The Benefits Of Decluttering Your Space

Have you ever noticed that each time you enter a room, workstation or home with the objective of a cleaning spree, you feel much lighter and more relaxed once it's over?

Apart from the particular area looking tidier, decluttering also affects our mental wellness to a large extent. It is a great stress buster, and boosts our ability to focus better on the several tasks we perform around the space during the day. A cleaner space is directly proportionate to lesser chaos, irritability and distraction. This can bring immense relief and invite calmness into your life and space. A cluttered space triggers the mind with excessive stimuli. Re-doing paperwork, organising kitchen cabinets, or doing long-pending laundry immediately pacifies the brain cells and eases the nerves in the body.

Licensed clinical social worker Robert S Petercsak from Old Bridge Medical Center says, ’By removing unnecessary items and creating a sense of order, you can create a more peaceful living space.’ Here’s how removing all the clutter around you impacts your overall mental well-being.

1.Helps you focus better:

It’s obvious that the messier your surroundings are, the easier it is for you to get distracted, and unable to retain focus. To be more efficient or productive at your work, it’s important to ensure your surrounding space is neat, tidy and uncluttered.

2. Reduces stress and anxiety:

A decluttered space can cause anxiety and stress. Have you ever thought about why you start feeling happier or calmer each time you’re around cleaner or more beautiful surroundings? It’s only because a clean environment reduces negative emotions or tendencies.

3. Enhances creative thinking:

Our minds are usually restricted and bound by too many things scattered here and there. Try keeping the spaces around you lighter, and you will notice this builds your creative thinking further, helping you create newer and better ideas.

4. Improves the quality of sleep:

One of the best ways to validate this point is to experiment on oneself. Try sleeping on your bed with loads of stuff around you. The following day, sleep on a nicely- made, clean bed. You will notice a stark difference in the quality of sleep in both cases. The former will give a disoriented and negative feeling with unsatisfying sleep, whereas the latter will help you genuinely relax and sleep soundly.

5. Positive impact on self-esteem:

When you make an effort to clean your space ensuring everything is spik and span, you genuinely have a sense of accomplishment once the work is done. This in turns boosts self-esteem and you feel you have control over your environment. This is most definitely a positive impact on the mind.

How to get started

Most often, it feels burdensome for us to make that start! Procrastination often rears its ugly head, and we keep postponing chores, allowing them to pile up

1. Start with a small space or section - It isn’t necessary that you redo your entire home or workstation all at one go. You can choose one corner or space that requires immediate attention and start tidying that up.

2. Visualise, then plan - Decide what you want it to look like. This clarity will help you declutter fast.

3. Be wise - You don’t have to wait until the day when your entire space is filled with worn-out, unusable things. Give them away or remove them if they are of no use now.

4. Focus on time management - As this task can be extremely time consuming, first decide how long the entire cleaning is likely to take and then allot time in phases during the week.

5. Be responsible while decluttering - There could be items in your space that are in good condition and can be re-used. Go all out to donate them or get them recycled.