Less Stuff, More Peace

The piles aren’t just messy. They’re loud. We talk about how clutter hijacks an anxious brain with constant micro decisions, lost hours, and rooms that never fully rest. Then we map out the small, repeatable systems that make a home feel like a true sanctuary again—without demanding perfection or a label like “hardcore minimalist.”

We start by naming the real cost of stuff: stress spikes from visual noise, the time sink of searching for lost items, and how 40% of housework is actually managing clutter. From there, we share a calmer approach to decluttering for anxious moms: sort by type instead of emptying the whole closet, use the one-in-one-out rule to prevent rebound piles, and lean on the 20/20 lens for “someday” items that never get used. You’ll hear practical tweaks that change the daily baseline—10-minute family resets, a nightly dishwasher run with a morning unload, and simple house rules like “if you get it out, put it away.” These shifts reduce decision fatigue, spread responsibility, and give you back your attention.

We also get honest about the emotional side: inherited items, mom guilt over kid art, and the belief that being behind equals being bad at life. It doesn’t. Minimalism here isn’t owning nothing; it’s owning what supports your routines, your people, and your peace. Keep what serves your family, supports your day, or genuinely brings joy. Release the rest. If you need a starting line, choose one object that’s been out for a week and put it where it belongs. That’s momentum.

Ready to trade overwhelm for breathing room? Hit follow, share this with a friend who’s drowning in piles, and leave a quick review to help other anxious moms find the show. Tell us your favorite decluttering trick—we’re collecting the best low-effort, high-impact ideas for the whole community.

Transcript

Home As Trigger, Not Sanctuary

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You're listening to the Anxiety Ridden Moms Club, season two.

SPEAKER_01 0:04

I'm Kylie. And I'm Gina. Real moms, real anxiety, real conversations. Let's dive in because chaos is our cardio.

SPEAKER_00 0:19

Welcome back to the Anxiety Ridden Moms Club, the safe space for anxious moms who are just trying to keep it together one target run at a time. I'm Kylie. And I'm Gina.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

And today we're talking about something that hits very close to home. Literally, our relationship with our homes.

SPEAKER_00 0:36

For a lot of us, our home is supposed to be our sanctuary. But it also can become the biggest trigger for our anxiety. When you walk in the door and instantly feel your chest tighten because there's piles, toys, laundry, dishes, mail, it's real. That's anxiety.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

Yes. A clean home doesn't mean you're a better mom, but a cluttered environment can absolutely increase the mental load and your stress hormones. Yes.

Stats That Prove Clutter Drains You

SPEAKER_00 1:02

I have been trying to okay, the I want to be a minimalist. I currently am not anywhere close to being a minimalist. So I've mentioned it before, but I bought my grandma and grandpa's house. My grandpa had been passed, my grandpa passed away years, years and years prior. And then my grandma wanted to um, I say downsize, but she actually ended up with a bigger house. But um it was a duplex, so less like yard maintenance and stuff. But anyway, when she moved out, she took what she wanted. And then like as we sit in my basement with open rafters, like you can look up, and not one single thing up there except for some things I have for sound are mine. Um so she took what she she wanted, and I was I was left with a lot of things. Um, and then I just have a lot of shit. So I want to um this episode is something I wanted to do to help motivate me and hopefully I will document some of the process on our on our socials and her on TikTok. Um, because I want my place right now, my home gives me anxiety. It is not my sanctuary. Um, I'm here all the freaking time. I work here, I live here, I sleep here, I eat here, everything is here.

SPEAKER_01 2:24

And I think that's the thing. I think like clutter, it's I mean, here's the thing. Obviously, everybody can say, I mean, it's can be an eyesore, obviously, but really truly, I think more than anything, it's actually measurable mental weight.

SPEAKER_00 2:37

1000%.

SPEAKER_01 2:39

Yeah. So as you honestly are, you know, like you have this in your mind and you sit around and you look at different things, it just is a really, it's a mental weight. One is like, how do I get attack it? What do I do next to get out from underneath it? Then now do I really even have the energy to do it? And so um, here's even some fun facts for everybody. Yeah, I think it's kind of interesting. Um 40% of housework is caused by clutter.

SPEAKER_00 3:06

Word. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

And you know, the one thing I always notice is like before you clean, you got to pick shit up, or you really can't clean. And so then you really do realize I got a lot of shit. You know what I mean? And so like Tom and I have, we before at least always, especially when we had the kids, I would say like every Saturday, we had a routine that we would have to get up, get, and clean the whole house. So every Saturday, he did all the floors. Um, and then he would usually like kind of help pick some different things up, you know, make our bed, you know, some stuff like that. And then I would go around and I would clean the kitchen and um like shower, toilets, that kind of stuff. And it just it was amazing to me how much you have to pick a bunch of shit up before you even get to wipe it all down. So when you really think about clutter and doing, you know, being a minimalist, probably they're way happier because they don't have near the cleaning shit to sit and do all the time. So uh we spend 5,000 hours looking for lost stuff.

SPEAKER_00 4:04

Oh, fucking more than that. And you've been along your journey.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

I I you're at least double at least everybody else. But it's if you think about it, how many times just we've talked about in the past about the guys who can't find shit in like a pantry or uh or you don't think about all the things.

SPEAKER_00 4:20

Because they put forth zero fucking effort to find what they're actually looking for. They just know we're all help, but that's beside the point.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

But you know damn well that there's always kids lose shit all the time, husbands lose shit all the time. And moms are supposed to know where all the shit is. But so that means we're gonna spend all these hours. We're probably usually 5,000 hours worth of other people's shit, not our own.

Minimalism, Moms, And Mental Load

SPEAKER_00 4:43

Probably. And here's one the average home has about 300,000 items, and every single one is something that we have to mentally store, clean, or track.$300,000, not dollars. I really$300,000. And I would love if my house had$300,000, but instead 300,000 items. And again, mine's probably double.

SPEAKER_01 5:13

Well, did you know that one in four garages can't fit a car because of how much shit is in their garage? Now, I will tell you, I have never lived like that, but that's because I grew up with a father who has like the most immaculate garage you could eat off of the garage floor. Like it's like being in your house. And he always said your garage is an extension of your home. And so you should use it that way. So he always has had great cabinets, great, I mean, just beautiful. I had a teacher, I think I might even say this in another episode, but I had a teacher who drove by my house and she saw me at school that day and she's like, I have to tell you something. I said, Well, she goes, I've never seen a garage so dang clean, I almost wrecked my car. I was seriously staring in at your garage because it was open and I was laughing. But to me, it was normal. So whenever I see how many people actually have their garages just full of shit and cannot use the garage, I'm like, first off, I'm a pampered butt who has to have a garage just because I don't want to brush off snow and I'm too lazy for that and too pampered to be that cold. But the other thing is that when you have that much crap, don't you have to wonder? Like, there's no way in hell you're using that much shit. For sure. Get rid of it. I don't have that problem with my garage. And so clutter can reduce productivity by 25%.

SPEAKER_00 6:24

That's a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

Oh, I'm sure. Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:27

Probably more probably more than that for me. Who is most impacted by clutter-induced, or who has, you know, moms. Women.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

Okay, wait, let me think. Um, hmm, it must be a the mom.

SPEAKER_00 6:44

Always. It's always her fault. It's always her problem. Yes. Women, specifically moms, are the group most impacted by clutter-induced stress.

SPEAKER_01 6:54

Yes, which is why we need to learn from about the minimalist. Is it uh isn't it on Netflix? Is it on Netflix? Yeah, there's like a series, but I know my mom watched it. My mom is very organized, but um, I've I just been, I mean, I'm nowhere near as organized. I mean, I should be like super crazy organized because both my parents are, but um, I'm not. Um, but I'm not I have I just have my own, I guess, unique system. So I don't have like clutter everywhere by any means, but I just don't have quite the systems that they have in place. But she even watched it and she was like, oh my god, it was the best thing. So I know I need to watch it.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

Oh, then I need to learn. I probably watched it and I was gonna do it, and then I never did, and now I can't remember.

SPEAKER_01 7:36

But but I do think most people who have a really if they're they do have a lot of stuff, I think their anxiety is always worse, even though they think it's not a problem.

SPEAKER_00 7:43

This is absolutely why our anxiety spikes. We we think it's just a mess, but it's actually overwhelmed disguised as laundry baskets, and everything takes longer because you can't find it. It's everything needs to have everything needs to have a home.

Decluttering Methods That Don’t Overwhelm

SPEAKER_01 7:56

So yes, it does. And if it doesn't have a home, that's when you need to start thinking about those items. Um, so let's give some practical tips because we don't want to just say clean your house because that's just not realistic. Oh, we need to I need to do that too, but but you really can't, you really cannot get keep your house clean. I don't really feel like anybody that I've ever known that has a lot of clutter, they're they struggle to keep it clean, but it's really because of the clutter. I mean, it and it's a bigger job to clean. So it just you gotta start somewhere. So one, it's you gotta take one space at a time, not the whole house, like uh let's pick a drawer, a counter, a toy bin, you know, the small things. You know, when we were talking about money, I think it's kind of the same thing. You know, it was like when he was, you gotta feel like you win. So I think, you know, when you were saying that um you're supposed to put all of your money in a list, and at the bottom of the list is like your smallest amount. We don't worry about the interest rates, we worry about smallest amounts. We can feel like, oh, that's a win. I think that that's what I do a lot of times. I think when it comes down to I'll be like, I want to organize like this drawer today, because it's not, it's just a smaller thing to go through. But when all of you have so much shit is in, especially a junk drawer, and then you clean it all, and you're like, oh my God, I just dumped out all that crap, and look how nice and clean this is. And then you move on, you're like, okay, and then maybe tomorrow or the next day I'm gonna clean something else out. Right now I have to clean my laundry room. It's just ridiculous. But it's a bigger job, but I have to clean it.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

What was I? What did I just I don't I think I think it's one of my obsessions on TikTok currently, but it's someone I follow um that goes in, and I I'm pretty sure she does it for free, and she's a freaking angel, but she goes in um to mom's houses that are just overwhelmed and mental disorder, you know, you know, whether it's stress, anxiety, depression, whatever it is, but then when shit gets out of control. And I literally um was watching some of her shorts in this this bedroom, and I was like, oh my gosh, but a lot of any decluttering Marie Kondo, minimalist declutter crap, they always say, like, okay, let's take a bedroom, for example, take everything out of the closet. Take everything. Well, when you suffer from anxiety, I almost feel and it it when I watched this and she said that, I was like, it was like a light bulb went off. And I was like, oh my God. Because she's like, Okay, everybody tells you pull everything out of your closet, pull everything out of your drawers so you can really get a look at your inventory. What happens when you do that? It's overwhelming. You get overwhelmed, your anxiety kicks in and you're like, holy fucking shit. Yeah, I don't even know. I think it's like I'm gonna sleep on a couch because I don't even freaking know what.

SPEAKER_01 10:40

Well, it's like just like, have you ever seen like in the hoarders you ever watch hoarder shows? My daughter gets obsessed with the craziest stuff, and so she's had me watch way too many of those shows. But they get so overwhelmed when people are like moving their stuff because it's at the end of the day, it causes them such anxiety when it's like a mob of people that come in and they gotta like start moving all of your things. I think it's the same concept. If all of a sudden somebody comes in and says, We're pulling all this out, you're like, holy shit. You don't know where and you don't, and then you're like, wait a minute. If you touch this, I don't know what I'm gonna do with it. And then it's then do I want this? Well, maybe I need this. And my mom's really good about helping me go through some of that stuff because she'll say, Come on, you're gonna think about this. Let's think about this, let's think about that. And I think it's kind of and she's also good at so there's like the one in, one out rule. If you bring something in your home, um, then something has to leave. So my mom is the one thing I've always loved about her is that she would come, she comes and stays with me. So when she does um during the summers, especially when we when we had a whole house full of all of the kids, she would always tell like the kids, okay, we're gonna go through your closet and all your stuff and clean your room. And we're going to have to get rid of things if you want something, which I've always was raised. If you want Christmas stuff, you're gonna need to get rid of some shit. I'm not, you're not, I'm not buying you a bunch of stuff for you, just have that much more shit. So she was very good about always being like, we need to go through things and we need to be getting rid of stuff and we need to make a goodwill run or whatever you're gonna do. And um, so she would do it and it, oh, you wouldn't believe the relief. I think even my kids felt like, good, I can get stuff now. So to them, it was very rewarding because they were like, oh, now I'm gonna get some new shit. Right. To me, it was rewarding because I just got rid of a bunch of crap that we do not need that is just cluttering up their room. And if we went not having her do that every single year, you know what shit I would probably have with having four kids in my house. I mean, like, it could just get out of control. Absolutely. So I do think a simple thing is one in, one out. So if they get a new toy, they need to get rid of something. If you want to buy something new in your kitchen and you have something that's similar or something else that like you really don't use, get it out of your house.

Family Systems: 10‑Minute Resets

SPEAKER_00 12:40

Right. So the the cleaner that I do watch, she she suggested instead of pulling everything out all at once, um, do it by type. So she's like, if you're going into a bedroom, she's like, pull out every sock, sock, every, and then you get through the socks and then you move on to your pants and pull out every pant short that you have, but you're not dumping it all. So one, you can stop at any time. It's not overwhelming. And that it was, it was like a light bulb moment. And I probably decluttered and went through my room quicker than I ever have in my entire life because you have your entire inner inventory right there. And I'm like, well, I like these more than these, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And went on. I got through um, you know, things that are too big, things that are too small. I got through all of that. And then I was thinking, man, this would have been really helpful. Um, you know, when my kids were younger. And it is so tough with young kids and how fast they grow. Like going through clothes was such a fucking pain in the ass. Where, you know, you're and and two, you can't just go by size because a 3T can fit like a 5T and a 5T. So you literally have to like hold it up and be like, okay, this fit last week. Well, this fit. Like, I hated going through kids' clothes. It was so like torture. Um, so this this method that I just recently learned about doing it by type, it was it was crazy how quick I made it through my room. Well, and I posted about it. It was on our TikTok.

SPEAKER_01 14:01

I do think it's good because um my mom got on my case from my own closet one time and she was like, You have got to go through your closet. Now, mind you, my mom is very like has a place for everything. She is that person. My closet was not like that bad, but to her, it was, you know, treacherous.

SPEAKER_02 14:19

It was dangerous.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

So she really, really kept pushing on me. So she got me new hangers from like Sam's. So they're so that everything would match. And then she bought um these like, you know, like when you hang a dress and like people you get them in a bag or whatever at the cleaners. So these were like the zip-up kind that you get. So if you bought some fancy dress somewhere, you put them, but these are not like expensive, they're like, you know, a lesser expensive, cheap one, but she had it to where I could take all dresses and I could put them in bags instead of having all these dresses out. So you could kind of like put them in, you know, these categories, yeah, categories or whatever. And so we went through the whole closet and at first, believe me, I was not really feeling it and not in the mood, but she goes through things kind of that way. So it'd be like, let's go through this drawer first. You know, let's we're gonna get all the socks, we're gonna get all this. Or you took off, here's this rack of all of your shirts that are hanging in the closet, or here's all your pants. And so we just did it that way. And it went really, really quick. And she helped me to make sure I got rid of different things and all that, and then reorganized it back. And so now, like through time and life, obviously, you you know, start shoving some stuff here and there. But it does make we're always like, we got to go through the closet again just to get it back in order. But even buying like the hangers and those bags, I never would have thought the bags were that big of a deal, but they make a huge difference to where then all of a sudden, if you want to like just look through, maybe you're just looking at like some of your spring dresses, or maybe you're going to a formal something, I can just grab that bag out and then I can open it up and look and see what I have real quick compared to this flip-flopping around in that area. You know what I mean? That's awesome. Yeah, it really helped.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

Send them to me and we'll add them to our TikTok shop.

SPEAKER_01 15:49

Yeah, because it really, really helped. Now I know the minimalist, she does the 2020 rule. So if it can be replaced for under$20 in under 20 minutes, you let it go. That would be half my shit, I think.

SPEAKER_00 16:01

Well, that's what I was gonna say. I feel like so. That's like if you want to buy a tiny fucking tiny home. If you want to live in a tiny home and you can't have this stuff, but like I have enough space, and I would certainly have enough space if I was organized and got rid of like, you know, half of the 300,000. Like I would be so like I think it's everything needs a home. And yes, if you want to live the tiny home life, that's freaking fabulous for you. And that's probably a good rule, but I'm not getting rid of shit that I have to replace it. Like, I'm I'm just I'm not either. But like I think the point is don't hold on to everything that you might possibly need in the future.

SPEAKER_01 16:34

Like I'm Yeah, I think there's things where you said maybe I might need it though next year. What if I need it in six months? And I do think it is a good rule then to say if it's seriously under$20 and you really are kind of going, I haven't used it in two years, but what if I use it in six months? I mean, seriously, get rid of it. You probably aren't gonna use it. And if you absolutely got to a point at some point in time you needed it back, you could go get that back. I don't think it's a big deal. For sure.

SPEAKER_00 16:55

How about the the 10-minute reset? So set a timer once a day. Everyone contributes. That's your only expectation. But for 10 minutes a day, you pick up, clean up, declutter.

Rules, Routines, And Shared Responsibility

SPEAKER_01 17:08

Well, that so then that kind of that that rule I think is good. Like my mom always would tell me that everything when we were kids, everybody we had to clean up the family room. Family could never have anything in it. So if we had toys, blankets, whatever the hell you brought out, right? You're a kid. So you bring anything you brought out, you need to go put it away and before we went to bed. So it's really maybe 10 minutes, right? That we clean up our shit and then go to bed. So my mom had where my brother didn't always think it was necessary to participate in the 10 minutes. So uh she told us one night, she was like, Listen, what I'm gonna do from now on is that if you don't pick it up before you go to bed, then I'm going to wake you up at two o'clock in the morning and then you will go pick it up. Yes, my brother was woke up at two o'clock in the morning to pick some shit up one time. I think after that he decided he didn't really like that so much. So he went back to just doing it in the evening because literally it's 10 minutes, right? If you have your whole family participate and little, little toddlers can participate in this too, you could do two 10 minutes. That's a I think it's a I think it's smart to do that.

SPEAKER_00 18:08

For sure. It's I I my I have one kid that's very, very clean, one kid that is not. Um and I am starting to write down some definitive rules in the house. Like if you get it out, you put it away. If you dirty a dish, you put it in the dishwasher. Not I shouldn't find it in your room, I shouldn't find it on the counter, I shouldn't find it in the sink. And if you go to put something in the dishwasher and it's full, let's try unloading it. Like I am to the point, like I need help. Like they freaking destroy things and I need help. I can't, I can't do it all myself.

SPEAKER_01 18:53

And and I that's where I think, you know, like if you talk about like chores and stuff like that, I I think what I didn't like is when people would have like these specific chores, um, like boards. This is your dish night, this is your blah blah blah. And I I think it made it feel more kind of like, oh my god, my parents always rules and I gotta do all this stuff. And um, where my mom would always just be like, hey, today before you go out anywhere, I just need some help. We gotta get your room cleaned up, this bathroom or something. Could you just do it for me before you head out for the day? Like it would be a Saturday to go hang out with your friends or whatever. Um, I think it helps more when there's some sort of um, you know, stuff that they have to be involved in, but doesn't have to feel like it's a, well, it's Wednesday nights. My mom said I gotta do the dishes. Like I just think it kind of feels like heavy. And that's why kids I think fight back a lot of times compared to, you know, hey, we just ate and your kids saying, I well, I want to go out and so see John down the street. Hey, can you give me five minutes really quick? Help me get this cleaned up really fast and then you can go hang out with John. Doesn't feel as heavy. Yes. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 19:53

And I think that that's that's a perfect example like cleaning up dinner after it happens. I'm freaking terrible at that. And just because I'm tired and I want to go to sleep, but then you start off the next day behind. Yes, with a mess.

SPEAKER_01 20:04

You're already being and really if the whole family just helps. I mean, that's the whole thing, you know. I I think as moms, and I know I do take on way too much and don't always ask for all the help. Um, but I think that that's exactly why the anxiety gets worse. The um sometimes anger moments happen or just the feelings of um depression, guilt, all these different things that happen to moms that don't ask probably for enough help. I think my mom was very much better at it than me for sure, because she would just always say, Hey, will you run downstairs really quick and just swatch flip the laundry? So I'd be like, you know, throw, take the stuff out of the dryer, throw another load in, throw the other ones in the dryer, no big deal. And I could fold a load of laundry and I can head out and go do whatever. Well, when you're asked to do it again, like I said, it takes five, ten minutes and I'm out the door again. So it wasn't a big deal, but she just didn't have to do all that laundry that really isn't that difficult. But yet it's another thing on her list that if I just helped, it would make it a lot better. So I I do think for sure keeping things clean, if you don't make your kids a part of it, it just becomes a harder chaotic thing. And it makes it where we do things like that more often. Leave the dinner, well, I will do it tomorrow. Then you wake up to it's messy. Or if you wake up in the kitchen's clean, it's kind of nice, or at least pretty much clean, where you only have like, oh, I'll just few throw a few more dishes in and run it. I always like to run my dishwasher at night. I clean my whole everything up, fill the dishwasher, run it. That way in the morning I'd get up, all I would do is unload it. So for the day, you had an empty dishwasher, and everybody as they do their stuff, which don't be wrong, nobody was really the best at it, but at least if they put it in the sink, I would just throw out the day every so often just throw stuff into the dishwasher. I always ask for people to help to do that, but not saying they're perfect about it, but it would make my life a lot easier.

Planning Beats Overwhelm At Home

SPEAKER_00 21:43

No, and I feel like if I did a better job of keeping up with it and whatever, but like I mean, it it's not rocket science and it's not that fucking hard. If you eat Pop Tarts, throw the fucking paper away. Throw the paper away. If you eat a piece of candy, fucking put it in the trash. Try waking them up at two o'clock in the morning and come pick it up. I think I'm gonna start. I seriously think I'm gonna start. But again, like I if I have three months of mail sitting on the counter, like it's so easy to just accumulate more shit. Oh, I'm the worst about mail. If I could get my life under control, then I would be able to better enforce the rules. Because I'll be like, clean your room, they'll be like, look at yours. And I'll be like, fuck you, I'm the mom.

unknown 22:20

Like, whatever.

SPEAKER_00 22:23

But it's something that we can all work on. So I'm hoping, I'm hoping in 2026 is my year to have less stuff, to have less clutter, less chaos, and just live and lead a simpler, easier life. And I know it's easier said than done, right? Oh, yes. But there are things that we can do like by having less things that make make it easier. Um, we carry the mental load. It's not just stuff, it's the decision making behind the stuff. Where does this go? Who used this last? Do I need to keep it? Can I donate it? Does this toy have missing pieces? Do I need to keep this art project because of mom guilt?

SPEAKER_01 23:00

Right. Like that's why I said, I mean, I mean, seriously, like clutter becomes guilt. And then guilt makes anxiety worse. And um I I think it's important. I think that that a lot of the homes that people have all that clutter, ultimately, we've got to realize what it's doing to our mental health. We're not just looking at a pile, we're looking at 20 tiny decisions we don't have capacity for.

SPEAKER_00 23:22

1000%. And it just the whole, you know, the whole time we've talked, it's just overwhelming. It's overwhelming. It's too much. Less stuff equals more peace.

SPEAKER_01 23:30

Uh yeah. Anxiety brain doesn't rest in clutter. They go into problem solving. So our home, the place that's supposed to be our safe place, actually becomes a thing that keeps us in fight or flight mode.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

For sure. We spend 5,000 hours looking for lost items. And if you're a mom, 4,000 hours.

SPEAKER_01 23:52

Or if you're Kylie, you spend 10,000. But okay, go on.

unknown 23:55

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 23:56

And then if you're Kylie, 9,990 of those hours are finding your stuff your kids swore they had just in their second the their hand just a second ago. But you know that they carried it out of their house and and took it to their dad's. But you can't prove it because you haven't done laundry in a month. It's a fucking problem. Why do I hate laundry? My mom's like, just load the dishwasher before you go to bed, empty it in the morning, do one load of laundry a day. And it's like fucking torture.

SPEAKER_01 24:22

It's fucking funny. But I'm not kidding you when you do that. I do that. Those are the things I do. And if you do that, you would not believe how much easier things are and how less, much less stressful it is. If you just know Am I lazy?

SPEAKER_00 24:36

Is that the am I just fucking lazy?

SPEAKER_01 24:38

Well, ever everybody wants to be lazy, not have to sit on. I mean, I would rather sit on the couch and do something. But when I sit and I think I could wake up, I could either wake up to the dishes where they're clean in the dishwasher to where I can just right before, like right before you go to your desk, you're like, all I have to give 10 extra minutes. That's all I'm gonna give 10 extra minutes. I'm going to unload those clean dishes. That's all I'm gonna do. And now my everything is clean.

SPEAKER_00 25:01

I think I'm just a brat because I want to kick and scream and be like, why am I the only one that can but that's what I'm trying to do?

Mindset Shifts Toward Less Anxiety

SPEAKER_01 25:07

Because that's why you need to. Well, I always did that all the time. But I think that's why you have to make that the kids have to help you either if it's like after dinner, you know, Brad, the kids, everybody, to wipe down the counters. They can at least wipe the table off, maybe. They could do something so that that way all you are doing is I'm gonna fill the dishwasher and then in the morning I'll empty it. Yeah and then I but and then you can press upon them, not that it works, but you can press upon them to participate that if they've used a glass, put it in the dishwasher because the dishwasher's empty and needs to be filled with dirty dishes, you know, that kind of stuff. It makes does help truly what your mom's saying is truly makes a world of difference and it doesn't take that long. I think that's the problem is, you know, even when I um I was managing at the other job, uh people would always be like, I just don't have enough time to get anything done. When I know for a fact they have plenty of time to be having chit-chat talks with everybody, and I'm all for that. I really do not believe that people can be focused eight hours on their job and not have some bits and pieces here and there socialization. I think it's good too. And I think sometimes it's good to even have a day that maybe it's not as productive as maybe the the last day was for my group, but they were it kind of like got them back in order and maybe functioning as a team better. But I would always say, okay, you say you don't have enough time in a day, but let's talk about what it is that you actually have to do and why you tell me how long it takes you to do those tasks. And as soon as they would got into just a few tasks, they would stop talking about it because they realize you really don't have you have nowhere near eight hours worth of work, which is why I know at the end of the day, you can have some of your socialization, but you still could do even prior more even with your work and be more efficient and get stuff done if all you really did is really broke it down to see what it is that you have responsibilities. So it's no different than in your home. Your home is a business truly of the same process.

SPEAKER_00 26:51

I hear you, and I agree, and I also manage these same people, and I will say that is a lot of them, yes. But I will also say that when you have so many things, I I think that being overwhelmed has like people shut down.

SPEAKER_01 27:15

And I think that but I think that's okay, but that's where a boss should be knowing. If let's say somebody has a point where they're like, you know that they are a full capacity person, we know our workers, people that will feel that responsibility, people that will do extra when they don't have to. You know, those people a lot of times they do get to that point where they for sure, those people especially can overwhelm themselves. But even these other people that overwhelm themselves, as soon as you show them, why don't we just make it let's kind of lay lay out your day a little bit more, it shows them that they don't have to feel overwhelmed if they would kind of plan.

SPEAKER_00 27:47

They're just they can't, they can't do anything productive because they're so overwhelmed by all the shit that they think they have to do. So a lot of it is just a battle in your mind.

SPEAKER_01 27:55

Yes, it really is. So when you kind of put it down on a let's plan out the day instead, if I got in here at eight, I'll let you make your coffee, I'll let you go to the bathroom, I'll even let you do a few things. So let's start at 8:30. You know, I mean, try to even make it to where it's like seems not so like, oh, like, you know what I mean? For a lot of the people who have a basic typical day and yet they get overwhelmed in it, that's perfectly normal and okay to have happen, but they think they do need help, no different than decluttering their home, the same way to say, let's put a list together, what really tasks do you have to do? Um, you know, I would even be told here, make a list of all the things that you want to accomplish today, but know that these few things, if I don't get to these three things at the bottom of my list, I don't, it's okay. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like your list can even be fuller than what you've planned that you can get done. But the goal of just saying, hey, I did a great job, I got these five things done. I still have those three things. It's fine. I'll add that to my list tomorrow at the top of the list, maybe, and I'll add more. You know what I'm saying? So you just have like this rotating list. Then you have the people too that literally they have too much work on their plate. And as a boss, that's that's a totally different situation. We need to be making sure we're never overworking somebody. But I think most people get overwhelmed in their mind. And as soon as you help them realize what you can create their day to be, it's not that overwhelming when you put it on paper. It's just in your mind, you make it bigger than it is. No different than I'm gonna go clean my closet. To one person, you'd be like, Oh my God, I'm having heart palpitations. Where's the chair? I need to sit down. And the next person will say, This isn't a big deal. Let's just do one drawer at a time. If we even get through the socks, the underwear, and the shorts today, that's a win. For sure. You know what I mean? Baby stuff. I think it's the same thing even in your home. I mean, just like going back that 40% of housework is purely clutter, not dirt, not filth, just stuff we don't even use. So making a list and going through things of priorities of what you want to do when you want to do it.

SPEAKER_00 29:45

And that's what's so appealing to me about being a minimalist. It's because less stuff would equal less noise in my head.

SPEAKER_01 29:51

Yes. It's truly would make a big difference. Minimalists is not about owning nothing. I mean, I think people always think it's about. Like what you want me to have? No shit. It's about owning only what actually supports your life. And most people have 300,000 items in their home as we have learned today. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 30:10

For sure.

SPEAKER_01 30:11

That's too much shit.

Quick Wins, Challenges, And Permission To Let Go

SPEAKER_00 30:12

So here's a quick challenge. Pick one thing today that's been sitting out for over a week that belongs somewhere else and put it away. Put it away. Donating one bag of stuff is progress.

SPEAKER_01 30:23

If it's not adding to my peace, it's taking from it. Everything in your home should either serve your family, support your routine, or spark joy. As Marie Condo says, if it doesn't bring you joy, get rid of it. A lot of shit doesn't bring me joy in my house, but I just feel like I do need it.

SPEAKER_00 30:43

Be getting rid of a lot of shit. I'd go from about 10,000 to three. Six, including my animals. But if it does none of those, it's clutter. Disguised, you know, if it doesn't serve your family, support your routine or spark joy. If it does none of those, it's clutter. Disguised as maybe useful someday. At the end of the day, we want to feel safe in our homes. We want to walk in, exhale, and not tense up. Your home is not supposed to be the enemy.

SPEAKER_01 31:12

Your home is not supposed to be one more thing that drains your energy.

SPEAKER_00 31:15

So if you need permission to release, let go, donate, declutter. This is it. We're heading into the 2026 very, very soon. So you're allowed to choose peace over stuff. Let's do it. 2026, we're choosing peace over stuff.

SPEAKER_01 31:30

That would be nice. That's my goal.

SPEAKER_00 31:33

Yes. And just to be clear, you don't have to be a perfect minimalist. I still have random crap. I will always have random crap. Mom life is messy. But choosing less stuff is choosing less anxiety. Yes. So if you needed a sign to clean out that junk drawer or donate the clothes you've been avoiding, this is it, friends.

SPEAKER_01 31:54

Your home should be your safe place, not another source of anxiety.

SPEAKER_00 31:58

We love you guys. Make sure to follow us. Leave us a five-star review and tell us your favorite decluttering trick because anxious moms need all of the hacks we can get.

SPEAKER_01 32:07

We'll see you next week. Bye. If no one's told you lately, let me be the one to say it. You're not failing, you're growing. You're not broken, you're becoming, and you're doing better than you think.

Closing Encouragement And Community CTA

SPEAKER_00 32:20

Thanks for being here today. If this episode resonated with you, I'd love if you'd subscribe, leave a review, or share it with another mom who might need to hear this. You can also connect with us on Facebook or TikTok at the ARMC. We'd love to hear your story. Until next time, give yourself grace, breathe deep, and remember peace is possible.