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Have you ever looked at your to-do list and felt like you were about to scale Mount Everest… in flip-flops?

Yeah. Same.

Most of us are juggling so many mental tabs that it’s a damn miracle our brains haven’t given us the spinning rainbow wheel of death like we’re an old-ass MacBook from 2008.

Believe it or not, though, there is a reset button. It’s not flashy. It doesn’t require a 45-step morning routine or a juice cleanse or burning everything in your life to the ground and starting over. You can start resetting your brain with something as simple — and weirdly satisfying — as just clearing out that junk drawer in your kitchen. Or desk.

Seriously. That drawer that’s full of expired coupons, partly burned birthday candles, three dead pens, and exactly one AA battery that may or may not still work? Yeah, that one.

Your physical space needs a good ol’ tidy-up now and again, and kicking things off with some physical tidying can benefit your mental tidying up as well.

So let me tell you something weirdly true about me — I love decluttering.

Well… until I fall into a nostalgic time warp because I found a handwritten note from sophomore year biology and now I’m laugh-crying over the random “holidays” my best friend and I would come up with…Penguin Day, anyone? But outside of that very specific risk, physical decluttering is one of the few things that helps me shut off the constant swirl of thoughts in my brain.

I can clearly correlate the messiness of my space with the messiness happening in my head. But when I finally get my executive dysfunction to cooperate long enough to clear out a space?

I mean, there’s something almost meditative about organizing that drawer, clearing off the kitchen counter, or finally throwing out the mountain of receipts hiding in my purse like some kind of paper hoarder gremlin.

It’s one of the few times my brain actually quiets down — even if just for a bit. And when that happens, I feel like I can breathe again.

So today, we’re talking about how to declutter your mind — using a mix of physical resets, journaling hacks, experimenting with weird new hobbies, and tapping into what truly matters to you.

Let’s do this.

First things first — let’s talk about the magic of a reset. I don’t mean a complete life overhaul or tossing your planner out the window in a fit of rage — though, if you’ve done that recently, I totally get it.

I’m talking about resetting both your physical and mental spaces in a way that feels like a clean slate. A new save file. A post-boss-fight breather.

Like I mentioned about my own brain, our physical space is often a reflection of what’s happening in our minds.

If your kitchen counter looks like a dumpster fire and your nightstand has turned into a second junk drawer… chances are your brain’s running on fumes.

But when we clear a tiny bit of space physically, it often gives us just enough mental breathing room to feel like, “Okay, maybe I don’t have to burn everything down and move to the Shire.”

Even if it’s just clearing one corner of your desk. One square foot of your kitchen counter. The floor of your car (don’t lie, I know it’s a mess in there – no judgement from me, though. Mine’s the same).

Little actions create a big mental shift.

Try it. Clear one thing. See how your brain responds.

Okay, so we cleared a space. Now what?

Time to dump your brain out like an overstuffed duffle bag.

I love brain dumping. It’s stream-of-consciousness writing — no grammar, no filter, no judgment. Just word vomit on the page. Think of it as opening all your mental browser tabs and finally hitting “close all.”

And yes — sometimes this is super easy, like your brain’s like “WOOHOO! FREEDOM!” and it all pours out.

Other times, your brain’s like a grumpy cat refusing to come out from under the couch.

If you’re stuck, here’s a trick I use:

Start writing literally anything. Song lyrics. Movie quotes. Eddie Izzard stand-up bits. Monty Python’s “Spam” sketch.

Whatever it takes to shake the self-consciousness out of your head and just start writing. Once you get a few lines in, things start flowing. Trust me.

And if free-writing sounds like pulling teeth, you can always use journal prompts. There are prompt books, blogs, printable PDFs, even Instagram carousels full of them. You can literally Google “journal prompts for anxious overthinkers” and get a year’s worth of material.

Make it a habit. Five minutes in the morning. Three minutes before bed. Hell, voice-to-text journal while you brush your teeth if that’s your vibe.

Give your brain a regular space to let the mess out.

Now it’s time to shake things up a little.

Sometimes, decluttering your brain isn’t about getting stuff out — it’s about putting something new in. Something that sparks a little joy, curiosity, or just makes your brain go “oooh, shiny!”

And no, I’m not telling you to collect another hobby you’ll abandon in two weeks (hi, half-knitted blanket from 2018, I still see you).

I’m talking about experimentation.

Try reading a book from a genre you never read. Watch a documentary about mushrooms. Doodle a dragon. Finger-paint with your kids. Make a playlist that sounds like the vibe of a hobbit on vacation.

Do something that isn’t “productive.” Something that feels like you’re giving your brain a playground instead of a checklist.

When we explore weird little curiosities, we stretch our perspective. We break out of that constant loop of “ugh, I should be doing X” and into “whoa, this is kind of fun.”

You don’t have to stick with this hobby after you try it out if you don’t want to. We’re just making our brains do something new to stop overthinking and clear out the gunk.

Let your brain have some damn fun. It’s allowed.

Here’s the big one, though.

You can declutter all day long — your desk, your brain, your calendar — but if you’re not clear on what really matters to you? You’re just shuffling chaos around.

Getting clear on your core values is like having a mental compass. It’s what helps you know, “Hey, this thing I’ve been obsessing about for the past 45 minutes? It’s not actually a priority.”

Your values help filter the noise.

So how do you find yours?

• Ask yourself: When do I feel most like me?
• What drains me vs. what lights me up?
• What would I fight for on a Tuesday at 2pm with no coffee in my system?

You can also use core values exercises. Make a list. Circle your top five. Journal about them. See what keeps coming up again and again.

When you know your values, you start to see what can be cleared out — the people-pleasing, the perfectionism, the distractions — and what gets to stay.

So here’s what I want you to do today, okay?

Set a timer for 10 minutes.

Open a journal, a Google doc, your Notes app, the back of a receipt — whatever works.

And just write.

Dump your thoughts. Scribble. Ramble. Complain about your inbox. Quote a movie. Just get it out.

And then — take a breath. Look at the chaos on the page. That’s you showing up for yourself.

You don’t have to fix everything today. But you can start. One drawer, one sentence, one silly doodle at a time.

If today’s episode helped you feel even a little more clear or calm, I’d love to hear about it! Come hang out with me on Instagram @that_weirdnerdymom or join us for our Monday coworking sessions — where we get stuff done, share weird tangents, and absolutely refuse to pretend we’ve got our lives 100% together.

You’re not broken, friend. You’re just living in a world that wasn’t built for your brain.

Let’s build our own damn world — one decluttered thought at a time.

Until next time — bring out your weird.

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Read all of my blog posts about organizing.