"I got somewhat stuck with getting everything cleared out or at least organized around my desk area, resulting in the rest of the stuff migrating into another area of my apartment. Granted, I don't have much shelving/accessible storage space, and some of the stuff I do need/want (like my pens/pencils that I took off my desk but do use), but most of it I don't regularly use and clearly should let go so my home fully breathes. I realized all I wanted on my desk was my laptop and passport--the two most important/inspiring things to help me write.
In short, I feel like I made a lot of progress but have more work to do. (99% psychological, 1% walking it to the bins outside.)"
Thanks for sharing about the migrating stuff. That happens often. It's like the stuff is trying to escape being tossed out. Or that we aid in the migration by our indecision. Moving things around can feel like we are doing something. But it's a red flag when that activity doesn't make us feel better.
It helps that you see, "Most of it I don't regularly use and clearly should let go of so my home fully breathes." How something makes you feel deserves your attention. It's the best scale to decide if something stays or goes. Letting go of something that doesn't serve you gives you back your breathing space.
Sometimes the attention gets placed too much on organization. You mentioned that you got stuck around organizing your desk area. But that is more of an intellectual approach, which doesn't often lead to a satisfying solution.
What helps is thinking about what you love to have on your desk. What do you like to do? From what you wrote, you like to write. That makes you happy. The things on and around your desk that aren't serving you are distracting you from writing. They've chased away your laptop, passport, pens and pencils from your desk. It would be nice if your desk space supported your writing.
Thinking about what you love makes the percentage switch from the psychological to the walking the clutter to the bin.