That Hoarder: Overcome Compulsive Hoarding #188 12 ways to make decision-making easier (and why people who hoard find it so hard to make decisions in the first place!)
May 30, 2025
38:28
- Come to a Dehoarding Accountability Zoom Session: http://www.overcomecompulsivehoarding.co.uk/ticket
- Subscribe to the podcast: https://www.overcomecompulsivehoarding.co.uk/subscribe
- Podcast show notes, links and transcript: http://www.overcomecompulsivehoarding.co.uk/
Decision-making can be a huge stumbling block when you’re trying to tackle hoarding, from cognitive overload to perfectionism and decision fatigue. In this episode, I unpack why making choices about our belongings feels so overwhelming, what can go wrong if we avoid it, and I share practical strategies to make the process more manageable. If you find yourself stuck in analysis paralysis or endlessly putting off decisions, this one’s for you.
Buy your copy of Everything You Need to Know About Hoarding by Dr Lynne Drummond at cambridge.org/EverythingHoarding, and get 20% off with the discount code HOARDING20. #ad
- Introduction to Decision Making and Hoarding
- Decision making as a common issue among hoarders
- Overwhelm and avoidance connected to belongings and acquiring new items
- Episode aims: understanding why decision making is hard, consequences of indecision, and strategies to help
- Why Decision Making is Difficult for People Who Hoard
- Cognitive Overload
- Too many items to process, making each choice feel monumental
- Resulting in avoidance and deferral of decisions
- Accumulation due to unresolved decisions
- Analysis Paralysis
- Being stuck analysing endless options and outcomes
- Difficulty prioritising and overthinking decisions
- Exhaustion from mental effort
- Information Processing Challenges
- Trouble prioritising urgency and importance
- Struggling to filter necessary versus unnecessary information
- Being trapped in unresolvable decision loops
- Emotional Barriers
- Perfectionism and fear of making the wrong decision
- Catastrophising possible negative outcomes
- All-or-nothing thinking relating to perfectionism
- Sentimental Attachment
- Struggles with emotional connection to items (gifts, memories)
- Difficulty discerning genuine sentimental value
- Fear of the Future
- Anxiety about future need or regret causing paralysis
- Preference for clinging to items over risking discomfort
- Executive Function Challenges
- Difficulties with planning, organising, prioritising, and initiating tasks
- Impact of poor working memory on decision making
- Consequences of Avoiding Decisions
- Vicious Cycle of Procrastination
- Accumulation of clutter, increased overwhelm and fatigue
- Practical Implications
- Safety hazards and restricted home usage
- Social isolation and relationship strain due to inability to host
- Emotional Impact
- Stress, depression, guilt, and shame
- Financial Consequences
- Extra spending, buying duplicates, damage or loss of items, missed bills and penalties
- Building Negative Self-Perceptions
- Belief in inability to decide reinforces avoidance
- Declining self-trust and self-esteem
- Strategies and Techniques for Improving Decision Making
- Identify Resistance and Mental Blocks
- Questioning internal "nope" responses
- Understanding fears or overwhelming factors behind avoidance
- Treat Decisions as Experiments
- Lowering pressure by seeing outcomes as learning experiences
- Avoiding a pass/fail mindset
- Make Micro-Decisions
- Starting with low-stakes, emotionally neutral items
- Building decision-making confidence ("decision muscle")
- Utilise Support Systems
- Seeking feedback or accountability from friends, family, organisers, or therapists
- Sense-checking and encouragement from others
- Clarify Values and Priorities
- Aligning decisions with personal goals (e.g., hospitality, functionality, beauty)
- Using values as a decision compass
- Set Time Limits
- Imposing limits per decision to prevent overthinking
- Adjusting duration as confidence improves
- Accept “Good Enough” Decisions
- Allowing for adequacy over perfection
- Challenging double standards around self-expectations versus others
- Reduce Number of Choices
- Limiting possible options (e.g., keep/throw/donate)
- Pre-determining criteria to streamline choices
- Reality Checks
- Probing feelings of “I might need it” with practical questions
- Reviewing usage frequency and functionality
- Increase Awareness of Avoidance
- Noticing procrastination and avoidance behaviours
- Evaluating the significance of indecision as a barrier
- Build Tolerance for Uncertainty and Discomfort
- Accepting that discomfort is part of life, and not deciding brings other difficulties
- Gradually practicing sitting with uncertainty
- Practice Consistency in Decision Making
- Incorporating daily decision-making habits
- Gently challenging avoidance and celebrating each choice made
- Decision-making is a learnable, improvable skill
- The importance of starting small and practicing imperfect decisions
- Building self-trust and confidence through repeated practice
- Encouragement to challenge avoidance and recognise growth with each decision
Links
- Buy your copy of Everything You Need to Know About Hoarding by Dr Lynne Drummond at cambridge.org/EverythingHoarding, and get 20% off with the discount code HOARDING20.
- Podcast ep 172: Harriet Impey on clearing out her parents’ very full home, through family belongings and personal growth, in the film Where Dragons Live
- Podcast ep 186: 10 executive dysfunction tips and tricks to help people who hoard, whether we have ADHD or are neurodivergent or not – Hoarding Awareness Week 2025
- Podcast ep 183: ADHD, executive dysfunction and creating hacks and systems to reduce clutter chaos, with Carrie Lagerstedt
- Podcast ep 162: From Fibble to Focus: Defibble your executive dysfunction with Jo Cavalot
- Podcast ep 112: Executive function, executive dysfunction and hoarding with Dr Jan Eppingstall
- Podcast ep 149: ADHD, hoarding and clutter with Susie Boutal, ADHD and Declutter Coach
- Podcast ep 107: Things that look like hoarding but aren’t: ADHD, depression, autism, OCD, OCPD and more
- Podcast ep 40: ADHD and hoarding with Dr Sharon Morein
- Podcast ep 182: What are “towards and away moves” and what on earth do they have to do with hoarding recovery? With Dr Jan Eppingstall
- Podcast ep 28: Avoid analysis paralysis by having ‘systems’
- Podcast ep 49: Sitting with discomfort: distress tolerance and hoarding – How unconscious distress avoidance might be worsening your problems
- Reasons to be Cheerful with Ed Miliband
- Come to a Dehoarding Accountability Zoom session: Accountability Booking Form
- Website: Overcome Compulsive Hoarding
- Become a Dehoarding Darling
- Submit a topic for the podcast to cover
- Questions to ask when dehoarding: https://www.overcomecompulsivehoarding.co.uk/podquestions
- Instagram: @thathoarderpodcast
- Twitter: @ThatHoarder
- Mastodon: @ThatHoarder@mastodon.online
- TikTok: @thathoarderpodcast
- Facebook: Overcome Compulsive Hoarding with That Hoarder
- Pinterest: That Hoarder
- YouTube: Overcome Compulsive Hoarding with That Hoarder
- Reddit: Overcome Compulsive Hoarding with That Hoarder subreddit
- Help out: Support this project
- Sponsor the podcast
Subscribe to the podcast