I started out in minimalism and decluttering, and over the years I’ve heard all of it. “I’m just a messy person. It doesn’t bother me. It’s organized chaos.”

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You can live however you want. I’m not coming to your house to throw your stuff away. But studying the subconscious mind and how the brain works has only made me love decluttering more, because it explains exactly why it matters so much.

A cluttered home equals mental overload. Plain and simple.

Clutter is a silent stressor

Clutter isn’t just annoying. It’s background noise for your brain. Research keeps backing this up: a cluttered environment increases stress and lowers productivity, no matter who you are, how your brain works, or what diagnosis you do or don’t have.

Ever get in flow at home, answering emails or focused on something, and then come out of it and realize the place is a mess or the laundry stopped? You weren’t consciously noticing, but your subconscious was picking up on all of it the whole time. The noise, the mess, the knowing that the kitchen is going to be a disaster when you walk out there. It affects you. It’s just not conscious.

I have ADHD. I’m naturally a messy, organized-chaos person. But as I got the clutter out, I noticed how much better I felt and how much less my ADHD was bothering me. The way my brain works didn’t change. The overwhelm and overstimulation did. You don’t know what you’ve been carrying until it’s lighter.

Every item is an open tab

There was a study done at Princeton showing that physical clutter competes for your attention and decreases your performance. Even if you feel like you’re in flow, you’d be more in flow, and more able to actually rest, if your space wasn’t cluttered.

It’s like trying to work on a computer with 100 browser tabs open. Every item in your space is an open tab, silently reminding you of an unfinished task or a decision you still need to make. More clutter equals more mental bandwidth taken up.

Now stack that on top of what your kids, your partner, your work, your thoughts and keeping up the house already take from you. You’re not crazy. It’s way too much.

Why you snap at 3 PM

This is the mental load. Even if you didn’t have the words for it, it’s what you’re carrying. It’s why you can’t handle being touched. Why you don’t want to deal with the kids after 3 PM. Why the baby’s crying, someone needs a diaper change, someone forgot to tell you about football practice, there’s a mess and a laundry pile, and you feel like you’re going to lose it.

It’s why so many women end up rage cleaning. Physically doing something feels so good at that breaking point. And it’s why decluttering feels therapeutic. You’re not just doing something physical. You’re clearing your mental and emotional space too.

So stop making yourself feel bad for having a meltdown. So much of it is coming from your environment stressing you out in the background. You’re not bad at this. Your space isn’t supporting you. And your home is supposed to support you, not the other way around.

This doesn’t mean your house has to be perfect

Perfect isn’t possible and it isn’t the goal. And you’re never really “done.” Especially with kids, there’s a constant flow of stuff. Never feel guilty about that. It can just become the way you live: regularly revisiting your spaces and making decisions.

Where to start today

1. Notice. If you’re home right now, look around. Drop into your body the same way you would with a feeling. What feels chaotic? A cluttered desk, an overpacked closet, a junk drawer? Notice how those open tabs make you feel. Awareness is always step one.
2. Start really small. Set a timer for 10 or 15 minutes. Pick one drawer, like the bathroom drawer with old makeup, hair ties and bobby pins, or one shelf. It doesn’t have to be a big deal. All or nothing is what keeps you stuck.
3. Feel it. Notice how it feels to close that tab and give your brain more space to breathe. Let it feel really good. That’s what makes you want to keep going.
4. Picture it clear. Get still and imagine your home completely clear. Surfaces clear, natural light coming in, it smells good. Not perfectly organized, just no clutter. Notice how much lighter your mind feels without all that visual noise.

If your brain feels maxed out, you might also relate to why you don’t want to do anything when you finally have time.

Want to go deeper? Come to my free class, Stop Starting Over: 5 Steps to Becoming the Woman Who Follows Through.

Watch the full episode of The Purpose Show here.