Self Care is a Scam! | Clutterbug Podcast #323
4/27/202645 min
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:
- Chris Guillebeau’s “8th day of the week” exercise
- 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 preview
First 90 secondsCas Aarssen· Host0:00
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. But what if this isn't totally always true? 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, because I'm always juggling everything all the time. And maybe that's why I'm always so tired. Today I wanna talk about self-care, but I wanna talk about it differently, maybe through a kind of weird lens. I think the self-care message that we're being sold is still like overkill. I feel like it's another to-do on the to-do list, because it's things like go get a massage, or I don't know, wear face masks in a bubble bath. Like it's a production. You know what I mean? It's, it's a, it's a production, and it's things that you are doing for yourself, but it never really is that way. Like I was thinking the other day, "I need self-care," and my brain for some reason was like, "You should go plant your garden," because gardening's self-care, question mark? 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. You know what I mean? It's another thing to do. And I feel this way sometimes about traditional self-care. 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