Clearing Mental Clutter: Letting Go of Small Habits That Take Up Too Much Space

I had to break my streak for the sake of my soul.

Too dramatic? Possibly. But honestly, it needed to happen. My very impressive streak had to come to an end—for my own good.

What streak? My 193-conseutive-gold-stars-completing-the-daily-New-York-Times-Crossword-every-day streak. That tells you a few things about me: a) I love wordplay and puzzles, b) I am overly motivated by gold stars (note to self: a topic for counseling), and c) finishing the puzzle every. single. day had become a true habit. Just ask my mostly patient, non-crosswording husband.

So, why’d I have to break the streak?

I needed to declutter my mind to reclaim mental space for what was more important.

Have you ever looked around your home and thought, “How did all this stuff get here?” Maybe it’s the growing pile of books you swear you’ll read one day, a junk drawer that barely closes, your counter space that is rapidly being overtaken by cool gadgets, or the pile of new clothes in the chair waiting to be hung. It’s stuff you didn’t notice piling up…until it’s everywhere.

Now, you just want a peaceful place to rest, relax, reflect, and reconnect with yourself and God. But everywhere you look you see stuff that needs your attention. The little piles and stacks and projects have eaten away your space until there’s no room for your peace of mind. You realize you have to declutter.

It’s not that all the stuff we accumulate is bad—whether it’s a gadget or a daily crossword habit. In fact, it may have been helpful or enjoyable at one point. Over time, those things we brought into our lives to make them better or to solve problems start to become problems themselves, taking up mental space and energy that we need for what really matters to us.

I’ve noticed the same thing happens in my mind.

I can feel scattered, unfocused, defeated, or sometimes overwhelmed for a bunch of reasons. One thing I’ve started to pay attention to more is how the little things—optional stuff—consume my mental energy. More often, I’m asking myself, What is cluttering my mind or heart, making it feel so hard to just be with Jesus, or even myself?

The mental clutter that we hold onto can feel small and inconsequential, but it is actually quite costly: The internal space and energy that we need for deeper connection with God, others, and ourselves is exhausted, spent on that which doesn’t really matter to us in the long run. Before we know it, our tired souls don’t have a peaceful place to sit and rest.

Often, it’s an accumulation of little things—though they’re not sinful or ‘wrong’—that are consuming our time or energy and eating away at our internal space, leaving us drained and disconnected.

There’s a powerful metaphor in Song of Solomon 2:15 (NASB) that speaks to this:

“Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that are ruining the vineyards, while our vineyards are in blossom.”

For me, keeping up a crossword streak (along with several other little habits) had become some of those “little foxes.” What started as a fun daily break became something I had to keep up with, taking up too much mental space. Instead of winding down and spending a few minutes reflecting with Jesus before bed as I wanted to, I’d reach for my phone to make sure I didn’t lose my streak. That little habit was consuming the mental space I wanted to hold for God. It had to go, as a step toward decluttering my mind and reclaiming room for the real life I desire.

What about you? What’s taking up your mental space?

What could you declutter? What intentions, ideas, ideals, or routines are you holding onto that are using up energy unnecessarily? What small habits can you let go of to make more room for deeper connection with God, others, or yourself? Take a few minutes to consider what optional tasks or ideas are busying your mind, or what formerly helpful habits are now adding weight instead of value. Where are there opportunities to declutter your mental space by saying goodbye to a thing or two?

When it comes to decluttering our living space, we can dive headlong into a frenzied, all-or-nothing, “We’re getting rid of EVERYTHING!” overhaul. Or we might just shut down because it all feels too overwhelming even though we know it needs to be done, and we can’t even. Either way, it’s exhausting.

The same all-or-nothing thinking can make decluttering our mind feel overwhelming, too, which only adds to the mental energy drain.

Instead, we can invite the Holy Spirit to help us notice one thing at a time—one piece of mental clutter we can let go of. Sometimes He will lead us away from something entirely, never to be picked up again, as a means of restoring our souls. Sometimes He will help us put things into order differently. He knows what’s draining us the most (ever more than we do), and we can trust Him to gently guide us to places of peace and rest with Him (Psalm 23).

What little habits do you notice taking up mental space that you can declutter? 

(P.S. After taking a significant break, I still do the New York Times Crossword regularly. It is fun again and I don’t feel driven to keep up the streak—I save the streaks for Duolingo 😂.)