Tidy Home, Clear Mind: The Power of Decluttering for Mental Wellness | Clutterbug Podcast # 271

ClutterBug - Organize, Clean and Transform your Home & Life

Clutterbug

Self-improvement, Kids & Family, Education:self-improvement, Leisure:home & Garden, Leisure, Home & Garden, Education

4.8 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 28 April 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Have you ever torn your house apart looking for something that was exactly where it should have been? Or spent hours tidying, only to find the mess returned overnight? You’re not alone—and you’re not a failure. In this episode, I dive deep into the powerful science behind clutter and how it impacts your brain, your stress levels, and even your physical health. Discover how decluttering isn’t just about a Pinterest-perfect home—it’s about rewiring your brain for clarity, calm, and joy. You’ll learn: Why clutter overwhelms your brain and saps your energy How a tidy space can boost your focus, creativity, and sleep Simple, science-backed tricks to master motivation and beat decision fatigue How minimalism might be the mental freedom you’ve been craving So grab a trash bag, hit play, and let’s declutter together—because your sanity is worth it. Show Notes & Links: Join the Take Your House Back Course (on sale now!)https://www.takeyourhouseback.com/courses/take-your-house-back?ref=5bbd37 All Day Declutter Event – May 3rdBe part of a community declutter day with real-time coaching and support from Cas, Dana, and Dawn. Studies & Research Mentioned: Visual Clutter Affects Brain FunctionMcMains & Kastner – Princeton Neuroscience Institutehttps://www.princeton.edu/news/2011/01/13/too-much-information-study-shows-overload-affects-brain-function Desk Clutter & ProductivitySame Princeton lab study – desk simulation showed 20% faster performance in tidy spaces(See link above) Clutter and Chronic ProcrastinationJoseph Ferrari’s work on clutter and avoidance behaviorhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joseph-Ferrari Cortisol Levels in Cluttered HomesUCLA “No Place Like Home” study (Saxbe & Repetti, 2010)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20384438/ 15-Minute Tidy-Up and Anxiety ReductionStudy by Our Mental Health (Nov 2024)https://www.ourmentalhealth.org Clean Desks Boost Accuracy & CreativityColton Moulton (2015) – anecdotal reference, source not available Implementation Intentions Increase Follow-ThroughGollwitzer & Sheeran (2006)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0065260106380050 Tools and Methods Mentioned: 20/20 Rule – The Minimalistshttps://www.theminimalists.com/clutter/ Pomodoro (20/10 Timer Method)https://francescocirillo.com/pages/pomodoro-technique Temptation Bundling – Katy Milkmanhttps://behavioralscientist.org/how-to-make-temptation-work-for-you/ Tag me on social media (@clutterbug_me) and share your wins!Your progress might just inspire someone else to start closing the clutter tabs in their brain too. #clutterbug #podcast #mondaymotivation #thepowerofdecluttering

Transcript

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0:00.0	Have you ever torn your house apart looking for something only to find it later in the place where you thought it should have been the whole time?
0:09.2	Or have you ever just felt like you spent so long tiding and putting everything away and cleaning just for it to get messy again overnight?
0:18.9	This is like the cycle.
0:21.8	This was me.
0:23.1	This is something that I struggled with for a really long time.
0:26.3	And it made me feel like an epic failure on a regular basis.
0:30.7	It made me feel stressed all the time.
0:32.9	Without even realizing why I was feeling stressed,
0:35.4	I just knew that something was really wrong. Today, we're diving
0:40.4	into decluttering in a new and different way. I'm going to show you how decluttering isn't just about
0:48.0	making your home look better. It isn't just about because your mother-in-law's coming over and you
0:52.1	don't want to be embarrassed. It's about
0:54.1	rewiring your brain for less stress, more joy, and more calm.
1:07.0	Hey, Clutterbugs. Welcome back to the Clutterbug podcast. It is almost the all-day declutter as part of the Take Your House Back team. This is where Dawn, Dana, and I got together and we created a course to help people declutter in a real-life way. It's about accountability and support. And then every few months, we do this live
1:29.9	all day declutter where we're your clutter coach and we're motivating you and just inspiring
1:36.5	you to get rid of as much as possible. And this is such an incredible event. Like it has taken off
1:43.2	way more than we ever thought because I think at the end of the day,
1:48.0	it resonates with especially women in that it feels like maintaining a house is way harder than it should be.
1:57.8	And it also feels lonely.
1:59.6	And it feels like am I the only one struggling here?
2:02.9	And when you can be part of a community of other people who are in the same place as you,
2:07.8	and we're all like, enough is enough. And we have the accountability to say, I am ready for an
	...

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