The L.E.S.S. Express is Moving!
The L.E.S.S. Express - May 20, 2026
Hi, friends! My weekly free newsletter, The L.E.S.S. Express, will now be delivered from shannon@shannonleyko.com rather than through the usual Substack delivery system!
No matter how far in the future you read this, if you subscribe to my Substack, you’ll still receive The L.E.S.S. Express each week in your email. I just wanted to give you a heads up why you might not see it in your Substack feed anymore, and why it won’t look like a typical Substack post in your email.
What you WILL see in your feed:
• Free periodic blog posts (these will also send to your email!)
• Exclusive Blog posts every Monday (paying subscribers)
• Exclusive Decluttering Hype Session mini audios every other Friday (paying subscribers)
Here’s a sneak peek of what The L.E.S.S. Express will look like in your email inbox moving forward!
If you’re brand new around here—hi, hello! Below is this week’s L.E.S.S. Express so you can get a good idea of what will show up in your email each week. (Except it’ll look a lot prettier via email, as you can see above!)
This weekly newsletter is designed to help you stay on track toward a life of less clutter and more intention.
L.E.S.S.: The Truth About Decluttering Influencers, A Paradigm Shift, & The Sunk Cost Fallacy
[ L ]isten
What’s new on the Paring Down podcast:
Ep 159 (Classic): The Truth About Decluttering Influencers and How They Get Paid with Elisabeth Beam
Ep 158 (Chai Chat): Burn It All Energy, How to Write a Book, & Bad Dogs
Ep 157 (Good Stuff: Joy): Community vs. Friendship: Why Not Everyone In Your Village Needs to Be Your Best Friend
[ E ]xcerpt
A quote I love about decluttering or intentional living:
“It's not ‘what can I accomplish?’ but ‘what do I want to accomplish?’ Paradigm shift.”
―Brené Brown
[ S ]hare
A note from me to you:
I’m blown away by the amount of help Finns have been sending me as we prepare to move to Finland in July! My DMs are full of people helping me identify the best neighborhoods, schools, dance studios, horse stables…you name it. I know I’m in a unique position to have access to so many people all over the world, and I just want each and every one of you to know how grateful I am to have you here—no matter where you’re from!
On a completely different note, I found myself absolutely stuck in the sunk cost fallacy this past weekend while reading a novel I wasn’t enjoying. I kept thinking, “Well, I’m already this far…maybe it’ll get better.” Do you think it ever got better? Nope! And that’s why it’s called the sunk cost fallacy. We keep sinking our resources into something that’s not benefiting us (in this case, the resource was my time) because we don’t want the initial cost to have been “a waste.” But all this does is waste even more resources!
We do this with our clutter, too. We think “I already spent money on it” or “I’ve kept it this long…what if tomorrow is the day it becomes useful?” Don’t let the Sunk Cost Fallacy draw you in! Cut your losses. It’s stealing your resources (energy, space—even money!) and you’ll feel so much better once it’s gone.
THIS WEEK’S READER-SUPPORTED BLOG POST: Maybe Coping Mechanisms Aren’t Proof You’re Broken
After 15 years of blogging, I now share more extensive posts via a low paywall (just $5/month) for better protection against scary internet trolls AND to partake in the initiative for artists’ work to be elevated with tangible value.
If you’d like to support, Substack makes it easy by sending the blog posts directly to your email. You can start with a FREE trial at any time!
[ S ]implify
A short decluttering challenge for the week:
With the school year coming to a close, this week’s challenge is specifically for parents and grandparents. Gather the kids together and do some decluttering in the playroom and/or their rooms. (Join them if they need some gentle help!) They’re officially moving up a grade, and it’s a natural time to ask “What is something you’ve outgrown?”
For extra help, grab my Complete Guide to Decluttering Kid Stuff, or enjoy episode 86 of Paring Down: Strategies for Getting Your Kids to Declutter.
- Shannon