Learn How Living a Cluttered Can Affect How You Think & Feel
Yes, we’re here to talk about your clutter. More specifically, to understand the psychology behind your clutter and what causes us to create cluttered spaces. There’s a reason why it’ so hard to declutter. You may be surprised to find out what all that extra “stuff” in our lives does to our minds and our wellbeing.
- Ways Society Influences Clutter & Our Need for Stuff
- Why Clutter Increases Distractions in Your Day
- How Clutter Affects Your Mental Health
- The Reasons Letting Go of Clutter is Emotional
- Addressing Your Digital Clutter Habits
- Learning to Clear Your Mind of Clutter
- Is There an Acceptable Amount of Clutter?
- Most Important Things to Consider When Decluttering
- Final Thoughts on the Psychological Effects of Clutter
Ways Society Influences Clutter & Our Need for Stuff
Living with excessive stuff can be a loaded-topic. In Western society, and the United States, in particular, we value a materialistic lifestyle and so we have more stuff than ever before.
Our homes are bigger, we have walk-in closets designed to accommodate more, and the garage no longer holds cars but our stuff. So why buy less when you’ve being given all this extra room to store it all.
Commercials are always showing us the latest & greatest new thing and convincing us why we need to go out and buy it before it’s all gone. Then you have social media that shows us awesome things our friends own and how happy they look using it. You think “wow, I wish I had that!” because sub-consciously you feel it could make you happy too.
There is even an entire industry that’s been created in recent decades around organizing all the stuff we accumulate. There are lots of products on the market to help you organize your stuff, stores that sell storage solutions, organizing & decluttering consultants, and even storage companies that provide units to rent.
All of these so called “solutions” allow us to keep even more stuff that we probably don’t even have room for. In essence, they are giving us the green light for going out and buying even more things to contribute to our cluttered life.
*Reflect: Think of one thing you may have bought because someone you know had one?
Why Clutter Increases Distractions in Your Day
If nothing else, having lots of extra stuff cluttering your spaces can be very distracting. When was the last time you spent several minutes trying to find something among all the extra things you keep laying around?
Think about how much time you end up wasting each day searching for stuff, or even moving things around to get to the item you need. That’s a lot of time you’re not getting back!
Did you know that even when you’re not actively looking for something, the clutter that occupies your space can be very distracting? You may not think that you’re noticing it, but it’s actually competing for your attention and impairing your focus.
You’re keeping mental tabs on everything around you and that’s not only distracting but mentally fatiguing. It’s definitely more relaxing and a lot easier to focus when you are in a clean and clutter-free environment.
*Reflect: Is there a space in your home where you have trouble getting things done? Is that area cluttered with things?
“Clutter in your physical surroundings will clutter your mind and spirit.”
UNKNOWN
How Clutter Affects Your Mental Health
As you can see, clutter can even hurt your mind. It’s much harder to focus on getting things done. From simple household chores to finishing up an important report for work, clutter makes it harder to process information so you can be productive. That’s because everything that’s going on around you in a cluttered environment takes up brainpower.
Another adverse effect of all the distractions is that it can drain you of your energy. When you have to spend so much time starting & stopping on tasks, dealing with extra distractions, and looking for things it leaves you less time and energy to do things that you enjoy.
And of course, clutter stresses us out, which I’m sure you’ve noticed yourself. Trying to reduce stress is the reason most psychologist’s offices or yoga studios have hardly any furnishings or clutter because they are suppose to be calming spaces.
We experience a lot more stress when we’re living in a cluttered environment. I’m sure part of it has to do with the fact that we’re overwhelmed by all the extra things surrounding us. Then add the digital clutter we deal with being on our phones all the time or watching the news. It’s no wonder we’re so stressed out in the western world.
Unfortunately, with the extra tension come all sorts of stress-related illnesses. These include conditions such as an increased risk of stroke and heart disease.
*Reflect: Did you know that you could reduce your stress levels with a solution as simple as decluttering?
The Reasons Letting Go of Clutter is Emotional
Clutter can also keep us from moving forward and growing. That’s because it can be a coping mechanism that keeps us stuck in the past. This is one of the reasons that we tend to hang on to so much stuff in the first place.
Some of the items we keep are because of the memories we have attached to them. Other things we hold on to because it leads to too much emotion & feelings to let go of them.
Most of us have an old t-shirt or gift we were given hidden in the back of our closet that we’ll never wear or look at again. We hold on to it because it reminds us of our youth or a relationship we had.
Then there are those items that we don’t even realize affect our emotions. Items that we keep that we equate with situations or places. Take for example the exercise equipment that we someday hope to use when we finally decide to make our health a priority. You may even keep items that you don’t need or use because they were things you couldn’t afford in the past when you were struggling financially.
Letting go of things that you’ve grown attached to can hurt. But sometimes facing the pain and emotions it brings up is part of the overall healing process. We hold on to paperwork from that failed business we tried to start, or the supplies we bought for a hobby we realized we weren’t any good at. Letting go and getting rid of either feels like we’ve truly given up on the idea.
*Reflect: What things are you holding on to that either remind you of your own past, or that belonged to a loved one that you can’t make yourself part with?
Addressing Your Digital Clutter Habits
The clutter we often encounter that can do us more harm than good, isn’t limited to just physical clutter. With the importance that society has placed on technology & devices, we’ve gotten very good at holding on to digital clutter too. Since all those files, programs & apps don’t take up physical space, it’s even easier to accumulate.
Places where we have a lot of unseen clutter is our computers, external hard drives, laptops, tablets, phones, memory cards, & gaming consoles. At some point we started running out of room and started needing digital storage solutions like your cloud backups and email accounts for example.
You may not think much about the 87,000 emails sitting in your inbox, but it’s all digital clutter that adds up. You don’t even realize how much that full email inbox is weighing on your mind until you try to go through it all.
It’s not uncommon for people to open new email accounts when their current one gets too overwhelming with spam from all the companies, services, & subscriptions they have given it out to. But if you just make the effort to clean it out, it’s incredible how freeing that is. Give it a try and you’ll realize first-hand that digital clutter impacts you just as much as physical clutter does.
*Reflect: Do you have multiple email addresses? If so, think about if it’s possible to consolidate them and/or close accounts that you don’t use much.
Learning to Clear Your Mind of Clutter
Clutter takes up physical space, digital space, and most importantly it takes up room in our minds trying to keep track of it all. Start thinking about how you can reduce that mental clutter to leave more “headspace” for the important stuff.
Something as simple as a brain dump exercise can be a great place to start. Not only will it help you declutter and organize your thoughts, but it can also help you come up with a plan to tackle your clutter one item at a time.
Doing a “brain dump” is very easy to do. Grab a notebook & pen and start writing down everything you need or want to get done. Write down your dreams, aspirations, and goals. Write down appointments you need to remember and chores that need taken care of.
Don’t edit, don’t second guess yourself. Simply focus on getting it all out of your head and onto the paper. When you’re all done, take a deep breath and notice the freeing and calming feeling.
*Reflect: Go through your list and create goals for organizing & decluttering all the physical, digital, and mental “stuff” in your life.
Is There an Acceptable Amount of Clutter?
There is one more psychological aspect of clutter that we need to talk about and that’s finding your “happy medium” or “sweet spot” when it comes to the clutter in your home or office. In other words, we can’t be perfectly tidy ALL OF THE TIME because the pressure of perfectionism can also create stress & anxiety.
Some people thrive in very sparse environments with no unneeded item insight. Whereas others may be more productive with more items in arms-reach in case they need it. A good rule of thumb is to only keep out those things that you use at least once a day or maybe even every other day.
It’s important to realize that your house doesn’t have to be Home & Gardens perfect at the end of the day. This means you don’t have to work on a cleared desk or have your bookshelf organized by topic. Your spaces just need to work well for you and your family in a way that reduces stress for everyone.
If you work better at a desk that includes your laptop, a couple of family pictures, a calendar, pens & notepad, and a stress relief toy for breaks, then go for it. Just be careful that you don’t let the clutter take over because it has a tendency to multiply.
The key is to find your very own sweet spot when it comes to how much stuff you have laying out. To start, begin with a completely clutter-free environment. Spend the time and effort to declutter, clean, and organize until you’re left with a space that’s sparse.
If you’re comfortable there, great. If it feels a little cold and boring to you, start adding a few more personal items here and there. Add a comfy blanket to the couch or put a scented candle on your desk.
Remember, you don’t have to strive for perfection, but do the best for your personal situation. For example, if you’re living with young children, your house will never look like a model home and there will always be toys around. Instead, create clutter times that help keep areas from getting out of control. Like putting toys away before lunch & bedtime.
*Reflect: Do you think your “sweet spot” is sparse or do you need more items around?
Most Important Things to Consider When Decluttering
There are only two important things to keep in mind when finding your own personal level of clutter. First, it’s a good chance that what works well for you will change over time. We all go through periods in life where we need more stuff around, such as when you have a new baby or during the school year. Keep this in mind and make adjustments as needed when life changes.
Second is that clutter will sneak up on you. I’m sure you’ve experienced this first hand. You start out with a clean dining room table, then you put one item on it when you arrive home, and before you know it the table surface is covered.
The phenomenon is that “clutter attracts more clutter”! As a result, you have to stay on top of it, by intentionally making decluttering part of your routine.
One of the big appeals of minimalism for many people, is that they no longer worry about clutter taking over because they don’t have much stuff. Don’t worry, I’m not asking you to go that far of course! You simply need to be aware of the phenomenon and anticipate it by creating a plan for dealing with it.
One way to do this is to give your home & office a quick scan once a week and see if there’s an area where clutter is accumulating. Then take care of the build-up by returning items to their designated place or getting rid of it.
If you find that the same spot keeps attracting clutter week after week, see if you can come up with a solution. Maybe there needs to be a new family rule that addresses the problem. I know in my house, this is the kitchen counter. So we have a rule that whoever pulls something out has to put it away when they are done using it.
Maybe for you, it is your dining room table. You could try creating a rule that the dining table is only for eating on and nothing can be left on it. Another possible deterrent could be putting on a table cloth and a bowl of fruit in the center of the table in an effort to avoid attracting random clutter.
*Reflect: Consider an area in your home that always seems to accumulate stuff. What rule or solution might you put in place to reduce the clutter in that space?
Final Thoughts on the Psychological Effects of Clutter
I hope you can take away some helpful advice from this exploration of the psychology of clutter. If nothing else, I hope it makes you think about how clutter is affecting you and how comfortable you are in your space. What I really hope is that it inspires you to examine the spaces you live & work in so you can reduce the clutter and its negative effects in your life.
I know decluttering can be hard. It’s often a series of projects that are both physically & mentally taxing. However, it is well worth it when you are done and find yourself taking control of your spaces again. It’s also definitely worth the effort for the peace of mind & time you will save when having a cleaner, more organized environment to live and work in.
So don’t let clutter rule you!
Instead, make smart choices and surround yourself with items that bring you joy, and that makes your life easier. Find that “happy medium” between minimalism and clutter. Not only will you create a more comfortable home environment for yourself and your family, but it will also greatly reduce the level of stress that you are under. Remember, less is more, but ultimately how much or how little you want to surround yourself with is entirely up to you.
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