There are a number of complex issues that contribute to clutter. Excessive buying/acquiring (because how many times do you feel the need to keep something “because it was free?”), sentimental attachments, time mangement, hyposensitivity to visual surroundings, and various levels of neurospiciness are only a few of those contributing factors, but I’m not really going to address any of those today.

The most common reason people who want to have a more organized home or office struggle to achieve that goal is that they struggle with decision making.

It doesn’t mean that you’re bad at making decisions. Some of the most cluttered, disorganized people I have worked with have roles elsewhere in their lives, whether it is their job or their household living situation, that involve making multiple huge, impactful decisions all day every day. If you have ever spent a significant amount of time caring for either children or aging family members, the amount of brain space that you spend on those tasks can seriously eat into your mental ability to make even small choices elsewhere in your life, which among other things can lead to clutter.

There are only a few main decisions you need to make when it comes to your stuff, though.

• Do I keep it?
• If not, where should I send it?
• If so, where does it live?

If you are familiar with KC Davis, the famous TikToker, she has a similarly simplified way of looking at cleaning that has changed the way my entire household looks at a messy room. According to Davis, no matter how messy a room is there are only 5 types of things in it- 1) trash, 2) dishes, 3) laundry 4) things that have a home and need to get there, and 5) things that don’t have a home. Recognizing the truth of this made the act of cleaning so much clearer, especially for my kids, because it was simple.

So if you do decide to tackle a cluttered room, first apply KC’s method- either sort into these five categories and then put all of the first four away at the end, or work one category at a time and clear everything of that category out of the room before moving to the next thing. As you clear, though, ask yourself if you want to keep each item, and place anything you’re unsure of with the items without homes, even if it does technically have a home.

THEN, when you get to “things that don’t have a home,” ask yourself the three questions listed above for each item.

The thing about decision making, as with many things that involve using your noggin, is that the more you do it, the easier it gets. If you start to struggle or meet mental resistance, stop and rest. Do something mindless, or ideally just let your mind wander (letting your mind wander while either doing nothing or doing another mindless task is a powerful skill- according to both Hyperfocus by Chris Bailey and Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman letting your mind wander can rest your brain, recharge your attention span, and help you creatively solve problems (and I highly recommend both books).

Then, once you have rested, go back and make a few more decisions. The more you do it, the easier it will get.