Organizing Your Life with a Brain Injury

These books are highly recommended to help people organize and declutter.

By Eliza Marie Somers

Having an organized home is more than being able to find your keys or phone with ease. Studies reveal a tidy home can reduce stress, enhance creativity, improve focus and productivity, while boosting self-esteem and improving sleep quality.

In addition, clutter increases levels of the stress hormone cortisol by subjecting us to chronic stress. Our brains like order, and visual clutter can create cognitive overload and reduce working memory – something brain injury survivors know and experience first-hand. 

• For more on how clutter creates stress

Dealing with clutter was the subject of the Brain Injury Hope Foundation’s March 14, 2025, Survivor Series: Organizing Your Life with a Brain Injury with BIHF Vice President Joanne Cohen and professional organizer Tamara Lutz. 

Cohen started the Survivor Series with a look at the Limited Capacity Model – a pie chart – that illustrates the amount of energy reserves a TBI survivor possesses at the end of a normal day vs. an individual who has a healthy brain.

She pointed out that those with a TBI have to use a lot of reserves just to live our lives and at the end of the day, the reserves are a slim slice of the pie, while those with a healthy brain have almost half of their energy reserves still available. 

“I don’t know about you, but this is about my pie reserves right here,” Cohen explained, “and so part of keeping my reserves is to try to, as much as I can, to keep my life and my home organized.

“I know that for me personally, when I was busy running two businesses and my whole life before I retired my office was a flipping mess …It would end up stressing me out.”

Illustrating that the stress that comes with visual clutter is real, and can be debilitating. 

Lutz, who likes to have “order in her life,” said the issue is when you have brain injury, it’s not always your strength to declutter and to keep order in your life. 

“I think the purpose-driven action takes a lot of brain power,” Lutz explained, “and that pie chart is such a great visual because action takes a lot of brain power. Someone who’s sustained a brain injury, hopefully, after organizing can use more of their brain power on what matters to them and not spend so much time and energy maybe looking for things that are lost or shuffling through things to find something that’s just been misplaced.”

How to Start Decluttering

Starting a decluttering project can be so overwhelming it triggers coping and avoidance strategies that make people snack on junk food and/or watch TV instead of tackling the problem.

Professional organizer Tamara Lutz says starting with small projects that are not emotionally charged, such as a spice rack, can help kick start your decluttering.

Lutz and Cohen suggest starting with a small project such as a drawer or breaking down larger projects into smaller tasks. And to realized that some decluttering projects are more emotional than others, such as family photos or clothes versus the spice rack or medicine cabinet. These emotionally charged tasks will require more brain power, so prepare yourself. 

“I think you can start with a really small area that you aren’t that invested in. Something that is kind of neutral, and then you get a pace going,” Lutz explained. “So, it’ll be easier to tackle the areas that are more high-voltage emotionally.” 

It’s also OK to set a timer and work just for 15-20 minutes, take a break, and then go back to the task at hand or start another small project or pick up the task another day. It’s about honoring your well-being, as energy ebbs and flows from day to day. 

10 Tips to Guide Your Organizing

Cohen and Lutz shared a document, “Let’s Get Organized: 10 Simple Projects for a More Efficient Home in 2025,”(Contributed by OliviaRealtor@gmail.com) to help people plan their mission to organize their life. You can download the PDF here.

1. Create a Command Center 
2. Set Up a Donation Box
3. Organized the Entryway
4. Refresh Your Wardrobe
5. Clear the Digital Clutter 
6. Organize Your Kitchen Pantry
7. Create A Relaxation Zone
8. Maximize Storage in the Bathroom
9. Plan a Home Maintenance Schedule
10.  Sort Through Sentimental Items

The command center is where you have your calendar, the to-do list, a place for mail and a place for your keys.

Setting up a donation box can help you discard items you come across that no longer serve you. It’s also a reminder that you are in a decluttering mode. 

“Giving is receiving and receiving is giving,” Cohen said. “If it’s something that is no longer serving you or that it’s causing stress in your home… Donate it. What you don’t want can be someone else’s treasure.”

The entryway can be furnished with bins and baskets to corral bags, coats, books. It can also be the place you hang your keys. Make your organization project work for you. 

Refreshing you wardrobe or clearing out your closets can be one of the more emotional tasks. We can become attached to our clothing, be it an outfit worn to a special occasion or a piece of clothing gifted to you. 

Cohen related a time years ago when she worked with a person on a business wardrobe and after the person left, she broke out in hives. 

“Half of my clothes ended up on the floor. I was emotionally attached to those clothes,” Cohen explained. “That’s my favorite T-shirt, or someone gave me that, and that’s my favorite… I did take it all and got rid of it, but it just reminded me of something that was emotional at times. … And, yet, when you get to the other side of it, it’s just a really wonderful feeling.” 

• Owning less leads to a happier and more meaningful life

Clothing to ditch include items that no longer fit, outdated clothing and things you don’t wear anymore. 

“Let it go,” Cohen said. “There are so many people that could really enjoy something that you already used and haven’t worn in a year or longer.”

Digital clutter includes those old VHS movies, which really don’t last more than 10 years. Or if you have family videos, you can get them remastered onto DVDs. Clean out your email inbox, ditch those apps you don’t use, and free up space for a faster computer, tablet or phone. 

The kitchen pantry is a good place to start that is not so emotionally charged. Get rid of expired items – spices should be refreshed yearly – do you really want to use that dill from five years ago? 

“I find that putting tall things in the back so I can see them is so helpful,” Lutz said. “Use clear containers so you can see what’s inside. Store spaghetti sauce with the pasta, so you don’t have to work so hard and can quickly grab the things you are looking for to make a meal.”

When grocery shopping have a non-grocery list – these are items you have on hand and don’t need to buy. 

“I had a great time with Joanne with this,” Lutz said. “We ended up laughing a lot.”

“Yeah, she made me a list like no spaghetti sauce, no tuna,” Cohen said. “No more of this or that. I had food that I didn’t even know that I had. … And it saves you a bunch of money because you are not buying things you don’t need or throwing away expired items.”

Creating a place to relax is important for all of us and especially those with brain fatigue. It doesn’t have to be a big space; it can be a little nook that remains free of clutter. A place to read a book or savor a cup of tea. 

“That’s your place when you want to relax and just come down from the day,” Cohen said. 

The bathroom and linen closet can easily become cluttered with small samples from a hotel, worn out towels and outdated medications.

“If you are not using those little sample soaps, they are just piling up,” Lutz said. “It can become a menace. It’s really great to go through and take everything out and get rid of things you are not using.” 

• Time for a Kondo Clean-out? What clutter does to your brain and body
  https://theconversation.com/time-for-a-kondo-clean-out-heres-what-clutter-does-to-your-brain-and-body-109947
• Gradual decluttering Gradual Decluttering – The Easy Way to Declutter Your Entire Home – Declutter in Minutes

Planning a home maintenance schedule is really important as it keeps your large appliances in tip-top working order, and can save you money on repairs. Schedule an air conditioner and furnace cleaning before the weather changes. Clean out those gutters before it snows, etc. 

• Home maintenance checklist https://www.bhg.com/home-improvement/advice/home-maintenance-checklist/

Sentimental items can be extremely taxing on the brain, and can pile up as you keep putting off decluttering.

Lutz suggests keeping one or two items, and taking photos of the rest.

“Maybe it’s your children’s artwork, decide what you want to display,” Lutz said. She also mentioned rotating the items on display. 

Another way to keep special items is to have them mounted in deep shadow box frames. These allow an easy and organized way to admire your sentimental treasures. 

Books to Help You Stay on Track

One of Lutz’s favorite books is “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up,” by Marie Kondo. 

“There’s a lot of books out there, but I love this one because it’s short,” she said. “It’s only 200 pages. And I love her light, humorous, sweet style. It’s not about guilt or beating yourself up.” 

One idea Lutz likes is sorting things by category. People tend to often store the same thing in more than one place. “Get it all in one place, so you don’t have gobs of the same items all over the house, and think you only have a small amount when you really have five times that amount all over the house.” 

Paper clutter is another big item that Kondo covers in her book. Lutz said most of the paper we have we don’t need, and that she uses shredding services instead of using her time to shred papers. 

Cohen labels boxes of paper by year, so that after the mandatory seven years of tax documents you need on hand, she grabs a box that’s ready to go and takes it to a shredding service. 

One of Cohen’s favorite decluttering books is “The Home Edit” by Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin. It has lots of photos showing effective ways of storing items, and how to use them effectively. There’s also a corresponding workbook that gives prompts and activities to “contain the chaos.” 

Speaking of containing items, Lutz said you don’t have to spend $200 on containers, rather use items you have around the house. You also can find great containers at dollar stores or even thrift stores.

How to Choose a Professional Organizer

Rates for professional organizers vary widely, and some of us just don’t have the money to spend on such a luxury. Cohen suggests bartering or asking a friend or family member for help. Maybe you can cook dinner for them in exchange for their help. 

• Seven methods of decluttering I’m a Decluttering Expert: Here Are My 7 Favorite Methods or https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/organizing/a64179214/favourite-declutter-methods/
• Decluttering checklist and easy things to toss right now Declutter Checklist: Everything You Can Toss Immediately or https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/organizing/a63385949/declutter-checklist/
• How to declutter room by room https://www.thespruce.com/how-to-declutter-your-home-2648002

If you hire an organizer, make sure the professional fits your style and understands brain fatigue. There are many different styles of decluttering, and what worked for your friend may not work for you. Explore different avenues of decluttering and don’t give up.

“When someone contacts me for help, I know that they are ready,” Lutz said. “The first thing I tell them is that you are the CEO. I’m here as your partner. I’ll work with you and be your co-pilot, but you are the only one that can truly decide what appropriate to keep. I can’t decide that for anyone else. I can give you tools, examples, but in the end, they are only suggestions.” 

Lutz said when you hire someone make sure they know you are in control and that the professional will not run over you with a bulldozer, and start grabbing your possessions and tossing it without your input. 

You also don’t want to feel shame about the clutter that has accumulated over the years. 

“You want to work with someone who’s going to be a partner and to work with how your brain functions,” Lutz said. “Because when that person leaves, if you don’t have a part in doing this you’re not going to know where anything is.” 

Another reason you want to be a part in the decluttering process is that staying organized is a life-long endeavor, and working with a pro can help you understand and implement the decluttering process on your own. 

“Start the ball rolling by just doing one small thing” Lutz said. “And I have found that I don’t mind cleaning as much now because it is faster. So, I have more free time.” 

And remember your clutter didn’t accumulate overnight, and it won’t disappear overnight. Don’t let guilt or shame infiltrate your mind. Focus on progress, and celebrate the small wins.