Is Your Kids’ Clutter Getting You Down?

Research validates your irritable feelings. Use these tips to declutter and feel more focused at home.

I refer to it as the clutter struggle.

Envision it as a collection of things lying around in an untidy mess forcing its daily awareness in your face.

If you’re a parent, you know.

It includes annoying plastic pieces, toy cars missing wheels, and dollar store glow bracelets just to name a few.

Our biggest clutter collection spot is on the coffee table. The coasters are somewhere under the Pokémon card collection and accessories for the Baby Alive doll.

Could the clutter be why I feel so distracted and irritable?

Turns out clutter negatively affects the brain's processing of information.

An article published in the 2011 Journal of Neuroscience looked at the effects of living in uncluttered spaces. In this study conducted by the Princeton University Neuroscience Institute, they measured the impact on irritability and productivity.

When multiple stimuli (clutter) are in your visual field, your brain becomes slower to process information. You develop feelings of irritability and distraction as a result.

Clearing out the clutter makes the space more open and organized. It also allows for information to be processed faster because there is less in your view.

Less Clutter = A Less Irritable and More Productive Mother

Makes sense.

There are tips you can try to reduce the clutter and improve your focus to get closer to maintaining that happier inner self.

Start with small areas that yield an immediate impact.

What you don’t want to do is dive into the biggest problem area first. You end up getting discouraged and overwhelmed with what’s all around you.

Focus on spaces you can see immediate progress and feel good about.

If you have fifteen minutes, pick the kids’ kitchen set to declutter. Throw away the pretend milk box that’s crushed. Gather up the LEGO bricks that have found their way in the teacups.

You’ll feel better being able to pick a spot where you noticeably see a difference after you’ve done some decluttering.

As a parent, it’s unlikely you will have large chunks of time to declutter. Breaking it out in 15 to 30-minute increment jobs may work best.

If you start in small spaces, you build the confidence and flow to focus on the larger messes eventually.

Identify your clutter collector.

Large shopping bags or discarded Amazon boxes work great for this task.

Moving throughout your home, take your collectors alongside you depositing forgotten toys and outgrown clothing. Try to keep these items separate from one another. It will be helpful when you drop them off to donate.

If the kids don’t ask about anything for two months, it’s typically safe to get rid of it.

Watch out though for your kids discovering the hidden clutter collection in your closet.

If they do, forget it. The mission is over.

Now the toys you thought would be exiting the house end up reuniting with the coffee table clutter once again.

Do what you can to avoid this scenario.

Shop around in your house for organizers to hold the clutter leftover.

Decluttering a space usually presents the opportunity to organize.

You can easily get caught up in wanting to make a trip to Target, Marshalls, and other home decor stores the minute you need those cute storage baskets. Try not to do it! I know it’s tempting. Instead, go through your house first looking for totes or containers that can be repurposed. It saves you money and time. It’s also good for the environment to be able to reuse what you already have in your home.

Yesterday I was going through the bathroom trying to sort through a pile of unused bath toys and baby-sized towels. In the process, I cleaned out the plastic bin that held all the bath toys. With fewer toys, I was able to repurpose it for purses and fake makeup compacts that had no storage home in my daughter’s closet.

Being able to rethink the best use of storage pieces is part of the joy of decluttering. If I can categorize items in their own “storage home” it makes for a more organized space. I end up having much less clutter anxiety too.

The reality is the love for my kids far outweighs my struggle with their clutter in our home.

Some plastic possessions stick around longer than I want them to simply because they bring them joy.

Even though the clutter struggle is likely to continue for years to come, at least there are ways to manage it for a less irritable you.