As a lifelong advocate for minimalism and decluttering, I’ve always been fascinated by the profound impact our physical spaces can have on our mental and emotional well-being. And nowhere is this more apparent than in the sacred realm of the home office – that hallowed ground where we toil, where we dream, and where we sometimes just plain struggle to keep our heads above the rising tide of stuff.
You see, I know this struggle all too well. For years, even before the pandemic forced people to turn living rooms, kitchen tables, and spare bedrooms into office spaces, I had been working from home. Wherever I’ve lived – from a 333-square-foot studio rental to the four-bedroom home I now own with my husband – I’ve had to create a suitable, functional space to work. Minimal distractions, lots of natural light, and if I was lucky, a view of something green.
A few years ago, I transformed a guest room into my home office, replacing a queen-size bed with a wooden ladder bookshelf and a small desk for my laptop. We painted the walls a neutral white and updated the windows to allow in as much natural light as possible. I can even see the tops of the bamboo trees growing outside. But keeping this space tidy and clutter-free hasn’t been easy – not with an energetic 6-year-old and a kitten who uses my office as her personal playground. Stacks of paper and unread magazines grew, my son’s artwork spread across the walls, and an assortment of things – cowrie shells from a recent beach outing, random business cards, Post-Its, charging cords, a stress-relieving candle, hand sanitizers – started to take over the space. Something had to be done.
You see, I’m a big believer in the concept that a messy space – like a home office – can affect mood and productivity. But decluttering this room felt overwhelming. That’s what made the Core 4 Method by professional organizer Kayleen Kelly so appealing. She breaks down the decluttering process into four simple steps – clear out, categorize, cut out, and contain – that can be applied to any room in your home without feeling overwhelmed. That’s exactly what I needed.
The Core 4 Method: Conquering Clutter in 4 Simple Steps
Step 1: Clear Out
In true Marie Kondo fashion, I took everything off my desk, shelves, and floor, and piled them on my dining room table to sort through later. It was easier on my back to stand at the table and sort rather than sit on the floor. Whatever I recognized as trash – old receipts, expired gift cards, candy wrappers – I immediately threw away. Then I wiped down the shelves and my desk.
Step 2: Categorize
I purchased a few plastic storage bins from a local hardware store for this purpose. I created general categories that applied to my personal stuff – I had a bin for office supplies, another for computer-related items, and another for pens (yes, just pens). I spent a couple of hours sorting everything, creating stacks of magazines, books, and various papers (the biggest culprit of my clutter, hands down). I used my Brother P-Touch label maker to label bins and cords, and set up a trash bag for more trash and a box for donations.
Step 3: Cut Out
I looked at everything I had accumulated and made decisions on what I wanted – and, most importantly, what I didn’t. I filled the trash bag and donation box with things I wanted to get rid of and returned errant items to their proper places, like an apron to the kitchen and Pokémon cards to my son’s room.
Step 4: Contain
Now I needed to figure out what items go together in containers, being mindful, as Kelly says in her TikTok video, of not overcrowding them. The goal is to make your things organized and accessible. I put all of my computer and charging cords in one small bin and extra office supplies in another. It was a lot easier to organize and fill bins after culling the things I didn’t need. There was just less stuff.
In all, it took me five hours to declutter and organize my home office – and that included a break to walk my dogs and another to eat leftover pizza. Now when I work here, I feel less overwhelmed and more I actually look forward to starting my work day, even on Mondays. Only the kitty misses the mess.
The Clutter-Depression-Anxiety Cycle: Breaking Free
But as anyone who has struggled with clutter and disorganization knows, the battle doesn’t end there. Clutter has a profound impact on our mental health, trapping us in a vicious clutter-depression-anxiety cycle. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention note, older adults are at an increased risk of depression, and studies have shown a definite link between an over-abundance of household objects and the homeowners’ health.
The book Life at Home in The Twenty-First Century found that cluttered or “stressful home environments” can have a negative impact on a woman’s long-term well-being. Interestingly, the study found that men aren’t as affected by the mess. As they measured cortisol levels over a number of days, they found a higher rate of depressed mood toward the evening in cluttered or messy homes.
The United States, in particular, has a child-centered culture, with children’s belongings spilling out into living rooms, dining rooms, kitchens, and even parents’ bedrooms. Parents purchase more for their children because they work more to maintain their quality of life and therefore feel guilty about not spending time with their kids. Feelings of guilt and also knowing deep down that material goods are a poor substitute for time together add to depression and anxiety.
An average room has over 2,000 visible objects, particularly the office or computer area that we tend to spend the most time in – emailing, browsing online, children doing homework, etc. It’s no wonder we’re over-stimulated and anxious. Which is one of the reasons my yearly decluttering challenge is not too hard to complete. Generally, we don’t realize just how quickly things add up and just how much of an abundance we have.
Even when the family is ready to declutter and be rid of items, they tend to get paralyzed by emotions – either with sentimental attachments, guilt about the value of the items, and believing they should sell it, and having such a cramped schedule they don’t have time to declutter. We simply can’t purchase enough coordinating storage bins, boxes, and shelves to calm our environment. Putting things in bins just means that our stuff is now semi-controlled. It doesn’t address the core issues you have with collecting or being unable to part with the items, which means you will just continue in with more of the same.
To make a difference in your home, you must purge the clutter – and not just a small amount. You must declutter enough so that it is easy to assign places to every single one of your possessions. Life at Home in The Twenty-First Century is great at documenting the clutter problem, and although fascinating, doesn’t offer any solutions in the book. But don’t worry, there is hope!
The Nourishing Minimalism Approach: Turning Chaos Into Calm
At Nourishing Minimalism, we take a holistic, compassionate approach to decluttering and organization. It’s not just about purging and cleaning – it’s about healing the underlying emotional and psychological factors that drive us to accumulate and hold onto things in the first place.
One of the key things we’ve learned is that starting small is crucial. Don’t try to tackle the entire house at once – that’s a surefire way to get overwhelmed and give up. Instead, focus on one drawer, one shelf, one box at a time. Professional cleaning services can also be a game-changer, freeing up your time and energy to focus on the decluttering process.
It’s also important to address the mental and emotional aspects of clutter. Engage in some self-reflection – why do you hold onto certain items? What emotions are tied to them? Letting go of the past and learning to live in the present can be a profound and liberating experience.
And don’t forget to celebrate your progress, no matter how small. Each bag of donations, each cleared surface, is a victory to be savored. The road to a clutter-free home is a journey, not a destination, and it’s important to enjoy the process.
So, if you’re feeling overwhelmed by the clutter in your home office (or any other room in your house), take a deep breath and remember – you’ve got this. Start small, be kind to yourself, and let the calm and clarity slowly but surely emerge. Your mental health, and your productivity, will thank you.
