For many people mind clutter comes from holding onto the past, or fixating on things that are beyond their control. Whether it's obsessing over mistakes you've made in the past, or getting weighed down by what others think of you, it's important to learn how to let go of the things you cannot change.
Irrelevant Thoughts
These are thoughts that do not contribute to the task at hand or the current focus. For example, while trying to concentrate on a work project, an individual may find their mind wandering to unrelated concerns like personal issues, which distracts them from their task and creates mental clutter.
Examples from Collins dictionaries
The roads were cluttered with cars and vans. The vehicles cluttered up the car park.
“Emotional clutter is the persistent, negative thoughts we have about ourselves, our lives and others. It can be anything that is weighing us down emotionally, such as negative self-talk, grudges, toxic relationships or unresolved issues,” he said.
Symptoms of ADHD Clutter Anxiety
This may include cluttered surfaces, piles of paperwork or clothing, and difficulty finding necessary items. People with ADHD clutter anxiety may also experience feelings of overwhelm or anxious when faced with clutter or disorganization.
Here are a few examples of what that communication breakdown can result in for some clients who have cluttered speech: Excessive use of interjections (for example: “um”, “uh”) Excessive use of revisions (for example, “do you know - have you seen where my book is?”) Extreme coarticulation.
It can make you feel immobilized and unproductive. It may affect your neurology in a way that comes out as cluttering behavior — which is to say, piling up stuff around your home or workspace, meaning to organize it someday, but lacking the inner power to do so.
Research in psychology has started to uncover how cluttered living and workspaces can cause stress and anxiety, affecting our mental health and productivity. According to the American Psychological Association, clutter can trigger emotions like anxiety and depression and also lead to other mood disorders.
“Kerri Richardson's new book, What Your Clutter Is Trying to Tell You helps you clear the clutter in your life by figuring out why it's in your life to begin with. It not only helps you eliminate physical clutter, but emotional and mental blockages, too, creating space for your soul to be energized!
The five stages of hoarding are minimal clutter, mild clutter, moderate clutter, severe clutter, and extreme clutter.
People with depression can often find themselves living in messy spaces. This is because feelings of hopelessness, low energy, and lack of motivation can make it hard to keep on top of everyday tasks, such as tidying.
If you have a mind full of swirling emotions, journaling a stream of consciousness is a great way to declutter your mind. Grab a notebook or journal and a favourite pen and begin to write. Just write whatever comes into your mind. Write about how you're feeling and why.
Behavioral/psychological: Clutter caused by depression, attention deficit disorder, low self-esteem or lack of personal boundaries. Time/life management: Clutter caused by the need for better planning. Of these, the behavioral/psychological-driven clutter is the hardest to solve.
One of the primary reasons we hold onto clutter is sentimental attachment. Objects can hold memories and emotions, and getting rid of them can feel like we're getting rid of a part of ourselves. Fear is another reason we hold onto clutter, fear of letting go, fear of the unknown, and fear of loss.
While twin studies have demonstrated a strong genetic component associated with hoarding disorder, they have also highlighted the potential importance of non-shared environmental factors (Iervolino et al., 2009), including, among others, traumatic and other stressful life events (SLEs).
Many people who clutter are initially skeptical that therapy can help. Regardless of age, over time they come to see that learning strategies to tune in and monitor their speech can be helpful. Since most cluttering symptoms resolve through simple adjustments such as rate, prognosis for improvement is good.
Clutter refers to when items around our living spaces become disorganized and may accumulate where they do not belong. For example, in our house our kitchen island seems to be the first place for clutter to appear.
Cluttering is a type of fluency disorder that affects the rate and rhythm of your speech. Fluency disorders— which include cluttering and stuttering — involve interruptions to speech flow. With cluttering, you may speak so fast that your words run together. To help the words fit, you may drop syllables or merge words.
Serenity as the Inspiration. Trish Buscemi, a specialist who creates calm interiors for those with cognitive learning challenges, recommends blue, green, and muted brown towns for bedrooms of children with ADHD. These gentle hues actually work well with people of all ages seeking a space that inspires rest and calm.
Others have what is referred to as high-functioning ADHD. While this is not a formal diagnosis, it is a term commonly used to describe people who have ADHD but not to the point that it drastically interferes with their daily lives and responsibilities.