📚 PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK

Making Home Your Happy Place: The Real-Life Guide to Decluttering Without the Overwhelm releases February 17th.

Pre-order now to receive exclusive bonus goodies — simple, supportive tools you can start using right away.

👉 Pre-Order wherever books are sold

🎯 TAKE THE FREE DECLUTTERING STYLE QUIZ

Discover your personal Decluttering Style and get a clear, realistic starting plan that actually fits your life.

👉 Take the free quiz

If you've ever looked around your home and thought, "Why does this feel like it's all on me?"—this episode is for you.

Because getting another adult in your home to care about clutter can feel…impossible. Maybe your partner genuinely doesn't notice it. Maybe they help, but you're still carrying most of the mental load. Maybe they're willing, but they don't know where to start. Or maybe it's not a partner at all—maybe it's a roommate, an older kid, or another adult sharing your space.

In this episode, I'm walking you through what didn't work for me (hinting, sighing, nagging, ultimatums…yep, I tried it all) and what finally did move the needle with my husband, Andrew.

We'll talk about the subtle shifts that create real buy-in—without turning your home into a battleground or you into the project manager nobody asked for.

If you're craving more shared responsibility and less resentment, this one will help you take the next right step—starting today.

Most adults don't need to fall in love with donation bins or organizers to get on board. What they do care about is how the home feels: less friction, fewer arguments, easier routines, and the ability to actually relax at the end of the day.
The breakthrough comes when they experience the difference—because showing is more powerful than telling.

Sometimes your partner isn't resisting decluttering—they just don't understand what it's costing you. When you share what you're really craving on the other side (peace, ease, less anxiety, more time as a family), it often creates empathy…which creates support.
And support can look like a lot of things: running donations, handling the kids while you declutter, or slowly joining you in shared spaces when they have capacity.

What looks like "they don't care" is often just friction. Too many steps. No obvious home. Too much thinking required.
So instead of arguing about behavior, adjust the environment:

• keys keep landing on the counter → add a tray where they actually get dropped

• shoes pile up by the door → put a basket right there

• stuff keeps circulating → make a visible donation bin the default

When it's easy, it happens more—without willpower, nagging, or reminders.

🗞️ Join the Ready, Set, Simplify Newsletter
Over 35,000 women read it weekly for clutter-busting tips, tiny mindset shifts, and practical steps to simplify your home and your life.
👉 https://www.katyjoywells.com/simplify

🧡 Loved this episode?
Join me inside the Clutter Cure Club — where we take conversations like this even deeper, and I help you simplify everything.
👉 https://www.katyjoywells.com/cluttercureclub-page837548

📲 Come Say Hi on Instagram
Behind-the-scenes, real-life simplicity, and lots of laughs.
💛 @katyjoywells

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If this episode helped you, I'd be so grateful if you'd take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
Your support helps this show reach more women who need a simpler way forward. 💛

📚 PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK

Making Home Your Happy Place: The Real-Life Guide to Decluttering Without the Overwhelm releases February 17th.

Pre-order now to receive exclusive bonus goodies — simple, supportive tools you can start using right away.

👉 Pre-Order wherever books are sold

🎯 TAKE THE FREE DECLUTTERING STYLE QUIZ

Discover your personal Decluttering Style and get a clear, realistic starting plan that actually fits your life.

👉 Take the free quiz

If you've ever felt like you're working twice as hard as everyone else just to keep your head above water… this episode is going to feel like a deep exhale.

Because when you're trying harder and harder—making more lists, getting more "disciplined," pushing yourself into new-year productivity mode—and it's still not working? That's not a character flaw. It's not laziness. And it's definitely not that you're "bad at adulthood."

In today's conversation, I'm joined by Brooke Schnitman, executive function coach and former special education teacher with 20+ years of experience helping adults with ADHD stop fighting their brains and start working with them. Brooke was diagnosed with ADHD at 35, so she understands this from the inside out—and she explains why willpower isn't the problem… regulation is.

We talk about the overwhelm/underwhelm cycle that keeps so many women stuck, how "all-or-nothing" thinking hijacks decluttering (and basically everything else), and the small, realistic shifts that help you build momentum—without burning out or spiraling into shame.

If decluttering (or even just managing life) feels harder than it "should," this episode will help you finally understand why… and what to do instead.

Brooke explains how ADHD brains can't reliably access willpower the same way, especially under stress. When you push harder, your nervous system floods, executive function shuts down, and the shame spiral kicks in.

Overwhelm looks like "too much." But underwhelm looks like "I'm bored, stuck, scrolling, restless… and I don't know why I can't start." Brooke shares how ADHD brains need the right level of stimulation to initiate action.

One small action creates a dopamine hit → which creates more action → which creates momentum → which creates confidence. You don't need a perfect plan. You need a next step you can actually do—and ideally, accountability to help you do it.

Coaching with Brooke: https://www.coachingwithbrooke.com/

Get Brooke's Book: https://www.coachingwithbrooke.com/activatebook

Brooke's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachingwithbrooke/

🗞️ Join the Ready, Set, Simplify Newsletter
Over 35,000 women read it weekly for clutter-busting tips, tiny mindset shifts, and practical steps to simplify your home and your life.
👉 https://www.katyjoywells.com/simplify

🧡 Loved this episode?
Join me inside the Clutter Cure Club — where we take conversations like this even deeper, and I help you simplify everything.
👉 https://www.katyjoywells.com/cluttercureclub-page837548

📲 Come Say Hi on Instagram
Behind-the-scenes, real-life simplicity, and lots of laughs.
💛 @katyjoywells

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If this episode helped you, I'd be so grateful if you'd take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
Your support helps this show reach more women who need a simpler way forward. 💛

📚 PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK

Making Home Your Happy Place: The Real-Life Guide to Decluttering Without the Overwhelm releases February 17th.

Pre-order now to receive exclusive bonus goodies — simple, supportive tools you can start using right away.

👉 Pre-Order wherever books are sold

🎯 TAKE THE FREE DECLUTTERING STYLE QUIZ

Discover your personal Decluttering Style and get a clear, realistic starting plan that actually fits your life.

👉 Take the free quiz

Have you ever started decluttering with good intentions… and then your brain just shuts down? You're staring at a pile thinking, "Why can't I just make a decision?" and suddenly everything feels hard — even the easy stuff.

Most women assume they're unmotivated or undisciplined. But I want to offer a kinder explanation: your brain didn't run out of willpower — it ran out of decision-making energy.

In today's episode, I walk you through what decision fatigue actually is, why it hits so fast during decluttering, and three simple strategies you can use to prevent that "stuck" feeling before it starts — or get yourself unstuck when you're already in it.

January tends to bring fresh motivation… and also a lot of pressure. More goals, more tasks, more decisions, more everything. If you're already carrying a full mental load, decluttering can be the thing that pushes your brain over the edge.

This episode will help you work with your brain instead of fighting it — so you can make steady progress without burnout, overwhelm, or the "I'll just do it later" spiral.

1. Start with the no-brainers to build momentum
   Begin with superficial clutter — the items you already know you don't want (stained, broken, uncomfortable, mismatched). Quick wins give your brain proof and momentum before you tackle the "maybe" pile.

2. Give your brain one job at a time
   Decision fatigue gets worse when you keep switching gears. Choose one category or one question (like "Is this functional and usable?") and repeat it — your brain can handle rhythm far better than constant mental toggling.

3. Use scripts so you don't negotiate with yourself
   Open-ended questions lead to spiraling when you're tired. A simple pre-decided script gives structure and keeps you moving—especially with scarcity clutter, sentimental items, or aspirational "future self" pieces.

4. Use these strategies proactively and reactively
   Start your session with them to prevent shutdown — and if you hit a wall mid-declutter, switch back to no-brainers, narrow your job, or pull out a script to get moving again.

5. Progress comes from steadiness, not marathons
   You don't need to finish the whole closet today. You need a method that helps you stay clear-headed long enough to make consistent decisions — one small set at a time.

1. decisions easier.

🗞️ Join the Ready, Set, Simplify Newsletter
Over 35,000 women read it weekly for clutter-busting tips, tiny mindset shifts, and practical steps to simplify your home and your life.
👉 https://www.katyjoywells.com/simplify

🧡 Loved this episode?
Join me inside the Clutter Cure Club — where we take conversations like this even deeper, and I help you simplify everything.
👉 https://www.katyjoywells.com/cluttercureclub-page837548

📲 Come Say Hi on Instagram
Behind-the-scenes, real-life simplicity, and lots of laughs.
💛 @katyjoywells

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If this episode helped you, I'd be so grateful if you'd take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
Your support helps this show reach more women who need a simpler way forward. 💛