Declutter Your Space, Declutter Your Brain
2021 is quickly approaching and with it brings the hope and promise of a fresh start. To kick things off and set the tone for a new year, many of us tackle the somewhat overwhelming task of decluttering and organizing. Take a step into any big box home improvement store this time of the year and you will find stacks and racks of all kinds of bins, boxes, shelving, and storage solutions.
Though it is good practice to organize your living space so you can easily find any item you are looking for, what you may not realize is the tremendous impact that decluttering and organizing has on your physical and mental health.
What clutter is doing to your brain
Clutter can come in many forms from the stacks of mail and newspapers to the piling up of laundry in the corner. Any way you look at it, there is a lack of organization and order. The visual reminder each time you glance at the piles of strewn-about items takes away cognitive power and drains your brain of the ability to focus on the really important stuff. Our cognitive power and working memory are reduced in dramatic ways by the disorganization in our lives.
The case for clutter on our physical and mental health
In a world of chaos and stress, the clutter we find ourselves living in only compounds these feelings. Clutter causes the physical and mental reactions of stress, anxiety, and depression. The fight or flight reactions can be triggered by a living environment filled with clutter. This response is extremely taxing on our minds and our bodies. Being in this state constantly puts us at risk of illness and increases the likelihood of more chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.
The negative role that clutter plays on us does not stop when we go to sleep. Sleeping in a cluttered room can cause problems such as insomnia, the inability to enter the restorative stages of sleep, and can cause waking multiple times through the night.
Combat the Clutter
Preparation is Key!
Find the motivation
Procrastination is the demon sitting on your shoulder. There is a multitude of ways to ignite the spark to declutter but as you look at the areas in your home that need to be organized, you may find yourself ping-ponging between rooms lost as to which spot to start with. The good news is, it doesn’t matter. Do not let the current state of your dwelling demotivate you and extinguish the fire of self-improvement.
To keep your motivation high, I would recommend the following:
Search on YouTube for channels dedicated to organizing and decluttering. If you would like to take it to the extreme end of the spectrum then search for minimalism. I’ve found that watching a couple of videos the night before or on the morning of, had helped to keep my motivation up and reduced the anxiety I was harboring about decluttering. If YouTube isn’t your thing, try a Podcast. There are several Podcast shows completely dedicated to decluttering.
Develop a playlist to listen to while decluttering. For many, myself included, music helps to keep our minds focused and our energy tends to follow the tempo of the music we are listening to. Before long, you’ll have completed more decluttering than you had expected.
Enlist Help
Let’s face it, you have emotional ties to the things in your life. That’s why enlisting the help of a close friend or relative is important. They can be the decision-maker for you when it comes to which items you keep and which need to go. Establish some ground rules with your helper. This will help both of you know what is expected.
Set small goals
Rome wasn’t cleaned in a day and neither will your home be. There is no way around it, decluttering is not always fun and can be very intimidating. Breaking down any task into smaller, more manageable sub-goals does two things for you. First, it provides you with a plan, and secondly, it enables you to be successful no matter which level you are performing at. This has huge implications and positive outcomes
Taking Action
At this point you have set small manageable goals, you’ve enlisted the help of a trusted advisor and confidant and you have psyched yourself into a lean mean organizing machine. Start from the top and work your way down clearing horizontal surfaces before you move closer to the floor. You may want to have a clipboard handy to take note of any storage solutions you may need. Be careful though. Remember that this isn’t an exercise in creative hiding places. Your goal is to reduce the stuff that does not have a function or purpose in your life within the next 6 months. The final step after the clutter is eliminated is to clean and freshen. I’ll leave this up to your own interpretation but a good dusting/polishing and vacuuming will help you to feel that an area is done. If you want, spray a bit of air freshener to really make it feel complete. One last tip is to put a weekly or monthly maintenance day on your calendar. You worked hard to get to where you are at and the easy way forward is through the development of healthy habits for decluttering.
