5 Ways Clutter Causes You Stress! (Pt. 2 of 3)

Welcome to Part 2 of our series: Organized and Clutter-Free At Last

Our aim here is to declutter your life for stress relief.

In our last post, we helped you personalize your project of getting organized.  You scored your level of organization habits against a checklist of common everyday occurrences.

We also offered a list of widely used excuses to help you discover whether you, like so many other people, might be justifying a lack of organization.

Both of these steps are essential to our surefire approach to staying organized and stress-free. So, if you haven’t yet checked the checklists in Part 1, it would be helpful to you to do it now.

In this post, we’ll focus on how to keep up your motivation to get organized and stay organized.

Cumulative stuff that you never sorted and piles of the past just occupying space can overwhelm and discourage anyone. Yet when you discover what clutter does, you’ll likely want to get moving to declutter your life for stress relief.

In this post you will learn:

• 5 hidden ways chronic clutter causes you stress
• 3 tips to trick your mind into getting motivated to de-clutter

How does chronic clutter cause stress?

Clutter and disorganization can work underhandedly on our state of mind and the health of our mind. The consequence can be stress — chronic stress.

Stress has a way of sneaking up on us. It usually starts with the way your mind reacts to your experiences.

Consider these common ways your experience with chronic disorganization can lead to chronic stress. They can boost your motivation to take the steps we provide in this and the next post to declutter your life for stress relief.

#1 Your Mind on Clutter Stress

 The more you see clutter, the more your mind reacts to it.

Clutter has an impact on your brain. Neuroscientists at Princeton University Neuroscience Institute observed the performance of people in organized versus disorganized environments. They found that physical clutter competes for your attention!

Physical clutter reduced people’s ability to focus and process information. It also decreased performance and increased stress. Source

So much is happening under the hood, so to speak, whether or not you are aware of it and whether or not you are ignoring the clutter. You must declutter your surroundings on the outside to relieve stress in the inside.

However, only the surface, or conscious mind, can clear the clutter.

Concrete practical solutions come from the conscious mind. The subconscious mind can only take action with guidance from the conscious mind. (In our last post, we delved into how the conscious mind gives instructions to your subconscious mind. If you this intriguing discussion it, you can check it out here.

Meanwhile, physical clutter is creating havoc on a deeper level. Are you are collecting, storing, or just trying to ignore pile-ups? Are you experiencing stress? Then clutter is the likely cause. Declutter your life for stress relief.

#2 Clutter Consumes Your Time

How much time does it take to find something amidst clutter and materials out of order?

Five minutes here, ten minutes there – before you know it, we’re talking real time!

Discoveries along the way sometimes distract people, so they temporarily forget what they were looking for!

Consider the value of your time. What is your hour worth in dollars? In the business world, lost time is lost revenue.

And when do you look for things? When you need them, of course. Maybe when you urgently need them.

Chronic stress goes with the continual frustration. But when you’re struggling to find something you urgently need, stress intensifies.

IKEA did a survey: 
The top five items men look for in their homes are clean socks, remote control, wedding album, car keys and driver’s license. For women, the top five items are shoes, a child’s toy, wallet, lipstick and the remote control. Source

Chronic stress goes with the continual frustration. But when you’re struggling to find something you urgently need, stress intensifies.

Navigating a cluttered environment is frustrating. The loss of time is regrettable. The consequence is cumulative stress.

#3 Lost in the Shuffle

Have you ever searched relentlessly for something and finally given up?

“I know it’s here somewhere. It has to be! But now I’m out of time.”

Maybe you had to resign to regret of a lost item.

Or maybe you had to prepare a document from scratch because you accidentally deleted it with no backup. (Never been there? Good for you!)

Now you’ve lost both your time and your item!

A double-whammy of stress!

Forbes statistic: 
The typical executive wastes 150 hours a year, which is almost an entire month, searching for lost information. For someone earning $50,000 a year, this loss is equivalent to $3,842 annually.

Such is the harsh reality of clutter and disorganization.

#4 Clutter Can Put You in the Corner

Clutter consumes not only your time but also your space!

TV programs like “Hoarders” feature the perils of clutter.

They’ve showcased people so crowded by their stuff that they have only a small nook left for moving about.

Extreme examples were folks on the verge of eviction due to chronic disorganization. Their landlords and housing councils were wary of potential fire hazards, a threat to public safety.

So, you see, clutter can crowd you out in more ways than one!

#5 Clutter Can Make Lonely

Clutter creates social isolation.

If your home is chronically cluttered, you may feel embarrassed to have friends or relatives visit.

Constantly meeting in public places or at others’ homes or offices may feel awkward after a while.

Avoiding reciprocal invitations to your home may appear peculiar or unfair to others.

If you are too disorganized in your workspace, you may find yourself increasingly isolated from your co-workers.

In any case, clutter and disorganization can disconnect you from people and lead to social isolation.

To conclude how clutter causes stress . . .

Whether clutter is robbing you of your time, space, lost items, friends, or best state of mind, it’s very stressful. You know you will be better off being organized. Now, where should you start?

Tips to Declutter Your Life for Stress Relief

The task to clear up clutter, organize and stay organized can seem daunting before you start. Perhaps you don’t know where to begin. Maybe you feel overwhelmed by the undertaking. These first three tips will give you a sense of direction to start decluttering your life for stress relief.

“The more you own things, the more they own you.” (Author unknown)

Don’t worry, once you start the project and see progress, it will take on an energy and keep you motivated.

Here are some tips to motivate you at the onset.

Tip #1: Know Your Tolerance Threshold

Personalizing your experience is the best way to motivate yourself and make your project successful for you.

Specifically, awareness of your tolerance threshold for disorganization is extremely important for long-term management of clutter.

Some people are averse to the idea of having clutter anywhere in their office or home. Yet others are completely oblivious to disorganization. A jumble of disorganization to an onlooker can be is an easy-access, sufficiently ordered environment to the user. Most people lie somewhere between the extremes of compulsive neatness and chronic clutter.

In any case, there is a comfort level for you and a threshold of tolerance.

To determine your threshold for tolerance of disorganization and clutter:

First, find out how organized you are. Part 1 of this Organization series has a convenient checklist. If you have not scored yourself, then it would be most helpful to do that now.

Then reflect on your tolerance threshold for disorganization or clutter. For example . . .

If you are not finding things as quickly as you need them . . .

Or, if you are feeling stressed about the clutter at home or in the office,

Then the clutter has exceeded your tolerance level.

Once you evaluate your organization and tolerance levels, you will have a benchmark to use for getting organized, staying organized and stress-free.

Tip #2: Make a Date with Decluttering

“Later is the best friend of clutter,” says the professional organizer, Peter Walsh. “Clutter is just delayed decisions.” 

Observations loaded with truth!

It’s very easy to say you’ll do something tomorrow, a week from now or 2 months from now.

Did you know:

The human mind cannot fully grasp the passage of time. A year’s worth of procrastination may feel like a week. That is why, with any goal . . .

You will have a much higher success rate if you write down

a specific day and hour

for your first de-cluttering effort.

Make a date with your clutter!

Do everything to remind yourself of your special date with your clutter.

Post reminders:  “On this day, I am decluttering my life for stress relief.”

Post encouraging quotes to give yourself a little nudge and encouragement.

Tell yourself: “I am decluttering my life for stress relief.”

Tip #3: Invite Visitors 

Uh-oh! Now you have a real goal.

Your friends are coming over for dinner or a movie night.

Or your co-workers are meeting in your office for a change.

Time to de-clutter. Not time to hide stuff in closets or desk drawers.

Time to organize the necessities and dispense with the superfluous.

“I must declutter to welcome visitors into my life. I must declutter my life for stress relief.”

Motivation is high now! Expecting visitors is one of the fastest and most practical ways to get moving toward

The Takeaway:

Now you know that clutter causes chronic stress. You understand your threshold for tolerating a degree of clutter and you’re making a schedule to begin clearing your clutter. Now go ahead and invite visitors to self-motivate yourself to stay on schedule.

This is the way you will be able to remove this major stressor for good. Don’t worry – you will soon develop practical routines for getting the clutter out of the way!

Next join us in the final of this three-part series to de-clutter your life for stress relief! We will now tackle organization head-on with surefire practical and tactical tips. Get ready to start and finish your mission …

By the Way …

What do you think about making a date with your clutter?

Can you think of ways to lighten up a tedious task?

The Comment box below awaits you!

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