This Is Why Your Clutter Is Overwhelming

by Susan McCarthy

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Everyday practice: Remind yourself that the challenge in decluttering isn't the stuff but the decisions you need to make about the stuff. Decision-making is draining so give yourself extra time to complete tasks, particularly in the beginning. 

You stand in a room with your clutter pressing against you (literally or figuratively). You don’t know where to start. You chastise yourself for letting things get so out of control. You feel tension in your neck and realize that your shoulders have inched their way up toward your ears. Your hand, clutching a trash bag, is sweaty. You are overwhelmed.

And, you aren’t alone.

When people talk about their clutter, they talk about how overwhelmed they feel. Why? Clutter is a visible, tangible to-do list waiting for us to act.

• The exercise bike is a reminder that you need to get in shape.
• The stack of receipts on your desk is a reminder that you were going to track your expenses, so you could create a budget.
• The box of mason jars is a reminder that you were going to make ‘soup mix in a jar’ gifts for everyone … two years ago.
• The stack of books you haven’t read for book club meetings you never attended is a reminder that you wanted to expand your social circle.
• The ‘as seen on TV’ gadgets that were going to make preparing healthy food easier are a reminder that you ordered pizza last night.

And, so on.

When you pick up an item, do you think,

• “I need to do that.”
• “I was going to do that.”
• “I’ll do that someday.”

No wonder you feel overwhelmed. Your stuff is doing more than quietly collecting dust, it’s passive-aggressively nagging you to do some task that it’s pretty clear you don’t want to do or no longer have an interest in doing.

By decluttering, you are telling your stuff, “I’m not going to do that.” Each time you make that decision, you eliminate a bit of that feeling of being overwhelmed. When you clear your clutter, you scratch those undone tasks off your to-do list. You create space for the life you are living now, not one that existed in the past or that you fantasized about living someday.

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