Decluttering Untangled with Heather Tingle : How to declutter when you're overwhelmed, ADHD or Autistic

Heather Tingle
  • 5.0 (27)
  • Mental Health
  • Updated Weekly

In this podcast, Heather will teach you what really works, and what doesn't, to successfully declutter your home - as when you're overwhelmed, ADHD or Autistic, it isn't just a case of hiring a skip and having a big sort out - it's not that easy! ​ Heather is an expert in working with families that live in chaos, and all the challenges that brings. She is Autistic and has ADHD so knows all about how neurodiversity links to clutter. As a naturally messy person herself, she can show you how to live in a clean, clutter free and organised home regardless of the issues you face. She thrives on creating strategies and systems that work for real families. Transforming your cluttered homes to calm, safe spaces can also improve your mental, physical and financial health, learn all about it in this podcast.Heather Tingle has been a member of The Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers since 2016. She and her family have had hoarding tendencies, living in messy homes, stuck in that never ending, exhausting cycle of chores and tidying. She decluttered her home and found a new, calmer and more content way to live. She now supports clients in person and online to achieve the same outcome in their own homes - and now you can learn how she does it through this podcast too! 

  1. 1d ago

    144 - The extend and split decluttering mistake most people make

    Send me a text message about this podcast Summary You know that moment when the kitchen cupboard finally shuts, because you've moved half of what was in there to a back stock cupboard in the garage or a shelf in the cellar? It feels like a win. It isn't. In this episode Heather unpacks one of the most common (and sneakiest) decluttering mistakes, splitting or extending a category so some of it can live in a different room. It solves the problem in room one for about five minutes, then quietly creates two new ones, in room one and room two. Heather explains why this happens (it's not laziness, it's your brain looking for the fastest way out of a hard decision), the three knock on effects that show up later, decision fatigue, forgotten back stock, and a second room that was never designed to hold the extra weight, and walks through real examples including summer and winter clothes, books scattered across the house, and children's toys split between three rooms. You'll also get the actual fix: how to choose one proper home for a category based on where it's really used, and reduce what you own until it fits comfortably, rather than reaching for a second location every time it doesn't. If you've got clutter quietly living in more than one place, this episode will help you spot it and, more importantly, sort it for good. In this episode: What "splitting a category" actually means and why it feels like progressThe three problems it creates over timeReal examples: seasonal clothing, books, and children's toysHow to pick one home for a category and make it actually fitWhy this isn't a willpower issue, and how to give yourself permission to fix itChapters 00:00 Introduction: The common decluttering mistake 00:30 The problem with splitting categories 01:26 How splitting causes decision fatigue 02:23 Secondary spaces and their pitfalls 04:15 Examples of category splitting: books and toys 07:07 Strategies for effective decluttering 08:34 Creating space and reducing categories 09:58 The importance of proper decluttering 10:27 Final tips and encouragement Support the show If you'd like to say 'Thank you', by buying me a virtual coffee (it'll actually buy me a cup of tea!), you can do so HERE. It will mean I can afford to continue to give help for free and continue with this podcast. Get started with my Zoning and Getting Started Workshop, everything you need to know on how to get started and have the best success when decluttering. Join my free Declutter Community for real support, tips and advice from Heather and other Untanglers that are just like you! Follow me on Facebook Buy my Declutter Your Home Planner from Amazon to start to declutter your home yourself! (affiliate link) Grab my current freebies to support a cleaner, tidier home. Follow me on instagram Feel free to email me: help@untangledbytingle.com  Please note, I may not be able to reply, but do read all emails to me and appreciate them massively.

  2. Jul 17

    143 - How can I declutter when I'm sentimental about everything?

    Send me a text message about this podcast Summary Two clients, one week, the same sentence. "I'm worried because I'm sentimental about everything." It's a phrase Heather hears often, and one that quietly convinces people they're worse at decluttering than everyone else. In this episode, Heather breaks sentimentality down into four levels, most of what feels precious isn't actually equal, and talks through how neurodivergence can shape emotional attachment to belongings. She shares the story of a bag of trip souvenirs that taught her the difference between a true memory and something that just happened to be sitting next to one through osmosis. She also makes the case for why being sentimental, far from being a disadvantage, is a skill worth developing rather than a flaw to fix. In this episode you will learn: Why sentimentality isn't a weakness, and why it's simply a natural part of being humanHow neurodivergence can shape emotional attachment to belongingsThe four levels of sentimentality, from long-time possessions to pure sentimental items, and the "osmosis" attachment in betweenThe difference between fondness and true sentimental attachmentHow grouping souvenirs and keepsakes together makes them all feel equally important, and how to break that grouping apartThe question to ask yourself about any item, would this matter if it was the only memory you had leftWhy non-sentimental, disposable living leads to more clutter and more cost over time, not lessWhy caring for your possessions and feeling attached to them is a skill worth developing, not a disadvantageMentioned in this episode: DeclutterCon, Heather's upcoming event for practical tips, reframes and connections to move forward decluttering and community support Support the show If you'd like to say 'Thank you', by buying me a virtual coffee (it'll actually buy me a cup of tea!), you can do so HERE. It will mean I can afford to continue to give help for free and continue with this podcast. Get started with my Zoning and Getting Started Workshop, everything you need to know on how to get started and have the best success when decluttering. Join my free Declutter Community for real support, tips and advice from Heather and other Untanglers that are just like you! Follow me on Facebook Buy my Declutter Your Home Planner from Amazon to start to declutter your home yourself! (affiliate link) Grab my current freebies to support a cleaner, tidier home. Follow me on instagram Feel free to email me: help@untangledbytingle.com  Please note, I may not be able to reply, but do read all emails to me and appreciate them massively.

  3. Jul 10

    142 - "Do I Own Too Much?" Why Minimalism Isn't the Goal

    Send me a text message about this podcast Summary Heather debunks the myth that decluttering means minimalism, emphasising that a home should reflect personal love and functionality rather than societal ideals of minimalism. She discusses practical tips for organising, the importance of having backups, and embracing a lived-in, personality-filled space. Chapters 00:00 Introduction: Debunking the myth of minimalism 00:29 Why decluttering isn't about minimalism 01:00 The importance of a home that feels good 01:27 The reality of real homes versus social media images 02:27 The pitfalls of owning nothing 03:23 The value of having backups and extras 04:46 Visual clutter versus sensory needs 05:45 Creating a home that feels welcoming and personalised 07:13 Living with emptiness and adjusting to space 08:07 The 'just in case' pile and planning ahead 09:04 Hobbies, collections, and loving your belongings 10:01 The goal: functional, organised, and personalised spaces 11:24 Organising for purpose, not perfection 12:17 You can have a lived-in, chaotic, yet calm home 12:48 Final thoughts: Focus on what you love and need Support the show If you'd like to say 'Thank you', by buying me a virtual coffee (it'll actually buy me a cup of tea!), you can do so HERE. It will mean I can afford to continue to give help for free and continue with this podcast. Get started with my Zoning and Getting Started Workshop, everything you need to know on how to get started and have the best success when decluttering. Join my free Declutter Community for real support, tips and advice from Heather and other Untanglers that are just like you! Follow me on Facebook Buy my Declutter Your Home Planner from Amazon to start to declutter your home yourself! (affiliate link) Grab my current freebies to support a cleaner, tidier home. Follow me on instagram Feel free to email me: help@untangledbytingle.com  Please note, I may not be able to reply, but do read all emails to me and appreciate them massively.

  4. Jul 3

    141 - Why Can't I Keep On Top of My Home?

    Send me a text message about this podcast Summary: If you've ever put loads of time and energy into decluttering and getting organised, only to watch it completely unravel the second life gets difficult, this episode is for you. Heather talks through one of the most common patterns she sees in client homes and inside the Untangled Life membership: building systems that only work when everything is going well. She explains why that happens, what to do instead, and how designing for your worst week actually makes your best weeks even easier. In This Episode: 00:00 Why does it all go wrong? Heather opens with something so many people experience but rarely talk about. You do all the work, you create the system, and then one hard week hits and it looks like a bomb's gone off. She explains exactly why that happens and why it is not a discipline problem. 05:38 The fantasy self problem The system you built was probably built for a version of you that was rested, on top of things, and having a decent week. Heather talks through why that's such a natural trap to fall into, and why it's also the thing quietly sabotaging your home. 09:17 The fallback system fix The solution isn't a better system. It's a system with a built-in backup for the hard days. Heather walks through a practical example involving bathroom towels and airing cupboards, and explains how to find the right fallback for your own home. Have you bought your ticket to DeclutterCon 2026 yet? Its going to be AMAZING! full of new ways of thinking, support, companies to support your decluttering and accountability to make changes when you get home - all without the overwhelm or judgement. An Untangling Community coming together. 10/10/26, Sheffield UK. www.decluttercon.co.uk for details. Support the show If you'd like to say 'Thank you', by buying me a virtual coffee (it'll actually buy me a cup of tea!), you can do so HERE. It will mean I can afford to continue to give help for free and continue with this podcast. Get started with my Zoning and Getting Started Workshop, everything you need to know on how to get started and have the best success when decluttering. Join my free Declutter Community for real support, tips and advice from Heather and other Untanglers that are just like you! Follow me on Facebook Buy my Declutter Your Home Planner from Amazon to start to declutter your home yourself! (affiliate link) Grab my current freebies to support a cleaner, tidier home. Follow me on instagram Feel free to email me: help@untangledbytingle.com  Please note, I may not be able to reply, but do read all emails to me and appreciate them massively.

  5. Jun 26

    140 - Make Procrastination Work For You: The Swap Trick

    Send me a text message about this podcast Summary In this episode, Heather shares the trick she occasionally uses on herself, and with clients, to get a decluttering task started when it really doesn't want to happen. By pairing a dreaded decluttering task with another dreaded task that has a fixed deadline, she's worked out how to make procrastination work in your favour instead of against you. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Decluttering Strategies 02:48 The Letter of Two Evils Trick 05:52 Setting Up Your Projects for Success Support the show If you'd like to say 'Thank you', by buying me a virtual coffee (it'll actually buy me a cup of tea!), you can do so HERE. It will mean I can afford to continue to give help for free and continue with this podcast. Get started with my Zoning and Getting Started Workshop, everything you need to know on how to get started and have the best success when decluttering. Join my free Declutter Community for real support, tips and advice from Heather and other Untanglers that are just like you! Follow me on Facebook Buy my Declutter Your Home Planner from Amazon to start to declutter your home yourself! (affiliate link) Grab my current freebies to support a cleaner, tidier home. Follow me on instagram Feel free to email me: help@untangledbytingle.com  Please note, I may not be able to reply, but do read all emails to me and appreciate them massively.

  6. Jun 19

    139 - The Placeholder Method: Stop Waiting, Start Acting 'As If'

    Send me a text message about this podcast Summary Have you ever stood in a room, able to see exactly what needs to happen, but nothing will move because one thing is waiting on another thing, which is waiting on another thing? That is the bottleneck, and in this episode we're sorting it out. I walk you through the placeholder method: a simple, slightly-messy-in-the-short-term approach that gets everything moving again, even when the thing you're waiting for hasn't arrived yet. We use the sideboard example, but this applies everywhere in your home, and once you see it, you will not be able to unsee it. We also talk about why the placeholder does something that waiting never can: it gives you real information. About volume, about what you actually use, about whether the storage solution you've been dreaming of is really going to do what you think it will. Spoiler: sometimes it is. Sometimes it absolutely isn't. Either way, you'll know. In this episode: What the bottleneck actually is and why ND brains are especially prone to itThe placeholder method explained, and what to use if you don't have the real thing yetWhy messy short term is absolutely worth it for movement long termHow placeholders tell you the volume of what you're working with before you spend a penny on furnitureTest-driving a rehome before you commit to itDitching the rose-tinted glasses on storage solutions that haven't arrived yetWhere else this method works beyond the living room sideboardChapters 00:00 Introduction to the Waiting Game 02:50 Understanding the Bottleneck Effect 05:46 The Placeholder Method Explained 08:51 Testing the Placeholder: Real Feedback 11:30 Applying the Placeholder Method in Various Spaces 14:37 Encouragement and Community Engagement Come and tell me where your bottleneck is. I genuinely want to know. Find me on Instagram or come into the Untangled Life community and let's talk about it. Resources DeclutterCon Support the show If you'd like to say 'Thank you', by buying me a virtual coffee (it'll actually buy me a cup of tea!), you can do so HERE. It will mean I can afford to continue to give help for free and continue with this podcast. Get started with my Zoning and Getting Started Workshop, everything you need to know on how to get started and have the best success when decluttering. Join my free Declutter Community for real support, tips and advice from Heather and other Untanglers that are just like you! Follow me on Facebook Buy my Declutter Your Home Planner from Amazon to start to declutter your home yourself! (affiliate link) Grab my current freebies to support a cleaner, tidier home. Follow me on instagram Feel free to email me: help@untangledbytingle.com  Please note, I may not be able to reply, but do read all emails to me and appreciate them massively.

  7. Jun 12

    138 - From Alone to Understood: The Decluttering Shift You Never Knew You Needed

    Send me a text message about this podcast Summary When did you last tell someone in real life what your home actually looks like? Not a partner, not someone you live with. A friend. A colleague. Someone you chose to tell? For most of us, the honest answer is never. In this episode Heather gets personal about the thing that makes decluttering so much harder than it needs to be. Not the stuff itself, but the secrecy, the shame, and the exhaustion of carrying it alone. She talks about what she has witnessed happen in rooms full of people who finally found others who get it, the friendships that have formed, the homes that have changed, and why shame cannot survive in community. This is also the episode where Heather shares why DeclutterCon exists, and it is not because the world needed another event. In this episode: Why so many people have never once spoken out loud about the reality of their homeThe connection between isolation, shame, and being stuckWhat actually happens when people stop doing this aloneReal outcomes from Heather's in-person Untangled eventsWhy community is the shift that changes everythingChapters 00:00 Introduction to the Struggles of Clutter 02:40 The Emotional Toll of Clutter and Isolation 05:55 The Power of Community and Shared Experiences 08:39 Creating Safe Spaces for Connection 11:27 The Vision Behind DeclutterCon 14:11 Invitation to Join the Untangled Community Links: Book your DeclutterCon ticketJoin the Untangled Life membership waitlistFind Heather on Instagram: @untangledbytingleWebsite: DeclutterCon Support the show If you'd like to say 'Thank you', by buying me a virtual coffee (it'll actually buy me a cup of tea!), you can do so HERE. It will mean I can afford to continue to give help for free and continue with this podcast. Get started with my Zoning and Getting Started Workshop, everything you need to know on how to get started and have the best success when decluttering. Join my free Declutter Community for real support, tips and advice from Heather and other Untanglers that are just like you! Follow me on Facebook Buy my Declutter Your Home Planner from Amazon to start to declutter your home yourself! (affiliate link) Grab my current freebies to support a cleaner, tidier home. Follow me on instagram Feel free to email me: help@untangledbytingle.com  Please note, I may not be able to reply, but do read all emails to me and appreciate them massively.

  8. Jun 5

    137 - Why Am I So Frustrated With My Decluttering Progress?

    Send me a text message about this podcast Summary If you've hit a wall with your decluttering and you're starting to get annoyed at yourself at your lack of progress, this episode is for you. Heather unpacks why lack of progress usually has nothing to do with laziness, and everything to do with what else is going on in your life. From the aftermath of a heatwave to the stress of everyday life quietly draining your energy, there are so many reasons why progress slows down. And then there's the middle bit: that slog that feels like it goes on forever before the end suddenly appears. In this episode Heather covers: Why your energy is probably being used up elsewhere without you even realisingThe middle bit of a project and why it feels so hardWhy microcategories are your best friend when you're running low on capacityHow to track your discards so you can actually see your progressMatching your plan to the energy you really have, not the energy you think you should haveWhy rest is not optional, and why giving yourself permission to stop is part of the process Chapters 00:00 Introduction: Decluttering Frustration and Human Limits 00:27 You Are Not Lazy: Understanding Energy Limits 01:25 External Stressors Impact Decluttering Capacity 02:17 The Effect of Heat and Stress on Functioning 02:45 Life Overloads and Limited Energy for Optional Tasks 03:12 Middle-Project Slumps and Motivation Loss 04:09 The Importance of Micro Categories 06:21 Monitoring Discards to Track Progress 07:12 Reviewing and Adjusting Your Decluttering Plan 08:36 Rest Is Part of the Process 09:31 Upcoming DeclutterCon Event in Sheffield Mentioned in this episode: DeclutterCon 2026, Saturday 10th October, Sheffield. Tickets available now at www.decluttercon.co.uk use code earlybird26 for a discount (for the first 20tickets sold or by the 30th June 2026, whichever comes first) Support the show If you'd like to say 'Thank you', by buying me a virtual coffee (it'll actually buy me a cup of tea!), you can do so HERE. It will mean I can afford to continue to give help for free and continue with this podcast. Get started with my Zoning and Getting Started Workshop, everything you need to know on how to get started and have the best success when decluttering. Join my free Declutter Community for real support, tips and advice from Heather and other Untanglers that are just like you! Follow me on Facebook Buy my Declutter Your Home Planner from Amazon to start to declutter your home yourself! (affiliate link) Grab my current freebies to support a cleaner, tidier home. Follow me on instagram Feel free to email me: help@untangledbytingle.com  Please note, I may not be able to reply, but do read all emails to me and appreciate them massively.

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In this podcast, Heather will teach you what really works, and what doesn't, to successfully declutter your home - as when you're overwhelmed, ADHD or Autistic, it isn't just a case of hiring a skip and having a big sort out - it's not that easy! ​ Heather is an expert in working with families that live in chaos, and all the challenges that brings. She is Autistic and has ADHD so knows all about how neurodiversity links to clutter. As a naturally messy person herself, she can show you how to live in a clean, clutter free and organised home regardless of the issues you face. She thrives on creating strategies and systems that work for real families. Transforming your cluttered homes to calm, safe spaces can also improve your mental, physical and financial health, learn all about it in this podcast.Heather Tingle has been a member of The Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers since 2016. She and her family have had hoarding tendencies, living in messy homes, stuck in that never ending, exhausting cycle of chores and tidying. She decluttered her home and found a new, calmer and more content way to live. She now supports clients in person and online to achieve the same outcome in their own homes - and now you can learn how she does it through this podcast too! 

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