transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:03] I'm Katy Wells, host of the Maximized Minimalist Podcast. I escaped the hamster wheel of modern day motherhood, overwhelmed by clutter and buried under the mental load. Now I live in a home that feels calm, manageable and made for real life. I have margin in my days, energy for who matters most, and time for slow mornings and silly dance parties in the kitchen with my family. With over 5 million listens, this show has helped women around the world turn their homes into their happy place. Around here, we simplify for more peace, more presence and more joy. We choose grace over guilt and progress over perfection. And we believe your home should give back more than it takes. I'm here to help you do the same. Come along with me and my guests as we share the real stories, habits and strategies that help you lighten the load from the inside out. Pull up a seat friend and let's do this together. Ready, Set, Simplify. Getting dressed is the first decision you make every single day. Before your coffee, before the to-do list, before anyone needs anything from you. And if the decision starts with frustration, guilt, or nothing works, then that energy is going to follow you right out the door and stay with you the whole day. So today I want to give you six ways to change that. And these are not complicated. They don't require a full weekend or a perfect system. You can start with one. You can truly do them in any order. And I promise you, your mornings and even your days are going to feel so much different. So send this episode to a girlfriend because she needs it too. Okay, since we're in spring right now, I want to give you the easiest possible low-hanging fruit. And it's something I am also doing as we speak this week. Your starting point is to start with your winter clothes. So before you either pack them away, or if you're anything like I was, like you shove them to the back of the closet, this is your prime window. Winter has ended. The evidence is fresh. And winter items are the perfect place to practice what I'm going to teach you today because you have a full season of data to work with. So as I walk through these, I want you to think about your heavy sweaters, your coats, your boots, your layering pieces, the stuff that's likely been, for the most part, front and center for the last several months. And ask yourself, did I have the opportunity to wear this? And if I did, but I didn't reach for it and wear it, why not? Was it uncomfortable? Did it not fit right? Do I just not love it anymore? So pay attention to what you learn from the pieces you have skipped because the silhouettes, the colors, the patterns you consistently passed over. All of this is information. This is your closet telling you what's not working anymore if you're willing to listen, okay? I know there are going to be days and times where you just donate it quickly and it's out the door, but we have to look for these patterns so that we don't then go out and keep rebuying the same types of things we're decluttering on the back end. And I think at the very least related to spring clothing, consider doing, or winter clothing I mean, consider doing a closet rotation. So again, like if there are any really heavy items that you can pack up or move into another location or just move to the back of your closet, which is what I do, I have one bin I rotate and pack away those things. So they're out of sight and it just reduces the noise in my closet. So I don't have to sift through things I'm not wearing now in order to get what I want them. If you do toy rotation, it's really the same philosophy. It's simplifying without letting go. This is also such great low-hanging fruit because right now those items, again, they're just taking up prime visual real estate. So declutter what you can of those, take note of the patterns, literally, and also consider rotating some of that stuff out. Okay, first up, I want you to set up a donation station. This sounds so basic, but it matters more than you think, and I chuckle because I see some of my students' faces in my head who swear by this. I was just having a conversation with some inner circle students about this, and I was just on Catherine Schwarzenegger's podcast, and she was like, my husband has a very cluttered closet and I can't stand it. I jumped out of my skin because I think we all know who her husband is. It's Chris Pratt, whom I really adored when I watched him on Parks and Rec back in the day before he became a megastar. But the point is, I told her about the donation station as a starting point for Chris Pratt, I know it's so funny to say, for his closet and she geeked out. She's like, I'm totally doing this. I'm going to follow up. So podcast listener, I can't wait to follow up and let you know what she tells me. But I know this works because when we have a dedicated spot for things, that are leaving, that you know are clutter, as you are getting dressed, you spot something you don't know, like, want, use, you're ready to let it go, it completely removes the friction. Procrastination is a predictive factor for clutter accumulation. Interestingly enough, maybe not so interestingly, not surprisingly, I should say, this becomes a vicious cycle because then, the more you procrastinate, the more the clutter builds, the more the clutter builds, the more overwhelming it gets, and that procrastination, it just feeds into each other. However, when you interrupt that cycle by setting up your environment to do what you want to do anyway, i.e. adding a donation station, a bin, a bag, a cute bin, it could be an old cardboard box, like it doesn't matter, shop your house first, it does something super helpful. It removes that friction point, and it completely bypasses what your brain has likely been saying for a long time. I don't have time to de-clutter my closet right now. How many times did I say that? About eight billion. Right? It's so helpful to have a dedicated spot. And it does something really sneaky for your brain. It normalizes the idea that things are allowed to leave your house, and that de-cluttering is just a part of your rhythm. And it's not this big dramatic event you do once or twice a year after you've hit your max point, right? So before you do anything else, or at least sometime soon, my friend, is set up the donation station, okay? I have one, my cat sleeps in it, okay? It is filled with cat fur. I probably need to vacuum it out, but it's multipurpose, okay? So if you have pets, maybe add a little blankie in there. I don't know. But the idea is it stays there, it becomes part of your system, okay? And it becomes that gentle reminder. I see mine every day. So if I haven't added it to it in a week or two or three or four, I'm like, hmm, maybe I can spot something that I can let go of, okay? Number two, I think next is just getting honest about your real life, how you actually live, not your aspirational life, not the life you even had three months or three years ago, like you right now, your Wednesday afternoon life. Before you start pulling things out, pause and ask yourself, what do I do? How do I dress day to day? Am I working from home? Am I chasing toddlers? Am I going to an office? Am I hitting the gym regularly? Or is it more of a when I get around to it type situation? Because what happens when we skip this step is, we keep clothes for a life we're not living. We hold on to office wear when we've been remote for two years. We save workout clothes for a routine we haven't touched. We keep date night dresses when we can't remember the last time we went out. And none of that makes us bad people. It just means our closet is telling a story that doesn't match reality. And guess what happens in that gap? A lot of closet clutter, my friends. And when we get dressed every morning and we're inside that mismatch, it really messes with us, I think, a lot more than we realize. Again, guilt, frustration, it's loaded, right? So get honest. What season are you in? Let that be your filter for everything that comes next. And then three, this one's so important, start small and stay consistent. I know, and I lived the dump everything on the bed and go full makeover mode, and I'm slightly kidding when I say I have PTSD, but also slightly serious from that experience. I thought if this is what decluttering is, I want no part of it. And obviously this is many, many years ago. And it was horrible. And my bedroom where I took everything into looked like a bomb went off, and it took me about six months to recover because it was just not a good experience. But I will say, listen, if that is your thing, if you like live in the moment for that big purge, and you have the stamina and capacity, go for it. I'm not going to stop you. But for most of us, it leads to a lot of things we don't want to feel. Decision fatigue and all the stuff. So try this. Find one item a day that no longer fits, flatters or aligns with your current life. And add it to that donation station. You've already so conveniently added to your closet. And by the way, I know I'm kind of speaking to like a walk-in closet. I have a really small walk-in closet. Maybe you have a dresser. Fine. Put it next to your dresser. Make it work for you. One thing a day. In one month, without breaking a sweat, you'll have 30 items out of your closet. Do that times six months. Do that times three months as we head into the summer. Like 90 days or 90 items out. This is what's so beautiful is the compounding effect. Because trust me, if you're anything like me, you're going to be like, what's the point of one thing a day? That's not going to move the needle. You don't understand, Katy. I'm so overwhelmed in my closet. It's just not going to know. No, no, don't listen to that voice. I'm telling you, one item a day, gamify it. Give yourself a reward. I don't know. Like make it fun. Have a goal to reach toward. I don't know. Rewards are always fun. Personally, I like ice cream, but I also understand that might not be the healthiest reward. And also, I would say to make this a touch more granular, start with one category at a time if it helps, like your t-shirts. You go to get dressed, pick up your t-shirt, like look at the one on the bottom of the stack you haven't touched since 2010, right? Easy, low-hanging fruit. And then maybe jeans and then shoes, undergarments. I mean, hello, like breaking it into smaller groups really can make the decisions feel less heavy. But honestly, the one thing a day for me, and I'm telling you, all my clients I've done this with in the last years, have also really found that this just completely helps them bypass, overwhelm, and just take action, because that's what this is about. Progress, not perfection. Okay, the next one is a total game changer. Set boundaries for categories. Please, if nothing, I would say for, if nothing else, if you only take away one thing from this episode, it's this. But as I'm like saying that, I'm like, no, you need to. No, I won't say that. This stuff is too good. Okay, if you open a drawer and there are 25 billion, maybe not that many t-shirts staring back at you, the problem isn't that you just love t-shirts. The problem is there is no physical boundary telling you when enough is enough. Pick a category. Look at your closet or your dresser. Look at what category you tend to over accumulate. Decide how many you actually need. Now, maybe it's 10, maybe it's 7, maybe it's whatever fits in this one drawer. Personally, I don't like the H word, but I hate numbers. Like, I can only keep 10 pairs of pants for me personally, or I can only keep 20 pairs of shoes, whatever. I really prefer, to me, it just feels arbitrary. And for you, you might like numbers. This is exactly why I go off a physical boundary, which can also be problematic if you have a very large house. Like, I will keep whatever fits in my, you know, 2,000 square foot closet if you want. I mean, it might not be that big. So if you have an exceptional amount of space for your closet, yet there's still a lot of clutter, that's when I would say pick a number, right? But for me personally, again, I'm just sharing what I prefer and that's the physical boundary, a drawer, a shelf, a 12 inch by 12 inch bin for undergarments, like whatever that looks like, because when we don't have boundaries, clutter overflows every single time. It will sneak up, it will rear its ugly head, and on the back side of things, as that space, shelf, drawer, bin, whatever starts to overflow, it is a natural built-in cue to your brain that something has to go. It is seriously a beautiful thing. Setting intentional boundaries for these categories is something that the benefits of that, I continue to reap years down the road. Truly, truly, truly. It makes the decisions to, I think, feel less personal and a lot more practical. And this shifts, it helps take the emotion down a notch and gives you just a framework to work within. And speaking of frameworks and something just super tangible, in addition to what we've already talked about, one of my favorites, and I talked about this when I was on the Minimalist Podcast, and Josh was so geeking out over this, which I felt very honored, is the opportunity rule. And if you were listening during the seasonal section earlier, you already started practicing this one. So ask yourself, have I had the opportunity to wear this in the past six months? Now, for clothing, I typically use season. So again, this past winter, did I have the opportunity to wear this? It doesn't always have to be six months. Notice I'm not saying, oh, could I wear this one day or would this be cute if I had the right occasion? But the question is, have I actually had the chance to wear it and chose not to? And I think this is the tell. This is what helps me cut through so much decision fatigue that normally comes up for a lot of people and used to come up for me. If you've had the whole winter or six months of chances, and you still passed it over every single time, like, there's your answer. Now, of course, there are exceptions. Sometimes, sure. Formal wear, seasonal pieces, I get it. Give them a pass, that's fine. Doesn't have to be so black and white. But that gray sweater, you reach past every single morning or the jeans you try on, take off, and put back, or are so uncomfortable when you sit in them, you have to unbutton them. Maybe those. Go. Okay, and I do understand, listen, my weight fluctuates by the day. So I'm in, I need different size pants in my season of life. So speaking to that last tip, I have a physical boundary for my different sizes in pants. So make it practical. I'm not saying let it go if it's a little too small. But the top, that's fine, but you never grab. Again, this is where the opportunity rule really, really shines, because these are taking up space, physical space, yes, but also mental space. Because every time you see them and skip them, your brain is making a micro decision, and those add up, man. I mean, sometimes by like 8 a.m., I'm like, I think I don't want to make any more decisions the rest of the day. In fact, I want to go back to being five years old and being just told what to do. Like, oh, so many decisions. Okay, and finally, the last tip is just to keep the system going. De-cluttering your closet is not a one and done event. Your life changes, your body changes, your style changes, and your closet needs to change with you. So an idea to maintain what you've been working on, what you've been building. Number one, keep your donation station in place. Please make a permanent, make it permanent, do regular clutter audits. When you're getting dressed, use those moments to identify one thing that no longer serves you. You're already in or nearby or looking in your closet, dresser, et cetera. You're already touching the clothes. So this isn't a very obvious checkpoint for all of us. Next one is do a weekly reset. If you're anything like me, some days I change my wardrobe. If it gets hot outside, if it's cold in the morning, in the spring, I feel like I go through a lot of clothes and I don't always put them back on the hanger. So I dump them on the floor or put my shoes on the floor instead of putting them away. This is normal human behavior and instead of shaming myself for it, instead I do a weekly reset. I reset my closet hotspots, the floor, shelf, top of the dresser. Sometimes we're all toss a shirt in a hurry. It takes, I mean, it doesn't even take me five minutes once a week and it keeps the baseline tidiness in check in the closet and keeps the mess from creeping back in. If it helps, maybe you put a visual reminder inside your closet, like a small sticky note or something that says like, does this item support the life I'm living right now? I think it's always fruitful to have something to anchor into. My friend, here is what I want you to walk away from today. Your wardrobe and closet is one of the most personal spaces inside your home. You interact with it every single day and when it's filled with things that don't fit your life right now, it sends this message every morning before you even leave the house. And don't get me wrong, like this is not about minimalism or aesthetics or having a perfect capsule wardrobe. It's about giving yourself permission to let go of these things that are burdening you and in some cases of who you were, right? Those clothing that you used to wear so you can get dressed as who you actually are. So, you're one next step this week. Go to your closet, my friend. Pick one item you already know isn't working. And if the answer is, I got to get rid of this, put that donation station in place. And if this episode made something click, I got to be honest with you. You know what usually happens next. If you're anything like me, you're like, I feel so motivated. I'm going to go home from my walk and I'm going to go start doing these. And then life gets busy and two weeks from now, this podcast is something you vaguely remember. I know I can't even repeat a podcast I listened to 30 minutes ago. This is exactly why I created Clutter Cure Club. Inside the Members Vault, you have over 50 resources covering every room, every system, routines, family strategies. This is designed for families with kids, partners, I mean everything. And we also have an entire deep dives by room section where the closet and wardrobe vault alone has three full master classes, including ones from professional clothing stylists that I'm telling you are so game changing. They certainly have helped me and continue to help me years later. And right now inside the club, we are working through our 14-day kitchen reset too. One small task a day, five minutes or less, it's the kind of thing that's always dropping inside the club. And all of it you can get for less than a trip to Chick-fil-A for your family. I mean, let's just be real, Chick-fil-A has gotten out of control. I only go there twice a year. I used to go there twice a year. Start of school and end of school, like a tradition. And then the last two times I went, I was like, $40 for three meals. I was like, I think I'll just make something at home. So honestly, for far less than a trip to Chick-fil-A, you can join us inside Clutter Cure Club. All right. And we're going to help you get more peace and happiness at home. And in your life, we're going to simplify, my friend. Thanks for being here. I really hope you share this episode, you come back to listen to this episode, or maybe you join us inside Clutter Cure Club. And I'll see you soon. I'll see you next week. And you know what to do. Ready, set, declutter. Bye.