Six Reasons To Declutter Your Home
With the advent of spring, I always get the urge to throw open the windows, do some deep cleaning and get rid of stuff I don’t need. With the popularity of “Tidying Up With Marie Kondo”, “Get Organized With The Home Edit” and other decluttering and organizing shows and books I think I’m in good company!
Generally speaking, cleaning and decluttering feel good and make us feel lighter. Living in a clean, clutter-free house is good for you, your brain, your mental health, and your physical health, not to mention your wallet.
Think about how you feel after you’ve cleaned or donated a couple of bags of clothes and toys. In addition to the altruistic feeling you get from helping others, you may feel a sense of calm when you sit in your newly cleaned and decluttered house.
Why Is This?
For starters, our brains weren’t meant for clutter. We can only process one thing at a time. And when there is too much in front of us, our brain can’t focus. We get overstimulated and tired, because we don’t know what to focus on.
Clutter can be stressful and harmful to our brains and mood. So pay attention to the piles as they build up, and try to keep them to a minimum.
What Contributes to Clutter?
Stuff, right? But how did we get so much stuff? Is clutter an issue of not putting things away, not throwing things away, just accumulating too much, or something more, such as mood? It varies for everyone.
Many of us buy new things without giving it a second thought, because retailers make it so easy to buy. We can shop online without ever leaving our house. Our purchases get delivered directly to our home. And it’s all so easy.
Not to mention, the cost of certain goods has decreased substantially. For example, ‘fast fashion’ has made clothing extremely affordable to the masses, so we can buy more. In fact, this buy more attitude that goes along with ‘fast fashion’ is becoming a landfill and waste problem as well.[i]
Separately, many of us are exhausted (maybe because of the clutter?). Needing to pick up the house at the end of a long day is tiring and something we may put off when we want to go to bed. We have to think about where something goes and actually put it away, which for many, is exhausting.
So, why should we be decluttering? Does it really even matter? Keep reading to learn about six benefits to decluttering and putting things away.
Improves Mood
The home should be a place of relaxation. A place to enjoy, kick back and relax. When the house is cluttered, not only is it not restorative but rather, it contributes to our stress.
In fact, studies have found a connection between a cluttered house and the status of people’s moods. For example, people living in cluttered homes are more anxious and depressed.[ii]
One study found that housewives with stressful homes that were attributed to clutter and unfinished projects were more likely to be depressed, fatigued, and have indicators of chronic stress than women who considered their homes to be ‘restorative’ and uncluttered.[iii]
The lesson here? Decrease the clutter to improve your mood.
Increases Energy
Clutter makes us tired. Our eyes and brain cannot correctly process all the chaos, or visual stimuli, in front of us, and we become exhausted looking at it.[iv]
Clutter can also stress us out because looking at it reminds us we need to clean. It’s hard to relax when we constantly think there is more to do.
Clutter, because it can raise stress hormones,[v] can also interfere with our sleep.
Reducing clutter can give us more energy and help us sleep better.
Improves Focus
When we see clutter, our brain and eyes don’t know what to look at or where to direct their attention. Too many visual stimuli overload the brain, and it doesn’t process things efficiently.[vi]
Thinking about it logically, we do best focusing on one thing at a time. Trying to figure out where to direct our attention when we look around and see too much is tiring. It’s another task the brain needs to process and complete. It takes us longer to process everything and our mind can’t focus as well, making us less productive.
One outcome of all of this? Clean up your office and messy desks to work more efficiently.
Saves Time
Would you like to find time in your day? How many times have you been late because you couldn’t find something? Have you ever misplaced your keys or your wallet? Or worse, have you ever lost a reminder about an important appointment or a meeting, leading you to miss it?
Reduce the clutter, create an organized space and system that work for you, and you will often reduce the amount of time you spend looking for something.
Saves Money
Have you ever paid a bill late because you misplaced it and forgot about it? Do you get frustrated with avoidable late fees?
Have you ever purchased something you knew you already had, but couldn’t find it?
Reducing clutter reduces overspending on late fees and duplicate items because you can’t find something or misplaced a bill.
Improves Social Connections
Many people are embarrassed by their messes and clutter and would never invite someone into their cluttered house.
Think about your home. Are you more likely to invite people into a messy or clean house? A dirty, cluttered house often prohibits people from asking their friends and family for dinner, drinks, coffee, and games, leading to social isolation.
Some Easy Ways To Reduce Clutter
- Before you buy something, ask yourself if you need it.
- Make a rule to donate something every time you buy something, especially clothes or toys – one thing in, one thing out.
- Schedule 20 minutes into the end of your day to put things away, file papers, and throw things out.
- Spend a few minutes each day reviewing your email inbox to delete and file emails.
- Make sure everything in your house has a home. This way, you always have a place to put something.
- Stop procrastinating. Spend 30-60 minutes each week doing those little tasks you dislike. Knowing you will have completed them in less than an hour can help you motivate to get them done.
- Designate an hour each week for decluttering.
- Stop buying books and magazines. Instead, rent them from the library or buy them through an app.
- Work with a coach or professional organizer if this is too much for you. Enlist a friend to help.
- Consider why you have so much clutter and speak to a therapist if you can’t part with things.
Final Thoughts
Employing some of these simple strategies is a great way to create more space in your life.
And remember, if you are feeling stressed, overwhelmed and need a “reset” to help you make some of these changes in your life, come on in for a massage or a yoga class class. Your muscles and your mind will be less cluttered, and you can move forward with a renewed vision!
REFERENCES:
[i] Yun Tan, Zhai. “What Happens When Fashion Becomes Fast, Disposable, and Cheap?” NPR. April 10, 2016. https://www.npr.org/2016/04/08/473513620/what-happens-when-fashion-becomes-fast-disposable-and-cheap. retrieved February 27, 2023.
[ii] Bourg Carter, Sherrie, Psy. D. “Why Mess Causes Stress:8 Reasons, 8 Remedies.” Psychology Today. March 14, 2012. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/high-octane-women/201203/why-mess-causes-stress-8-reasons-8-remedies
[iii] Saxbe, Darby E and Rena Repetti. “No Place Like Home: Home Tours Correlate with Daily Patterns of Mood and Cortisol.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 2010. doi: 10.1177/0146167209352864. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
[iv] “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place.” Be Well, Stanford. https://bewell.stanford.edu/a-clean-well-lighted-place/. retrieved February 10, 2023.
[v] Saxbe, Darby E and Rena Repetti. “No Place Like Home: Home Tours Correlate with Daily Patterns of Mood and Cortisol.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 2010. doi: 10.1177/0146167209352864. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
[vi] https://bakadesuyo.com/2011/08/is-one-little-thing-stopping-you-from-being-m/