Do you have trouble fitting that last item in your backpack, or struggle to hang a piece of clothing in a closet between all the other clothes, or otherwise struggle to find places for all your stuff? Relax.

It’s not you, it’s science.* There are laws of physics that make sense of your stuff, and the problems you have with it. They are called The Laws of Stuff Dynamics.

The First Law of Stuff Dynamics states: Your stuff will expand to fill any container you decide is big enough to hold your stuff.

Here is a rough spectrum of examples of containers to which the First Law of Stuff Dynamics applies:

The Second Law of Stuff Dynamics: You have too much stuff.

If you have ever a) had a hard time finding some of your stuff because it was somewhere among all your other stuff, b) become frustrated trying to fit an item of your stuff in a container, or c) if you have entire rooms of stuff or a storage unit full of stuff you don’t see for months at a time, you have seen the Second Law of Stuff Dynamics in action.

The Third Law of Stuff Dynamics states: Even though you have too much stuff, you are simultaneously unable to part with Old Stuff (often for no reason), and compelled to buy New Stuff (also often for no reason).

Old Stuff often includes things like books you haven’t read since college, kitchen items given to you by people you will never forget whether or not you use their old kitchen items, books you haven’t finished, bicycles you never ride but have an emotional attachment to, books you’ve never read and are never going to read but would like to think you will someday, things you put in frames because it seemed like a good idea at the time but now you have no idea why you thought that, and free t-shirts you knew you would never wear but accepted at the time because they were free.

New Stuff can include shiny things, lighter things, faster things, things perceived to be lighter and/or faster, things perceived to be better, things that are 1 to 3 percent better than currently owned things, things perceived to be an incredible bargain at the time of purchase, things that other successful people have so maybe you should have one too, and any television the next increment bigger or better than the one you currently own.

Take a look around. Do you need a bigger backpack/car/house to fit all that stuff into?

*actually not science

-Brendan