Clutterbug Podcast Episode #280 Summary

Living in an Organized Space with ADHD – Jessica McCabe’s Update

Date: June 30, 2025
Featuring: Host Cas (Clutterbug) and guest Jessica McCabe (How to ADHD)

Episode Overview

This episode explores the challenges and breakthroughs of living in and maintaining an organized home as a person with ADHD. Host Cas (of Clutterbug and HGTV’s Hot Mess House) is joined by Jessica McCabe, bestselling author and creator of the How to ADHD YouTube channel, to discuss Jessica’s personal update after Cas helped declutter, organize, and redecorate her home. The conversation blends motivational tough love, deeply personal insights about ADHD, and actionable organizing strategies—with an emphasis on organizing for your brain, not against it.

Main Points & Key Insights

1. Introduction and Motivation

• Cas urges listeners to take tangible action while listening, emphasizing the importance of decluttering—particularly starting with the entranceway.
  • [01:45] “Today you can have excuses, or you can have results, but you can’t have both.” – Cas
  • Clearing the entranceway can be a game-changer for daily stress, especially for ADHD households, as it reduces chaos when leaving or arriving home.

2. Jessica McCabe’s Background & Her “How to ADHD” Journey

• Jessica shares how her journey began with personal struggle and burnout, leading her to research and document ADHD strategies on YouTube.
  • [07:32] “I started my YouTube channel because I was failing at life just miserably... There was so much information out there that I didn’t know, that would have been really freaking helpful.” – Jessica
• She made her videos public to help others, recognizing the community need.

3. Shame, Stigma, and Acceptance Around ADHD

• Both Cas and Jessica dig into the experience of shame—with Jessica emphasizing the need to move away from “internalized ableism” and moralizing ADHD struggles.
  • [10:11] “What if it’s just okay that we have it?...Maybe we can just relax and enjoy our life, and work toward achieving our goals.” – Jessica
  • [11:46] “We make it this moral issue. Like, ADHD is this moral issue... It’s just a factual thing.” – Jessica

4. Jessica’s “Before” Situation: Living in Chaos and Emotional Impact

• Jessica recounts how her home’s chaos mirrored her internal overwhelm, leading to frustration, guilt, and discouragement in the face of endless tidying that never stuck.
  • [13:55] “The level of chaos in my brain has always spilled out into my environment... There’s just too much going on.” – Jessica
  • Her partner was also distressed by the clutter, and a visit to a neighbor’s tidy home highlighted how much they needed help.

5. The Makeover Experience & Lasting Impact

• Cas and Joe decluttered and organized two floors of Jessica’s home in just three days—a transformational experience.
• Jessica describes the biggest change as no longer feeling the need to “escape” her space.
  • [20:26] “The biggest change is now the hardest part about getting out the door is I don’t want to leave. I like my home. I like my space.” – Jessica
• Maintaining organization was daunting at first, but gradually became normal with routines like daily 15-minute resets.

6. Unexpected Outcomes and Emotional Adjustments

• Both agree that living in a tidy space initially felt unfamiliar—even uncomfortable—after years in chaos.
  • [25:15] “When we no longer had this shared enemy of the house... We were able to think about our relationship... It opened up space for us to connect.” – Jessica
• Decluttering didn’t solve everything, but it created room (and time) to notice and address other aspects of life and relationships.

7. Organizing for ADHD: Adaptability Over Perfection

• Cas and Jessica stress the importance of setting up organizing systems for your worst days, not just your best, and working with your natural tendencies rather than against them.
  • [36:32] “It’s making it work for your worst day... That’s our best day. That’s our very bestest day.” – Cas
  • They brainstorm simple, resilient solutions like bins for laundry instead of expecting intricate folding, and making sure storage is visually obvious.

8. The “ADHD Tax”—Clutter’s Financial and Time Costs

• Jessica explains the “ADHD tax”: losing money (missed bills, duplicate purchases) and time (searching for things, fighting clutter), which disorganization exacerbates.
  • [46:48] “The ADHD tax is basically money that we spend just for having ADHD...I have spent money on duplicates of things because I can’t find the thing. And that adds up.” – Jessica
• Organizing systems and decluttering help minimize this “tax.”

9. Takeaways and Advice for Listeners

• Jessica’s advice:
  • It is possible to change your environment, but often not alone—support matters (body doubling, professional help, or friends).
  • [51:21] “It’s possible. That’s the first thing. And the second thing is, but not by yourself... My brain makes sense for me to do alone because it went so much faster, it was so much less painful with your help.” – Jessica

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [01:45] Cas: “Today you can have excuses, or you can have results, but you can’t have both.”
• [10:11] Jessica: “What if it’s just okay that we have it?”
• [11:46] Jessica: “We make it this moral issue. Like, ADHD is this moral issue...It’s just a factual thing.”
• [20:26] Jessica: “The biggest change is now the hardest part about getting out the door is I don’t want to leave. I like my home. I like my space.”
• [25:15] Jessica: “When we no longer had this shared enemy of the house...It opened up space for us to connect.”
• [36:32] Cas: “It’s making it work for your worst day...That’s our best day. That’s our very bestest day.”
• [46:48] Jessica: “The ADHD tax is basically money that we spend just for having ADHD...I have spent money on duplicates of things because I can’t find the thing. And that adds up.”
• [51:21] Jessica: “It’s possible. That’s the first thing. And the second thing is, but not by yourself...Don’t try to do this by yourself if you have never been able to do it by yourself. Change something, right? Like, get some help.”

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00 – 06:59: Cas sets the episode’s tone, motivates listeners, shares context for the decluttering visit to Jessica’s house, stresses importance of organizing entranceways.
• 07:03 – 13:07: Jessica’s backstory; origins of her channel; normalization of ADHD experiences.
• 13:07 – 19:45: Deep dive on shame, chaos, and emotional state before organizing; effect on partner/family.
• 20:26 – 26:14: The tangible and unexpected life changes post-decluttering; shifting home from source of stress to source of comfort.
• 27:18 – 34:33: Relationship changes; how decluttering surfaces new priorities, including personal growth and hobbies.
• 36:32 – 43:42: Practical tips—organizing for your own brain, embracing resilience and error-tolerance; laundry system debate.
• 46:40 – 49:37: The “ADHD tax”—financial and time costs of disorganization, and how systems help.
• 51:21 – 52:52: Final advice—seeking support and hope for those feeling stuck.

Bonus Segments

• Listener Questions & Stories:

  • Crystal: Shared the positive domino effect of decluttering on her own life and her 13-year-old daughter’s, highlighting the importance of “body doubling” (doing tasks with someone).
  • Heather: Connected decluttering success to financial freedom, illustrating how letting go of stuff impacts both space and the psychology of money.
  • Allison: Shared the weirdest item decluttered (pet’s bladder stones).

• Clutterbug Organizing Styles Refresher:

  • Cas explains the four types (Butterfly, Bee, Ladybug, Cricket), stressing the need to match systems to natural tendencies.

• Mythbusters Segment:

  • Cas debunks the myth that organizing gives you more space; in reality, “only decluttering will gain you back space,” as true organizing means breathing room, not cramming more in.
  • [64:23] “If you are like, I need more space. You don’t need a bigger house. You don’t need a storage locker. You need less stuff.” – Cas

Practical ADHD-Friendly Organizing Tips Shared

• Don’t buy organizing products; declutter first (“You have too much stuff. Period.” – Cas, [04:25])
• Start with the area most critical for daily function (the entranceway)
• Use simple, visually obvious storage—for example, hooks instead of hangers
• Set up systems for your “worst day,” not “best day” routines
• Allow some chores to be “done badly” rather than perfectly (e.g., just toss socks and underwear into a bin)
• Build routines that are sustainable—a 15-minute daily reset, not marathon clean-ups

Summary in the Podcast’s Spirit

This episode offers empathetic, energizing tough love and hope for anyone whose home feels out of control—especially for ADHD brains. Through Jessica's candid testimony and Cas’s organizing wisdom, listeners learn that dramatic, lasting change is absolutely possible, but it requires adapting systems to your own brain, letting go of shame and perfection, decluttering (not just organizing), and seeking help—because it’s much easier and less painful that way.

The impact, as Jessica puts it:

“This is just the first time in my life that I have an environment that works for my brain, that supports my brain...and I am capable of maintaining. I genuinely didn’t think that was possible.” – [34:07]

Resources & Follow-up

• How to ADHD YouTube channel
• How to ADHD book by Jessica McCabe
• Clutterbug’s YouTube and website (quiz for organizing style)
• Link to Clutterbug’s Home Makeover Video with Jessica

For those struggling with clutter and/or ADHD: You CAN have a home that feels good. Start small, work with your brain, and don’t do it alone. Progress—no matter how messy—counts.