#270| Why Your Clutter Is Secretly Overwhelming You & And Why Ignoring It Costs You More Than Just Space

One of the biggest sources of your overwhelm might be hiding in plain sight.

If you've ever walked past a pile of mail, an overstuffed drawer, or a storage room full of things you "might need someday," you're carrying more than physical clutter. Every unfinished pile represents a decision your brain is still tracking, quietly draining your mental energy. In this episode, Michelle explains why clutter feels so heavy, why organizing alone doesn't solve the problem, and how making just a few simple decisions can create immediate relief.

After listening, you'll:

•  Understand why clutter creates hidden mental stress even when it's out of sight. 
•  Discover why unmade decisions—not a lack of organization—are the real reason clutter keeps coming back. 
•  Learn a simple, practical way to create more calm today by clearing just one small space. 

Press play to discover how one small decluttering decision can lighten your mental load and help you feel calmer, more focused, and less overwhelmed today.

Featured on the podcast
Ep 178: Declutter Challenge Day 1 (start here for last year's 5-day Declutter Challenge!)

Wondering why you're overwhelmed? Take my "why am I overwhelmed" quiz to find out the source of your overwhelm, and what to do about it. 

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Life can be overwhelming, but on this podcast, you'll discover practical strategies to overcome overwhelm, imposter syndrome, and negative self-talk, manage time effectively, set boundaries, and stay productive in high-stress jobs—all while learning how to say no and prioritize self-care on the Overwhelmed Worki...

Transcript

Michelle Gauthier 0:00

In this episode, you'll learn why ignoring clutter costs you more than just space. You're listening to Overwhelmed Working Woman, the podcast that helps you be more calm and more productive by doing less. I'm your host, Michelle Gauthier, a former Overwhelmed Working Woman and current life coach. On this show, we unpack the stress and pressure that today's Working Woman experiences. And in each episode, you'll get a strategy to bring more calm, ease, and relaxation to your life. Hello, friend. Thanks for joining today. Today we're talking about clutter. If you've been around a while, you know that I believe strongly that clutter in all forms, clutter in your house, clutter in your mind, clutter in your decision making has a huge impact on how overwhelmed you are. When you're listening to this episode today, you'll learn why unprocessed piles of stuff cost you way more than the physical space, why this happens, why this clutter builds up, and the one shift that actually gets rid of the weight of clutter. And I'm sad to say it is not getting cute bins to organize them, because I love a cute bin. I'll tell you guys something about myself, which is that I am naturally a messy person. For example, just last night my kids had some friends over and they were all down the basement and I was upstairs in the kitchen and I'm packing to get ready to go on a trip, getting some snacks ready for myself and doing a few things around the house. And when I walked back to the kitchen, I realized, oh my gosh, I can tell exactly where I was because all of the cabinet doors are open. All of the things that I got out to pack my snacks in are still sitting on the counter. I'm always moving on to the next thing. And it is not my nature to have a closed loop process, so to speak. So you get out the Ziploc bags to put some grapes in the Ziploc bags, then you put away the Ziploc bags and close the cabinet. That is just not the way that my brain naturally functions. So for me personally, being organized and clutter-free, having a place for everything, is absolutely key to me not feeling stressed and overwhelmed.

The Hidden Weight Of Stored Stuff

Michelle Gauthier 2:20

Let's first talk about that invisible cost of clutter. Every time you walk past a pile, your brain notices it. Maybe it's the mail piled up, or your laundry, or that basement storage room, or the fact that you've had a project going on your dining room table for six months. Your brain clocks it. It doesn't have to be on your list for today to cost you. It's just there humming in the background, an undone to-do list, so to speak. I recently shared a story on Instagram where I filled my entire car of sheets, comforters, and towels. When I got to Goodwill, the guy said, I think that you win for the most full car ever. It was hilarious. I'm talking like the passenger seat, both back seats, and the trunk completely full. And the way that happened is when I got divorced, which was a long time ago, seven, eight years ago, we split stuff up and I didn't have the capacity to think through what am I really gonna need. So I ended up just putting most of the stuff in my basement. And over time I have been getting rid of stuff, but I was at a local thrift shop and I noticed that someone was buying a set of sheets. And I thought, oh my gosh, I cannot believe how many sheets and towels and comforters I have in my basement packed away in the storage room that I am not at all using. So I decided to put it on my list and start working on it. One Sunday I spent the majority of the day going through all of this stuff, getting it into piles, putting it into my car, and taking it to Goodwill. And what I realized in doing it was how much that was weighing on me. When I dropped it off, I felt like I had a million pounds off me. And it's so funny because on a regular day, if you would have said, hey, what's on your mind? I wouldn't have been like, ooh, you know that back corner of the storage room that has all those blankets and sheets and stuff, it's really bugging me. No, it was hidden away. I didn't see it very often, but it was weighing on my mind. And the reason why I made this Instagram video is because I was amazed at how differently I felt once I went through that stuff and got rid of the clutter.

Clutter As Unmade Decisions

Michelle Gauthier 4:35

So why does this happen? Why do we keep stuff or just have that consistent pile of mail sitting on an entry table? It's not because you're disorganized or lazy. It's because that loose stuff doesn't have a decision or a home attached to it yet. So you can't just take that whole pile of mail and throw it away. I guess you could, but you might regret it. You have to look through it and make a decision about each thing in order to put it away. So every pile of clutter is just an undone to-do. It's like something on your to-do list in your brain, even if it's not on your actual to-do list yet. It's there, it's waiting there. And I think this is so relatable because I love watching organizing videos. In fact, when I decided to become a life coach, I thought, should I become a professional organizer? I love the container store. I love cute bins, and I want to solve this problem. And there's a lot of marketing out there that says that we solve this problem by instead of having your loose mail all over your dining room table, you just put it in a cute bin. But putting in a cute bin does make it look cuter, but it doesn't actually solve the problem because the decisions are still sitting there unmade, just like all of those blankets in my basement were an unmade decision. Am I going to use these? Do I really need these? If not, what do I do with these instead? Those were all the unmade decisions hanging around. The fix for this isn't a system with 12 steps or anything like that. It's just making the decision that you've been avoiding. So I gave an example where I ended up dedicating the better part of an entire day to clean something out that was weighing

One Small Spot To Clear Today

Michelle Gauthier 6:11

on my mind. And it felt amazing, but I don't, and you don't always have that kind of time. So even if you think about something small as I'm saying this, I'm picturing my silverware drawer right now because there's this little catch-all spot in my silverware drawer where there's like straws and a random mismatched spoon and whatever. And I want to just keep it all there because I don't want to go through it. What if I just say to myself, I just need to make some quick decisions on this stuff, and then just go through and do the usual giveaway, throw away a recycle, or keep. Even if you just do this for something really small today, like your purse, or I'll tell you what always has crap in it, is the little side pocket of my car door. That's where I always put receipts and all kinds of junk. Even if you just choose one little spot to do this for today and make some decisions, you will feel that free feeling that I felt when I emptied out my entire car at Goodwill. So, just as a reminder, you really don't need a better system or cute bins for your piles. You just need to make the decision that is underneath them and clear it now and feel how light getting that done actually feels. If you feel like you need a major declutter, last year I offered a whole declutter challenge and the episodes are on the podcast. I will put a link to those in the show notes if you want to go back and really dig into decluttering. But otherwise, today, just get started and do one small thing. I'm gonna go do my silverware drawer right now. Thank you for listening to the Overwhelmed Working Woman podcast. If you want to learn more about my work, head over to my website at MichelleGauthier.com. See you next week.