Ditch Your Sh*t: Decluttering Your Mindset to Declutter Your Home

by Kate Evans

If you mixed Marie Kondo, Brene Brown, your best friend, and a sailor on shore leave together, this is the book you'd get—an irreverent guide to decluttering yourself and your home so you can create the life you deserve.

This is the book you need to read before all of those other decluttering and organizing books collecting dust on your shelves. You’ve had plans to go through your closets for years. You have piles of stuff. Your kitchen is overflowing or your basement is crowded with boxes. You want control but don’t know how to get it because you keep addressing the symptom—the clutter—and not the cause—a lifetime of negative thoughts and messages.

Ditch Your Sh*t validates you and every time you’ve doubted yourself. It teaches you that decluttering yourself will lead to overcoming the barriers that have stopped you from decluttering your home so you can create sustainable change. In Part I, you'll tackle the mental shit in chapters like "Shitty Thinking" and "Ditch your Shitty Habits." You will draw on your own strengths. You will learn how to create realistic goals for success and overcome feelings of shame and imperfection. In Part II, you'll tackle the physical shit in chapters that focus on specific areas of your house, such as the kitchen, shared common areas, and even the bathroom. In the end, you will learn how to get shit done and feel good about yourself while doing it.

By the time you’ve finished Ditch Your Sh*t, you’ll understand yourself better and actually be excited to tackle the clutter in your home instead of being frozen with overwhelm. It’s time to learn what author Kate Evans did when she decluttered her own home: Caring for your home is self-care.

Genres: Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

Published October 7, 2025

About the author

Kate Evans is a psychologist and life coach with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from The University of Michigan, and a Master’s in Professional Counseling from Argosy University. She decluttered her own home in 2018 and, having seen the connection to self-care, immediately began implementing decluttering in her work with clients. The joyful results led to writing the book "Ditch Your Sh*t." Kate maintains her decluttered life with daily routines and yoga, and lives with her husband and two calico cats none of whom will allow her to psychoanalyze them or declutter their toys.

Reviews

[Tom Tancredi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know this is TMI, but when my father got terminal cancer, reorganizing the house was a tremendous endeavor. every room was boobytrapped with memories. every box I went through was a meditation on old memories with my father. I found this book randomly as I walked through the local mall, looking for more bins to the already-packed house, and instead I spoke with the author and immediately read this book afterwards.

it didnt cure all my blues, but it reframed my outlook on clutter and made me able to "take the next step". what's the hardest step to take? the next one. this book is all about how to do that.

[Jada Bulter · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a therapist and as someone who literally “ditched all my sh*t” by becoming a digital nomad and downsizing to one suitcase, and moving abroad to travel, work, and live, I can attest that the process was liberating, cathartic. While not the end goal of this book is to take it to the level I did in midlife, doing this work is not about our stuff…it is about living a life of value and presence. Kate provides a step-by-step process to tackle the inner work while simultaneously offering a roadmap for decluttering and loving the spaces we call home.

[Jamie Barringer (Ravenmount) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book's basic approach to decluttering does have some obvious similarities to Marie Kondo's method, including having the reader go through a process of planning and goal-setting before starting to actually declutter. There are fewer specific recommendations though, so Evans won't lose readers by telling them to only keep 30 books, or to literally pile all the clothes on the bed and declutter the whole wardrobe in one fell swoop(a possibly days-long process that may just make things worse). Evans also provides a chart of other decluttering resources- podcasts, youtube channels, and other great resources that each have their own styles and approaches to decluttering and maintaining one's space.
As someone familiar with quite a few of the listed resources, I didn't really find anything new in this book, and for me the focus on dealing with strong emotions (fear, shame, guilt, etc.) was not helpful. But, I do know friends who might prefer this book over the already existing decluttering books. There is occasional cussing, as the title suggests, but used judiciously, maybe not something that will appeal to many readers, but for the right people this will be a great aid to help them get their spaces decluttered and organized and keep them that way.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will get your head and home uncluttered.

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It is a no-nonsense, tell it like it is, non-sugar coated guide to getting your life together when it comes to decluttering your mind and your house (because you have to do one for the other). With some cussing smattered in (my favorite part). The beginning started with a breakdown of the parts of the book (which is super helpful for my ADHD brain). There are graphs included with other resources, information, quizzes, etc. There are areas for note taking and summaries of important information to remember. It was relatable which kept me engaged. She also breaks it down by general areas of the home. The author keeps it real which I really appreciated. I didn’t feel talked down to or like it was a psychology lecture, even though there were some great nuggets of information sneakily sprinkled in there to help you understand why your brain is doing what it is doing. You get to the bottom of WHY you kept stuff in order to help prevent the issue in the future. It was truly an experience, not just a good read. I really enjoyed the read and will be purchasing a physical copy!

[Elizabeth Cermak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate is the real deal. She lives this stuff. This book is so needed. Finally a declutter book written by a psychologist! Why does clutter show up even after we have decluttered? Because it starts in our cluttered mind! As a fellow life coach and psychotherapist, I will be recommending this book to clients, friends, and family! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Corinne Lam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate has a reputation for being real and authentic. You get just that here. If you don’t know her, you will because her writing is just as authentic as she is. Her words on the pages are just as she would say them; f-bombs and all!

Ditch Your Sh*T is tangible and accessible. It isn’t a drop in type of book, it’s a process. She walks you through the internal process to adjust and modify the external process. The Making It Real sections help to consolidate the topics into actions. Take the time to do them and they will set you up for success.

As a therapist myself, this book is therapeutic! The chapter on Values is truly wonderful. It is something that applies to decluttering, of course, but it can be generalized to other areas of life too. I think anyone could benefit from Kate’s words on values. Honestly everything in this book is expandable to other areas of one’s life. If you take the intentional time, you can take these principles and expand to your full life.

This book is a welcome addition to the world as a whole, and definitely your world as well!

Thank you Kate for the advanced readers copy! I’m truly thankful!!

- Corinne

[Em · Rating 4 out of 5]

I requested a digital ARC of "Ditch Your Sh*t" despite the profanity in the title. I’m not opposed to profanity—I use it myself—but we are so inundated with it that I tend to prefer clever or elegant language over what often feels like default shock value.

That said, the author’s bio immediately caught my attention and ultimately won me over. Kate Evans is a psychologist and life coach with a BFA from the University of Michigan and a master’s in professional counseling from Argosy University (for profit, and therefore, questionable). She connects decluttering with self-care, integrates it into her work with clients, practices yoga, and lives with two calico cats who apparently refuse both analysis and decluttering. That blend of credentials, humor, and lived experience appealed to me far more than the book’s title and cover, which initially struck me as self-published in style.

One practical issue worth noting: the NetGalley app itself made this ARC difficult to read. For the second time in recent months, the font rendered extremely small, which caused eye strain and made reading slower than it should have been. Apologies to the author if I misread or missed anything as a result—this is very much a platform issue, not a content one.

As for the book itself, I found the material thoughtful and genuinely useful. Evans makes a convincing case for the relationship between decluttering and self-care, and her tone is approachable without being condescending. While the packaging initially gave me pause, the substance delivered.

Overall, this is a book I plan to purchase via Kindle and revisit. The content deserves a more comfortable reading experience, and I expect it’s one I’ll want to dip back into rather than read just once.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Belle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked how this book tackles the connection between physical clutter and mental clutter. It's so true! I enjoyed the tone and layout of this book. I found it easy to keep reading and the language didn't bother me personally (although, I understand why it wouldn't be for everyone).

The only drawback for me was that there wasn't a step-by-step practical guide. It says to start in the kitchen.. but.. where!? 😭

I found out, I need to be babied. I need someone to hold my hand and say, "Okay, we're going to start with all your mugs, dishes and bowls." This is what I need. Otherwise, I'm left still feeling overwhelmed, drowning in stuff 🫠

[G C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This ARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review. 

I really enjoyed how the first half of this book was really about the psychology behind why we are hanging onto our clutter. It helps you to really think about the motivation behind it. The author has a very no-nonsense way of holding you accountable like a friend would and allowing you to tackle your clutter and we all feel much better after getting rid of all of the things we don’t need!

This is great for anyone struggling with clutter in their home to get started on the decluttering process.

[Monica Leed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Decluttering my own sh*t has been a lifelong journey, but I can't say enough about what it does for the mind, body, soul and life that is available to you. In this world of overwhelm, chaos and overconsumption, this fresh, fun and fearless take on decluttering gives you permission to let go, plus a roadmap for finally getting out of your head. Clutter is keeping you from living your best life. Ditch Your Sh*t. I'm here for it. Love this book!

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book I go back to over and over. Depending on what is going on in my life or what mess I want to tackle, I can go back to parts to refresh my mindset. Kate is down to earth and just plain awesome

[Karianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you need someone to sit you down and say it like it is in regard to decluttering? This is your book. I never felt ashamed or guilty for where I’m at but found support and concrete steps and check-ins for moving forward. This is a book I’ll refer to often. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

[Suzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

First half was a pretty deep psych penetration. Second half was more practical, executional. I understand that a lot of the behaviors make a difference but looking for a little lighter read.