwhelm and that like, ah. And what's really fascinating to me is when we're feeling that and we take a few minutes to declutter while that is technically like I guess productive, it has this calming effect because it is making our life easier tomorrow, but we still have that sense of like, I did something good. So I do think while I'm like, oh, slow down, slow down, taking five minutes to declutter something, five minutes to straighten an area, while it's productive, friends, it does have a calming and tomorrow your life will be a little bit easier effect. Right. You know what I'm saying? So, Ann, thank you for that reminder because while I'm

telling you to take a break and do less, that does not include decluttering, my friends. Now we have a question from Linda. Hi, Cass. My name is Linda Wilson and I live in Kokomo, Indiana. I have a full-time job and a part-time job. I am 63 years old and single. My house is such a mess. I love your videos and stuff, and it gets me going, and I start getting things decluttered and put away,

and then I all of a sudden don't have time to do that because of my jobs and family. I have sisters and nieces and nephew. And then when I get back to it, it's all a mess again. I don't have any friends over because I am so ashamed. If I sent you a video of my house, you would be appalled, period. It looked a lot like, it looks a lot. Why does this do this?

It looks a lot like what your friend house looks. like and that did give me hope. How do I get started? How do I do this and make it a permanent solution? I can't even tell you how depressing it is. I feel very helpless and hopeless and don't know what to do. Linda, first of all, I'm just giving you a virtual hug because I can feel in your voice, the like, this is weighing on you. And it's heartbreaking to hear that you don't have friends over because of the shame and the embarrassment. And while I would want to tell you, who cares and they're not coming to see your home, and they're going to love you and respect you no matter what your house looks like, that is true, Linda, that is true. But I also know

what it feels like to have a chaotic and messy home. And every day, it's like a bully. And so I know what you're feeling. And it's all well and good to say, who cares? And it doesn't matter. But also, there is light at the end of the tunnel, because I can hear that it matters to you. So here's what I'm going to offer you as a solution. Step one, and you're not going to like it, Linda, because hearing what you said, you're doing, you're doing a lot of tidying. You're saying decluttering, but I'm wondering if there's like a few things leaving, but mostly you're putting things back. And that is a cycle and a circle roller coaster you will never get off because all day you'll tidy and tomorrow it'll just become a mess again until you've let go of 50% of the things in your home,

50% minimum. I want you to keep that number in the back of your head and here's what you do. Step one, I want you to call and find the price of a dumpster. Just don't book it. Just find the price of a dumpster. It's probably going to be between $3 to $400. And then I want you to look around in your home and say, what can I sell to make that up?

You can sell a bag of clothes for $50 that you're not letting go of. Is there craft supplies you can sell for $40? Is there a piece of furniture? Maybe you're not using that you can sell for $100. Make a plan on paper to get to that $300 and then make that happen. And then when you've hit that goal, so you're decluttering, you're selling to get to the renting a dumpster. I don't care if you have the money right now. We are going to declutter to pay for it.

And then you're going to get it in your home because nothing is more motivating and nothing is faster to get you where you need to be than having a dumpster. And if you don't have a yard and you don't have a driveway, it doesn't matter. There are companies that will call the city for you and they know how to figure it out and where to place it. even if you live in New York, you can have a small dumpster. And this, I want this to be your goal because this is your solution. This is your salvation. We're not worried about who we're going to donate it to and where it's going to go. It's just leaving your home because you deserve it.

And in one weekend, you can take back your house with this method. I'm proud of you. I'm rooting for you. And I hope that you record a message after you're done doing this and tell us how it went. And last we have a story from Alex from the UK. I just wanted to let you know how much of a difference your your channels have made to my life. So before I found you, I've always had to live with the narrative that I'm a messy person. I'm a human hurricane. I am chaos in girl form. And that's the story I've had since I was a kid that I've told myself that other people have

told me and it was such a moment when I discovered that actually, no, I'm not the only person and I'm not a messy person. I am a fact, a visual organizer. I am a beautiful butterfly. So that was really freeing. And then you helped me get away from, you know, the all or nothing mentality. So I used to, it's a bit, oh, I have to wait and do that.

And when I've got time, I started picking away at small projects. Like I started in my kitchen cupboards just doing a little bit of a time. And my kitchen cupboards have now so tidy for the last two years. I can open them up and everything's in labelled baskets. And it's just, it is a thing of beauty. More than that, it's just been lovely to have a sense of not being the only one that struggles with certain things. And yeah, I'm still very much in the messy middle. I'm still getting rid of things slowly.

but there's hope there is light at the end of the tunnel and I feel like yeah I'm getting that and that is down to you and all your help so thank you so much keep up your amazing work um and just keep on being you because you're brilliant that's love in the UK bye oh Alex thank you oh my gosh your voice is like oh gorgeous so I'm so in love I'm also just so proud of you I can feel like your self-love and your self-pride in that. And that's so beautiful to me because that's the whole point. Man, when we struggle to maintain our home, it's like a kick in the junk, isn't it? To our self-esteem. And even just having like the awareness that I organized differently and it wasn't my fault and I need a different way, that heals us a little bit, doesn't it? And it

gives us the motivation to try again because we know this time it's going to stick. And two years your kitchen cabinets have stayed tidy. And that's the proof to that. So keep going and keep loving yourself. And thank you for sharing your story. Before I let you go, let's just talk about how insane I am for just one last second. Tomorrow's YouTube video on my clutterbug channel is give me 15 minutes and I'll change your life. And yep, you guessed it. It's a how to be more productive video. Oh, the irony. I mean, I'm literally, I'm sharing things within 15 minutes that I've learned that have made me just an insanely productive person. Also, take what I say in that video with a grain of salt. You know, we got to pump the brakes. Use it as a tool when you

need to get things done and you want to get things done quickly and you want to have more success in your life, but also realize that these things can be addicting and that we can't run at 100% all the time. So this is your caution, warning. This is your disclaimer before you watch that video. Don't go balls to the walls, friends. I hope you're organizing today went awesome. I hope you organize something, maybe light bulbs, maybe medication, maybe batteries. Maybe you did just declutter an area of your home, which is awesome. You are pushing the needle forward, and I am proud of you. And I hope to see you back here next week when we talk about more of Cass's problems and I use you as my personal therapy people. You're my therapist. No, where are we together just make our lives better.

We'll see you then.