A few years ago, professional organizer Marie Kondo made a worldwide splash with her Netflix series Tidying Up With Marie Kondo. The show’s concept is simple: ask yourself if individual items “spark joy,” meaning they invoke some sort of positive emotion. Anything that doesn’t? Discard it. At the end of the process, ideally, you’re left only with items that bring you joy.
Kondo’s decluttering method is revolutionary because it reveals a direct correlation between physical messes and intangible “messes” in our personal lives — tension in the home, elevated stress levels, even some health issues. Clearly, the benefits of decluttering are very real. Want to find your own joy? You’re in the right place.
Benefits of decluttering
Clutter goes far beyond being a simple eyesore or small inconvenience. It turns out, a cluttered home can actually affect your sleep and overall health. To learn more, check out these benefits of decluttering your home.
1. Reduce stress and anxiety levels
There is overwhelming, research-backed evidence that clutter = stress, anxiety, and even depression. Cortisol, which is commonly referred to as the “stress hormone,” has a significant effect on anxiety and stress levels. And interestingly, studies reveal that piles of paper, stacked dishes, heaps of out-of-season clothing, or other clutter directly correlates to increased cortisol levels in the brain. Some of the biggest benefits of decluttering include reduced cortisol levels and enjoying a more stress-free life.
2. Improve sleep quality
Based on what we know about how much clutter impacts stress, it should come as no surprise that it also affects sleep. In order to sleep well, the brain needs to relax. If you have a cluttered home, however, the constant anxiety and stress prevents it from doing that. For example, in one study, only 26% of people with self-reported messy homes said they were satisfied with their sleep quality. By contrast, well over half of those with clean, clutter-free homes were happy with theirs.
3. Improve focus
Experts agree that visible clutter commands your attention, distracting you from other tasks. It makes sense: if your living room is cluttered, it’s difficult to relax and focus on a book or even a TV show. If your desk is messy, it can be challenging to concentrate on work or school. Those stacks and piles you see out of the corners of your eyes nag at you, no matter how much you try to ignore them. One of the biggest benefits of decluttering is eliminating these distractions.
4. Boost overall physical health
Even if your home is relatively clean, clutter invites dust, pet hair or dander, and other allergens to gather, as well as possibly mildew or mold. Pests such as insects and rodents also prefer cluttered areas. Keeping your home clutter-free (and dusting as needed!) can eliminate those allergens and drastically improve the air quality inside.
5. Save time
Less physical clutter means you can spend less time looking for things and less time cleaning. If everything has its own place in your home and you maintain that organization system, it’s also faster when it comes time to put things away. One thing we can all use more of is time, so this is perhaps one of the best benefits of decluttering!
AtticSpace can help with decluttering
One super simple way to reap all the benefits of decluttering is to put some items in storage. Attic Space offers a variety of convenient, on-demand self-storage solutions so you can completely eliminate the clutter — and the stress, tension, and everything else that goes along with it. It really is that simple! Contact us today at (504) 384-2457 to learn about all the options!