From Physical Clutter to Mental Load: Create Space and Reclaim Your Focus

What if one of the most powerful things you could do for your productivity had nothing to do with your calendar or your to-do list? 

In this conversation with Anna Folsom — writer, coach, and someone in the middle of a very real decluttering journey — we explore the surprising connection between physical clutter, emotional clutter, and your ability to protect your energy and do meaningful work.

Anna shares what inspired her to start decluttering — not just her own home, but her father's 13-year-accumulated workshop, tools, and lifetime of memories — and how that process led her to write a full three-month newsletter series on the subject. We talk about the concept of Swedish Deathcleaning, why starting before you have to is an act of compassion for the people you love, and how to approach the emotionally heavy pieces without rushing yourself or shutting down.

But this episode goes beyond boxes and junk drawers. Anna introduces a beautifully simple tool she uses with her clients: an energy audit on paper, drawing a line down the centre and listing what gives you energy on one side, and what drains it on the other. It sounds simple. It is. And that's exactly the point.

We also get into the mental load that so many women carry — the invisible coordination work of managing home, family, and business — and how reducing work stress often starts not with a new system, but with letting something go. Anna's approach to sustainable energy in work and life is grounded, warm, and wonderfully practical. Whether you're a high achiever staring at a pile of accumulated stuff or just feeling like your mind is full of tabs you can't close, this episode will give you a place to start.

🔗 Connect with Anna Folsom: annafolsom.com

📖 Curious about the Swedish Decluttering book Anna mentioned, find it here. 

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👭Find out more about the book project I had the privilege of contributing to. This  collection of real stories from women in business and their turning points, will inspire, uplift and empower. >> https://risingbychoice.com/beyond-success/

🕰️ Want to go deeper on where your own energy is going? Start with my Time & Energy Audit — a gentle but powerful way to see what's really taking up space in your day. Start here: annerajoo.com/time-audit

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Transcript

EXCERPT

What does decluttering have to do with productivity? More than you might expect. In this episode, Anne Rajoo sits down with Anna Folsom — writer, coach, and someone deep in a very real decluttering journey — to explore the surprising connection between physical clutter, mental load, and your ability to protect your energy and do sustainable work. Anna shares practical tools including a simple energy audit that helps you identify your biggest energy drainers and energy givers, and introduces the concept of emotional decluttering as a foundation for work-life integration. If scattered attention, visual noise, and the invisible weight of accumulated stuff are quietly reducing work stress potential in your life, this conversation gives you an honest and gentle place to start. Because creating space — in your home, your mind, and your calendar — might be the most undervalued productive habit you haven't tried yet.

 TRANSCRIPT

Anne:

Anna, welcome to the podcast. I'm excited to speak to you today about creating space — and we're going to talk about that in the physical way and the emotional way, and how that can be a really fantastic and probably undervalued foundation for productivity and wellbeing. So, decluttering. Why do you love to speak about this topic, and what does it have to do with productivity?

Anna Folsom:

Yes! So I'm in the middle of a massive decluttering project in my own life that's been going on for the better part of this past year, and it has to do with my living situation. My family — my husband and my two teenagers — we've been living with my father, who is 93 years old, and taking care of him for the last 13 years.

Because my father has dementia, it's been our task to go through all of his things that he's no longer using and figure out how to declutter a lifetime's worth of stuff. It's a really big project. He lives in a large house and he was retired for over 30 years — and during that retirement, he was never idle. He was always busy with projects. My dad is a real tinkerer and he has a workshop filled with tools — that's what he loved to do.

But about four years ago, when he was in his late 80s, the dementia really stopped him from pursuing those projects. He used to do a lot of woodworking — saws, table saws, little routers and things like that — and I think at some point he may have forgotten how to use some of the equipment. So he just stopped.

Because of that, we made a decision with other family members to start going through his things now, rather than waiting until he passes. And who knows when that will be — he's actually still doing remarkably well for his age. He knows everybody, gets himself up every morning, gets dressed, makes his toast, and has his ice cream in the evening. But he doesn't do his projects anymore. So that's where we are.

Anne:

That definitely sounds like an important project — but also an emotionally heavy one. I have a friend in a similar situation and she's shared a little bit about how hard that task feels. How do you approach it, and why does it feel important enough to bring to a podcast? How could it help others going through something similar?

Anna:

Throughout this process, I've been writing about it. I have a weekly newsletter, and I did a whole three-month series on the experience of decluttering — going through my father's things, how that's been, and exploring some of the broader concepts.

Some of you may have heard of a book called Swedish Deathcleaning — I believe the tagline is 'the gentle art of decluttering.' I don't have the author's name on the top of my head [⚠️ Anne: worth looking up for show notes — likely Margareta Magnusson], but we can maybe put a link in the show notes. I read that book and was very inspired by it. The idea is that as you get older, you take responsibility for your own things so that your children won't have to do it for you later.

Because my father didn't go through that process himself, we're doing it for him. And that got me looking at my own stuff. What am I not using? What can I start releasing now — the things that are easiest to let go of first?

Maybe you used to be big into golf 20 years ago but haven't touched your clubs since. Consider donating them, or selling them, or seeing if a friend wants them — so they don't become a burden to your family later.

I've also been literally doing my own decluttering. Even starting somewhere really simple, like the proverbial junk drawer. Everyone has one — that kitchen drawer where everything gets thrown in. I found a birthday candle from eight years ago when my kid turned seven. You know, I think I can let that go.

The harder things — old pictures, old letters, emotionally loaded objects — I always tell people to give yourself a lot of time and tackle those in small pieces. I've given myself many, many months for this process, and we're not done.

Part of why I wanted to start before my father passed was so we wouldn't be rushing through grief and logistics at the same time. I think it's really important to give yourself space. If you're tackling your own household alongside a family member's, I'd say give yourself at least six months — and don't put pressure on yourself to finish it in a long weekend.

Anne:

I like that you said that. The overachiever in me would absolutely lean into finishing it fast — and I know a lot of my listeners are the same kind of women who put their mind to something and want it done. But the emotional piece is really important. Clutter — whether it's in a room or in our minds — often has a lot of attachment to it, and it's not always straightforward.

Anna:

Exactly. And as it relates to productivity, being surrounded by a lot of stuff can have a big impact on how productive you can be.

About four months ago, I rearranged and cleaned out everything in my bedroom — one corner of which also serves as my home office. I just got excited and spent five hours pulling everything out, wiping everything down, and carefully putting things back. And it felt great. I definitely felt more productive after doing that. But that space wasn't hard to tackle because there wasn't much emotional attachment in it.

So my advice: start with the areas in your home, office, or workspace that don't hold emotionally loaded items. A stack of papers. A pile of reference books. The pantry with expired items. You'll already know where to start because there's probably a spot that's been bugging you — every time you walk past it you think, I can't stand that pile.

And if there are items with sentimental value that you're not ready to deal with, put them in a box, set them aside, and come back when you feel emotionally ready. You're still making progress.

Anne:

I love that. And I'm wondering about emotional clutter and brain clutter — the kind we can't clear out physically. So many of us, especially as women, mothers, and caregivers, are holding a lot of mental load: activities, schedules, appointments, grocery lists, what needs cooking. It can feel really messy in there.

Anna:

Messy and overwhelming — absolutely. After focusing on physical decluttering for three months in my newsletter, I transitioned to emotional decluttering, and I've been writing about that for the last three months as well. It really is about identifying the things you're being asked to focus on that take energy.

I use a very simple tool with clients. You don't even need my worksheet — take a blank piece of paper and draw a line down the centre. On one side: energy givers. On the other: energy drainers.

This can be people. It can be objects — like every time you walk in the door and see 17 pairs of shoes piled in the corner, maybe that's quietly draining your energy. It can be things on your calendar — too many commitments you know will leave you exhausted.

But also, and maybe even more importantly: what gives you energy? I love to take walks in nature whenever I can. I have a dog who also loves to get out. Even 10 to 20 minutes — that's a reboot for me. I come back clearer in my head, more energised in my body. It doesn't have to be strenuous.

Some people swear by a 20-minute catnap. Whatever it is — identify it. Then take the top two things from each list and try to do more of what brings you energy and a little less of what drains it.

If you're constantly driving your kids to all their different activities, see where you can carpool. One parent takes all the kids one day, another parent gets a 20-minute break. Then trade.

I always say: delay, delete, or delegate. Can it be pushed to later in the week? Can you get rid of it altogether — does it even need to happen? A lot of times it doesn't. Or delegate: are your kids old enough to take out the garbage, feed the dog, put in a load of laundry? The sooner we train them, the sooner it comes off our list.

Anne:

Absolutely — we're very aligned on that. What I really like, and want to highlight, is that you said: just take the first two. We have this tendency to make a long list and then feel we have to fix everything at once. But you said take two, do more of the good, do a little less of the not-so-good. And that's enough.

I want to recalibrate the expectations we put on ourselves around productivity. Before we wrap up — do you have any thoughts on that? On the expectations we carry around how much we should be able to do, carry, and execute?

Anna:

I think if you're ambitious, love your work, and want to dedicate real time to it — but you're also raising kids or caring for a loved one — you have so much on your plate. And a lot of the expectations we've internalised come from society. The idea that women have to do it all, be responsible for all of it, and do it better than anyone else would.

When your kids first start doing the dishes or the laundry, they are not going to do it as well as you. It's going to be messier. And if you want to create space in your life, you have to let that go. You have to release the expectation of how it gets done — otherwise you'll be in charge of it forever.

Sometimes things will get done in a way you wouldn't have chosen. And that's okay. As we let go of our expectations, we free up time for what matters most to us.

And you're absolutely right that people want to do all of it all at once — and then they never get started. So I always say: start with the easiest thing. Start with that five-minute walk around the block. Start with the one thing you can say no to today. The easiest little things — because once you get started, momentum builds. And before you know it, you have a whole day where you get to do things for yourself. That feels really amazing.

Anne:

Brilliant. Really love that. I hope our listeners take that with them today.

If she wants to know more about you, find you, and maybe get on your email list — because your emails sound really fun and interesting — where should she go?

Anna:

You can go to my website, AnnaFolsom.com — the link will be in the show notes. You can subscribe to my weekly emails there. I'm wrapping up my emotional decluttering series and starting a new topic in the next couple of weeks.

When you subscribe, you also get a free copy of my Vibrancy Scale — a simple tool to help you identify where you are with your energy and how to incorporate small daily things that bring your energy up, so you have more time for the things that actually light you up.

Anne:

I love that. Thank you so much for being here today, Anna. It was such a fun and grounding conversation.

Anna:

Thank you, Anne. It was a pleasure to be here.