305: How to Protect the Time You Gain After Decluttering and Why It Matters More Than You Think

Maximized Minimalist Podcast

Katy Wells

Decluttering, Education, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness, Intentional, Moms, Minimalism, Mental Health, Simplify

4.8 • 879 Ratings

🗓️ 7 May 2025

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

📦 You finally cleared the clutter.
🧺 Your routines are smoother.
⏳ You’ve carved out breathing room.

But now what?

If you've ever found yourself staring at an empty shelf... or sitting in a tidy room… and feeling strangely uncomfortable—this episode is for you.

Because here's the thing no one talks about: decluttering isn’t just about clearing physical space—it’s about learning how to be in that space without filling it back up.

🧠 What This Episode Will Help You Understand:

Why rest can feel uncomfortable after a busy season
The hidden belief that “stillness = laziness”
What to do with the space you’ve worked so hard to create (spoiler: nothing)
How to stop striving and start truly savoring the life you’re building

✨ This episode is your permission slip to:

Pause without guilt
Say no without shame
Choose peace over pressure

Because friend, the margin you’ve made? It’s not empty.
It’s sacred.

🎯 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

✅ Why so many of us are addicted to “go mode” (and how to exit it)
✅ How to reframe your relationship with rest, silence, and stillness
✅ What it actually means to protect your margin once you’ve made it
✅ Three gentle ways to practice presence without jumping back into productivity

🧡 Quick Win:

Sit in a decluttered room. Don’t touch a thing.
No cleaning. No optimizing. No to-do list.
Just sit. Breathe. Let yourself be.

Because the space you’ve created?
It’s not waiting to be filled—it’s waiting to hold you.

🎧 Loved this episode?

Send it to a friend who’s been stuck in the “I know what to do, but…” loop.
And if you haven’t already, tap that subscribe button so you never miss a dose of motivation + momentum.

Ready, Set, Simplify – bye!

Ready to Simplify Even More? Start Here:

✅ Declutter Fast with My Free Guide: 75 Things to Declutter Right Now
Quick wins. Instant relief. Clear space in minutes.
📥 https://www.katyjoywells.com/declutter

💬 Get Personalized Coaching from Me
Stuck in your clutter cycle? Let’s build a simple, customized plan to clear the overwhelm.
💼 https://www.katyjoywells.com/innercircle

📝 Create Your Home Management Blueprint
Finally feel on top of your home—with routines and systems built just for you.
🏡 https://www.katyjoywells.com/home-management-mastery

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

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I'm Katie Wells, host of the Maximized Minimalist podcast. I escape the hamster wheel of modern day
0:08.6	motherhood, overwhelmed by clutter and buried under the mental load. Now I live in a home that
0:14.1	feels calm, manageable, and made for real life. I have margin in my days, energy for who matters most,
0:22.3	and time for slow mornings and silly dance parties in the kitchen with my family. With over 5 million listens,
0:27.4	the show has helped women around the world turn their homes into their happy place. Around here,
0:33.0	we simplify for more peace, more presence, and more joy. We choose grace over guilt and progress
0:39.4	over perfection. And we believe your home should give back more than it takes. I'm here to help
0:45.5	you do the same. Come along with me and my guests as we share the real stories, habits, and strategies
0:50.9	that help you lighten the load from the inside out. Pull up a seat friend and let's do this
0:55.7	together. Ready, set, simplify. I heard the story once about a professional runner. She trained for
1:06.2	months leading up to her biggest race of the season, early mornings, strict nutrition, like every detail dialed in,
1:13.8	and her coach kept pushing her to shave off just a few more seconds. And eventually she did. She crossed
1:19.7	that finish line and she had her best time yet. But after the race, do you know what she said?
1:25.5	She said the hardest part wasn't the running. It was learning how to
1:29.4	stop. She had spent so long in go mode that when the race was over, when the pressure let up,
1:35.9	when she actually had margin back in her life, she didn't know what to do with it. She felt
1:41.2	uncomfortable to rest. She didn't know how to let her nervous system land,
1:45.9	and she was so used to striving and going and running, literally. She didn't know how to just be.
1:52.5	And you know what? That hit me because what happens to so many of us in our homes,
1:58.2	in our schedules, and in our lives. Same's same thing. We work hard to create space.
2:03.6	We declutter. We organize. We simplify. And we get a taste of that breathing room. We've been craving.
2:09.6	And then without even realizing, we fill it right back up. Because space can feel unfamiliar.
	...

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