Clutter can often affect your mental and physical health in negative ways. Once it’s built up, clutter can easily become overwhelming and daunting. The more you know about clutter and how it affects your brain, emotional state, and even your physical state, the more you’ll be motivated to eliminate that clutter from your home.

Why Clutter Can Be Bad for Your Brain

Our brains are programmed to look for patterns and order in our environment. Disorganization can be a distraction that reduces our ability to focus our thoughts. This is true at home and at the office. Mental disorganization can lead to cognitive overload which can reduce our recall ability. Reducing clutter can actually improve your ability to focus, complete tasks, and process information.

Hoarding Can Cause Emotional Pain and Physical Distress

Research shows that the stress hormone cortisol is higher in mothers who live in cluttered environments. A constant state of clutter in the house can increase your risk of various conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

In addition, many people have a harder time interpreting facial expressions and making emotional connections when clutter builds up. If you sleep in a cluttered space, you might even have a hard time catching your Z’s, which can add to feelings of stress and anxiety.

Cut the Clutter for a Clearer Space and Mind

Clutter may be bad for you, but you can control it. Often, clutter builds up over many years. You can control clutter with the following tips:

  • Get rid of a little clutter every day. Spend 10 minutes every day getting rid of clutter in your home.
  • Use the one-in-one-out method. For everything you buy or acquire, get rid of one thing.
  • Take at least one day per year to significantly declutter your home. Make piles of items to donate, items to throw away, and items to recycle.
  • Clean out all closets during spring cleaning. Clutter tends to build up badly in closets. Take time to clean your closets every year.

Want to know more about cleaning out clutter from your home? See our recent blog post on the topic.

Not sure you can tackle the clutter on your own? Get help from a professional cleaning service in Cincinnati, OH! Contact Swept Away for a free quote.