Hello, dear Steemians! Clutter can play a significant role in how we feel about our homes, our workplaces, and ourselves. Messy homes and work spaces leave us feeling anxious, helpless, and overwhelmed. Unanswered emails, work papers scattered across your desk, dozens of open tabs on your internet browser, unused clothes and items that collect dust – these are all examples of the clutter in your life that causes stress and anxiety.
Organization expert, Shira Gill helps clients understand the correlation between decluttering and mental health. It’s about more than just ridding yourself of stuff. Gill believes it’s about feeling good and the key to clarity, efficiency, even empowerment. Decluttering is the pathway to a clearer mind.
Organizing is a Form of Self-Care
Clutter and disorganization can have a deep impact on your life. It makes it more difficult to relax, both physically and mentally. Clutter inhibits creativity and productivity by invading the open spaces that allow most people to think, brain storm, and problem solve. It distracts us by drawing our attention away from what our focus should be on. According to Gill, a disorganized space signals to our brain that work is never done. Disorganization can leave people feeling depressed, overwhelmed and anxious. Start by examining the negatives of a cluttered home against the positives of a streamlined and functional space.
What to Consider When There’s Clutter:
Distraction – Physical clutter gives you that nagging feeling that there’s something to complete. A disorganized space distracts us and triggers anxiety because we’re never sure what it’s going to take to find something or get to the bottom of the pile.
Emotional Toll
Having a cluttered home may lead to you not wanting people over or not being able to host a party due to feeling ashamed of the mess. This may trigger feelings of guilt or shame. You want to feel comfortable in your own home no matter who is over. When your home feels like something to hide or be shamed of, it takes an emotional toll.
Relationship Strain
The state of your physical surroundings can trigger so much tension, hostility, and resentment between you and your partner.
Decreased Productivity
Think about all the time you spend looking for your credit cards, bills, car keys, or how much time you’ve spent replacing everyday items that have gone missing. Not only are you a financial drain and wasting your time but searching for misplaced items makes you late.
Benefits to Decluttering
Taking the time to declutter your space and organize your life is practicing a very important form of self-care. It increases your efficiency. Instead of spending your time searching for things, you’ll have more time to work toward a goal, relax with friends or pick up a hobby. Being organized will save you time, energy, and money. Organization enables you to efficiently find what you need and move through your day with ease. A well-organized home gives you freedom and a visual cue for relaxation. It’s easy to lose track of things when you’re disorganized. When your possessions are organized, you know what you actually need. This will also prevent you from wasting money on things you probably already have at home.
How to Get Started
You can either try to organize your entire home all at once or, if that’s not possible, start small. Create projects for yourself – tackle a closet or drawer. Or start with one room at a time. Commit to being more intentional and thoughtful about what you bring in to your home. Is it something you really need, will there be enough space for it? Find a permanent place for all the items you frequently lose or misplace. Whether it’s hanging your keys on the wall or a basket to place all your bills and mail.
Planning Ahead
Try prepping for tomorrow a day in advance. Write everything down in a calendar, select your outfit, prep meals, make notes for yourself. You don’t have to be an organized person to practice the disciplines of organization and decluttering. All you need to do is start.