3: Too Many Tabs Open: The Clutter You Can’t Always See

Feeling overwhelmed even when nothing looks completely out of control?

In this episode, we’re talking about the clutter you can’t always see — the open tabs, unfinished tasks, reminders, and little mental loops quietly pulling at your attention all day long.

If you’ve ever had one of those days where it’s not one big thing, just too many little things all at once, this conversation will feel very familiar!

If you want help putting this into action, the One Space Reset Kit is a great next step. It’s a short guided reset to help you clear one space at a time and create momentum without feeling like you have to tackle everything at once.

One Space Reset Kit: HERE!

In This Episode

• Why “open tabs” are a real form of clutter
• How unfinished tasks quietly drain attention and energy
• Why small things start to feel overwhelming when they pile up
• How a simple brain dump can help clear mental space
• Why you don’t need to clear everything to start feeling better
• How closing one loop can create real momentum

Key Reminder

You don’t have to close every tab.

You don’t have to clear everything.

Just notice what’s been quietly taking up space — and start with one simple thing.

If this episode resonated with you and you’re ready to take the next step, grab the One Space Reset Kit. It’s a short guided reset to help you clear one space at a time — whether that’s a space in your home or one of the open loops we talked about today.

→ Grab the One Space Reset Kit here!

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow the show so you don’t miss your Monday reset.

Connect with Jackie:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/makingthespacewithjackie
• Email: hello@jackiepicchi.com

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Disclaimer:

© 2026 Making the Space, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this podcast may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without prior written permission.

This podcast is for educational and coaching purposes only and is not a substitute for therapy, medical, or mental health care.

Transcript

Speaker 27 0:00

'Have you ever had one of those days where it's not one big thing, it's just too many little things all at once? Maybe the house isn't spotless, but it's not a total disaster either. Your calendar might be busy, but it's not the busiest it's ever been. Nothing dramatic is going wrong, and still you feel behind, maybe even a little scattered, pulled in 10,000 directions. Even the smallest task feels bigger than it should. Sometimes the clutter weighing on you isn't just the clutter you can see.

Speaker 5 0:31

Welcome to Making the Space Monday. I'm Jackie Peaky, and I'm really glad you're here. This is the podcast where we make space for what matters in your home, your head, and your life. And today we're talking about the clutter. You can't always see too many open tabs.

Speaker 6 0:49

When we hear the word clutter, most of us think about physical stuff. The pile of papers on the counter, the drawer that won't close is overstuffed with junk. The laundry chair that has laundry from two weeks ago, the bag by the door, that still needs to be donated. And yes, that is clutter, but clutter can also show up in other ways. It can show up digitally. Logistically in everyday buildup of too many things left open. The tabs, the reminders, the saved things, the unfinished decisions, the things you keep meaning to circle back to. That is still a form of clutter. It may not be sitting on your kitchen counter staring at you, but it's still taking up space. And just like physical clutter, it comes with a cost.

1:33

Okay.

Speaker 9 1:33

Maybe it looks like this. You have the donation bag or box in your trunk that still hasn't made it to the drop off spot. That return sitting by the door, it's staring at you because you know you're gonna miss your return window if you don't bring it in the next couple of days. It could be the pile of art papers or school papers, or that permission slip that just needs to be signed and sent back to. School, that snack bin, you meant to restock the birthday gift that you still need to order for the party tomorrow and the appointment that has been in the back of your mind that you need to schedule now, the volunteer thing that you said yes to, and you still need to follow up on. It could even be the email you flagged three days ago, maybe even three months ago because you meant to answer it when you had more time. Maybe even the text messages you still need to respond to. Gosh, I always feel guilty about this one and it's hard. Then there's your phone, right? Six tabs open with recipes you thought looked good, but if you're being honest with yourself, you're probably not making any of them this week. I just looked at my phone the other day and I saw a recipe that I think I saved in a tab. From springtime last year that I still haven't made, and an Amazon cart that you still haven't checked out. It could even be a course. You signed up with good intentions, but you actually don't have the bandwidth for it right now. But every time you open your laptop or your computer, you've got the sign in page right there just reminding you that you haven't gotten to it yet.

Speaker 37 2:58

It can be a list in your notes app and another list in a notebook somewhere else. A few reminders going off that don't even mean anything anymore. I think you get the point. It's a lot, and none of these things feel huge on their own. That's what makes this so darn tricky. It's usually not one giant thing. It's a hundred little things going at one time, and together they really start to create that same kind of friction that physical clutter does.

Speaker 9 3:24

And this is where it starts to matter because these open loops don't just sit there harmlessly. They take something. They are taking your attention. They're taking your energy and taking your ability to be where you are. They take time because every unfinished thing has to be mentally revisited again and again, like a. Big giant feedback loop. They take your presence because even when you're with your family or trying to rest or finally sitting down for a quiet moment, part of you is still scanning what hasn't been handled yet. And that's why this matters so much to me because this isn't just about being more organized for the sake of being organized. It's about making space for what matters. And it's really hard to make space for what matters when so much of your attention is tied up in what's unfinished. If what matters to you is being more present with your kids, open loops get in the way. If what matters to you is having a little more peace, at the end of the day, open loops get in the way. Have you ever laid down at night and you're trying to read a book and you're in the middle of reading? You don't even remember what you read on that page because Oh yeah, mental reminder. I forgot to sign the permission slip. Oh yeah. Don't forget to order that item. Oh my goodness. I almost forgot. The list goes on and on. If what matters to you is having energy for your marriage, your health, your creativity, your rest, you name it, open loops, get in the way.

Speaker 13 4:45

And you guys, I have moments where this feels very real in my own life. I open up my phone to do one quick thing, and immediately I get this huge wave of, oh my goodness, there's so much here. And if I'm being honest, please tell me. I'm not the only one that does this, but I keep the tabs open on my phone. As reminders for myself, and I am not kidding you. At one point I had like 30 to 50 tabs open, and these could be anything from the old recipes that I never got to, these could be vacation spots. I wanted to research a little bit more a product that looked really cool, it could be anything. And then that new iPhone update happened recently and I lost all of them and there was this little sense of. Panic if I'm being honest. Like how am I gonna remember this? Like I was just relying on my phone tabs to be my reminders, but once it kind of settled in, I was like, there was nothing there that I have to have. I was almost relieved that all of those tabs cleared up because honestly, it just freed up so much mental space in my head.

Speaker 14 5:49

What I've realized with all of those tabs is that clutter is not even in the room around me sometimes. Sometimes it's in all the little places where I've left things open, and even if none of it feels huge on its own together, it does create that noise. It creates this friction and it makes me feel so much more scattered than I actually want to be. And when we're opening our phones and that's the first thing we see all the time, just imagine. The immediate sensation of clutter that we feel multiple times a day.

Speaker 19 6:22

So what do we do with that? One thing I really love here is a simple brain dump, and you may have heard of this concept before. This really is nothing fancy. It is not some perfect system that is color coded and categorized or requires any fancy planner. You're just taking a few minutes to get the tabs out of your head. And onto paper. This can be a simple notebook, a scrap of paper. It can even be the notes app in your phone, if that's what you have available or what you prefer. But I prefer to put it on paper in a notebook and just writing down everything that still feels open in your mind right now. Okay. So these are those tasks you're talking about, the reminders, the open tabs, the follow ups, the things you keep meaning to get back. To. Just get it out. That's the whole idea is. Just get them out of your mind and onto paper, because there is something really powerful about giving those tabs somewhere to land. When it stays in your head, your brain keeps working to hold onto it. But once it's on paper, there's usually a little more breathing room. I know there is for me when I do this exercise, not because everything is solved necessarily, like I went through the entire list, but because I'm not asking my mind to carry it all at once.

Speaker 21 7:35

And from here, we do not need to tackle the whole list, okay? You do not need to fix everything today. You do not need a whole free afternoon and a color coded plan. You just need to start with one thing. I am such a fan of small baby steps because those build over time and remember, action builds momentum. So just close one loop, delete one thing that is no longer useful. Or release one thing that's not aligned with this season. Maybe you send the email or delete some emails that really just don't need your attention. Maybe you make the appointment that's been on your mind for weeks. Maybe you finally return the item that has been waiting by the front door that needs to go back. Maybe you finally moved the donation bag out of your trunk. Maybe you closed a few tabs on your computer that you don't need. I love doing that exercise because I'm so guilty of this one. I've got a lot of tabs that I visit every day on different browsers, and it's a way for me to remember everything, but every once in a while it gets cluttered and I love to do that exercise. Just go through and close one by one. Maybe you delete the recipe that you kept saving that you're never going to make. Sometimes that makes my heart a little sad, but sometimes it's necessary. It's just one less thing nagging at your brain. Maybe you let go of the course or the project that felt exciting at one point, but it just doesn't fit in the season of life that you're in right now.

Speaker 41 8:58

It's okay. You can tuck it into another folder. You can revisit it later when you actually have time and space. The goal is not to do everything. The goal is to start making the space, and if it feels helpful, try practicing one loop a day, just one. One thing closed, one thing removed, one thing released, one less thing, asking for your attention. And over time that really starts to add up. Just like physical clutter builds one item at a time. In our space, relief can build one small reset at a time too. And there is something so satisfying about going back to that list and crossing something off. I love doing this. I'm talking about the big exhale, the deep sigh of relief kind of feeling. You might even do a little happy dance and pat yourself on the back and yes. The list may keep growing, but let's be real. Life happens. There's probably something already that needs to be added to the list right now, but momentum starts with action and you're taking action even if it's one task at a time. So let's actually pause here and do this together. Close one tab. One tab on your phone, one tab on your computer, or one small thing on that list that you just wrote down. Ready, set, go.

Speaker 39 10:08

Okay. Massive high fives if you actually did that. I just closed one tab that had been sitting on my phone for way longer than it needed to be. And guys, what do you think it was? It was another recipe. Why do I do that? I keep opening tabs for recipes that I think I'm going to make, and I've got Pinterest for that. Why do I keep it there? Oh. If I'm being real, I'm not making these things tonight or this week. Probably not at all, even in this season. And you know, the thing is, especially with these tabs on our phones, we can usually go back and find most of that information again if we really need it. It doesn't have to stay open right now just so we don't forget. And when you start closing, even just a few of those tabs, something very interesting happens, right? You free up a little space, a little more room in your mind, a little more energy in your day. Maybe that means you're a little more patient with your kids. Maybe it means you're not laying in bed, replaying your mental to-do list every single night and losing sleep over it. Maybe it means you finally feel like you can sit down and enjoy your coffee without five things tugging at your attention before the day is even started. Sometimes the difference is not doing more. Sometimes it's just carrying a whole lot less. And I think a lot of us underestimate how much these tiny little open loops are quietly asking from us. All day long, especially with our phones and devices, right? Because let's be honest, these things are designed to keep our attention moving from one tab to the next all the time. And that's actually something I'd like to dive into in a future episode about how our devices and digital spaces can become a huge source of clutter in our lives and what we can do about that. Because if you're struggling with this, you are definitely not alone. Almost everyone I talk to feels like their brain has too many tabs open. And that's exactly what simple practices like this brain dump can be so helpful with just having a place where those open loops can land a notebook in your purse, A small pad on the kitchen counter. Something in your bag or backpack where you can jot down things as they come up. Because when you get those things outta your head and onto paper, your mind doesn't have to keep holding all of them at once, and then you can start closing them one by one, not all at once, just one at a time. So maybe that's your takeaway this week. You don't have to clear everything. You don't have to close every tab. Just notice what's been quietly taking up space, and start with one simple thing, because that's how momentum starts. One close loop, one decision made, one small reset that creates a little more breathing room in your day. And if you're listening to this and thinking, okay, I like the idea, but I still feel stuck on where to begin. That's exactly why I created the One Space Reset Kit. It's a short guided reset to help you clear one space at a time, whether that's a space in your home or one of your open loops we talked about today. So you can create momentum without feeling like you have to tackle. Everything at once. You can grab it through the link in the show notes

Speaker 45 13:10

And if this episode made you think of someone, feel free to share it with them too. And if you do this exercise this week, send me a DM or an email. I would genuinely love to hear what you're making space for, or even just what tab you finally closed. Thanks for spending this time with me today. I am really glad you're here. And until next time, let's go make the space.

Speaker 46 13:31

A quick note before we close. This podcast is for education and inspiration. It's not a substitute for therapy or medical care. If you are needing mental health support, please reach out to a licensed provider in your area.