Clutter can
affect our anxiety levels, sleep, and ability to focus
. It can also make us less productive, triggering coping and avoidance strategies that make us more likely to snack on junk and watch TV shows (including ones about other people decluttering their lives).
Can a cluttered house make you sick?
When you have those issues with the cleanliness of your home people are more likely to be sick or suffer from chronic conditions
. Allergies, asthma, and other respiratory illnesses are made worse by living in a dirty home.
What is the negative effect of having clutter in your composition?
Disorganization caused by clutter
causes stress hormones to spike and can leave you feeling frazzled on a daily basis
. This can even compound feelings of sadness, anger, and depression and can make it more difficult to maintain positive emotions.
What is clutter a symptom of?
Behavioral/psychological: Clutter caused by
depression, attention deficit disorder, low self-esteem or lack of personal boundaries
. Time/life management: Clutter caused by the need for better planning. Of these, the behavioral/psychological-driven clutter is the hardest to solve.
When is clutter a problem?
Do you have a clutter problem?
If you have to move things around in order to accomplish a task in your home or at your office or you feel overwhelmed by all your “things,”
it’s a strong signal that clutter has prevailed. And it might be stressing you out more than you realize.
Is clutter a mental illness?
While
cluttering is not included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
, it is widely recognized as a condition that affects both men and women in all socioeconomic classes and is commonly dealt with in psychotherapy and community support groups as are mental health disorders that also involve …
How does clutter affect the brain?
Increased Stress
One of the primary ways that clutter affects your mental health is that
cluttered spaces make you feel more stressed
. Studies show that people who describe their house as cluttered tend to have higher levels of the stress hormone known as cortisol.
What does clutter say about you?
Clutter in the living room might suggest
blockages in your social life, as well as your relationship with yourself
, while a cluttered bedroom might relate to issues surrounding your sexual self, fears of intimacy or gender roles.
Does clutter cause negative energy?
Clutter can make it difficult to get things done, to find what you need, and to live in an orderly and efficient manner. When we spend time everyday looking for our keys or trying to find that one pair of pants, we can become frantic and stressed, allowing this negative daily energy to build up over time.
Why does clutter cause stress?
The science behind how clutter causes you stress
A study conducted by Princeton University Neuroscience researchers found that
a cluttered home environment impedes your ability to focus
. When we have a hard time focussing, our mental faculties get worn down and frustration ensues, causing stress.
How does clutter affect energy?
When we surround ourselves with clutter then what happens to the energy in our space is that
it has no room to flow
. When energy has no room to flow, it becomes stagnant. Stuck energy needs to be cleared. This stuck energy is what makes us feel like the weight of the world is on our shoulders.
People who have suffered an emotional trauma or a brain injury often find housecleaning an insurmountable task
. Attention deficit disorder, depression, chronic pain and grief can prevent people from getting organized or lead to a buildup of clutter.
What does God say about clutter?
Ephesians 4:31-32 states, “Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.” Dealing with clutter, physical or spiritual, is a life-long endeavor.
Why does clutter cause anxiety?
No matter the ways, reasons and means by which the creep of stuff exceeds our ability to mentally and physically manage it—all of it amounts to stress.
Clutter can trigger the release of the stress hormone cortisol
, which can increase tension and anxiety and lead to unhealthy habits.
How do you fix clutter?
- Start with one small area—like your junk drawer. …
- Set a timer for 10 minutes. …
- Try the trash-bag method. …
- Keep it sustainable. …
- Use “habit tracking” to your advantage. …
- Never, ever start with sentimental items. …
- Keep the one-in, one-out rule.
Does everyone have clutter?
Just about every home has some clutter
—even if it’s contained behind closed closet doors or tucked away in a garage, basement, or attic. You know where your clutter lurks, and even if it’s not visible, it could be causing you stress.
Is clutter linked to depression?
When Stress Causes Clutter
Sometimes, living with anxiety, depression, or stress brings on clutter
. If you’re overwhelmed by sadness or other negative emotions, you might not have the energy to clean and organize. Or, you might use shopping or accumulating things to manage your feelings.
Why we clutter and what we can do about it?
In addition,
clutter is distracting, stealing attention from worthy thoughts and tasks
. It saps time and energy and diminishes productivity. And, a 2015 study at St. Lawrence University found that a cluttered bedroom goes hand in hand with a poor night’s sleep.
Does clutter affect sleep?
The study found that
people who have more clutter filling the open space in their bedrooms take longer to fall asleep than those with neat and tidy rooms
– leading to increased tiredness and making it less likely that they will tidy their room the following day. It’s a vicious, untidy, yawn-fuelled cycle.
How do I know I have too much stuff?
- You feel stressed about having too many things. …
- You lose regularly-used items (like keys) …
- Your fridge and pantry have expired food. …
- You cannot decide where to start decluttering. …
- You tell yourself that if you get rid of something today, you’ll end up needing it later.
Why does clutter make me angry?
Clutter makes it more difficult to relax, both physically and mentally. Clutter constantly signals to our brains that our work is never done. Clutter makes us anxious because
we’re never sure what it’s going to take to get through to the bottom of the pile
.
What does it mean when you live in clutter?
So what does clutter mean?
An excess of unnecessary or unloved belongings, that accumulate into an overwhelming mess
. The easiest way to eliminate clutter: Minimize – let go of anything that you don’t use / love.
Why does mess make me angry?
Clutter bombards our minds with excessive stimuli (visual, olfactory, tactile), causing our senses to work overtime on stimuli that aren’t necessary or important
. Clutter distracts us by drawing our attention away from what our focus should be on. Clutter makes it more difficult to relax, both physically and mentally.
