Are your stairs overcrowded with multiple obstacles? Perhaps your bookshelf is overflowing with tons of books, almost enough to open your own library? Or maybe your centre table houses a month’s worth of magazines and mail? Then it’s pretty much official – you urgently need to carry out a clutter control exercise!
The truth is that keeping too much stuff in your living or working space will not only frustrate you and drain your energy but also make it harder to be productive.
Here are some things you should know about clutter and why you should do your best to declutter your spaces. And if you find it difficult, home self-storage can be a trusted and valuable ally.
Clutter can contribute to allergies and asthma
Interior experts warn that too much clutter can aggravate existing physical and mental health issues such as allergies and asthma. This is because animal dander, mould, and dust can easily accumulate in cluttered spaces, consequently contributing to allergic and asthmatic problems.
Clutter can make you gain weight
Do you know that clutter can make you fat!? According to the author of the book “Does this clutter make my butt look fat?”, there is a correlation between the quantity of clutter you have and your excess weight. Basically, they share a common denominator: a life of consumption – so much stuff, so much to eat.
Clutter can hamper your home exercise routine
Several professional organisers who have been called to visit different cluttered offices and homes say their clients express their reaction to the “chaos” in the same words. Individuals with cluttered homes often complain that they find it hard to locate things, and the mess is beginning to affect crucial parts of their daily routine. A cluttered space typically hinders the ability to get to work on time and makes it stressful to navigate staircases.
Clutter can cause stress and anxiety
Clutter has the potential to increase your stress levels, and this can, in turn, affect your overall health. Stress symptoms, if left untreated, can result in health issues such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and high blood pressure.
To elaborate on this, a 2010 study from UCLA showed that mothers who described their houses as “cluttered” suffered from increased levels of cortisol, which is the dominant stress hormone. On the other hand, women who described their houses as not cluttered had lower cortisol levels, with decreased depressive moods.
Clutter can make you lose focus
Clutter can be very distracting. An article published in 2011 in the journal of neuroscience by Princeton researchers revealed that when having numerous objects in a cluttered visual space, they compete for a person’s attention. This, therefore, leads to poor focus and decreased productivity.
Clutter can affect your personal and social life
Clutter causes you to be excessively attached to your stuff, and the sheer magnitude of your possessions can be a distraction that overwhelms you. In the words of Professor Joseph Ferrari, a psychologist at DePaul University, clutter gets in the way of relationships. “Things, not people, become what matters in life, but relationships are what provide us with a sense of community. We identify with our possessions, but when a home is plagued by clutter, it gets corrupted in a very harmful way.”
