Does this sound familiar? You’ve come home from a stressful day hoping to relax and clear your mind, but when you try and put your feet up you can’t settle. One of the most common factors that cause friction and stress in the household is a cluttered environment.
Even when we try to manage a mess, clutter has a direct link to stress and frustration that we bear towards our living situation. It can leave us feeling anxious and overwhelmed. You owe it to yourself to minimise these factors and create a space where you feel at ease, and can enjoy your downtime.
There are often challenges that stress us beyond our control. Pressure at work or a heavy schedule are things we simply have to persevere with. However, decluttering is one of the few issues that’s totally within our control. Manage it properly and you’re on track to a stress-free life.
Psychology Today discusses the mental toll a cluttered life brings. If you identify with any of these points, you need to consider clearing your space.
Why does mess lead to so much stress?
- Clutter bombards our minds with excessive stimuli. Causing a sensory overload, it makes it much harder to unwind in a hectic environment.
- Messes distract us by drawing our attention away from what our focus should be on. Even watching TV is more difficult when you’re surrounded by clutter.
- It’s more difficult to relax, both physically and mentally. Clutter increases cognitive activity and so, makes it hard for you to switch off.
- Clutter constantly signals to our brains that our work is never done. Clear space is a subconscious trigger to show us our work is complete. Consider your desk space, how differently do you feel when it’s swamped as opposed to clear?
- It creates anxiety about a task because we’re never sure what it’s going to take to get through to the bottom of the pile.
- Guilt (“I should be more organised”) and embarrassment are consequential of clutter. This is especially true when others unexpectedly drop by our homes or workspaces.
- Clutter inhibits creativity and productivity by invading the open spaces that allow most people to think, brainstorm, and problem-solve.
- You’re easily frustrated by being prevented from locating what you need quickly. Ever need to find car keys in a rush? There’s little that can cause more stress in such a short time.
Decluttering is the answer!
Now thankfully there’s a simple solution to reduce this stress – declutter! We offered “5 Ingenious Ways to Declutter Your Home” last week so check out how you can get started. It’s a much simpler process than you might think and you’ll be glad you did it.
And remember, one common misconception is that you have to throw everything out to reduce your mess – which is totally wrong. Check out some of our fantastic storage options so you can safely hang on to what’s important.
