472: Clutter Thresholds, Dealing With Trash, Defining “Under Control”

Summary

Podcast Episode Summary

Podcast: A Slob Comes Clean with Dana K. White
Episode: 472 - Clutter Thresholds, Dealing With Trash, Defining “Under Control”
Date: August 21, 2025

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Episode Overview

Dana K. White shares another candid and insightful Q&A session, using real listener questions to detail her reality-based decluttering and organizing strategies. This episode centers on foundational concepts such as the “container concept,” mastering the no-mess five-step decluttering process, defining “under control,” and handling clutter thresholds. Dana also addresses practical challenges like dealing with limited trash pickup and decluttering for a move, all with her signature humor and encouragement.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Applying the Five-Step Decluttering Process

• Container Concept and Avoiding Mess
  • When you take an item to its "home" and there’s no space, only remove as much as needed (ideally trash or obvious donations) to make room—don’t start decluttering the new space fully.
  • "The key to that is to take it there now. ...You make a final decision on that item and you act on that final decision. That’s the key to never creating a bigger mess." (03:00)
• Progress, Not Perfection
  • The five-step process is designed so that even if you have to stop midway, you’ve only improved your situation; you never end up with more mess.
  • "If you follow the process, you will only make progress." (02:22)

2. Breaking Down Specific Clutter Challenges

• Closets as “Doomboxes”
  • If a walk-in closet can’t be walked into, start on the floor, remove trash and obvious donations, and let the room’s function drive your decisions.
  • "If it is a walk-in... I have to be able to walk into it, which therefore means that the floor can’t have anything on it." (11:10)
• Five-Minute Pickups
  • Always valuable at any stage, even in a cluttered home. The daily five-minute pickup is a powerful habit and moves you forward.
  • "It's always worth it to do a five-minute pickup. Always, always, always." (13:45)

3. Dealing With Laundry (Without a Tumble Dryer)

• Don’t worry about magically finishing laundry in a day without a dryer—adapt the “laundry day” concept to your reality. First, gather all dirty laundry to see the backlog; only process new dirty laundry after you’ve started the catch-up session.
• "If you have a laundry system that works for you, keep doing that... but if you’re overwhelmed... go with the concept of it." (19:50)
• This system gives a sense of a finish line, which is freeing.
• Notable community feedback: “Rachel says I’m on week three of laundry in one day, and it’s so nice. It’s about having a laundry finish line.” (24:16)

4. Clutter Thresholds & Family Dynamics

• Clutter Threshold Defined
  • It’s not a preference—it’s the amount of stuff you (or your household) can realistically keep under control.
  • "Your clutter threshold is not a clutter preference... it’s what you can handle." (26:48)
• Dealing with Different Thresholds
  • If your partner has a higher threshold, focus on your own and neutral stuff. Visible success in your spaces can set an example.

5. To Store or To Get Rid Of?

• Dana strongly advocates for decluttering before investing in more storage. People often buy organizers hoping for a solution, only to find the excess stuff is the real problem.
• "Declutter down to the realities of the spaces that you actually have first... you will actually know what kind of storage stuff you need, or if you actually need it." (30:16)

6. Logistical Hurdles: When Trash Pickup Is Limited

• Solutions vary; ask friends and neighbors for ideas or offers of extra bin space. Always be legal—no illegal dumping!
• "Ask your local friends... the people whose houses are always great, they know how to get rid of extra trash." (31:15)

7. Defining “Under Control”

• Dana’s definition: Not overwhelming, and easily put “back to okay” in five minutes on a normal day.
• "I define under control as not overwhelming. ...With a five-minute pickup on a normal day, my house is back to ‘I would be perfectly fine if someone walked in the door unexpectedly.’" (33:20)

8. Staying Motivated After Visible Progress

• It’s okay if you want to enjoy your home and do fun things once the visible spaces are under control. Declutter hidden spaces when functionality is lacking, not for perfectionism.
• "Doing more enjoyable things … is the reason that you decluttered in the first place." (35:30)

9. Listener Rapid Fire Questions & Dana’s Core Philosophy

• How many suitcases/shoes/etc. should I keep?
  • Keep as many as fit comfortably in your designated space. Favor function and what serves your current life.
  • "It's never how many is a person supposed to have. It is always what is the space that I have to devote to this." (38:27)
• Moving to a smaller place?
  • Use boxes that match your new space as “containers”; only keep what fits.
• Favorite starter video and tasks for new declutterers
  • Dana recommends “The two tasks to keep any home under control” and “The five-step decluttering process (demo).” (45:50)
• Advice for pregnant listener preparing for postpartum/guests
  • Focus on dishes and five-minute pickups as both are essential and manageable.

10. Humor & Real-World Encouragement

• Dana’s self-deprecating humor, candid storytelling, and realistic perspective make the advice feel accessible and nonjudgmental.
• On kids and teens: "Never give parenting advice... As soon as I say my kid would never, here they come, neverin’ like they've never nevered before!" (37:00)
• On progress: "If you follow the process, you will only make progress." (02:22)

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Memorable Quotes

• "The key to never creating a bigger mess is to make a final decision on each item and act on it right away." (03:00, Dana)
• "Your clutter threshold is not a preference, it’s what you can realistically keep under control." (26:48, Dana)
• "Decluttering is the thing that helps you know what you actually need in your home." (30:16, Dana)
• "I define under control as not overwhelming. My house can be put back together with a five-minute pickup." (33:20, Dana)
• "Doing more enjoyable things … is the reason that you decluttered in the first place." (35:30, Dana)
• "It’s always worth it to do a five-minute pickup. Always, always, always." (13:45, Dana)
• "If you have a system that's working for you, keep doing that! Oh my word, don’t change to mine." (19:56, Dana)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:11] — No-mess decluttering process and what to do when you encounter no space in the "home" for an item
• [11:10] — Tackling a walk-in closet doombox
• [13:45] — On the universal value of five-minute pickups
• [19:46] — Addressing laundry without a tumble dryer: making “laundry day” fit your reality
• [24:16] — Laundry day feedback: “It’s about having a laundry finish line”
• [26:48] — Clutter threshold: definition and household dynamics
• [30:16] — Should you buy more organizers or keep decluttering?
• [31:15] — What to do with excess trash when pickup is limited
• [33:20] — Defining “under control” for your home
• [38:27] — How many suitcases should a person have? The container concept applied
• [41:00] — How many shoes is "enough"? Let space, not guilt, decide
• [45:50] — Favorite starter tasks and videos for decluttering beginners
• [48:34] — Final encouragement on parenting and humor with teenagers

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Tone & Language

• Warm, friendly, conversational, with a dash of self-deprecation and humor
• Dana is empathetic to struggles with clutter and makes her systems approachable for real-life, non-perfectionist listeners.
• Encouraging, practical, and focused on realistic, bite-sized progress—not on idealized “Pinterest perfect” homes.

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Conclusion

This episode distills Dana K. White’s most actionable advice for staying on top of decluttering while giving yourself grace and realistic goals. Whether you’re buried in laundry, stuck on what to do when every cabinet is packed, or wondering how to motivate yourself for hidden spaces, Dana’s wisdom is clear: use the five-step process, set practical expectations, and celebrate what works for you. The “under control” definition is refreshingly attainable—just get your home to a place where a five-minute reset is all it takes.

As always, Dana’s voice is that of a trusted friend cheering you on, with plenty of laughter along the way.

Transcript

[A]

Hey y'. All, I wanted to let you know that I am speaking at this year's Get Organized hq, an online event. My session is called Busting Through Decluttering Roadblocks and it will go live on Monday, September 8th at 1pm Eastern Time and it's free to watch for the first 24 hours. You can get your free ticket at a slob comes clean.comHQ that's aslobcomesclean.comHQ welcome to a Slob Comes Clean, the Podcast. I am Dana K. White.

[B]

I am.

[A]

I share my personal desalabification process as I figure out ways to keep my own home under control. I share the truth about cleaning and organizing strategies that actually work in real.

[C]

Life for real people.

[A]

People who don't love cleaning and organizing. Thanks for joining me today. This is podcast number 472 and I think I'm going to call it Defining Under Control. So that is one of the questions that I am answering on today's podcast. This is the last of my summer podcasts. In case you're new around here, I normally take summers off and I took this past summer off as well.

[B]

So the things the podcasts that have.

[A]

Been running over the summer are ones that are the audio from live Q&As that I've done over on YouTube. That's why the energy is different from my normal podcast. But next week I will be getting back to regularly scheduled normal podcasts recorded.

[B]

Just for the podcast. So here you go.

[A]

In this one I'm talking about lots of different things, but some of the things I'm talking about are clutter, thresholds, dealing with trash, and defining under control.

[B]

Here you go.

[D]

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[B]

Okay, here we go. What do you do when you're decluttering a space and take an item to a place you'd look for it first and when you look through that place to see what you can get rid of to fit it in? You see things that are in the wrong place. Do you then stop and sort out the new space, slash container, taking those things to the right place, etc. So that so you can fit the Original item in. Sorry if it sounds confusing, it is not confusing at all. I know exactly what you're saying. So in case anybody else is confused, let me explain. So we are talking about the container concept here. This question asker understands the no mess decluttering process. That's my five step process that guarantees progress and only progress if you follow it. Can't guarantee it if you don't follow it, but if you follow the process, you will only make progress. And so that's the value of it is that you know that I'm going to devote whatever time I have, whether it's 3 minutes, 10 minutes, 2 hours, 5 hours, 5 days, I'm going to follow this process in order. And because I'm following this process, I am guaranteed to only make progress and never end up with piles and stuff and everything out and life happens and I have to step away. Like whatever happens, I'm going to make prior. So that's what she's basing this on. The key to that is to take it there now. Okay? So you pull one item out at a time using the process so you know what to be looking for first. You pull one item out of it out at a time, you make a final decision on that item and you act on that final decision. That's the key to never creating a bigger mess. That's the key to progress and only progress.

[C]

Right?

[B]

If you want a copy of these five steps, go to S lob comes clean.com 5F I V E. There's a link in the description and you can get a printable copy of that. She's talking about when you take that item to the place where you would look for it first, that is its home, okay? And there's no space for it there. The answer to that is to remove something to create the space for it. I always say. And that's what's missing here I think is the ideal thing to remove to create the space is either trash or an obvious donation. The reason for that is the only place you're going to go with that trash or that obvious donation that you're removing in order to create. Create the space for this item is back to the space you were originally decluttering because that's where your trash bag, recycling bin, if you have one and donatable donate box are. Okay? So it naturally takes you back to that space which then keeps you focused on the space that you're originally working on. It keeps you working on that space so that you get that momentum going and you really get that space Done. Instead of a little bit here, let's. A little bit there, a little bit here. Okay, so let me go back and read the question again. She says all these things that you see there below me, and then she said, do you then stop and sort out the new space container, taking those things to the right place so you can fit the original item in? Okay, so this is the natural thing for those of us who struggle with clutter. I'm struggling with clutter here. For most of the people watching right now, some of y', all, I'm sure, are great. But also know that you're learning from someone who you're more organized than.

[C]

Right.

[B]

Like, I figured all this out by dealing with it in my own home. All right? So for most of the people listening to me, you don't just have one spot in your house that's a mess. Multiple spots in the house are a mess.

[C]

Right?

[B]

And so this happens, and you get to this space, it's a mess. You're only removing from this space enough of something to make the room that you need for this item you would look for first to live there. Okay, so you are not starting to work on this space. That part of it is. No, we're not going to start to work on that space. We're only going to remove enough to create the space for this item that belongs here. Because I would look for it first here. Okay. If there really is no room, most likely, I can almost guarantee, even though it's not my house, and so I can't guarantee it can almost guarantee there's trash or an obvious donation. If this space is packed full and there's no room, things need to leave. If things need to leave, there's going to be trash and there's going to be an obvious donation. Look for trash first. Okay. What in here is actually trash that would create. That I can remove, take back to my trash or my recycling, and it will create the space that I need for this item. That is what you want to do if they're truly it. So look for those things first in order to just remove enough. We're not going to start working on this space. We're just creating the room that we need for this item that goes there. If you look for trash and you look for a donation, an obvious donation, and you don't see any. I find that hard to believe, but let's say that's. Yes, you really do look, and there really is nothing in here that's an obvious donation. Even though this place is packed full.

[C]

Right.

[B]

Okay. And you go, okay, there is no trash and no obvious donation. So I do see something else here that belongs somewhere else in the house. Yes, you can do that, but you're only doing it with the one thing that creates the space for this item. You're not starting to work on this space. You're just removing something to create the space. Okay, there's no trash, there's no donation. I'm taking something that is easy, ideally, that has a home somewhere else, and I'm going to take it to its established home or to the place where I would look for it first, because.

[C]

That'S what I had to do, right?

[B]

I take that to its place. Hopefully there's room in that spot. There's no room in that spot. I'm going to look first for trash because that's the easiest of the easy stuff and it needs to leave anyway, no matter what. There shouldn't be trash in my cabinet, right? So it needs to leave. So I'm going to look for trash. I'm going to look for an obvious donation. If I don't find trash, I can't find a trash and obvious donation in that place. Okay, I'm gonna find the thing that belongs somewhere else to create the space for this and put that item there. And then I'm gonna go to this. I need to. At the point where I've done that a time or two, I need to really talk to myself and say, I need to be decluttering. I need stuff out of my house because there's no room in any of the places, which means the only solution is going to be stuff leaving my house. The only solution to my house getting control is going to be stuff actually leaving my house. So I need to go harder on the obvious donations. I need to go harder on identifying things as trash. But let's say that 10 different times, I take it here. Oh, there's no trash. There's no donations in there. Oh, there's none. You know, no. No obvious donations. And I get to this space, and so I'm like, okay, well, then this space needs to go over here.

[C]

All right?

[B]

And then that. I do that 10 different times. Hopefully I will have the moment to realize, yes, stuff's got to leave this house. Stuff needs to be leaving because every single space is full, blah, blah, blah. But even if I don't, I have made progress. Even if it's in the 10th place that I look, that I finally actually get rid of something, trash or donation, that takes me back to the spot that I was originally Decluttering. I still have made progress and only progress. I'm making nowhere near the progress I want to be making because I'm not actually getting rid of stuff and getting it out of my house by making it trash for a donation.

[C]

Right?

[B]

So, yeah, there you go. But no, the answer is never to stop and start working on this space. It is just to create the room that I need for this item. Most of you are going to. Even if you go through this process, like three different spots, you're going to have that moment where you realize some of us who are like, it's harder and we're more attached to our stuff and we can't imagine getting rid of anything and we can't identify trash. We can't identify obvious donations. It might take you 10 or 20 things, but going through that is going to be the thing that is going to finally break through to you to help you realize, okay, stuff has to leave. Stuff has to leave. I've been listening to her say this all this time. Stuff has to leave. It's also when people, people are like, I need to make more progress. The only way to really ramp up your decluttering progress is to go harder on getting stuff out of the house. Out of the house. Okay. It's also another reason why, as you're working on that first space, we start with the trash. Why? Because trash goes straight into trash or recycling, which is right there with you. And therefore you're making a ton of progress before you ever have to go put something in any other space. Obvious donations going in there just make this space better and better. And it's. The donate box is right there. Okay. Over the past three years, I've declared all the rooms in my home at least twice, except for my master closet. It's basically a walk in doombox. I'm dreading and avoiding it. Any words of encouragement? If it's a dune box, define the room. This space is my closet. It's not a storage room, it's my closet. If you want to have clothes in your closet, that has to be its primary function. If it is a walk in. In my experience, to be able to actually use my walk in closet for my clothes, I have to be able to walk into it, which therefore means that the floor can't have anything on it. So start with the floor. Acknowledging that things on the floor, you need to go hard with trash and donations item by item. Going hard on the trash, hard on the donations. And if you're like, there's no way there's trash in my closet, if it's a dune box, there's trash. It's just fact. Okay, so go hard on that and keep that function of the space top of your mind. Anything that keeps it from functioning as the walk in closet can't live there. And a lot of times those walk in closets feel like, oh, I've got such a big closet in this house. I can just throw this and throw this and throw this until all of a sudden it's completely unfunctional. So if this was a last resort space where you've been dumping a lot of stuff, a lot of this stuff probably needs to leave the house, right? But follow the process. Use the five step process. Is it worth doing the five minute pickup if I have not completed my dislapification and my house is still a cluttered message? Yes, absolutely. It is always at any time worth it to do a five minute pickup. Always. It's worth doing one right this second. It's worth doing another one this afternoon. It's worth doing one tonight. It's always worth it to do a five minute pickup. Always, always, always. Here's the thing. The five minute pickup is a daily habit that is really powerful. Okay, My other daily habits that I recommend, for example, I don't know, what is it? Do the dishes, right? All of you, I've given you time to actually sit along with me doing the dishes. The first day of doing the dishes is the opposite of fun. It's horrible, but it's necessary, right? Like it's just this task of doing the dishes and you have to do the dishes. And it might take you five hours to do the dishes today, but the key is to do it again tomorrow. And then you'll be like, oh, it took me five hours. Oh, so doing the dishes doesn't take five hours if I do it every day? And then the more you do it, the more you have a realization of that takes less and less time as you do it. So it involves catching up on that first day, the five minute pickup. There is no catching up. And that's what's going on here is you're thinking, what's the point of doing a five minute pickup when the house is completely a mess? Because isn't five minute pickup maintenance? Yes, it's maintenance, but it also moves you forward. Like the beauty of the five minute pickup is the first day of the five minute pickup is a five minute pickup. And that five minute pickup at this point might just be throwing away trash for five minutes. Do you know how much your house is going to improve. How much better you're going to feel about your house. How much more empowered and ready and thinking. I think I can actually make an impact on this house. If you throw away trash for five minutes today and then tomorrow and then the next day. Like use the five step process for five minutes. Just doing that. Oh my word. It's going to have a huge impact on your house. So it is. It is an always and forever do it as the first thing you do do it is the thing you do to maintain. It's always five minutes and it's always worth it. Every single ding dang time. Did you have a great summer?

[A]

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[E]

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[B]

And I live in radio. I'm not using the accent. I can't dry all my laundry in one day. Help. I have a podcast where I talk to somebody in the UK who found a way to do laundry day. Here's the thing I'm going to say, okay, and I'll try to remember to link to it. Laundry day. Don't get too caught up in the whole I could never do it in a day thing. I don't want to say it's a concept. Okay? It's more of a goal. Okay, so when I talk about laundry day, here's what I say. It takes three laundry days to actually do laundry day. Okay? So if you have never done laundry day and it feels so daunting and so overwhelming, okay, you have a legitimate challenge here Right. From the way that I talk about it and the way that I do it, it is different for you because you don't have a tumble dryer.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

However, the way that you start laundry day, if you've never done it before and you. And if you're feeling overwhelmed with laundry, if you have a laundry system that works for you, keep doing that. Oh, my word. Don't change to mine. Like, keep doing what works for you. But if you are overwhelmed and there's dirty clothes everywhere, go with the concept of it and start that first laundry day, which is by gathering up all the ding dang dirty clothes in your whole ding dang house. I mean, potty mouth today. Sorry, y'. All. Anyway, go ahead and gather them up and start working through those piles. It is not going to be fun. It's not fun with a tumble dryer. It's going to be even less fun for you because you live in the rainy UK without a tumble dryer. Okay, Whatever it takes. Go through that. But any newly dirtied clothes do not get added to those piles. So you've got all the clothes that you've got, all the newly dirtied clothes are going into a hamper or a basket or whatever you already have established, or if you don't have something established, you know, whatever. This is the newly dirty clothes. But I am working on this, and it might be your whole home focus for the entire week is getting all these clothes done. Whatever it takes, however you have to do it. To dry clothes, to hang them everywhere, to put them, whatever, you know, like, whatever it takes, spend the week. Hopefully you can get it done in a week, but maybe you can't. Maybe it takes longer. But spend that week going through all of those dirty clothes and doing whatever you have to do in your unique situation, because it's the only thing that matters to you is your unique situation. Situation, right? And go through all of those, that backlog of clothes. All right, let's say you get done on Saturday night and you started it on Sunday morning last week, you start on Sunday morning and by Sunday night you're like, I hate clothes. I think I'm going to just go naked.

[C]

Right?

[B]

Like, I. I can't do this ever again. This is awful. Oh, my word, this is terrible when it gets to be Sunday morning, even though you feel like you've done literally nothing but wash clothes for the entire week and it's made your whole house completely hectic because you've had stuff hanging on every surface and off of everything and blah, blah, blah, for an entire week and you're finally done. Sunday morning, do it again. But it's not what you did before, because this time, you're only doing the clothes that have been dirtied between last Sunday morning and this Sunday morning or whenever it is that you do your laundry day.

[C]

Right?

[B]

That's the only ones. Now you will see what a week's worth of laundry is. I had no idea what a week's worth of laundry was. Not a clue. Not a ding, ding clue. I didn't know anything, okay? Because I was so overwhelmed with laundry. And even though I was doing some laundry, it felt like all the time, I was never caught up. And every. I just. I had no idea. So that second laundry day is the first time that you will realize, oh, this is a week's worth of laundry. And what maybe took you from Sunday morning to Saturday night before this time might only take you Sunday morning to Tuesday evening. No, that's not a laundry day. But it's the concept of a laundry day. It's the concept of one week's worth of laundry being washed and then being done with laundry. And if you're done with laundry, if you've been overwhelmed by laundry forever and you can do a week's worth of laundry between Sunday morning and Tuesday night, and you have from Tuesday night to Saturday night, where you're like, we've all got all the clean underwear we need. I'm sorry. The clean pants we need. Because you're in the uk. We don't. I don't have to worry about it. I don't feel guilty about it. I'm not. It's not weighing over my head. Oh, my goodness. Everybody has what they need. This is bananas. This is crazy. That time that you have is like, okay, this is amazing.

[C]

Right?

[B]

And then that third laundry day is when you both. Now you have two different experiences with. This is one week's worth of laundry. Okay? We're not adding the newly dirty laundry to the piles that we put together on the day that you started. Okay? So now I fully understand a week's worth of laundry. I've got two weeks of experience with that, and I've had the experience of being done with laundry for several days. And so maybe it takes you two or three days, but going through that process is going to help you figure out what works for you, and there's so much value in that. But again, if you do laundry every day and you have a system that works for you or whatever system works for you, there's literally no reason to change to my system. My system is designed for me as the person who was completely overwhelmed. It works really well for the person who's like, I can't figure out laundry. Okay, let's see. Rachel says I'm on week three of laundry in one day. And it's so nice. It's about having a laundry finish line. People will tell me, like, if you're on septic, okay, if you're on septic, the old kind of septic especially, you know, you do your own research, blah, blah, blah. But a lot of people on septic cannot do a laundry day. But they take the concept of laundry day and they are like, okay, I do kids laundry on this day and grown up laundry on this day, and this kind of laundry on this day. And just having it like set that way just gives you a finish line, right? And it's amazing. Or like people with, you know, families of eight, 10 kids. I have a post on my blog where it's basically that, you know, she's got, I don't know, how many kids do you have now? But she talks about making laundry day work for her. So, no, it's not all in one day, but the concept is incredibly free. Audrey says my husband's clutter threshold is higher than mine, but his desire for clear space is not. I feel like a hamster on a wheel trying to clear spaces. Okay, let me just clarify what a clutter threshold is. Your clutter threshold is not a clutter preference. It's not how much stuff you can stand having. It is what can you handle. Meaning how much stuff can I. We easily keep under control. Okay? So I know that, you know, I never recommend that you go in and teach this to your husband because, you know, nobody, nobody who's not into it themselves really wants to be taught this stuff by somebody.

[C]

Right?

[B]

Which is.

[C]

Right.

[B]

Why I don't like, knock on your door and say, can I tell you about clutter? No, I put this on the Internet and if you want to hear about it, you'll come, right? So I get this, right? But if, if it was possible to really focus on that five minute pickup and say, you know, is this something that we can do together? And I know different dynamics, different relationships, whatever, but if that's possible, that is a great thing. Today's a five minute pickup day to talk about. That is a great thing to be, to be working on together. And as you do that, explaining like, okay, well, you know, if five minutes is not getting this space under control, then may have too much stuff.

[C]

Right?

[B]

So anyway, I. I think it's really important, though, to understand that the clutter threshold is what you can handle, not what you prefer, like, amount of stuff that you prefer. And I will say here too, go ahead. And also really focus hard on decluttering your stuff and neutral stuff, because everything that actually leaves the house makes the house easier to be under control and gets it closer down to the actual clutter threshold. The point that your house stays under control, you know, almost naturally. Not like without work, but you know what I mean? Almost naturally. So really focus on the stuff that is yours and is neutral. Really work on decluttering that. Because the number one thing that I find in relationships is that the person who is listening to me and really wants their house to be better has a vision for what it is you're talking about and what you're. You're wanting for your home. And the other person who isn't on board doesn't have that same vision because they're not thinking about all the time. And also, this is not what they're used to. They're used to it being one way. And so when you say, no, no, I want it to be clear. And they're like, what? You know, but, but getting rid of stuff in your own spaces where, you know, it's like, oh, you're. I don't know, because I know everybody has different things. But like, let's say you have a portion of your bathroom counter that is yours and you really work on getting that space, space decluttered to the point where it's just naturally clear a lot. Well, then they start to get used to that and they're like, oh, that's what you're talking about. How do I know when it's time to buy more storage units versus trying to declutter down to the few cabinets we already have. We do have space left for more storage units. When you have truly decluttered every space, gone through it for all of the trash being out of there, the easy stuff being to its established home, the obvious donations. You've been through that. And you also have gone through the. The two decluttering questions and gotten them to the places where you would look for them as your house is now, and, you know, embrace the reality of those spaces, go through all that first. And the reason I, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, but there aren't places to look for it because I need more storage places most of the time. And I'm not saying this is you. I'm saying this based on How I used to think and how I still struggle to keep myself from thinking and how most of the people I talk to think.

[C]

Okay?

[B]

And that is, we really like to know how everything's going to go and to figure everything out all the way to the end before we actually do the thing. And what I had to realize is that I just flat out had to declutter. I just had. I had. And decluttering was the thing that helped me know what I actually needed in my home. Because if you're new here and you're anything like me, you probably bought a lot of storage things over the years, and yet you're still here because they didn't work. Okay, declutter down to the realities of the spaces that you actually have first. Try it. Skip some things. If you're like, oh, I can. I just don't know. I just. If I had something else. Okay, skip that and move to the next thing and see if there's something else you get rid of. Get as. Get rid of as much as you can in all the spaces before you start buying stuff. Because you get rid of everything that you can. You live with it for a while, and then you will actually know what kind of storage stuff you need or if you actually need it. I have been doing a lot of decluttering, but our trash pickup only comes once a week anyways, to keep getting rid of more trash when your large garage trash is full and you don't want to stop. I don't know. Because that's one of those issues that is just different for every single place in the world, right? Like every. I mean, literally the town that we lived in before and the town that we moved to have completely different trash pickup systems, right? Like, just. And it's all the same school district, right? Like, so it's. I mean, you think of yourself as all being the same towns. Every place is different. What I recommend is that you ask your local friends. And I know it can feel weird because you're like, I'm big on decluttering. And this is something that I'm kind of embarrassed about. And I don't want to necessarily let my friends know this. Y', all, the people who. Whose houses are always great, they know how to get rid of extra trash when they have extra trash, like, and so they're not going to think. I mean, I can't guarantee it. There might be some snag remarks, but, like saying, hey, anybody have ideas for getting rid of a little extra trash? When I have more than will fit in my Thing for the week. You know, it might be that your neighbor is like, oh my goodness, mine is never full, you can use mine or whatever. But I, I would ask because it is so different in every different, every place. And you don't want to do something illegal, right? Like illegal dumping. Isn't that what they call it where you do that? Would you please define under control as a French? English is not my first language. Thanks in advance. The mood that I'm in today, I just want to start saying any French words that I know, but that would not be helpful at all. And I'm. I'm sorry y'.

[C]

All.

[B]

Anyway, this is one of those days. Would you please define under control? Yes, Great question, Fantastic question that I think will help people of all languages, right? I define under control as not overwhelming. And my house can be everything put into place with a five minute pickup. On a normal day. We're all going to have abnormal days where it's like, oh my goodness, how did I end up taking everything out of every spot in the whole house? Okay. But on a regular day, a five minute pickup, a purposeful, focused set the timer if I need to. Five minutes spent picking things up and putting them away means that my house is back to. I would be perfectly fine if somebody had to walk in the door unexpectedly. Once you declutter your visible spaces, how do you stay motivated to do the hidden spaces? I find myself doing more enjoyable things like movies or games because my house looks good. This is up to you. I'm like you, I'm like, yeah, looks great. I wouldn't be embarrassed for somebody to come in. I'm fine. I mean like my hidden spaces are not these like amazing. You open it up, I mean, and you go, oh, she must like write books about this stuff. She must be so good at this. They're not. I mean like if it can stay under control, I'm fine. Now I don't, I err more on the side of a space just having, you know, a space that I used to think could hold the equivalent of a 50 gallon storage tub, right? Like this piece of furniture. I could stick all that stuff in there. Now I will like maybe have entire drawers that have nothing in them or seven random items all set on shelves. No kind of great, wonderful, beautiful system that anybody would be impressed with. But I can open it up, I can see what I need, I can get it out and do that right? So function. Because doing more enjoyable things like going to movies or playing games is the reason that you decluttered it in the first place. So if you have gotten your house to the point where you're able to do that, great. Now if you find yourself frustrated because every time you open a cabinet, everything falls out and then it's like oh no, no, I can't do anything. Well then you declutter some in that cabinet to get it to the point where it's functional to allow you to do the movies or games. Because that is the actual goal, right? It's living.

[F]

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[B]

Yep.

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[D]

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[B]

I was able to go through my whole house with the five steps and I can't believe how fast and easy I was able to do it without the mess. I also tried it with my kids and it was amazing. Well, you just made my day. Everybody hear that? Okay, see, it's not just me saying it. It's donde to estas saying that. Okay, let's see. Did your kiddos use the container concept as teenagers and periodically go through them? 15 year old son has baskets to catch clutter in bedroom and bathroom. It doesn't go through them. Thoughts? I mean no, not as any kind of like hey everybody, it's your birthday, it's time to go through your baskets. I never do that, but when it's time to like oh wow, this is getting out of control. We need to declutter in here so we can stand our clutter threshold. Then yeah, we use the container concept as let's you know, take your least favorite things out until it only has in there, you know what will fit. So I Also, don't give parenting advice, especially about teenagers, because guess what my kids will do the minute I say I have it all figured out. What's that meme that says as soon as I say my kid would never here they come. Never in. Like they've never nevered before. That's teenage parenting. How many suitcases should a person keep whatever they have space for that doesn't take up the room that they need to live their current life?

[C]

Right?

[B]

Like there's no answer for this because there are some people who Travel once every 10 years and there are some people who travel all the time and they go on different types of trips. And then so it's whatever space I have a, I call it a cedar cabinet. I don't know, it's my in laws. It was at their house. It was one of those last things that we were like, are we really just going to leave this here? And I was like a place for it. So I brought it home and no, it was at my mother in law's living. That's where it was anyway, so I brought it home, have a spot for is my suitcase holder. And so I can have as many suitcases as will fit in that space. That means I will often put the smaller ones inside of the big ones and blah blah, blah. And they there is a place for it. So it's really, it's never how many is a person supposed to have. It is always what is the space that I have to devote to this that you know, I, I can't put my, I mean you can do whatever you want, but I can't put my suitcases. Like the living room couch is not a storage space for suitcases because that keeps me from sitting on the living room couch, keeps me from living in my thing. So what space do I have? What closet or shelf or whatever that determines how many suitcases I can have? And when you switch your thinking to be like that, then it helps you realize, oh, actually I'm fine with this smaller suitcase because then there's this foldable bag that I can stick inside the suitcase and you know, nine times out of 10, the trips that I take, that's going to be just fine. And if I really do have a, you know, a really bigger, you know, trip where I need a bigger suitcase, I can borrow one or get it at a thrift store and then donate it the minute you get back. I have passed through my kitchen and it's still overwhelming. I need to downsize more. I now feel stuck and overwhelmed. Okay, go back through it with the five step process, okay? Starting in your most visible and then most used spots. Okay? So visible being your countertops.

[C]

Right.

[B]

Go through it and be like, I'm not. Because sometimes when you are like, oh, I did so good and I've decluttered and blah, blah, I surely I don't have to use the five step process anymore, y'. All. I still use the five step process. So I look at a space and I'm like, I'm feeling overwhelmed. Okay, Dana, just look for trash. I'm just gonna look for trash. There's probably not any trash. There's always trash, right? Look for the trash and go a little bit harder on it. Like, maybe something that I wouldn't have called trash before. I'm like, actually, you know what? That's trash. And it's actually, if you will stay with the steps and follow them in order, you'll gain that momentum. I can never guarantee it, but probably faster than you did the first time. How many pairs of shoes I have decluttered so much, but still too much clutter. I got nine pairs left. Still too much. I don't give numbers on this kind of stuff. I say, okay, what space in your home do you have for shoes that doesn't take up the room that you need for your underwear? Because, I mean, that's up to you. But I feel underwear is necessary. Like, and that doesn't keep me from being able to, you know, have a crock pot that I use every day or, you know, whatever, right? Like, it's like, what space do I have in my house for shoes? And I am going to declutter down to the point where I only have what will fit usably get toably functionally in that space.

[C]

Right?

[B]

So here's the thing that means I don't have to analyze and think through through how many pairs of shoes I need. I say, this is the space my favorites deserve space in here first. The ones I wear all the time deserve space in here first.

[C]

Right?

[B]

It also frees me up to go, okay? Because I don't have to think through what shoes might I ever use. I'm never going with, like, what is the proper amount of shoes to have? I just don't think that way. Because when I do try to think that way, my rebellious spirit goes, nobody can tell me how many shoes I need. You know what? I will wear those. They might hurt, and I might actually hate them. But because you told me I can't have them, guess what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna wear Them like, that's just me.

[C]

Right.

[B]

And so it backfires to try to analyze on that too hard and to feel like somebody else is telling me how many I need to have or how many I can have. So instead I let SP space to side, and then that way I'm like, you know what? I probably. I probably could survive with four pairs of shoes, but I have room for eight pairs of shoes. So I can have eight pairs of shoes, and I don't have to. I don't have to feel guilty about it.

[C]

Right.

[B]

Now that you've been living in the. Where would I look for this first concept? Do you find yourself asking when you need an item? If I have this item, where would I look for it first? Yeah, I mean, like, I use it all the time. All the time? All the time. It's a natural thing. And my family uses it, except they always say it. I go, where would I look for this first? And they go, where would I look for this first, Mom? I know. That's what I'm. And I'm like. Because again, that's what it's like to have teenagers, even though only one is still a teenager. How do I change my current kitchen counter from an office type space back into just a kitchen counter? How do I create a different mindset and location for this purpose? Yeah, I mean, I think it's this. Okay, if I didn't have office stuff here, which I don't want office stuff here, where would I look for the office stuff first? And I let that be the thing, and I define the space that way. I know that's a very short answer to what is probably a very difficult question. How do you do the five steps if you need to pack and move to a space half the size of your phone, half of your phone half the size of your phone that is so small. Half the size of your home is what she said. I have a video says, my top three tips for decluttering for a move. Look that up, and I tell you exactly what to do, which is, if you're moving to a space that's half the size, get boxes for that size home that you're moving to. Those are the boxes. That's your container. You put the most important, most needed things in first, and you let those boxes be the deciding factor. If it doesn't fit in there. And these are the boxes for that size of a home. Not according to me, who's always been able. The one who could fit everything into every place, but actually according to, like, mathematicians and scientists, you know, then use that. I just want to say there's been so many times when I just hear you saying just do your dishes. And even when I'm so tired, I'll just throw them in the dishwasher. And I'm so glad in the morning I'm telling you, run it when it's not full. If you have a dishwasher, run it when it's not full. You will be so glad you did. What's my favorite starter video? My 17 year old son wants to learn what's been helping me for my birthday. That is so sweet. His room is clean and decluttered already and I think he's just trying to help. I love it. I would do the two tasks that will keep any home under control and I would do the five step decluttering process where I it's a demo, I think I call it a demo on that one. And maybe layers of a clean house. Those would be ones that would help him help you. Layers of a clean house. That's what I would do. One more question. Currently very pregnant and using 14 days. Congratulations by the way, to opening your home to guests to get house ready for home birth. What's the best thing to do after 14 days while waiting for baby postpartum? I would just give yourself permission at the end of the 14 days to be like, I'm gonna. Because throughout the 14 days to open your front door to guests, which if y' all don't know what I'm talking about, there's a series of videos where I talk you through it. There's also an ebook at a slob comes clean.com 14 like 1 4. Throughout the course of that, you know how every day I have you do the dishes, do a five minute pickup as you are growing this baby and as you were exhausted and tired, just really say, I'm going. Those are the two things. Those are the two things I'm going to do. Or if somebody asks me how they can help me, I'm going to let them do that. And then if I have some other time, I'm going to continue decluttering other spaces because everything that leaves my house makes my house just a little bit easier to manage. Which is something you're going to be so excited for when the baby comes, right? But use the no mess method, the five step process, because doing that means that when you feel exhausted, when life happens, when you go into labor, whatever, you can stop at any moment and you're only, you've only made your house better. Okay, let's See, I think I need to be done. And I just want to say, since you talked about being pregnant, I know I get snarky about my teenagers, y'. All. I love them so much. And I don't even mean, like, I'm having to convince myself or you that I love them. Like, they are so much fun. I have loved every single stage of parenting. It is so much fun. So don't be scared if yours aren't there yet, but also if yours, once yours get there and you're like, oh, my word, what is going on? Know that laughter is the best way to deal with it. And I'm actually being very serious because if you can't laugh with your teenagers because they want you. They don't want you to laugh at things that I'm not giving parenting advice, but they don't want you to laugh at things that they don't want you to laugh at. Right. But it is so easy as a parent to be like, when they do want to make you laugh, to be like, I don't want to give them the satisfaction of me laughing at that.

[C]

Right.

[B]

Like, it's just this natural thing. Like, I'm going to be the grown up, and I'm not. But y', all, my kids, their favorite thing to do is to make me laugh. And I mean, I say that I don't know what they would say, but go ahead and laugh. When they are trying to be funny, laugh at them, because it helps a relationship so much when you can have fun together.

[C]

Right?

[B]

All right. Been a doozy, hasn't it? I should be here next week. I should be here at the right time even. Maybe, I think. All right, I will. I'll talk to you all later.

[C]

Bye.