The easiest place for me to reduce clutter in my life right now is to clear up my desk and worktable. Except for my office, where I spend most of my time, I keep surfaces free from clutter. I was always sort of messy, never really having the energy to do a lot of cleaning, but ever since I moved into my own house, I’ve kept everything neat and clutter-free. I like the clean lines — no photos or pictures on the walls, nothing but lamps on the side tables, books in their proper place, kitchen counters bare. I also like that people can drop by without my getting embarrassed by my lack of housekeeping skills.
My cupboards are full of kitchenware and other necessities, but I make sure that whenever I get new items, instead of further cluttering those cabinets, I get rid of an equal number of older items.
I have a lot of boxes of things stored in my garage, but they’re not exactly clutter, at least not according to the definition of clutter as being a disorganized mess — my garage is neatly organized. Still, there are many things, maybe even most things, that I will get rid of, but not yet. Too often in my life, I’ve disposed of various items, particularly materials and tools for a special project, and then later had to buy those items again. There’s a good chance I won’t use most of what I have since my project days seem to be over, but I don’t know for sure, so there the boxes sit. And anyway, the would-be clutter is out of the house so I don’t have to think about or stumble on boxes of stuff. It does help that I got rid of about half of what we owned when Jeff died and I moved in with my father, and another significant portion when my father died and once again, I had to move on. I am clearing the rest out gradually, but at the rate I’m going, I’ll be one hundred and ten by the time everything is gone, but oh, please! Don’t make me live that long!
Mental clutter is pretty much the same, with any possible issues either left in the past, neatly stored away for easy retrieval, or dumped here on this blog.
So am I going to clear up the clutter on my desk? Probably not. Everything I need is right at hand, and if there is too much clutter, well, it’s comfortable clutter, not an embarrassing mess.
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Pat Bertram is the author of Grief: The Inside Story – A Guide to Surviving the Loss of a Loved One.
Bertram's Blog 
January 16, 2026 at 12:33 pm
I smiled at your description of your clutter-free home. We’re much alike in that aspect. I like bare counters and orderly shelves, etc. I do have a few pictures on walls, but only a few. When we first moved here, and prior to repainting, there were a lot of nails and nail holes where our predecessor chose to hang things, and I recall looking at the real estate photos and noting the walls were well covered. We filled a lot of holes before starting the repainting!
In earlier years I worked out of my home office, and at peak processing times it was *very* cluttered. I was relieved when an event was over and I could put the files away and tidy up again. Physical clutter has always affected my state of mind. If a room is disorganized for long, I start feeling unsettled.
Even our shallow ‘crawl space’, which I never have to see because my husband is the one who usually accesses it, has its stored items well labelled and neatly stacked. The bins of Christmas decorations went away earlier this week. 🙂 The garage, however, is totally his domain. It has shelves along the walls, relatively neatly stacked with whatever needs to be there, and I guess he knows where it all goes–I rarely can find anything when I look!
January 16, 2026 at 12:47 pm
Until I moved here, physical clutter never bothered me. I so often lived in my mind, never really seeing my surroundings, that it just didn’t matter, except when I got a visitor. Then suddenly I’d see my place for real, and eek! I’ve lost that ability, or perhaps it’s more that I enjoy looking at my lovely rooms, as if they are a 3D picture.
I left all the nails in the walls. Who knows, maybe someday I will want to hang something — oh, wait! I do hang something: my wreath at Christmas!
January 16, 2026 at 12:54 pm
Ha! Yes, we hang a wreath on one of the nails that holds a Celtic cross sculpture during the rest of the year. Over Christmas the cross goes into the closet.
January 16, 2026 at 3:06 pm
I have gone from a neat freak to a mess. When I got divorced I cleaned out the house. When I remarried things were in their rightful lplace. Now MESS. My children “helped” me pack and the boxes are sitting in my son-in-laws shop,, It is too freaking cold to go out there and noone cares so why should I
January 16, 2026 at 4:33 pm
Having someone help sometimes is no help. I imagine someday you’ll decide to do something about it, or not. Either way, it’s not something you should have to deal with yet. It’s still too soon.
January 17, 2026 at 7:53 am
Thank you. I am exhausted and have no reason. Just getting lazy in my old age, I guess.
January 17, 2026 at 8:39 am
You have every reason to be exhausted. Grief is exhausting — it takes up all your body’s and mind’s energy just to try to get through the day. People don’t realize all the things that go on under the surface, such as your lizard brain scurrying around to figure out what happened to your “other.” And then there’s all the “fight or flight” hormones still in play, as well as dozens of other processes we can only hint at.
January 18, 2026 at 7:44 pm
Several good points in the last post. thanks!
January 17, 2026 at 8:45 am
And oh, yeah — you’re still adapting to a move you perhaps didn’t want to make as well as adapting to a different climate. I’d be surprised if you weren’t exhausted.
January 18, 2026 at 7:39 pm
Thanks for understanding. It has been rough.
January 19, 2026 at 8:12 am
You’re welcome. And I do understand. It’s just rough. The whole thing.
January 16, 2026 at 11:15 pm
Dear friend, Your “comfortable clutter” desk vibe is so relatable—everything at hand, no embarrassment needed! Smart move swapping out kitchen stuff one-for-one and stashing garage boxes outta sight. Love how you blog away the mental mess too. Keep owning that tidy-ish life!
January 17, 2026 at 8:40 am
Thank you!