Neurology Insights, Neurology Tips

The Hidden Connection Between Organization and Your Brain

Happy old woman, cleaning and folding laundry in home for housekeeping or hygiene maintenance. Housework, person and fabric in basket for chores, morning routine and organizing clothes in retirement

“I spend more time looking for things than actually working…” 

“Every time I get organized, I feel like I can finally breathe again.” 

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed and scattered without knowing why or found yourself unable to focus even on simple tasks, there is still hope! Neuroscience has shown that simple organizational changes can restore your mental clarity and can even protect your brain as you age.

In fact, staying organized impacts our daily lives far more than most of us realize. Studies show that established routines and healthy daily habits can positively impact our stress levels, sleep quality, and even our long-term cognitive health.

This is especially important for individuals living with neurological conditions, who may find that disorganization leads to symptoms like brain fog, fatigue, or difficulty concentrating.

How Organization and Clutter Impact the Brain

Think about the last time you deleted photos from your phone. Scrolling through thousands of random pictures makes it harder to find the ones that matter, and the device can even slow down as a result. But once you clear out the duplicates and clutter, everything runs more smoothly and efficiently.

Our brains work the same way. When you reduce disorganization, you free up mental “storage space” for focus, memory, and clear thinking. 

I like to tell my patients, when you clear off your desk, think of it as clearing space in your mind, too! Tidying up your surroundings reduces cognitive overload and strengthens your brain’s connections, enhancing your ability to plan and focus. All while reducing stress and freeing up mental energy for clearer thinking and better problem-solving.

On the flip side, disorganization floods your brain with visual distractions and decision fatigue. Simple distractions, such as too many items on a desk or too many tabs open on the computer, subconsciously alert the mind that there’s more to take care of on the back burner. This triggers the release of the stress hormone cortisol and keeps your nervous system in chronic low-grade stress. And cortisol can act as a poison to the nervous system when it comes to memory, focus, and attention. We all remember that sixth-grade book report that we were hurt and were able to do quite well in front of our parents the night before the presentation. But the next day, with the anxiety and stress, we fumbled over our words and had to use our cue cards. The only difference was stress/cortisol, which blocked memory and focus. That happens to each and every one of us every single day.

Allowing this low-grade stress to simmer in the background inevitably leads to symptoms such as brain fog, difficulty concentrating, poor sleep, and persistent mental fatigue that can drag you down all day long.

Brain Changes from Disorganization

If you feel it has become increasingly challenging to “keep up” and process and retain new information, it’s not just in your head! In today’s modern world, we are all faced with a plethora of information at our fingertips, and we are not just combating our physically cluttered environment but also digital clutter.

Between social media notifications, stacks of paperwork, juggling multiple appointments, and keeping up with personal and professional commitments, the brain becomes overloaded simply trying to process all these competing demands.

And when our brains suffer, our health suffers too. Constant low-grade stress from disorganization has been linked to chronic stress and conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and a suppressed immune system. In my arthritis book, I talk about “psychoneuroimmunology,” which simply means how we feel affects how we feel. Our emotions affect our nervous system, but more importantly, our immune system. This blocks our immune response and can lead to illness or slow recovery from an illness.

The good news is that science has confirmed what many of us feel intuitively – that clearing clutter significantly improves focus and the ability to process new information. Whether it is placing boundaries on the amount of information and news you consume, or minimizing the visual clutter in your space, refining what your brain is exposed to on a day-to-day basis can be just what your brain needs to feel its best.

Neurological Conditions Affected by Organization

Some individuals are particularly susceptible to disorganization or chaos, and often struggle to find ways to stay in control of the day-to-day. Neurological differences can make it harder for individuals to plan, prioritize, and maintain order, while also causing them to react more strongly to clutter and disorder.

In fact, organizational struggles often overlap with specific brain network dysfunctions, like ADHD, Dementia, and Anxiety.

ADHD

Patients with ADHD often struggle with planning, prioritization, and organization. This leads to distraction, misplaced items, and a lack of structure in daily routine.

Understanding this neurological difference can help create realistic organizational strategies that work with, rather than against, how the ADHD brain functions. And following the mantra, “OHIO”: Only Handle It Once, can help avoid future clutter by taking care of things as they come up.

Dementia & Cognitive Decline

Brain imaging shows that the prefrontal cortex – the brain’s executive center – is among the first affected in Alzheimer’s disease. This makes it difficult to keep orderly surroundings, the very thing that can help reduce agitation and preserve independence.

Anxiety & Depression

For individuals with anxiety and depression, clutter fuels feelings of overwhelm and loss of control. This helplessness is driven by elevated cortisol levels, which worsen mood symptoms and can compound other daily challenges.

Strategies for Optimizing Brain Function

Fortunately, you don’t need to become a professional organizer to see these brain benefits. Research shows that even small organizational changes can provide significant improvements in focus, stress levels, and overall cognitive function.

Here are just a few evidence-based strategies that can help you gain the benefits of an organized mind:

Clear Your Space & Schedule

Do your items have a designated space in your home or office?

Reducing and eliminating visual clutter has been shown to free up working memory. Designating “homes” and spaces for frequently used items, documents, and more can help reduce the constant searching and alleviate the cognitive burden associated with that activity.

Additionally, incorporating “downtime” in between a busy schedule has been shown to have cognitive benefits, too. This downtime can serve as a space to get organized, take a moment for yourself, and recharge to come back better with new ideas and goals.

I tell my patients to just start with one drawer! One patient told me that clearing her junk drawer gave her the first sense of accomplishment she’d felt in months, which motivated her to tackle other areas of her life.

Task Management Tools

Trying to remember endless tasks and commitments can be a significant contributor to stress levels. Free up your mental storage space by utilizing tools to offload tasks and clear your mind. Finding a method that works for you can be a great way to reduce mental strain. I find that a write on/wipe off calendar can be helpful for organizing work activities in one color, home activities in another color, and social activities in the third color. This makes everything easier to identify at a glance.

Consider doing a “brain dump” at the end of the day via a note or an email for the following day. And be careful with apps, as some can make things even more complicated!

Create Routines and Habits

Creating routines offloads mental effort and can actually strengthen the brain’s executive function and directly lower stress. Consider blocking off chunks of time for specific activities, like scheduling appointments or even meals. When you adopt a morning or evening routine, it can reduce decision fatigue and help you develop better habits, making organization feel automatic.

Focus & Avoid Multitasking

Despite what we’ve been led to believe, the brain doesn’t do well at balancing multiple tasks simultaneously. What feels like multitasking is actually rapid task-switching that drains mental energy and increases mistakes. Studies show that multitasking can increase error rates by up to 50% and leave you feeling mentally exhausted.

Techniques like the Pomodoro method, which involves working in focused 25-minute intervals with short breaks, have been shown to help the brain sustain attention and avoid overload. Following the concept of “one and done” can be very satisfying and leads to less stress and a great sense of accomplishment.

Organization is a form of self-care for the brain. By reducing clutter and building simple systems, you protect long-term cognitive health and improve daily function. Start small, be consistent, and remember that every organized space and mind is a step toward better health!

A Message From Dr. Kandel

“Everything we do, as well as everything we don’t do, has an impact on our brain, our mental, and our physical health. So it’s important that we’re mindful of the little things and big things that we do. Take a moment, step back, and see if you are keeping yourself focused and organized, or if you’re trying to do too much at all times of the day. Look back at the end of the day and take stock of what you have actually fully accomplished versus what you have left incompletely finished. If you find that you are starting, but not finishing many things, it’s time to figure out a way for you to get things done. And don’t be afraid to ask for help. None of us are experts in everything. I have recently personally discovered ChatGPT. This has been a fantastic way for me to quickly and effectively create schedules of tasks that I can actually accomplish. This may not be the perfect tool for you, but you need to find what works for you and then be consistent.

Here’s to looking forward to a calm and healthy mind!”

Dr. Joseph Kandel portrait

Joseph Kandel, MD

Board Certified Neurologist
Serving Naples and Fort Myers, FL

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