Decluttering Your Life Is Essential for 3 Surprising Reasons!
This post shares why decluttering your life is a necessary practice!
The benefits of decluttering your life …. well, aren’t they obvious? On the surface, yes: less stuff to deal with…boom!
But have you ever realized just how insidious clutter really is? It’s more than just having too much physical stuff in your home. In fact, it negatively impacts your life in many other ways.
Once you understand how it slows you down, you’ll want to start releasing the things that no longer support where you’re at. And more importantly, where you want to be!
So let’s take a look at how decluttering improves three areas of your life: your health, your relationships, and your productivity.
1. Decluttering Your Life | The Effect on Your Health
There are numerous studies that have examined the impact of clutter on our health and the verdict is in: it causes stress! No shock there, right? I mean, all we have to do is look around our homes. When we see the excess stuff, who doesn’t feel their anxiety rise?
Now don’t get me wrong: of course our homes look a bit “lived in” as we go about our daily lives. Hardly anyone I know has a completely pristine, perfectly organized home 24-7. But it’s the cabinets, drawers, and closets filled with what we don’t use or need that really turn the pressure on.
In fact, if we take this a step further, there are actually 3 sub-aspects to how clutter stress can play havoc with our health.
-physical impact
Firstly, elevated stress leads to high levels of cortisol. Of course, we all experience occasional flashes of stress during the day, some days more than others. But when it’s a prolonged state, it can lead to high blood pressure, increased fat accumulation, loss of calcium from bones, and elevated blood sugar.
Oh my gosh, this sounds like a daunting recipe for aging! So clearly, we benefit when we take a few minutes daily to remove household clutter from our homes.
-mental impact
Secondly, when we have way too many things coming at us, the stress hormones released harm our peace of mind. This can lead to depression, anxiety, and even reduced cognitive abilities. Have you ever heard someone say (or said it yourself), “I need a mental health day!” Clutter is one major reason why!
-emotional impact
Thirdly, long-term clutter causes sleep disruption and mood swings. Feelings of agitation, restlessness, and fatigue make our daily routine feel heavy. Our energy is not at its prime. Everything feels like such an effort to complete.
Yikes! Clearly, when our physical surroundings are cluttered, our brains feel that way, too!
2. Decluttering Your Life |The Effect of Clutter on Your Relationships
Naturally, when we are feeling under siege, our relationships sputter and stagnate, as well. It’s difficult to focus on nurturing and strengthening our personal relationships when we ourselves are overwhelmed.
Joint activities and shared interests are challenging when we don’t know where things are. Divorce rates rise. Children or others living in the household pick up on the tension, too. To put it differently, clutter is like a virus that infects us and those we love!
Even our friendships can be impacted negatively when clutter gets out of hand. Folks are embarrassed about the quantity of stuff in their homes. They become resistant to having friends drop by. It’s harder to maintain close connections when our stuff gets in the way.
And oh, our girlfriends are SO important! They support us, they advise us, they laugh and cry with us! They ARE love! Who would ever want clutter to interfere with the fellowship we crave and enjoy?
Who wants to prioritize things and stuff over the people and experiences? No one willingly … but it happens when our stuff holds us back.
3. Decluttering Your Life |The Effect of Clutter on Your Productivity
Lastly, our productivity, or ability to move ahead smoothly and efficiently with our tasks and goals is compromised by clutter. It tugs at our attention when important papers, notes, and contacts are scattered across our tables, hidden amongst our emails, or buried in texting threads.
Oh sure, I’ve read that some of the most brilliant, famous minds like Albert Einstein or JK Rowling are among the most disorganized folks around! Yet I can’t help but think that they are in the minority of those who can be messy yet manage to concentrate fully on their craft.
We are given only so many hours in each day. How do we want to spend that time: hunting and searching for lost or misplaced items? Sifting through stuff we no longer need or use? Who want every task to take longer than necessary because our things get in the way … anyone?
If you think about it, when we spend our time and energy wading through clutter of all kinds, it slows us down and prevents us from realizing a fair return on our efforts. Who has time for that?
The Wrap: This post shared 3 key areas where decluttering your life will provide a phenomenal return!
Ready to start removing clutter from your life?
Not sure when you’ll find the time? Understand that even blocking out as little as 15 minutes a day will add up to noticeable results! I advocate fitting in the session right before or right after another habit you already perform.
This is called “habit stacking“. The association of the two activities helps with making decluttering a part of your regular routine.
Moreover, it’s backed by science that clutter has a direct impact on our lives! Listen to this short video over here!
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Related Topics and Resources to Explore
Decluttering Strategies to Clear Out 5 Small Spaces
A New Season Calls for a Change!
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Your turn: are you presently sorting through clutter?
- What is your biggest obstacle to getting rid of it?
- Is it time or your mindset? Or do you live with someone who can’t let things go?
Share what’s on your mind … And thanks for stopping by!
