Spring brings a renewed sense of clarity, both literally and figuratively. The light changes, the air shifts, and suddenly those small, easy-to-ignore corners are impossible to unsee. If you’ve been conjuring a masterplan for a proper spring clean all winter, now’s your moment, and we’re here to help you make it count.

We’ve pulled together what actually works when it comes to decluttering, alongside the science behind how clutter can affect your stress, focus, sleep, and overall mindset. So if you’re ready to make both your space and your headspace feel a little less cluttered, grab a non-alcoholic bevo (unless it’s 5 o’clock somewhere, and let’s get started.

The hidden ways clutter Is affecting you

1. Increased stress and elevated cortisol levels

People in disorganised spaces are said to experience significantly higher stress levels. Physiologically, clutter can trigger your body’s stress response, increasing cortisol (the stress hormone). Some studies suggest that chronic exposure to clutter can raise stress hormones by up to 30% . This constant low-level stress can leave you feeling overwhelmed and mentally drained.

2. Reduced focus, attention, and productivity

Clutter can reduce focus by up to 40% and significantly impair cognitive performance. A cluttered environment increases “attention residue”- where the brain keeps getting pulled back to unfinished tasks or visual distractions, slowing down your capacity to complete tasks and increasing the chances of you making more mistakes, even with daily chores. Your line manager won’t be too happy with your cluttered space either – in work settings, studies consistently link cluttered spaces with lower output and poorer performance.

3. Increased anxiety and emotional overwhelm

Clutter is closely associated with heightened anxiety and feelings of being overwhelmed. The brain often interprets clutter as unfinished tasks, which can create a persistent sense of pressure or mental load. Over time, this contributes to burnout, irritability, and difficulty relaxing.

4. Negative impact on mood, self-esteem, and motivation

Living in clutter can subtly affect how we see ourselves. Cluttered environments are linked to lower self-esteem and life satisfaction. We tend to feel guilt or shame about our cluttered space, which can reduce our motivation to take action – creating an ongoing cycle where clutter and low mood reinforce each other.

5. Poorer sleep quality and increased fatigue

Clutter doesn’t leave the office at 5 PM and come back the following morning. You’re constantly seeing it, particularly if the clutter is in your bedroom. A disorganised bedroom can keep the brain in a heightened state of alertness, making it harder to unwind and sleep deeply. In fact, 70% of people in cluttered environments report sleep disturbances , reinforcing how deeply environment affects rest.

6. Decision fatigue and mental overload

Clutter forces the brain to constantly make small decisions (what to keep, where things are, what needs doing), which leads to decision fatigue. This, in turn, can lead to higher decision-making errors and reduce your memory recall.

How much clutter is too much?

There isn’t a strict number of items or a universal tipping point where clutter suddenly becomes “too much,” so it’s less of a magical threshold and more about how your space feels and functions in your everyday life.

When it interferes with your behaviour

From a psychological perspective (especially in fields like environmental psychology) clutter becomes a problem when it starts to interfere with how you think, feel, and move through your space. If you walk into a room and your brain immediately goes, “I’ll deal with that later… or maybe tomorrow… or never,” that’s usually a sign the clutter is doing more than just sitting there quietly.

It also becomes “too much” when it starts influencing your behaviour. Maybe you sit down to work, but the first thing you have to do is move a stack of papers, a coffee mug from yesterday, and a random charger just to make space for your laptop, or you can’t relax in your living room without mentally listing everything you should be doing instead. If it’s starting to nag at you, it’s already crossed the line from background to burden.

When it makes spaces less functional

Function is another useful way to judge it. Your home should work for you, not the other way around. If you’re constantly shifting things just to use a surface, or if finding what you need feels like an Easter egg hunt every time, then the clutter is interfering with daily life. A bit of mess is normal (life happens!) but when it regularly gets in the way, it’s worth tackling.

When it stresses you out

There’s also the emotional side. Clutter becomes “too much” when it starts to weigh on you. If you feel low-level stress, frustration, or guilt when you look around, that’s a sign your environment isn’t giving you the sense of calm or control it should. And if the idea of dealing with it feels overwhelming, it usually means it’s been building up for a while.

How to declutter your space, according to the experts

Right, time to stop glaring at the pile of rubbish you’ve accumulated on your desk and get down to business. Here’s exactly how you can Marie Kondo your home:

1. Start small

When a space feels like it needs a complete overhaul, the instinct is often to put it off altogether. Psychologist Joseph Ferrari will tell you chronic procrastination is often a response to overwhelm rather than a lack of intent.

Start with smaller, contained tasks. They are finite and will allow you to complete something in a way that feels tangible but not frazzling. A single drawer, a shelf, or even a specific category of items is enough to create momentum.

Reduce the number of decisions you make

Decluttering often feels tiring not because of the physical effort, but because of the constant decision-making: keep, get rid of, or maybe keep just in case? That mental back-and-forth is what really slows things down.

Organisation pros like Marie Kondo recommend you decide in advance how you’ll categorise everything, so you’re not starting from scratch each time. For example, use three categories:

• Keep – you use it regularly and it has a clear purpose
• Donate – it’s still in good condition, but no longer needed
• Discard – it’s broken, worn out, or past its use

The difference is that you’re not asking yourself what to do every time. You’ve already decided the rules, so you just follow them. It also helps to sort by category, not by room. For example, gather all your clothes in one place and deal with them together.

Understand that keeping things is rarely a rational process

95% of our decisions around what we buy and keep are shaped by emotion. Items become tied to memory, identity, or a version of ourselves we’re not entirely ready to let go of.

Decluttering requires a degree of honesty about why something is still there and you need to be ready to have that conversation with yourself. If you aren’t, then we’re here to get the conversation started and tell you that no, that random kitchen gadget is not special. Don’t consider whether something could be useful, or whether it once was, but whether it actually serves a purpose now.

Expect discomfort

Letting go of possessions can feel uncomfortable in a way that’s easy to underestimate. Psychologist David Tolin has shown that this discomfort is often tied to anxiety or a perceived sense of loss, even when the item itself holds little practical value. That tension is part of the process. It doesn’t mean something is wrong. It means something matters, even if only at a symbolic level.

Don’t wait for that feeling to disappear before taking action. It usually doesn’t. Instead, you need to change your ability to move through it. Starting with less emotionally loaded items can help, but the broader point remains: discomfort is not a reason to hold back.

Be decisive

Clutter accumulates through hesitation. Through the items that are “not quite ready” to be dealt with and decisions that are put on the back burner. An item without a clear role in your space sits in limbo, taking up both physical and mental room. So here’s the simple rule: make the decision once, and move on.

If it stays, it needs a clear purpose and a place it belongs. If it doesn’t, it needs to leave – not sit around waiting for another round of consideration.

Adopt an intentional ownership mindset

Minimalism is often misunderstood as an exercise in having less. In practice, it’s closer to having only what you’re willing to stand behind. Author Joshua Becker describes this as intentional living – making deliberate choices about what you allow into your space.

When you start to view your belongings through that lens, you’re less concerned about how much you own, and more focused on how what you own reflects how you want to live. The space around you tends to follow suit.

Treat decluttering as an ongoing process, not a one-off reset

The idea of a “perfectly decluttered” space is misleading. In reality, maintenance matters just as much as the initial effort. Get into the habit of returning things to their place, periodically reassessing what’s around you, and not letting decisions pile up (figuratively and literally).