Show Notes
📚 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 The 25-Minute Decluttering Strategy That Actually Works When You're Short on Time You know that moment when you want to declutter… but the idea of pulling everything out and losing your whole day makes you want to quit before you even start? I get it. Most decluttering advice is built for someone with unlimited time, unlimited energy, and zero kids asking for snacks every six minutes. And if you've tried the "empty the whole closet" method before, you already know how that story ends. In this episode, I walk you through my go-to method called 25 to Thrive — a simple, sustainable way to make real progress in a short window, without the overwhelm spiral (and without turning your house into a disaster zone). Right now — especially in January — there's this pressure to go big or go home. Total home reset. Massive purge. Brand new you. But real change doesn't happen in one perfect Saturday. It happens in small, repeatable wins that build momentum and proof. If your brain has been waiting for "the right time" to declutter, this is your gentle nudge: you don't need more time. You need a method that works with your life. KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE: You don't need a full day to make real progress The belief that decluttering only "counts" if you do a marathon session keeps you stuck. A focused 25 minutes can create visible change and real relief.
20 minutes of decluttering is the sweet spot Short bursts help you avoid decision fatigue and overwhelm. You'll make faster, clearer choices when your brain isn't depleted.
The last 5 minutes are what make this strategy stick A quick reset (trash out, donations bagged, space returned to baseline) prevents the "piles on the floor" problem and leaves you feeling accomplished instead of frazzled.
Start smaller than you think you should One drawer, one shelf, one surface. Your brain can handle small spaces — and small wins build confidence and momentum.
Consistency beats intensity Doing 25 to Thrive once a week (or even once a month) is how you create lasting progress. This isn't about perfection — it's about showing up in a way you can repeat.
Ready to Simplify Even More? Start Here: 🗞️ 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. 💛
More from Maximized Minimalist Podcast
Potty training can be stressful! The standoffs, the accidents, the power struggles and more. Andrea Olson, founder of Go Diaper Free, has helped over 100,000 families take the pressure out of it, with fewer diapers and a fraction of the stuff the baby aisle says you need. In this episode she walks us through what actually works, what you can skip entirely, and how to start from wherever you are right now. In this episode: → What elimination communication is, and how it works → Where the "wait until they're ready" advice came from, and what happens when families start earlier → The potty training supplies you actually need, and the ones you can skip → The simplest way to start this week, even if your first try didn't stick → How to share this with your daughter or daughter-in-law without overstepping Find Andrea: 📲 Follow Andrea on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/godiaperfree/ 🩲 Tiny Undies → tinyundies.com 📘 Go Diaper Free, the EC book → godiaperfree.com/thebook 📗 The Tiny Potty Training Book → godiaperfree.com/ptbook 🎧 The Go Diaper Free Podcast → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-go-diaper-free-podcast/id663607202 💛 Courses, books, challenges and Q+As → godiaperfree.com/community 🎯 Take the free Decluttering Style Quiz + get your custom 3-step action plan → home.katyjoywells.com/quiz 📩 Join the Internet's Most Fun Declutter Newsletter: Ready, Set, Simplify → home.katyjoywells.com/simplifynewsletter 🧡 Join Clutter Cure Club: The Only Membership Designed to Keep Your Home Clutter-Free For Good → home.katyjoywells.com/cluttercureclub 📕 Order My Book, Making Home Your Happy Place → home.katyjoywells.com/declutterwithouttheoverwhelm 📲 Follow me On Insta → instagram.com/katyjoywells
You know that feeling when you're standing in front of a closet full of clothes and somehow still thinking, "I have nothing to wear"? In this episode, we're talking about why a packed closet can make getting dressed way harder and why buying one more "perfect" piece usually doesn't fix it. I'm sharing what my much smaller 90s closet taught me about creativity, why we've been taught how to shop but not how to style, and how constantly consuming other people's version of "cool" can leave you with a wardrobe that doesn't actually feel anything like you. And if your closet feels overwhelming because you're not sure what to keep or why letting go feels so hard, take my free Decluttering Style Quiz! In just two minutes, you'll discover your clutter type and get a customized 3-step action plan to help you move forward. Take the quiz at home.katyjoywells.com/quiz
🍽️ Join Nakita's free live class, How to Prep 9 Family Dinners in 30 Minutes → https://nakita-attard-vassallo.mykajabi.com/a/2148312762/McToTgYz October 19th and 22nd at 11:30am Eastern / 8:30am Pacific. Seats are limited and there's a replay if you can't make it live! What's crazy awesome about this is you'll actually make the meals in your kitchen, right along with her, and walk away with 9 prepped dinners in 30 minutes! (YES, for real!) If you've ever stood in front of the fridge at 5 o'clock with zero idea what you're feeding everyone, this conversation is for you. Nakita Attard-Vassallo makes the case that dinner is not just "one tasks". It's actually a BUNCH! Deciding, planning, shopping, cooking, and cleaning which is exactly why weeknights can feel as heavy as they do. In this episode, we walk through every lever you can actually pull here, because a go-to meal rotation, meal planning, meal prepping, batch cooking, and freezer meals are all solving different problems. Nakita breaks down what each one is really for, so you can pick the approach that fits your life instead of forcing yourself into somebody else's Sunday. We also get into her shortcuts, what she keeps on hand so she's never starting from zero, and the easiest possible entry point if you want to start this week. In this episode: → Meal decision fatigue, and why systemizing a recurring decision beats making it again every single day → What each approach actually solves: meal rotation, meal planning, meal prepping, batch cooking, and freezer meals → The weeknight shortcuts Nakita swears by, and the ones that cut the most time → The pantry staples and freezer basics that mean dinner never starts from scratch → The simplest place to start, even if three hours of batch cooking on a Sunday sounds like a hard no 🍽️ Join Nakita's free live class, How to Prep 9 Family Dinners in 30 Minutes → https://nakita-attard-vassallo.mykajabi.com/a/2148312762/McToTgYz October 19th and 22nd at 11:30am Eastern / 8:30am Pacific. Seats are limited and there's a replay if you can't make it live! What's crazy awesome about this is you'll actually make the meals in your kitchen, right along with her, and walk away with 9 prepped dinners in 30 minutes! (YES, for real!) 🎯 Take the free Decluttering Style Quiz + get your custom 3-step action plan → home.katyjoywells.com/quiz 📩 Join the Internet's Most Fun Declutter Newsletter: Ready, Set, Simplify → home.katyjoywells.com/simplifynewsletter 🧡 Join Clutter Cure Club: The Only Membership Designed to Keep Your Home Clutter-Free For Good → home.katyjoywells.com/cluttercureclub 📕 Order My Book, Making Home Your Happy Place → home.katyjoywells.com/declutterwithouttheoverwhelm 📲 Follow me On Insta → instagram.com/katyjoywells
If you've ever felt like you need to duplicate yourself just to keep up with all the appointments, meals, laundry, and mental gymnastics of running your home, this conversation is for you. Kelly Hubbell, founder of Sage Haus, wrote down every job it takes to run her household and it came out to more than 20 hours a week (!!!!) In this episode, Kelly breaks down exactly what a house manager is, why this kind of support isn't reserved for wealthy families, and how you can start small with just a few hours per week. It's help that lifts both the mental AND the physical load off your plate. I'm actively exploring this for our family, and after this conversation, I think you might be too. In this episode: → What a house manager actually does (and how it's different from a cleaner or a nanny) → Handing off a task vs. handing off ownership, and why the second is MOST helpful → How a house manager works for families at every income level and life stage → Real costs, and budget-friendly ways to start with just 6–12 hours per week Book a Free Call with Kelly's Team & Learn More → https://bit.ly/homemanagerinfo 🎯 Take the free Decluttering Style Quiz + get your custom 3-step action plan → home.katyjoywells.com/quiz 📩 Join the Internet's Most Fun Declutter Newsletter: Ready, Set, Simplify → home.katyjoywells.com/simplifynewsletter 🧡 Join Clutter Cure Club: The Only Membership Designed to Keep Your Home Clutter-Free For Good → home.katyjoywells.com/cluttercureclub 📕 Order My Book, Making Home Your Happy Place → home.katyjoywells.com/declutterwithouttheoverwhelm 📲 Follow me On Insta → instagram.com/katyjoywells
If your closet feels frustrating and you can't figure out why, this episode might be the reason. I was recently quoted in Real Simple Magazine on this exact topic, and the data in your closet right now is the freshest it'll be all year. Seven specific things to look at before fall hits, Let's GO!! 🎯 Take the free Decluttering Style Quiz + get your custom 3-step action plan → home.katyjoywells.com/quiz 📩 Join the Internet's Most Fun Declutter Newsletter: Ready, Set, Simplify → home.katyjoywells.com/simplifynewsletter 🧡 Join Clutter Cure Club: The Only Membership Designed to Keep Your Home Clutter-Free For Good → home.katyjoywells.com/cluttercureclub 📚 Order My Book, Making Home Your Happy Place → home.katyjoywells.com/declutterwithouttheoverwhelm 📲 Follow me On Insta → instagram.com/katyjoywells