Declutter Like a Boss: Set Rules, Get Organized, Feel Lighter | Clutterbug Podcast #307

Hey Clutterbugs! It’s time for some decluttering motivation, organizing tips, and a step-by-step January roadmap so you can stop feeling behind and start taking action fast. Happy New Year, friends. Ready for a little tough love Cas (with love)? We’re not doing the “new year, new you” pressure spiral, and we are not making a giant, unrealistic plan for all of 2026. We’re using January as a container and focusing on one small doable decision that you can repeat—because that’s how real change sticks. I’m also introducing what I’m calling the Boss Rule. If you have to negotiate with an item—debate it, justify it, imagine a future version of you who finally fixes it, paints it, returns it, uses it, or finds the “perfect system”—that item is breaking the rule. You’re the CEO of your home. You don’t negotiate with clutter.

#declutter #decluttering #homeorganization #homeorganizing #cleaningmotivation #januaryreset #newyearreset #lifelessons #mindset #newyearmotivation #productivity #toughlove #selfimprovement #declutteringtips #homehacks #clutterbug

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I NEEDED THIS!!

Thank you so much for this episode and for giving me the kick in the rear I needed!! Please do more like this—even a WHOLE SERIES with a theme of giving us a “kick in the a**”….please. I have an UN-liveable mess. I need to get this mess clean today—yesterday even….I am convinced SO many of us have mess and disorganization that some might call a hoard….but that doesn’t quite rise to that definition. Maybe we had an illness, or covid, or loss, or past addiction, or adhd, caregiving responsibilities…I’ve had all of those. I don’t want more things. I want my house back. I NEED my house back. My family needs their house back!!

I have had SO much trouble finding cleaning advice for my situation.

Five minutes a day or 15, or “small new habits” WON’T work for me, because I have a special needs toddler who will undo ANY “small” progress made in one minute.

I have bins and bins filled with items. I have to use bins and can’t use my kitchen cabinets because we live in a trailer and by a corn field. You know what that means…mice. I can’t use open shelving. I can’t even use dressers, because mice find a way to crawl up the back of the closed drawers and inside to nest.

I have regular pest control services. I have four poison boxes outside for the mice, glue traps for inside and two cats. I can only use snap traps in my other teen son’s room because my toddler can’t access that room, nor the cats. The cats are on opposite wings of the house and take turns in the middle section because they don’t get along. They help kill mice on their ends. Still, this trailer is old, and new mice are always trying their luck.

I have a dump trailer outside in my driveway right now. I have three teen boys also with their regular laundry needs…it’s everything we can do to stay on top of the daily cleaning responsibilities. And they have school, homework, weekly social needs. Driving to visit the other parent.

This episode helped me clear a big chunk last night. I would love if you could make a series for listeners like me to listen to while we clean. A series CHOCK full of “keep going! You got this! You can finish THIS WEEKEND or THIS WEEK! NO MORE EXCUSES! Be a BOSS” etc…

We need advice for people who CAN’T afford to wait any longer. And who CAN’T wait a whole month. I KNOW this whole place could be fixed in a weekend were it not for my special needs child’s special needs which are constant, every few minutes. I’m also in online college.

My only real time to clean and purge is when he is in school which he started in the fall. I’ve made big progress but it’s not fast or complete enough. I’ve done the first and second passes. The decisions are overwhelming.

I would love motivational perspective on how to get the house respectable first…the systems and maintenance can come after that. I know if I can purge 70 percent of my house, I could maintain it. I’m ready.

Thank you again for this episode.