Brut McKay here in the well-continued edition of the Art of Manliness podcast.

You want a declutter, you want a downsize, you want to live more simply.

So what's been holding you back from getting closer to those ideals?

My guest today, sourcing both the psychological and practical roadblocks that get in the

way of living more minimally and more in the present.

His name is Matt Paxton and he's a downsizing in decluttering expert, a featured cleaner

on the television show Horters, the host of the Emmy nominated show Legacy List with Matt

Paxton, which showcases people's heirlooms and treasures, and the author of, Keep the

Memories, Lose the Stuff, declutter, downsize, and move forward with your life.

We begin our conversation with how Matt got into cleaning out houses and working with

Horters, and some of the worst cases of hoarding Matt has seen.

We then get into both the mindset and brass tax tips he's learned from the most extreme

cases of clutter that can be used by regular people who just want to pair down their stuff.

We talk about why we can feel so attached to our possessions and how to let them go, while

still preserving your and your family's memories.

Matt recommends how and where to get started with your decluttering and offers tools, including

creating a maybe pile and a legacy list for deciding what to keep and what to chuck, whether

you're dealing with big items like furniture or small stuff like documents and pictures.

Matt explains what to do with your stuff, whether trashing, donating, upcycling, or selling,

and how much you can reasonably expect to get when you do the latter.

Spoiler alert, it's a lot less than you think.

We enter conversation with how, after you declutter your place, to keep it from getting

...