Have you ever tried reading a book when you’re really tired and you just end up reading the same line over and over? That’s the impact of clutter on introverts!
I don’t mean reading something over and over but the feeling you have when that happens. Tired, frustrated, and as if your brain is having a hard time processing information.
A cluttered environment makes it harder to live your life in a way that is most comfortable and productive. It can steal your peace and even impact your relationships.
But since this word can be a bit subjective, let’s start with defining clutter.
What is Clutter?
Clutter is an excessive amount of stuff that creates disorder in your living space. Simply put, it means you have more stuff than you know what to do with.
This definition is space-sensitive. Meaning having a lot of stuff is cool if you live in a mansion and therefore have lots of places to put that stuff. On the other hand, if you live in a studio apartment with the same amount of stuff, here’s where things get problematic.
Some of your stuff could be meaningful things but that doesn’t mean it’s not still a lot if you don’t have anywhere to neatly put it.
Digital Clutter vs. Physical Clutter
It’s also important to note that clutter isn’t just physical objects in physical spaces. Some of us have digital lives so cluttered we can hardly get anything done, especially in office spaces.
Examples of digital clutter include an overflowing email inbox, full computer desktops, or a bunch of digital photos hoarding your digital storage space with no organization to them in sight. Similarly, digital clutter also extends to digital documents and folders.
Both physical clutter and digital clutter can lead to mental clutter.
Mental Clutter
Mental clutter is a state of mind in which you can’t sort or stop irrelevant information. This idea was proposed by Dr. Lynn Hasher, a University of Toronto professor. She believed mental clutter to be a primary cause of age-related memory loss.
She further shared that this irrelevant material could be clogging your brain so badly it makes it harder for you to process information. Like reading the same line over and over. This makes it challenging to use your short-term memory efficiently such as trying to recall someone’s name who’s standing right in front of you.
Clutter can impact your world physically but, as you can see, clutter can have an impact on your mental state as well.
Psychological Impact of Clutter
Living in a cluttered environment can affect your mental well-being. Affecting your mental well-being can also increase stress and frustration. Surprisingly, clutter can also cause you to be uncomfortable or dissatisfied with your own home and even your own life.
The sad thing is many people don’t realize how impactful clutter can be. Or, how beneficial it can be to get rid of clutter in their work or living spaces.
This is especially critical for introverts. We live in our heads most of the time and our mental self-care is a daily task. So, dear Wallflower, here are some things to watch out for if clutter is creeping into your life.
5 Ways Clutter Impacts Introverts
Although this isn’t an exhaustive list, here are 5 ways clutter can impact an introvert’s life.
1. Increase Stress and Overwhelm
Living and/or working in a cluttered environment affects mental health by inducing stress. It creates a feeling of things being unsettled or chaotic which leads to feelings of overwhelm.
These feelings caused by clutter can also cause a response in your body resulting in increased levels of cortisol – the stress hormone.
A 2010 study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that clutter-based stress and overwhelm impact women more than men. This is primarily because women tend to feel a higher level of responsibility toward household chores and organization.
2. Impacting Relationships
Having a cluttered home keeps you from wanting people in it. Introverts already minimize how many and how often they have people in their homes. Creating another hesitation to entertaining could mean isolating yourself more than you’d like.
Additionally, studies have found that seeing someone in a cluttered space makes it harder to read their emotions. Introverts are typically empathetic people and are very good at reading others’ emotions.
However, having a cluttered space could pose a challenge to exercising this introvert superpower.
It’s hard enough for us to avoid awkward social situations and maintain communication in relationships. It seems clutter can add an extra hurdle to the situation.

3. Minimizing Productivity
Another study done by Dr. Joseph Ferrari, a psychology professor at DePaul University, found clutter and procrastination to be like this 🤞🏾.
Clutter and procrastination are so closely tied because decluttering isn’t something most people find to be very fun. Consequently, they tend to avoid it. Unfortunately, in the case of clutter, this only leads to it growing even more.
Procrastination is only one clutter factor that causes you to be less productive. The other is distraction. Clutter can be very distracting! You’ll constantly be thinking about how you have to deal with it, or internally chiding yourself for not having dealt with it already.
Additionally, even if you’re rocking it out at work or another focused task, the looming clutter surrounding you will still make you feel less accomplished.
4. Stifling Creativity
Clutter also robs introverts of another superpower – focus. Cluttered physical environments make it generally difficult for you to think.
Introverts produce some of the most creative things just by letting their minds wander. Any given proverbial rabbit hole we might follow could lead to something new and exciting.
However, clutter limits this creative thought process by making it hard for us to focus and sort through our thoughts and ideas.
5. Disrupting Our Comfort Zone
A study done by Dr. Catherine Roster at the University of New Mexico found clutter can influence our perception of home and life.
Introverts are greatly impacted by their homes. It is our retreat from the social demands of daily life. It’s where we go for alone time to recharge and where we’re most free to be ourselves.
Clutter in our homes interferes with an introvert having that experience of peace and rest in their home. Dissatisfaction at home can lead to burnout outside of our home, and ultimately limit our capacity to engage in other settings such as work and time with friends.
These 5 ways illustrate why it’s so important to minimize clutter in our lives. Completely ridding your life of clutter may seem daunting but here are a few simple ways to address it.
5 Ways to Address Clutter
Dealing with clutter in our work or home environment can be a pain but it’s the best thing for peace and mental clarity. Use these practical tips to make decluttering more achievable and routine.
1. Minimalism
A life of minimalism is not for everyone but if it works for you, it’s a great way to minimize clutter. In fact, avoiding clutter is part of its underlying principle.
Instead, you focus only on what brings meaning and value into your life and to those you live with. It means your time, energy, and space are devoted to only those important things.
2. Declutter and organize
If minimalism isn’t your thing, try good old-fashioned decluttering and organizing. Or simply put, get rid of stuff you don’t need. This is probably the hardest thing on this list for people to do but the result is well worth it.
A key method for decluttering is to give yourself guidelines and stick to them. An example guideline could be, if you haven’t used it or even seen it in a year or more, it goes.
Once you’re done decluttering, it’s time to organize what’s left. And it doesn’t take master organizational skills.
Keep organizing simple by:
- categorizing the items,
- finding containers to put them in, and
- identifying a neat and unintrusive place in your home for them.
3. Schedule cleaning time
Scheduling time to tidy your home or office is a good way of tackling a big job in small chunks. You can spread it out over days or weeks and, as long as you stay consistent, you’ll have that clutter knocked out in no time.
Simple ways to do this by setting aside 15-30 minutes for cleaning before you start work or another task. You can even set a timer. When the timer goes off, you’re done! This method helps you make progress without feeling overwhelmed.
4. Stay on top of it
This is most helpful once you’ve gotten everything decluttered and organized. The next step is keeping it that way which takes intention.
Do short spot cleaning as you walk through your house and go about your daily activities. If something is out of place (like that coffee mug that’s been sitting there since yesterday), put it back. If there’s a small mess, take care of it right away.
Our house has two stories and four children who like to migrate their things all over the place. A hack that I use is keeping a basket by the stairs. That way as I go through the house, if I notice something that belongs upstairs, I throw it in the basket.
Then I take the whole basket with me and put everything where it belongs at the end of the night. This keeps me from going up and down the stairs all day (although can you imagine how good my legs and butt would look if I did 😜).
If you have a little free time, do a short burst of organizing. It can be a great way to relax your mind and recharge.
Another way to stay on top of clutter is to keep it out to begin with. Do this by editing yourself. Be mindful of what/how much stuff you buy. Ask yourself, do I really need this or do I already have four of them? 😂
5. Ask for help
Lastly, you can address clutter by asking for help. Decluttering and keeping it that way truly is a lot of work, especially if you have a very busy schedule. But who says you have to do it alone?
If it’s in your budget, the simplest way is to hire a housekeeper. But if it’s not in your budget, try asking family and friends. You could host a cleanup party. They provide the help, and you provide the snacks.
If you just need help getting rid of things, have them do the sorting and tossing. Touching something makes it harder for you to let go of it because of the emotional attachments we form with our stuff. So stay hands-off and make the tough decisions of what stays and goes, while your friends and family fill the garbage bags.
Another way is to partner with other parents or friends and do a task exchange. That’s just what it sounds like – you do a task for them, they do one for you. Want help cleaning your garage? Offer to help clean theirs or babysit one night. It’s the barter system in its simplest form.
Closing Thoughts
Introverts and clutter don’t mix. Clutter impacts introverts in more ways than you think. Clutter can negatively impact everyone, especially introverts. It robs them of their comfort zone, their ability to recharge, and their mental freedom.
Don’t let clutter rob you of the calm environments you need, Wallflower. Use these tactics to keep clutter-free spaces and a clutter-free mind.
Common Questions
How does clutter affect you emotionally?
Clutter can add stress and feelings of overwhelm. It can increase frustration by limiting your productivity and ability to think clearly. It can also impact your ability to find rest and peace in your own home.
What drains an introvert’s energy?
Social interactions are what drains an introvert’s mental energy the most. Additionally, having a cluttered home inhibits their ability to recharge their energy after social situations.
What overwhelms introverts?
Introverts are easily overwhelmed by social situations involving large groups of people. They are also overwhelmed when they don’t have a quiet place to retreat to such as their home. This is why keeping your home a peaceful, clutter-free environment is so important for introverts.
What do introverts struggle with the most?
Introverts mostly struggle with the social demands of their day-to-day interactions. US culture and society reward extroversion and scoffs at introversion. Navigating the demands and expectations for an introvert to behave like an extrovert can be quite a struggle.