Why Art Journaling for Mental Decluttering Works Wonders
The reason why art journaling is a powerful tool for mental decluttering is because mental decluttering should always come before you tackle decluttering your physical stuff.
A Beautiful First Step Toward a Clutter-Free Life
When people feel stuck in clutter — buried under piles of stuff or lost in endless to-do lists — the first instinct is usually to grab a trash bag and start tossing.
But if you’ve ever decluttered a room, only to feel overwhelmed again weeks later, you know clutter is never just about the stuff. It’s about what’s happening inside your mind. Decluttering physical and mental stuff is emotional.
Before you try to declutter your home, or buy new organizers, and write another to-do list begin here. Start with one simple, flowing line on a page. This is what Neurographic Art is. I know! Sounds crazy, right?
I was only recently introduced to Neurographic Art and I knew the moment I drew that first line that this a powerful exercise (and surprisingly fun!) way to declutter your mind. And it sets you up for a beautiful day!
What is Neurographic Art?
Neurographic Art is a simple, mesmerizing drawing technique that anyone — yes, even total beginners — can use to create flowing, beautiful, mind-clearing art. Honestly you need no creative or artistic skills to draw a line.
It was developed in 2014 by Russian psychologist Pavel Piskarev as a way to help people tap into their unconscious mind, release stress, and create new ways of thinking.
And here’s the best part:
- You don’t need to be “artistic.”
- You don’t need fancy supplies.
- You don’t need to overthink a single thing.
You simply need a pen, some paper, and a willingness to let your hand move.
The basic process looks something like this:
- You draw random, free-flowing lines across the page.
- You soften and round the places where the sharp lines intersect.
- You continue adding shapes, curves, and color if you like
If you would like a step by step guide to drawing Neurographic Art check out this out article I wrote called Create Your First Neurographic Art Step-by-Step for Beginners
What your finished drawing looks like is unique every single time. It’s a snapshot of your what is going on inside, in a way that words often can’t capture.
In this article I wrote Why Use Neurographic Art Drawing For Mental Decluttering I speak about the benefits of this exercise.
Why Neurographic Art Helps Declutter Your Mind
When your mind is cluttered, it’s usually swirling with:
- Unfinished thoughts
- Loops of worry
- Guilt and regret
- Overwhelm about the future
- Fear of letting go
Neurographic Art gives you a physical way to break those loops.
As your pen moves across the page — without rules, without judgment — your nervous system starts to relax. Your analytical mind quiets down. Your deeper thoughts rise gently to the surface… and then flow out through your hand.
You can read more about Why I Use Neurographic Art Drawing For Mental Decluttering in an article I wrote.
In a way, each line you draw is like pulling a thought out of the crowded space in your brain and setting it down somewhere safe.
Make Journaling and Drawing a Regular Habit
Knowing how well daily writing works to clear my head I wondered what combining words with drawing lines would look and feel like. Wow! Just wow! I am hooked!
30 drawings in 30 days is a fun new project I am doing with some friends and I am sure I will keep drawing and writing daily.
I will be showing for the first time what writing words and drawing lines look like and give you the opportunity to see how it feels.
The Messy Mind Makeover is where I will show you how cool writing and drawing together is.
Join my Messy Mind Makeover Workshop!
June 20th at Noon ET!
In just one session, you’ll:
- Calm the mental chaos that blocks physical decluttering
- Uncover emotional patterns hiding beneath your “stuff”
- Feel lighter, clearer, and ready to take action — without judgment
By the time I finished my first drawing I felt:
- Calmer
- Lighter
- Clearer
- More connected to myself and my day ahead of me.
All this in 10 minutes!
The best part is I carry this feeling throughout my day. I seem to intuitively flash back to the time I did my drawing and this reminds of what I want this day or how I chose to be or act.
For example, I am impatient by nature and if my intention that morning was to be more patient I am reminded of this and this little flashback can diffuse the situation I am in.
Additionally you might not even know exactly what shifted — your brain will just feel a little less tangled.
And this is where real decluttering begins – inside your mind, not inside your junk drawer. If you put mental decluttering before physical decluttering you will build a sustainable clutter-free life. This will not be easy or hard, it will feel organic.
I recently wrote an article Know What You Want | The Critical Step in Mental Decluttering
The article is about knowing what you want because it’s nearly impossible to move forward if you don’t in either your physical space, your habits, or your mindset.
Clear Mental Clutter First for a Clutter-Free Life
I say this all the time because it’s so important:
If you don’t clear your mental clutter first, the physical clutter will keep returning.
You’ll organize, purge, and sort — only to find yourself surrounded by physical and mental clutter again in a short time.
That’s because physical clutter often springs from:
- Unresolved emotions – “I might need this someday…”
- Identity attachments – “This was who I used to be…”
- Fear-based thinking – “What if I let go and regret it?”
- Perfectionism and procrastination loops
- Not so great ingrained habits
Read ‘How Our Mental Health is Affected by Our Home Clutter‘. This is serious stuff because mental clutter causes stress and stress causes the levels of our Cortisol hormone to increase. This is not good.
Trust me, I lived in a pressure cooker environment for years and as a result I have caused damage to my immune system. I am so excited to add this new habit of daily drawing to my routine- because it works!
Neurographic Art gives you a simple, nurturing way to start clearing these emotional and mental blocks — without having to wrestle with them intellectually.
It’s like loosening the soil before you try to pull out weeds:
the deeper roots of clutter get softer, easier to release.
And once your mind feels lighter and clearer?
Decluttering your home doesn’t feel so heavy anymore.
You can make decisions faster, with more trust and less fear.
You can finally build a clutter-free life that feels as good on the inside as it looks on the outside.
How to Start with Neurographic Art Today
If you’re ready to dip your toe into this beautiful practice, here’s a super simple way to begin. Follow along in the article I wrote! This article walks you through step by step. Create Your First Neurographic Art Step-by-Step for Beginners
See you in the Messy Mind Makeover June 20 at Noon ET!
No critique. No fixing. Just freedom
Marj Bates is a life long ridiculously organized declutter-er and artist. Less is more are words Marj lives by in everything she does except collecting dogs. “Dogs are like potato chips! Can’t have just one.” says Marj. Marj wonders if growing up with a fanatically clean Jewish mom means her decluttering and organizational skills are in her blood.
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