You’re thrilled… but there’s also a niggling little voice reminding you of all your previous attempts and subsequent lapses back into chaos.

It feels great…for a few days, anyway

Slowly, then suddenly, it’s baaaaaaack, like Arnold in a new movie, Terminator: Clutter Edition.

Welcome to the Clutter Cycle, ADHD style. Only you can’t medicate these piles into order.

What exactly is it? It’s looks something like this:

Clutter ➡️ Overwhelm ➡️ Avoid ➡️ Shame ➡️ Panic Tidy ➡️ Burnout ➡️ Clutter again.

Sound familiar? You are not alone. I’ve seen it more times than I can count in my work as a professional organizer. Please know that this is very typical. Your experience is normal. But for ADHDers and neurodivergent folks, it can be especially difficult.

The clutter cycle isn’t the result of a character flaw. It’s driven by a lack of a decluttering system. ADHD brains especially need friction-free systems when you’re having one of those days.

Purging the excess is only the first step. Stopping there will only perpetuate the clutter cycle. There needs to be maintenance strategies in place, not to mention an honest look at your expectations, especially if you’re comparing yourself to curated Pinterest images.

Having a simple (emphasis on SIMPLE) system in place is key to your success. Here are some tips on how to do just that.

🚮Ditch the Excess

First step, I give you: T’s First Commandment of Organizing:

🚫 Thou shalt not organize clutter. 🚫

I will not sugarcoat it. You’ve got 3,000 square feet ‘o’ stuff in your 1,500 sq ft home. There is an American epidemic of Stuffitis and we’re drowning in it. The reasons for this are many, but I will not dig into that right now.

Organized clutter is still clutter, and failure to get the excess out of your home will keep you doing the Stuff Shuffle Crazy Dance. I cannot overstate the importance of this, even if you have plenty of storage (for now anyway!).

⚙️Systematize, Baby!

After the purge, designing a system that is tailormade for your home and lifestyle is next. For instance, is the kitchen table the heart of your home? Or is the family room the central room? Your answer will determine your strategy.

Do you enter your home through the garage or the front door? That’s the place to set up a “drop zone” along with hooks for your keys.

Open baskets versus lidded containers? (I usually recommend open baskets, except for things like season items, like holiday decorations.)

Are you a cook? A baker? Or is your idea of “home " heat and eat” meals for the microwave? The answers will determine how to set up your workflow in a way that increases efficiency and prevents clutter creep.

🤔Automating Decisions

Decision fatigue can sabotage the best of efforts. Questions like, should I keep this? Or where should this live? It can cause death by a thousand cuts.

A system can automate those decisions. Something as simple as turning hangers around in the closet for items that you wear regularly will help you easily identified clothing that needs to go to the thrift store.

I had one client who was frustrated with the well-intended doo-dads and junk food given by grandparents to her young kids. It would just end up in a pile in the kitchen, right next to a simmering pot of resentment. We figured out a solution. (She set up a “grandparent” table in the garage to decide what actually came or didn’t come into the house. It worked beautifully. You would have thought we had just split an atom, so great was her delight at such a simple and successful solution. Bonus: She could graciously accept the goodies without feeling obligated to bring them into the home.)

💓Be Kind to Yourself!

Keeping realistic expectations will serve you well in breaking the clutter cycle. Life happens! Heath issues, family demands, a busy season at work, it’s not if these things happen it’s WHEN it will happen. Your home will reflect such seasons.

So yeah, you may backslide a little. Or even a lot. And that is okay. It’s always an opportunity to take stock of what’s working and what isn’t.

Be assured that as you establish your new systems, back sliding becomes less frequent and/or less severe.

The only thing certainty in life is that life is dynamic and in a constant state of change. The needs in your home will change, and your systems accordingly. (For instance, bringing a new baby home or setting up an office out of the spare bedroom.)

📏Progress Over Perfection

Decluttering and breaking the Clutter Cycle is not a one and done. It is an ongoing practice. And any stumble isn’t a failure, it’s feedback. That feedback may inform you that the system needs to be tweaked or that you need to do a deeper purge. Or perhaps it’s simply another opportunity for you to practice self-kindness or to learn to laugh at life’s messiness.

Your home is not meant to be a storage unit. It should be your soft place to land and recharge, a place of refuge from life’s demands. A place of peace. You’ve got better things to do with your one wild and precious life than play clutter reindeer games.

You deserve nothing less!

What are your challenges? Drop me a comment and let’s talk!

And as always, thank you for reading and sharing.

Yours in Making the World Just a Little More Organized,

Theresa

PS You are loved. ❤️

The Zany Sage is a labor of love and offered to all free of charge. But if you are able and so inclined, each paid subscription helps me keep the lights on and the coffee pot filled. No matter how you subscribe, I appreciate you!

I am so happy you’re here. Lemme clear off this pile of music on the sofa and grab you a cuppa. (Even though I’ve been a professional organizer for many years, I STILL have my little clutter hot spots.)

I’ve introduced myself before but I’ll do it again since this is a fresh relaunch for me.

I’m Theresa, AKA, the Zany Sage. The whaty what? Yeah. The Zany Sage? Well, because I’m a little cray cray (that’s the “zany” part) but evidently, people tell me I seem to have some wisdom (that’s the “sage” part) so there’s that.

I’ve been a professional organizer for many years and while I suspected I had ADHD, I was gobsmacked when I was officially diagnosed with pretty severe ADHD in my late mid-fifties. And that’s when I started doing some massive dot connecting.

My obsession over with order and organization began at a very young age. I realize now that my brain was helping me quiet the tumult in my head. Even to this day, when I am overwhelmed with stress, cleaning out the junk drawer is a calming process for me. Yeah, I know. I’m sorta weird. But I warned you about that zany bit. 😉

But enough about me. Let’s talk about YOU!

I see you. You trying so hard! And I am familiar with the frustration of feeling like I’m a fuckup because I can get so overwhelmed that I go into shutdown mode. And then I compare myself to others who seem to hold down stable jobs, fold fitted sheets neatly and have a supernatural ability to do a project through to completion (gasp!).

I also see the clutter you’re constantly fighting. This I know deeply because probably 90% of clients I’ve served have been fellow ADHDers. And so I adopted different strategies when working for those clients.

A neurodivergent brain needs a different approach to decluttering. Starting with ditching expectations of a Pinterest photoshoot. This is about setting up your home in such a way so it works for you, not the other way around.

⛓️‍💥You’re Not Broken!

The struggles of having ADHD are real. But IMHO, I believe those struggles are more often than not trying to fit our square peg brains into societies’ round holes.

But I also know too well that the executive functioning part of our brain has to work twice as hard as neurotypicals in our western, modern world. We are told to follow the rules. Stand in line, pick up your pencils only when told, and color in the lines.

And oh, the go to school so you can get good grades and get a good job trope. Yeah, that doesn’t work so much anymore for anyone. But it has been especially hard for neurodivergent people.

These are differences, not a sign that you are broken. I also know that the more I learn about ADHD, particularly in women, the more grace and compassion I am learning to have toward myself because the differences are very real.

I’m gonna say again, for those in the back, you are not broken!

🎁What You Can Expect in This Series

You may be feeling some cautious optimism at this point. I get it. The last time you attempted to declutter, after reading Marie Kondo’s book, you ended up in a fugue state, sitting in the middle of the pile ‘o’ stuff you just dredged from the closet.

Nah. This isn’t a one and done process. Nor should it be catastrophic. Think of it as a slow and lazy river boat cruise. We’ll take our time, enjoy the journey, and hang out on the lido deck to swap “Top This!” stories of our most embarrassing clutter piles.

And above all, let’s just have some fun! Clearing clutter can be a fun, cathartic experience. The best part is when you realize how nice it is to walk into a room and not feel overwhelmed by clutter.

💪A Challenge for You

This week, I offer you a widdle, baby-sized challenge. Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you the 5-Minute ADHD Toss and Dash.

The goal? Complete a doable, no pressure micro-task to build momentum.

Pick a small flat surface that has been goading you. It could be that hot spot on the kitchen counter or on the nightstand.

Set your time for 5 minutes aaaaaaaand they’re off! The name of the game is to ONLY remove trash and obviously out-of-place stuff. That’s it!

No organizing, no sorting piles. Nada. When the timer dings, you are finished.

Congratulations! 🎊 How does that feel? (I’d say toss a little confetti but uh, probably not such a good idea.)

📅Next Week

We’re going to talk about The ADHD Clutter Cycle.

I’m going to talk about how executive dysfunction plays a role in this cycle and then discuss proven strategies to throw a wrench into the machinations and help you gain the upper hand.

A small ask of you: I would love to have a more creative, playful name for “The ADHD Clutter Cycle”. The Dopamine Dash? The Hyper Hurricane?

One thing I love the most about ADHDers is their creativity and ability to bring the fun wherever they go. So toss your ideas my way!

And finally. A little 🎶for you. I give you:

Yours in Conquering Clutter,

Theresa

Has it just been me or has life been off the hook nuts lately? Oh, wait, I know it’s not just me. Things have been nuts.

This is part of the reason behind my hiatus. With all that is happening in the country, I’ve been writing more about political things. But it’s time to focus back on my passion project, helping ADHDers declutter.

Regardless of what’s happening politically, clutter will still be here. As I get older, I realize there are far more things beyond my control than those that I can control. Like my attitude. Or to choose to embrace love over fear. Or… feel a sense of peace when I walk into my home at the end of a hard day’s work, because I’ve chosen to create a peaceful and clutter-free environment.

It sounds so simple and in some ways; it is. But it isn’t. Especially for us ADHDers. Just thinking about decluttering can trigger overwhelm so you’re stopped before you even start.

That’s why I created a new Substack series just for us: Decluttering ADHD.

Each Tuesday, I’ll share practical tips, gentle humor, and mindset shifts to help you clear the clutter — in your home, your schedule, and your mind. No perfectionism, no Pinterest-ready closets required.

📦 Here’s what’s coming:

• Why clutter feels so personal (especially for ADHDers)

• How to start when you don’t know where to start

• What to do with the weird, sentimental, and guilt-ridden stuff

• And how decluttering can become an act of rebellion and self-care

And other little goodies too:

• ADHD Clutter Confession of the Month (Reader-submitted story)

• A Q&A or Ask-Me-Anything post

• Downloadable Templates

• A playlist for decluttering

If you’re ready to claim a little peace in your space and your head, I’d love for you to join me. This is YOUR time! See you on Tuesday.

We’re in this together!💕

I send you love and good decluttering juju,

Theresa

The Zany Sage-in-Residence