Clutter, according to professional organizer Kara Desmond, is like a mix of anxiety, stress, guilt, and busyness that messes up our lives in physical, digital, and emotional ways. Even though it might not seem like a big deal, clutter can seriously mess with our mental and physical well-being.
This article looks at how clutter can mess with our brains and health, and gives some practical tips for getting rid of it.
What is clutter?
Clutter, as explained by professional organizer Kara Desmond in a webinar, is a mix of various factors such as anxiety, stress, guilt, and busyness. It can also arise from significant life events like having a baby, moving, or experiencing emotional trauma. Unlike hoarding or collecting, clutter is less severe and more common, characterized by disorganization rather than intentional display.
Desmond expands the concept of clutter beyond physical messiness, highlighting its digital and emotional aspects. Digital clutter accumulates on devices, including old photos and emails, causing distraction. Emotional clutter, though intangible, involves holding onto objects for sentimental reasons.
Clutter negatively affects the brain, potentially impacting women more severely. The sight of clutter can trigger a spike in cortisol, leading to anxious behaviours and avoidance. This creates a cycle where clutter breeds stress, making it mentally challenging to address.
The presence of clutter hampers focus, akin to multitasking, making it difficult to tackle because the brain struggles to prioritize amidst the chaos.
Why clutter is bad for your brain?
Having overflowing cupboards and stacks of papers lying around might not seem like a big deal. However, research suggests that disorganization and clutter can gradually wear down our brains.
Our brains thrive on order, so when we’re constantly surrounded by reminders of chaos, it depletes our mental energy and makes it harder to concentrate.
The visual distraction of clutter overwhelms our brains, leading to cognitive overload and hindering our ability to remember and process information effectively.
In a study from 2011, neuroscientists used advanced brain imaging techniques and other measurements to show that decluttering our living and work spaces can actually improve our focus, information processing, and productivity.
And its impact on physical and mental health: Clutter isn’t just a nuisance; it can also take a toll on our well-being. Research from 2009 in the United States found that mothers living in cluttered homes had higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
Living in a chronically cluttered environment can keep us in a state of constant stress, lack of motivation, triggering our body’s fight-or-flight response, which is meant for survival situations.
This persistent stress response can affect various aspects of our health, including our immune system’s ability to fight off illnesses, our digestion, and it may increase the risk of conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Clutter can even impact our relationships. A 2016 study in the US showed that background clutter made it harder for people to accurately interpret emotions in others’ facial expressions while watching a movie.
Surprisingly, the negative effects of clutter don’t stop when we go to bed. People who sleep in cluttered rooms are more likely to experience sleep problems, such as difficulty falling asleep and being disturbed during the night.
How to declutter?
Thankfully, after two years of professional organizing experience, Desmond has gathered numerous strategies to tackle clutter and address the stress and lack of focus it can bring. She emphasizes that not everyone finds organization intuitive and that adjusting your mindset towards cleaning and organizing may be necessary. Organization, she notes, is a life skill similar to cooking or doing laundry. While essential for maintaining a functional space, not everyone learns organizational skills early in life, leading to varying levels of difficulty in letting go of things.
Before or during decluttering, it’s helpful to take a moment to calm your breathing. This can mitigate the physical effects of seeing clutter, such as the increase in cortisol and heart rate.
Desmond advocates for decluttering all at once, setting aside a specific block of time to work on an area until it’s complete, rather than chipping away at it. She argues that tackling clutter in one go allows you to find duplicate items and identify usage trends. To make this approach more manageable, Desmond offers three key tips:
- Approach decluttering with a plan. Define the boundaries of the area to be worked on and ensure minimal interruptions or distractions. Decide in advance where you’ll donate items you no longer need and schedule when to do so. She advises against rushing to buy fancy organization bins unless you’ve determined their necessary dimensions.
- Sort items as you remove them. Categorize them if possible—for example, when decluttering a pantry, group baking ingredients together as you remove them. Keep a box for miscellaneous items that belong elsewhere in the home, to be addressed later.
- Be honest with yourself about whether you truly need something. Desmond highlights common justifications for holding onto items, such as “I spent good money on this” or “It still works.” However, she urges you to consider how often you actually use the item, regardless of its condition or cost. Space, she reminds us, is valuable, and if an item isn’t being used, it’s simply taking up space.
Using Keep It self-storage service as part of your decluttering plan is another smart move for handling items you don’t use daily but aren’t ready to throw away. Kick off by sorting your stuff, pinpointing the rarely used or seasonal bits and bobs like holiday gear, sports kit, or keepsakes. After picking out what to stash, find a solid self-storage spot that ticks all your boxes for size, spot, and safety.
Get your gear in order before you store to make the most of the space and simplify getting things back out. Mark your boxes well and whip up a list of what’s inside to stay on top of your stored treasures. Keep It Self Storage lets you clear out the clutter without ditching the things that matter, helping you keep your living space neat and tidy.
Tidy House, Happy Life?
Viewers of Marie Kondo’s Netflix series, “Tidying Up,” often rave about how her decluttering method transforms their lives. In fact, her first book was titled “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.”
Research confirms that cluttered home environments can negatively impact how we perceive our homes and, consequently, our overall satisfaction with life. The researchers point out that we view ‘home’ not only as a place to live but as a broader collection of experiences, meanings, and circumstances that actively shape our lives.
However, it turns out that clutter isn’t always a bad thing. One study found that messy desks can actually enhance creativity. The results suggested that tidy, organized environments tend to encourage conformity and playing it safe, while messy environments inspire us to break from the norm and see things from a fresh perspective.
Conclusion
In the quest for a happier, more organized life, dealing with clutter becomes a big challenge. As we go through modern life, it becomes clear that decluttering isn’t just about tidying up physical stuff, but also about clearing our minds and finding balance. By using mindful decluttering and solutions like self-storage, we can make way for a clutter-free future where our living spaces are peaceful and our minds are full of creativity and focus.