Clutter has a sneaky way of creeping into our lives. One day everything has a place, and a few months later the papers have spread across the table, the drawers will not shut, and you are hunting for your keys again with your coat on.
Our living spaces deeply affect our mental well-being, and the clutter is rarely a matter of laziness. We hang on to things for reasons that run deeper than we notice, and new things pull more things in behind them. Know those reasons, and decluttering does not have to be an overwhelming, all-or-nothing task.
What clutter costs
The case against clutter is already made in three other places on this site.
Breaking Free from Low Moods, linked below, has the couples who gave tours of their own homes. The wives who described their home as cluttered and unfinished had a flatter daily pattern of the stress hormone cortisol, and their mood sank through the day. Why Deep Focus Has Become Rare, also linked below, has why a cluttered view is a small, constant drain on your attention. And The Harsh Truth About Aging: Decline or Longevity? has what clearing the floor did for falls: less clutter underfoot and a few other fixes cut them by about a quarter.
There is a cost that has nothing to do with health, too. When 450 adults were asked about their homes, more clutter went with a weaker sense of home, of a place that is yours and restores you, and that held at every age. Younger adults felt it most.
So the question is not whether to clear it. It is why it is so hard to let go.
Why letting go is hard
Owning something changes what it is worth to you. Possession is nine-tenths of the price.
In a well-known experiment, university students were given a coffee mug and then asked what they would sell it for. Others were asked what they would pay for the same mug. The owners wanted about twice as much as the buyers would pay. Given a mug or a pen of the same value, people also refused to swap whichever one they had been handed first.
Economists call it the endowment effect. It explains the jumper you never wear and the gadget still in its box. They were worth little before they were yours. Now they feel like a loss.
Knowing that helps. When you hold something and hesitate, ask the buyer's question instead of the owner's: if this were in a shop today, would I pay for it?
Money is the other trap. "But I paid good money for it" feels like a reason to keep something. It is not. What you paid is gone whether the thing stays or goes. Economists call it a sunk cost, a sum already spent that should no longer steer what you do next, and people let it steer them all the same. It even has a second name, the Concorde effect.
Start small
Decluttering your entire house at once can feel overwhelming, so begin with a single drawer or shelf. Finish it before you touch the next one. A cleared drawer is proof that it can be done, and it makes the next one easier.
If someone older lives with you, or you are clearing for a parent, start lower down instead, with the floors and the stairs. The Harsh Truth About Aging, linked above, has how much that helps: clearing hazards like these cut falls by about a quarter, and by more in people at higher risk.
Sort everything into four piles, for keeping, donating, recycling and throwing away. You will also notice how many duplicates you have collected: the third tin opener, the fourth phone charger, the box of pens that no longer write.
Marie Kondo, whose method comes up again below, says the opposite. Gather everything in one category at once, all your clothes or all your books, and discard what does not spark joy, quickly and completely. The drawer is easier to start. The category shows you everything you own of one kind, duplicates and all. Pick the route that suits you.
If you are not sure where to begin, begin with paper. Till receipts are an easy first target, and they carry BPA, a plastic chemical that passes through the skin. How to Shield Yourself from Everyday Environmental Toxins has why the simplest fix is to say no to the receipt.
A home for everything
When you know where things belong, keeping your space organized is much easier. Keep a tray for your keys by the front door and a basket for the post, and the frantic searches for your keys stop.
Storage comes after the clearing, not before it. More boxes only give clutter a nicer address. Once you have cut down, a few containers for what is left make it easy to put things back.
Why it comes back
In 1769 the French philosopher Denis Diderot wrote an essay called "Regrets for my Old Dressing Gown". He had been given a beautiful scarlet dressing gown. Next to it, everything else he owned began to look shabby, so he replaced them, one piece at a time, until the new things had pushed out the old and left him in debt. One dressing gown, one bankrupt philosopher.
The habit has his name now, the Diderot effect: one new thing makes the rest look tired, and the buying spreads. That is why the one-in, one-out rule works. Whenever you bring something new into your home, a piece of clothing, a kitchen gadget or a book, let one thing go. It keeps the space from refilling and makes you think twice at the till.
Fewer toys, deeper play
The same goes for children's toys. When 36 toddlers took turns playing in a room with 4 toys and in a room with 16, they played longer with each toy when there were only four. They also found more different ways to play with it. The other twelve were just noise.
Put most of the toys away, and bring a few back out at a time.
Keep what earns its place
Kondo's , published in Japan in 2011, has since appeared in more than 30 countries. Its question is simple: does it spark joy? Add a second one, does it serve a clear purpose, and you have most of the rule. Keep what passes either test, and let the rest go.
Sentimental things are harder, and there is a trick for them. People part with them more easily once they have photographed them. In six halls of residence at Penn State, 797 students saw one of two posters for a donation drive. One said to keep a photo of sentimental clutter and then donate it, the other only to collect it and donate it. The halls with the photo poster gave 613 items, the others 533. What we hold on to is usually the memory, not the thing, and a photo keeps the memory.
The Swedes add a kinder reason. Döstädning, Swedish death cleaning, was made famous by Margareta Magnusson's 2017 book, . It means sorting your belongings while you can, so that the people you love do not have to do it after you are gone. The word was added to the Swedish Language Council's list of new words that year.
At any age, it is a good test: would I want someone else to have to deal with this? Your children will not thank you for the takeaway menus.
The digital drawer
Our digital lives can get just as cluttered as our physical spaces. Delete old emails, remove apps you no longer use, and put files into folders you can find again. An inbox with nine thousand unread emails is a drawer that will not shut. is a good guide to deciding which apps earn their place. Digital Overwhelm: Breaking Free from Phone Addiction and Information Overload has what the phone itself does to your attention.
When it is more than mess
For some people, clutter is not a habit but a condition. Hoarding disorder is now recognised in its own right, and it affects an estimated 2% to 5% of adults. It usually starts in childhood and grows worse with age, until rooms can no longer be used and safety is at risk.
It is not a matter of willpower. If parting with things causes real distress, or the home has stopped being safe, it is worth getting proper help.
One drawer
Consistent effort is more effective than sporadic bursts. A few minutes a day, one drawer at a time, is easier to keep up than one exhausting weekend a year.
Even Kondo relaxed. After the birth of her third child, her strict rules on tidying eased to make room for other things. A tidy home is a tool, not a test.
Start with one drawer, closet or corner of your home and build from there, tonight if you can. If you keep putting it off, pick a fresh start: a Monday, the first of the month, a birthday. Success Conditioning: How to Set Goals You Reach has why new commitments cluster after dates like those.
Empty the drawer you open most, and put back only what you would buy again.
Low for days, and the house is part of it? Breaking Free from Low Moods: Powerful Strategies to Reset Your Mind and Energy — acting before you feel like it, starting embarrassingly small, clearing one room, and when it is more than a low mood.
Cannot settle to anything at your desk? Why Deep Focus Has Become Rare — and How to Get It Back — what switching costs, what the things in view do to your attention, and how to set up for focus.
Know someone with a drawer that will not shut? Send them this, and offer to hold the bin bag.
Disclaimer: This article is general information. For advice about your own health, talk to a qualified health professional.
Affiliate Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, All For Life earns from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you. We only link to products we would recommend without the commission.
Sources
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Swanson HL, Ferrari JR (2022). Older Adults and Clutter: Age Differences in Clutter Impact, Psychological Home, and Subjective Well-Being. Behavioral Sciences 12(5):132. doi.org/10.3390/bs12050132
Wikipedia. Endowment effect. en.wikipedia.org
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Dauch C, Imwalle M, Ocasio B, Metz AE (2018). The influence of the number of toys in the environment on toddlers' play. Infant Behavior and Development 50:78–87. doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2017.11.005
Winterich KP, Reczek RW, Irwin JR (2017). Keeping the Memory but Not the Possession: Memory Preservation Mitigates Identity Loss from Product Disposition. Journal of Marketing 81(5):104–120. doi.org/10.1509/jm.16.0311
Wikipedia. Swedish death cleaning. en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia. Hoarding disorder. en.wikipedia.org