Brilliant Women Who Keep Clutter Everywhere Usually Have These 11 Reasons
They're not lazy, they're busy.
PeopleImages | Shutterstock Living and dealing with constant clutter is especially harmful for women, according to therapist Elizabeth Earnshaw, not only because they often bear the burden of "fixing" the mess, but also because it heightens their cortisol levels, which drastically impact their general mood, well-being, and stress levels. Of course, dealing with the clutter, addressing its root cause, and creating better habits for managing it would be the key.
Unfortunately, many brilliant women who struggle with clutter everywhere have reasons that make that task harder. Whether it's feeling more creative amid the mess or multitasking constantly to meet demands, often at the expense of efficiency and focus, these women aren't "lazy," they just struggle with managing tasks that can be easily overlooked.
Brilliant women who struggle with clutter everywhere usually have these 11 reasons
1. They're more creative than organized
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According to a study from Psychological Science, working in a messy room is often incredibly beneficial for creative people, helping them to brainstorm new ideas and lean into the chaos of innovation without fear.
Compared to a tidy space, brilliant women who struggle with clutter everywhere find space to be creative wherever they want.
2. They grew up in messy homes
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While many adult children who grew up in messy, cluttered, or "hoarding" situations at home with their parents tend to lean to the other end of the spectrum as they get older — grasping control through cleaning to cope with the feelings they had no choice with as kids — these women may be sticking to what's comfortable.
They know how to operate in a messy home and may even find a bit of comfort in living among clutter, like they did when they were kids. For the same reason, a woman with unresolved childhood trauma may choose an unhealthy partner that resembles the struggles she faced as a child. This struggle with clutter can come about under similar circumstances.
3. They're burnt out
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Brilliant women who struggle with clutter everywhere may be dealing with burnout. Whether it's from their job, family responsibilities at home, caregiving, or another emotionally exhausting situation, being burnt out often can make basic executive functioning necessary for basic household labor and chores that much more difficult, as a study from Brain Sciences suggests.
It's a cycle. Burnout often causes a lack of energy and motivation to complete basic household tasks, but the clutter that accumulates as a result of that also overloads our brains and causes more stress. The more these women miss out on the true rest they need to heal their exhaustion, the more this cycle continues.
4. They feel guilty throwing things away
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Many people who keep unnecessary clutter in their homes and live with a million things scattered around sometimes feel guilty throwing things away. Whether it's gifts they don't use, wasted food, or even clothes that no longer fit, a lot of the clutter they're constantly dealing with is wasting space.
Especially if it's a sentimental item or something that's still technically usable, it's hard for some people to part ways, which is why brilliant women tend to struggle with clutter everywhere for this reason.
5. They're ashamed of the mess
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According to a study from the Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, many people are naturally avoidant when it comes to shame. Whether it's a messy home they're embarrassed about or a topic they don't understand, they naturally avoid talking about or addressing it to cope with internal turmoil.
The same is true for women who struggle with clutter everywhere. They're ashamed of their messes and often struggle to actually address the root cause of their problem or the cleaning habits needed to manage it.
6. Their work adds meaning and value to their life
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Brilliant women who struggle with clutter everywhere may simply be fulfilled in another aspect of life, like in their career. They spend so much time out of the house or working on projects that bring meaning to their life that when they come home, the last thing they want to address is the mess.
Even if this clutter is actually sabotaging the cognitive skills and attention span that these women need to thrive in the other parts of their lives, it's a lot easier to ignore these tasks in favor of the work that actually brings them meaning, joy, and purpose.
7. They don't know how to manage it
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We're often taught unsuspecting adult habits like cleaning rituals from our parents, which is why teaching and expecting kids to do chores at home growing up is so influential. Not only does it teach them accountability, self-worth, and responsibility, but it also teaches them the tangible skills necessary to maintain a clean house themselves in adulthood.
Brilliant women who struggle with clutter everywhere may have never had the opportunity to learn these skills. Whether they grew up in a household where all the chores were done for them or even in a home where the chores were overlooked by the parents themselves, they're unsure of how to manage the clutter, especially as it becomes a chronic issue in their busy schedule.
8. They're not minimalists
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While a minimalist often controls the material things they bring into their home and maintains a relatively bare minimum kind of space, brilliant women who struggle with clutter may prefer maximalism. It's not necessarily bad cleaning habits that sabotage their space, but the sheer volume of things — whether it's clothes, furniture, or gadgets — in their homes.
They find a lot of meaning in their things and appreciate the self-expression filling their homes brings, but it doesn't bolster the experience of living alongside clutter all the time.
9. They're still working on themselves internally
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Whether it's dealing with unresolved trauma or building up their own self-esteem, sometimes when brilliant women are focused on healing themselves internally, the external environment hasn't had a chance to catch up. Their brains are so focused on the emotional nature of healing that they simply don't have the capacity for anything else — cleaning up clutter included.
Vulnerability and healing are interlinked, but opening up, especially when you're not used to it, can be draining at first. So, it's not surprising that brilliant women who struggle with clutter everywhere usually have these reasons.
10. They live in their heads
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Whether it's an anxious overthinking ritual or simply living as an introvert inside their own minds, brilliant women who struggle with clutter everywhere may be too focused on what's happening internally to manage their external space.
You've probably been there before, dealing with emotional turmoil and getting lost in the spiral of your own thoughts. For some women, that's their everyday life — they have to make an intentional effort with rituals and practices to get out of their own head and back into their bodies to complete basic tasks like a chore.
11. They're always multitasking
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According to clinical neuropsychologist Jennifer E. Davis, multitasking often reduces efficiency for the average person, even if it seems like a productive way to spend their time. So, if a brilliant woman is trying to take a work call, make dinner, and clean up, chances are something is going to go unnoticed.
Brilliant women who struggle with clutter may be chronic multitaskers. They have a busy schedule and a million responsibilities, so they hardly make time for cleaning up at home. Or, at the very least, they're multitasking through it in ways that don't address the root cause of the issue.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a senior editorial strategist with a bachelor's degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.
