If you've ever walked around your home and thought something along the lines of: "shoot, I forgot to do that" or "how am I not able to keep up." You're not alone. When looking around the home of someone with a startup (and ADHD), you'll notice a couple of things...

1. Half started projects everywhere

2. Miscellaneous piles of clutter

3. No clear organization system

4. Running around the house trying to find keys that you swear you left on that table

That person is me, and that person is many of the clients that I work with at RIT's Center for Urban Entrepreneurship. Whether or not you have a diagnosis, the issue is the same, it can be very difficult to start a small business and maintain the home--especially if you are the head of your household, if you live alone, or even if you always get the short end of the stick on the unspoken chore chart. So, how do our spaces get cluttered so quickly, and how do we prevent this? What is the effect that it has on our productivity as founders? Keep reading, and hopefully you'll find just the thing for you to try.

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Over the past couple of weeks, I seem not be able to pull away from home organization and extreme cleaning videos on YouTube. Whether it’s watching Midwest Magic Cleaning completely transform a cluttered space, or watching Clutter Bug implement professional home organization systems. Both of these channels are a super fun watch, and may even get you to get up and clean your house with them--especially if body doubling is a hack that works for you! Body doubling is the act of having someone in the room doing the same thing as you, or even just being present as a means to curate motivation to do a task--it is especially popular in the neurodivergent community, and I have found it works great for ADHD symptoms. You can give body doubling a try or simply learn something new about home organization below:

https://www.youtube.com/@MidwestMagicCleaning https://www.youtube.com/@Clutterbug In addition to the above creators, I've been reflecting on the lectures I’ve heard on consumer behavior (shoutout to Dr. Vollmer) specifically relating to the culture of consumption in America, which got thinking about the connections between why we psychologically feel the need to:

• consume

• save more belongings than we need

• how the art of home organization affects our mood

• how we can shift our purchasing behavior (as a means of clutter prevention)

More importantly, how the organization of a home affects the ability to maintain motivation when working on your small business. Let's break it down, as once we better understand the root causes to our consumption, we can better prevent an influx of items coming in and collecting dust in our spaces.

Why do you consume?

Let's take a look at your consumption process, as it can help explain a lot of emotional motives for people purchasing products. Sometimes these decisions are backed by:

• logical reasoning

• the feeling of nostalgia

• cultural significance

Maybe you can resonate with the above explanations, but what about others? When looking at the extreme cases of Hoarding Disorder (HD) or Compulsive Buying-Shopping Disorder (CBSD), these purchasing motives are pushed to an extreme that is self-destructive, so what’s the motive to make a purchase or keep things in those instances? In a study focusing on the motives of acquiring and saving objects in the home, they explain that modern consumer culture has a role in this, but there is statistical significance to the emotions behind these purchases (Jonathan et al., 2024). Typically, those emotions are tied to:

• avoidance of issues

• coping with negative emotions

• fear of making mistakes (Jonathan et al., 2024)

Therefore, the trend of avoidance behavior helps to mask the correlation between compulsive buying and the state of the home. My theory is that the avoidance is then reinforced through operant conditioning, which is when there is a reward or consequence to our actions, as the positive emotions surrounding the acquisition of new items reinforce the self-destructive behaviors seen in HD or CBSD.

The art of minimalism

To achieve a fuller understanding of the effects that extreme over-consumption has on the consumer, we have to get to know the other side of the spectrum–minimalism. Minimalism originated with Messrs Bell and Irwin with California “Light and Space” art back in the 1960s (The Economist, 2018). Today, minimalism has been readapted to a variety of media beyond art; in this context, it has been applied to the home as well. A study looking into the effects of minimalism and well-being highlights that minimalism in the home, opposed to materialism, it can help:

• clear the mind

• reduce the average time spent cleaning the home

• allocate more time for social engagement

• focus and productivity

• give time for practicing hobbies and other recreational activities (Jain et al., 2023)

Thus, rather than using consumerism as a means of positive reinforcement, or even an emotional outlet, as seen in the studies on HD and CBSD, minimalism can help create other avenues of releasing energy rather than keeping it pent up within our personal space, continuing to remind us of all the things we are ignoring. So, how does minimalism shift the consumer perspective? According to aforementioned studies, minimalistic thinking when purchasing leads to more intentional decisions and these intentional decisions have a high correlation to sustainably conscious purchases (Jain et al., 2023). Thus, people are purchasing items with a deeper understanding of purpose in their private environments, but for the natural environment as well. On the contrary, extreme consumerism would be the opposite of this, where things are bought without thinking critically about their purpose, longevity, or frequency of use, among other factors. Consequently, those who are engaging in consumerism routinely could be more likely to have clutter build-up in their homes and show symptoms of HD or CBSD. 

4 ways to reduce clutter and enhance minimalistic values

Using the opposing extremes of the consumerism spectrum, we can start to identify where we fall along that line. Towards the end of the 2025 holiday season, the Wall Street Journal put out a post with tips for working towards a minimalistic lifestyle; however, I view it more as strategies to get you closer to the median of the consumerism spectrum, rather than jumping to another extreme lifestyle--as harsh changes tend to push us away from positive habit changes. Below are 4 ways to reduce clutter in your home this spring cleaning season.

1. the "Steve Jobs" methodology

A lot of these tips center around purchasing and purging with intentionality, with suggestions pulling on the “Steve Jobs” methodology, where you maintain a certain number of items in one category–so if one goes out, you get permission to purchase a new one (Achara, 2026). Steve Jobs was also notorious for having the five of the same outfit hung in a row in his closet, which was specifically meant to reduce the amount of menial decisions he made on a daily basis. However, as someone who is a fashion-holic, applying it that way takes away joy rather than add to it. Thinking about an aspect of your daily life that doesn't matter as much to you and simplifying the process is another great way to put this. If you like to drink tea, but you only reach for green over black, it's time to give the other brews away and stick to what is simple.

2. Avoid boredom shopping or dopamine shopping

This is one a lot of us fall victim to, and it's turning to the Amazon shopping cart the same way that you may turn to the fridge just to feel something. The idea here is instead of purchasing anything out of boredom, you start your shopping experience with a goal in mind that way you purchase what you intended to buy rather than make an inpulse decision (Archara, 2026). If you go to Wegmans to get toilet paper, salt, and pasta you should leave with those 3 items on that list, everything else should go back on the shelf--you decided what is a "need" versus a "want" before you even step into the door.

3. Realistically > idealistically

This one seems simple, but it can be challenging especially when many marketing campaigns frame their products as something that will help you become the shining ideal version of yourself. Purchasing realistically rather than idealistically is when we purchase with our current life in mind rather than the one we aspire to have, we start to purchase things that we use on a daily-basis (Archana, 2026). Will you consistently set aside 10 minutes and drink a cafe espresso every morning, or will you be enthralled by that fancy machine for the first week and not touch it again until your next stay-cation? Know yourself, and don't view those products with rose-tinted glasses the way that those companies push you to do.

4. The Swedish "death cleaning"

This is probably my favorite tip, the Swedish death cleaning. This concept stems from the idea of: Am I leaving behind treasures or trash for my loved ones when I die (Archana, 2026). This doesn't mean to only purchase only high-ticket items, moreso I would frame it this way:

"When I pass, will my loved ones use/showcase this and think of me, or will they donate/sell/throw it away?" While the question is morbid, it gets us to think about our purchases in a different light, and I believe the combination of the latter tips can help us fill our homes with pieces that are high in practicality or genuine value.   

I would suggest trying one of the techniques that resonates with you the most for one week and see how you feel. If the trial period didn't stick, I would suggest trying something else, or doing further research to see what techniques could work best for you. A great place to start for personalized organization strategy is by taking Clutterbug's organization style quiz below: https://clutterbug.me/what-clutterbug-are-you-test

Overall, looking at the extremes has given me some peace with the current state of my apartment, but additionally, a direction to head towards for self-improvement--and I hope it can for you too. While dropping off bags at Goodwill can feel nice, it doesn’t solve the root of the issues, which are grounded in emotional avoidance, the lack of emotional outlets, and even sleeping habits. As consumers, if we can learn to be more conscious in our purchases, we do ourselves a huge favor–and the environment can benefit simultaneously.

References

Achara, E. (2026, January 24). OFF DUTY --- Style & Fashion: Use It All Up: A Guide to The New Minimalism --- Aiming to own less stuff in 2026? Three decluttering trends to try, including a makeup challenge and the not-so-grim practice of “Swedish death cleaning.” ProQuest. https://www.proquest.com/docview/3296609197/64E38BE4F4C5494CPQ/1?accountid=108&sourcetype=Newspapers 

Jain, V. K., Gupta, A., & Verma, H. (2023). Goodbye materialism: exploring antecedents of minimalism and its impact on millennials well-being. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-023-03437-0 

Jonathan, D., Forbes, M., & Norberg, M. (2024). Development and validation of the Acquiring and Saving Motives Questionnaires: For use in clinical and nonclinical populations - APA PsycArticles®. ProQuest. https://www.proquest.com/psycarticles/docview/2933048627/684BE080656A4E0APQ/1?accountid=108&sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals   Museum of Contemporary Art Helga De Alvear. (2021, August 30). Light and Space Group. Museum of Contemporay Art Helga de Alvear.

https://www.museohelgadealvear.com/en/una-obra-en-tu-casa-la-bahia-azul-de-larry-bell/

The Economist. (2018, January 31). In the 1960s, Californian artists became masters of light and space. The Economist. https://www.economist.com/prospero/2018/01/31/in-the-1960s-californian-artists-became-masters-of-light-and-space