Wannabe Clutter Free | Declutter, Simplify, Find Freedom
Ready to finally calm the overwhelm and create a home and life you actually enjoy? The Wannabe Clutter Free podcast is here to help you clear the clutter, simplify your routines, and find freedom in the life you’re building. I’m Deanna Yates, a busy mom who knows what it’s like to juggle family, career, and the never-ending piles of stuff. From selling 80% of what we owned to travel with our toddler, to managing the daily chaos of running a home with a school-aged kid, I’ve learned that living with less isn’t about deprivation. It’s about creating more space, more peace, and more joy. Each week, I share real-life stories, simple decluttering strategies, and mindset shifts that make it easier to let go of what’s weighing you down. You’ll also hear from inspiring guests who share practical tips and fresh perspectives on minimalism, home organization, intentional living, and building habits that last. If you’re tired of feeling buried in clutter and crave a home that feels calm, welcoming, and easy to manage, this show is for you. It’s not about perfection. It’s about progress, freedom, and finding space for what truly matters to you.
Episodes
My clutter threshold broke this year.
I am a decluttering expert. Our house is not cluttered. And I still hit a wall, because we are in the middle of an unplanned move, my husband had back surgery, and I am 46 and doing most of the lifting myself.
That is the exact season I was in when Amy Nesbitt came back on the show, and I am so glad she did.
Amy is a full time corporate working mom of two boys, the creator of the This Japanese Ame...
You will get rid of more in two weeks of packing than in five years of living in the same house.
Not because you tried harder. Because the rules changed.
Deanna Yates has moved 16 times as an adult, and number 17 is happening right now, unplanned and unwanted. In this episode she breaks down exactly what moving does to your brain, and how to steal that effect without touching a single roll of packing tape.
On a normal day, everything ...
If you're decluttering the chances are that there is a bag in your trunk right now, isn't there?
You did the hard part. You went through the closet, you made a hundred decisions in a row, you got everything bagged up and loaded in the car. And then you drove past the donation center. Twice.
The problem is that there are two decisions inside every declutter, and almost nobody warns you about the second one.
In Episode 324, Deanna is an...
Your house isn't cluttered. It's loud.
That single reframe changed how I look at my own home, and it comes from Myquillyn Smith, known online as The Nester.
Myquillyn has spent over twenty years helping women create homes they actually want to use. She's the author of Cozy Minimalist Home and House Rules, and her new book House Hushing is out now.
Here's what makes her different. She's a decorator, not a decluttering coach. She is not...
I host a decluttering podcast, and my house is full.
Not messy. Full. And I know exactly how it happened, because I have done it before.
Our landlord is selling our house. My husband is in surgery the day this episode goes live. My mom is in another round of chemo. My daughter just went back to school and does not know about the move yet.
I did not choose any of this. So I am choosing the one thing I still control.
For the next 20 days...
You have decluttered your closets. But have you decluttered your calendar?
In this episode, Deanna sits down with Megan Sumrell, time management expert and founder of The Pink Bee, to talk about why reclaiming your time is the piece of living clutter free that most people skip. Megan spent over 20 years in corporate IT before she realized traditional time management systems were never built for women's lives, and she has spent the y...
Who has soccer at 5:15? Did the permission slip go back? Is there anything defrostable for dinner? Are we out of milk again?
If every one of those answers lives in your head and nowhere else, you do not have an organization problem. You have a bottleneck problem, and the bottleneck is you.
In this episode I am sharing the session I presented at the Chaos to Calm Summit on building a family command center. It is one of my favorite thi...
If you struggle to stick to your routines, create new habits, or find perfectionism running your life, this episode is for you.
I'm sitting down with Monica Packer, host of the top-rated About Progress podcast and author of the upcoming book Sticky Habits, for a conversation that completely reframes why habits feel so hard for busy moms.
Monica opens up about her own journey with perfectionism, and then walks us through something sur...
You have probably said it at least once: “I’ll do the whole house this weekend.” And then Saturday came, and you either didn’t start, or you started and made things worse, or you finished and watched it fill right back up within a week. Today I’m explaining exactly what’s happening, and introducing the habit that finally breaks it.
The Lightning Tidy is five minutes a day. Same time, same routine,...
Have you ever decluttered your home only to watch it slowly fill right back up? This episode is for you.
Ashlee Piper is a sustainability expert, speaker, and author who has been featured on the Today Show, Good Morning America, and CNN, and in Vogue, the New York Times, and Newsweek. She created the No New Things Challenge in 2013. What started as a personal 30-day experiment turned into nearly two years of not buying anything new....
Have you ever spent a Saturday morning deep cleaning your entire house, and by noon you still feel exhausted, overwhelmed, and a little annoyed at everything? Your house looks great. You should feel amazing. But you don’t.
That’s not you being a perfectionist. It’s the sneaky kind of clutter that almost nobody in the decluttering world ever talks about.
Calendar clutter (or the mental load of keeping everything runn...
Your kid won't get rid of anything. You know their room has too much stuff. But every time you try to do something about it, it turns into a battle. What if you never had to be the bad guy again?
Dana K. White is the creator of the No Mess Decluttering Method, the blogger behind A Slob Comes Clean, and the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Decluttering at the Speed of Life. She has spent 17 years teaching overwhelmed, messy ...
Digital clutter doesn’t pile up on your counter, but it absolutely piles up in your brain. Every unread email, every unused app, every notification going off every eight minutes is quietly draining your focus and your energy.
In this episode I’m giving you three moves for your inbox, three moves for your phone, and a simple weekly habit that keeps all of it under control going forward.
In this episode you’ll lea...
Have you ever looked at a "minimalist" home on Instagram and thought, well, that is never going to be me. My kids alone would destroy that in four minutes? Or convinced yourself that your clutter-free journey isn't working because your house just doesn't look the part? You are not alone. And this conversation is for you.
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Paper doesn't ask permission. It just shows up in your mailbox, your kids' backpacks, and somehow on every flat surface in your home. And if the piles keep coming back no matter how many times you deal with them, it's not a discipline problem. It's a system problem.
In this episode I'm sharing the exact system I use to keep paper from taking over, including what to do with everything that comes in, how to handle the stuff that's be...
Time management expert and Secrets of Supermom host Lori Oberbroeckling joins Deanna to talk about why energy runs out before time does, how clutter quietly sabotages your best-laid plans, and the small routine changes that actually stick.
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Digital clutter doesn’t feel as obvious as a cluttered closet. But if you’ve ever had that pit-in-your-stomach moment of not being able to find a photo that matters, you know this isn’t small.
In this episode I’m breaking down the three phases of getting your photos in order (Declutter, Organize, Maintain), the two specific starting points that build momentum without making any hard decisions, and the tripl...
Your kids are more capable than you think. Katie Kimball, creator of Kids Cook Real Food and founder of the LifeSkillsNow summer camp, shares the practical systems that take kids from passengers to contributors -- and why cooking is the gateway to all of it.
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You can declutter your entire home and still end up right back where you started. I know because I’ve lived it. This episode is the piece that makes everything permanent. I’m teaching you the closing shift, the exit bin, and why stacking habits beats scheduling them every time.
In this episode you’ll learn:
- Why I went from owning almost nothing to filling up a house, and what finally broke the cycle
- The r...
Behavioral scientist Leidy Klotz reveals how your home feeds or starves three core psychological needs, why clutter blocks connection, and how to make your spaces actually work for your family.
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- Get the transcripts and more at wannabeclutterfree.com/307
Connect with Leidy:
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