Self Care is a Scam! | Clutterbug Podcast #323

Clutterbug - Real-Life Hacks and Tips to Declutter, Organize and Clean your Home Fast

Clutterbug

Education, Leisure, Self-improvement, How To, Home & Garden

4.7 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 27 April 2026

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hey Clutterbug! Still exhausted even after self-care? That's because it's a scam! If you're feeling frustrated, tired, lonely, and in over your head with housework, I've got you. We’ve all heard: “Put your own oxygen mask on first.” In an emergency, yes—absolutely. But when that metaphor becomes your whole approach to life, it can quietly teach you that survival is a solo sport. If you’re overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and trying to do everything alone, this conversation will help you build healthier boundaries and stronger support systems—without guilt. Today we’re unpacking the two extremes that leave so many of us burnt out and lonely: 1. giving until you’re empty, and 2. protecting your peace so hard you end up isolated. The middle ground is interdependence: a place where care is shared over time—without keeping score and without one person carrying the whole load. We’ll talk about the four real-life relational skills this takes, the ones no one teaches us. Plus, two practical tools to help you build towards balance: 1) Chris Guillebeau’s “8th day of the week” exercise 2) The 3-3-3 method If you’ve been thinking: “Why am I STILL tired?” this episode is for you. Want to get organized? Learn 6-Step The Clutterbug Method: https://clutterbug.thinkific.com/courses/Clutterbug-Method You can find more Clutterbug content here: Main YouTube Channel: @Clutterbug Website: http://www.clutterbug.me TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clutterbug_me Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clutterbug_me/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Clutterbug.Me/ #clutterbug #podcast #selfcare #burnout #boundaries #support #guilt #interdependence #mutualaid #emotional #exhaustion #anxiety #timeanxiety #momburnout #3-3-3method #homeorganization #chrisguillebeau Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	If you've ever flown before, you know the rule is when the oxygen masks come down from the ceiling, put them on yourself first.
0:08.8	But what if this isn't totally always true?
0:12.3	Like I feel like I could put the masks on my kid, my husband, the stranger in the row in front, and still have time for my own mask.
0:19.1	Because I'm always juggling everything all the
0:21.9	time. And maybe that's why I'm always so tired. Today I want to talk about self-care, but I want to
0:28.0	talk about it differently, maybe through a kind of weird lens. I think the self-care message that
0:35.3	we're being sold is still like overkill. I feel like it's another
0:39.6	to-do on the to-do list because it's things like go get a massage or I don't know, wear face
0:47.4	masks in a bubble bath. Like it's a production. You know what I mean? It's a, it's a production and it's
0:53.4	things that you are doing for yourself, but it never
0:56.2	really is that way. Like I was thinking the other day, I need self-care. And my brain, for some reason,
1:00.9	it was like, you should go plant your garden because gardening self-care question mark,
1:05.8	except guess what? It's kind of a chore. Yes, I like it, but that doesn't, that doesn't like rejuvenate me when I'm exhausted.
1:14.6	You know what I mean? It's another thing to do. And I feel this way sometimes about traditional self-care.
1:20.8	It's literally like more work. I got enough work. I didn't even know self-care was a thing. Like, I went through the entire 90s and early
1:31.4	2000s, never hearing this as a word. And now it's just everywhere. I mean, it's something that people,
1:37.6	all the gurus, all the influencers are like, make sure you take a self-care day. What does that even
1:42.5	mean? And how many face masks can one person wear?
1:46.0	And I'm pretty sure that soaking my feet in warm water is not going to solve my chronic exhaustion.
1:53.2	What if the self-care we're being sold is just wrong? Just like always, I don't want you to just sit and listen or watch this podcast. Let's take
2:04.1	action today. Let's do something today to make tomorrow you a little bit happier and your life
2:11.4	a little bit easier. And usually we talk about cleaning or decluttering, but today let's do something
	...

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