Edit Your Life | Simplify + Declutter Your Home, Time, and Mental Space

For many of us, the climate emergency is this massive, scary topic that’s hard to bring down to the level of our own lives. But the reality is, small eco-friendly edits make a difference. Christine and Asha share easy habit changes that will help you use less water, energy, and resources. Edit Your Life is an award-winning podcast that shares practical ideas for decluttering your home, schedule, a...

Oftentimes when people hear the word “frugality” they think about clipping coupons and depriving oneself of anything that lands in the “want” (vs. “need”) bucket. If that sounds familiar, get ready to have your perspective on frugality turned completely upside down! Christine talks to Amiyrah Martin about how to instill in kids the importance and meaning of frugality in a not-heavy-handed way, how...

To say that navigating divorce and single parenthood is challenging is a massive understatement. Christine welcomes content creator, content strategist, and divorce coach Jessica Ashley to answer some listener questions. Christine and Jessica talk about respectful separation, how to navigate the overall divorce transition and holidays with kids, and how to work less as a single parent, as well as...

Jobs, travel, home management, babies, complicated relationships...the stress of these things can have a major impact on our physical selves. How do we manage the mental and physical load of modern life? Christine welcomes back Edit Your Life’s most requested guest: therapist Jonathan Baxter. In response to a listener letter, Christine and Jonathan talk about the physical manifestation of stress,...

Feeding kids is a fundamental part of parenting, but the particulars of getting everyone fed are onerous for so many parents. In this episode, Christine interviews Laura Fuentes about back-to-school food sanity. They cover both practical and emotional ground related to meal planning, picky eaters, and negativity around food. The goal: bringing sanity to breakfast, lunch, and dinner as we head back...

Technology is both wonderful and complicated, and the complications grow exponentially as screens go from educational or entertainment “playback” for younger kids to digital eco-system and social “livelihood” for tweens and teens. In this episode, Christine interviews Julianna Miner about her new book, "Raising A Screen-Smart Kid: Embrace the Good and Avoid the Bad in the Digital Age." Christine a...

The tension between getting more stuff done and slowing down enough to savor and appreciate what’s happening around you is an ongoing challenge. Christine and Asha share simple ideas for how to be present in daily life when you’ve got a long to-do list hovering over your shoulder. They talk about communication and scheduling tweaks, device-free tactics, boundary setting, and more. Edit Your Life i...

If you’ve listened to our media and entertainment review episodes, you’ve heard Christine rave about the Gimlet Media shows Homecoming, Science Vs., and The Habitat. Today we want to introduce you to a new Gimlet Media podcast we think you’ll love: Motherhood Sessions. On Motherhood Sessions, psychiatrist Dr. Alexandra Sacks works with women who are struggling with the massive life and identity sh...

It's always a good time for kids to learn real-world life skills, no matter how old they are. And judging by the viral popularity of our recent “100 Life Skills You Can Teach Your Kids in 5 Minutes or Less” list, people want to get started. Christine and Asha follow up on their list with practical tips for how to teach kids life skills. They talk about the importance of frustration tolerance, how...

Language evolves over time; we need to evolve with it. Christine interviews Casey Brown about gender identity, language, and parenting. They talk about Casey’s gender identity journey over the last 17 years, the importance of giving kids room around gender identity, how kids are often more comfortable than adults when talking about gender, “pronouns 101,” and how compassionately communicating with...

We all know intellectually that kids learn from challenges, and they grow stronger and have more self-confidence when they learn to navigate those challenges. But when you’re actually going through it it’s hard, as a parent, to watch your kid struggle. It’s also hard to identify where the line is between reasonable struggle and a real need for help. In this episode, Christine and Asha share 8 tips...

Cooking = essential life skill. Christine and Asha talk about 10 tips for teaching kids to find inspiration in the kitchen and get cooking -- notably, in a low stress way spanning toddler through teens. Because hello, move-out skills. Edit Your Life is an award-winning podcast that shares practical ideas for decluttering your home, schedule, and mental space without getting bogged down by perfecti...

Parenting is all about trial and error. You make the best decisions you can in the moment and often times don’t know how things will play out. Also, some things you think are a huge deal end up not being a big deal, while other things you didn’t notice or pay much attention to turn out to be really important. Christine and Asha talk about 8 lessons they have learned (and do-overs they wish they co...

Change can be hard and scary -- the uncertainty, the letting go of security, the need to trust in the act of trying. In this episode, Christine and Asha talk about and share Christine’s interview with actor Dr. Ken Jeong (of The Hangover and Dr. Ken fame) about making leaps. In this candid interview, Jeong shares about leaving medicine for acting, dealing with fear of failure and other people’s ex...

Protecting our kids is the most basic of parenting jobs, but how much is too much? When we shield kids from anything that’s remotely risky, we erase a valuable learning opportunity. In Episode 32 of Edit Your Life, Christine and Asha discuss the importance of exposing kids to reasonable risk and danger, how “reasonable” differs from parent-to-parent (even in the same family), and how knowing-- and...

The never-ending nature of paper clutter -- incoming mail, bills, and school papers -- is both irritating and anxiety-provoking, and yet most of it can go straight into the recycle bin. In this episode, Asha interviews Erin Doland, Real Simple’s organizing columnist and author of the new book, Never Too Busy to Cure Clutter. Asha and Erin discuss the wisdom of handling paper clutter in small bits,...

The notion of modeling behavior makes many parents feel like they’re in the perfection hot seat; that if they don’t act like paragons of humanity at all times, they’re setting their kids up for future therapy. Christine and Asha turn this idea upside down and discuss why embracing and modeling imperfection is a good thing and offer 8 tips for how to model imperfection, handle perfectionist kids, a...

Chores represent a double parenting win -- you’re teaching your kids life skills while taking something off your load. But this seemingly everyday ritual is a constant source of frustration for families. Christine and Asha explore why families wrestle with integrating chores into their routine and share 10 tips for how to get kids to do them -- and hopefully realize that chores represent responsib...

Marie Kondo’s “Japanese decluttering book” has taken the world by storm. The book details the author’s philosophy about organizing and decluttering, and gives step-by-step instructions for decluttering one’s home. She calls her specific steps the “KonMari Method,” and promises that it will change the lives of those who follow it. Thousands of people say it has, but plenty have voiced skepticism. I...

Christine and Asha share 9 tips to help you master the fine art of SAYING NO. Because while there are some things in life that are essential, a lot of things truly are optional. It’s your life, your choices -- we all have the power to identify the things that are important to us, and to make room for those things, in whatever ways we can. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/...

If your schedule is jam-packed to the max, there’s no room for unexpected awesome to happen. Christine and Asha introduce the concept of surrounding work and play with “serendipity space,” including 5 strategies for creating serendipity space in your life. Edit Your Life is an award-winning podcast that shares practical ideas for decluttering your home, schedule, and mental space without getting b...

Wondering why it’s worth editing your life, or whether doing less = being lazy? Christine and Asha address why it can be hard to edit your life, how the journey is different for everyone, and why editing your life is necessary, doable, and totally awesome. Edit Your Life is an award-winning podcast that shares practical ideas for decluttering your home, schedule, and mental space without getting b...

Everyone procrastinates about something at some point, right? Christine and Asha share their own sorry tales of procrastination, along with actionable tips and inspiration for how you can defeat the procrastination beast. Edit Your Life is an award-winning podcast that shares practical ideas for decluttering your home, schedule, and mental space without getting bogged down by perfection. Visit edi...