Look around your home; do you see any clutter? If so, it might be affecting your mental health without you even realizing it. They say a happy home is a happy life, but if you have clutter, your house seems messy, unkempt, and somewhere where you can’t relax. To be more content in your home, you must understand how clutter affects your mental health and how to fix it.
Adverse Effects on Our Brains
Our environment impacts the way we think, react, and behave in our lives, so why wouldn’t that be true for your home?
Inability To Focus
It’s hard to focus on a single task when you have a cluttered environment. This is because your brain isn’t sure where to focus since different items are pulling its attention.
Declutter your environment, and you declutter your mind.
Stress
Sometimes our stress stems from the mountain of things we have to do that we may be procrastinating on, which inevitably adds more stress to our plates. Do you have a pile of laundry you washed last Tuesday that you still need to fold?
You may think you’d rather relax and watch TV than declutter your home, but unfortunately, it’s hard to relax when those tasks are in the back of your head.
Depression
Many studies show a link between cluttered homes and feelings of depression. Although the environment isn’t always the sole factor causing those negative feelings, it may contribute to them.
How To Fix It
Though it seems like the piles of clutter are never-ending, there is hope—we’re here to help you get back to living a happy home life!
Just Do It
Maybe Nike had the right idea after all—but that doesn’t mean to literally just do it. It’s important to take baby steps. You may have avoided the area you need to declutter, but now it’s time to check what you need to do and create a list.
If you have a stack of dishes to wash, try getting up and walking over to the sink. It may feel intimidating at first, and your mind might rush to the lengthy process. Stop those thoughts in their tracks and be thankful to yourself that you took the first step.
Try grabbing the sponge and putting some soap in it. Well, now that you have soap in the sponge, you can’t let it go to waste! See how many dishes you can do in 10 minutes, and at that point, you might as well finish them!
Make Sure Everything Has a Home
By making sure everything has a home, you’ll ensure that you will put away your items. Try grabbing some wicker baskets and labeling them to place your items out of sight.
Find a Cleaning Method for You
There are many methods you can try to maintain your home’s cleanliness. It’s all about finding the suitable cleaning method that works for you and your home! Try the clean-as-you-go method to prevent clutter from sitting.
Maintaining a clean space is critical to maintaining excellent mental health. Now that you know how clutter affects your mental health and how to fix it, you can have a clean and stress-free environment!
