The Psychology of Clutter
Clutter doesn’t just negatively affect your physical space, it negatively affects your mental health as well. Obviously the degree to which clutter impacts mental health varies from person to person, but studies show that it does make a negative impact nonetheless. My entire adult life I have felt more relaxed, and had less stress and anxiety when I maintained a more orderly, organized home with less clutter. So after finding out there might be more to it than just my own weird perfectionist quirks, or my Type A personality at play, I started doing a little more digging and reading on this topic.
One study found that people who reported having more clutter in their homes had higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol throughout the day compared to people who had less clutter. What?! It can cause actual physiological changes in the body that affects the way we feel!
The human brain can only focus on a limited amount of stimuli at a time, clutter can be distracting making it difficult to focus and think clearly.
Research also shows that people with cluttered homes tend to procrastinate on important tasks making things feel overwhelming and unattainable.
Relationships can even be negatively affected by clutter around you. Spouses and partners tend to argue more as the clutter is an annoyance to the other person. It can cause a sense of isolation and create problems with friendships due to the fact they aren’t invited over due to the state of a person’s home.
I’m always on the weight loss train, so maybe the most motivating thing I read while looking into this was that one study found that a cluttered environment combined with an “out-of-control mind-set” triggered participants to engage in unhealthy eating behaviors. Say no more! I will declutter every square inch of my house if it means it will help me naturally have better eating habits! Plus, I should get some extra steps in while decluttering, right?! Win, win! ;)
I always tell people there are 3 main reasons to control the clutter and stay organized, it saves you
Money
Stress
Time-the TIME you spend looking for things, or organizing your over abundance of clutter is TIME you could be spending with loved ones, relaxing, or doing whatever in the world you’d rather be doing!
There are a multitude of reasons that we have clutter…
We feel overwhelmed by it so we don’t address it
It reminds us of something (old clothes we are hoping to fit back into, etc)
Things with sentimental value
Afraid to get rid of it because of guilt (a gift someone gave us, etc.)
It becomes a comfort (similar to a security blanket to a child)
If any of this sounds at all familiar and you need a little help to get you going in the right direction to eliminate clutter from your life and home, go to my website styledbyhaylie.com/guidetodeclutter to grab a free guide that gives you the steps to make the process much more simple and manageable.
If that still sounds like it’s more than what you can handle but you still want to eliminate clutter, just maybe with a little hand holding and support, go to my website styledbyhaylie.com/organizing-services and book a free consultation for me to come by and take a look.
We can also do this virtually so even if you’re not local feel free to go to this page and book a consultation- we can do the same thing via FaceTime or Zoom!