I have been able to at least refocus this energy and drive onto something that is useful and cannot rot, unlike food.

So yes, I have way too many pencils and pens, and sharpies of different color, but they do not go stale (when with caps, of course) and any time I need to write down something, I am not frantically looking for a writing implement because I have a magnetic containers with pens, pencils and sharpies on one of the sides of my fridge. In a way there is less stress this way. If stuff is all over, it is stressful, but if you know where it is, much less so or not at all.