The act of decluttering does more than clear physical space. It sends a powerful message to your brain: you are in control, you can make positive change, and you deserve a peaceful environment. Decluttering lets us reduce overwhelming feelings, practice decision-making, and rediscover a sense of calm in our homes.
Decluttering increases self-worth, creates healthy habits, and boosts productivity. A clean and tidy home can also improve sleep, boost mood, and promote relaxation.
People that have compulsive decluttering disorder think that any items around them are cluttering or disrupting their everyday lives. Throwing these items away gives them satisfaction, and gives them the idea that they are in control of their lives.
Evidence suggests that having a messy, cluttered environment can create stress and interfere with your ability to concentrate, at least for some people. The actual act of cleaning and decluttering can boost your mood, help you move your body more, improve focus, and help you feel more in control of your surroundings.
The 50% rule for clutter is a straightforward yet powerful principle: reduce the number of items in any given space by half.
Coined by pro organizer Kayleen Kelly, the “Core 4 Method” breaks the decluttering process into four simple steps: clear out, categorize, cut out, and contain. In essence, it's designed to take the stress and overwhelm out of the organizing process.
Cleaning your home or surroundings isn't just a physical process, but a mental one as well. Reducing clutter minimizes distractions, allowing your brain to concentrate on more important tasks at hand.
Certain ways of dealing with stress can be dangerous. If you start smoking or smoke more, you put your health in danger. Gambling, over-spending money, self-harming, restricting or binging and purging food, and feeling driven to have an "adrenalin rush" with dangerous activities can all become dangerous as well.
As expected, more frequent trauma, and physical/sexual trauma in particular, was associated with greater acquiring tendencies. However, frequency of trauma was not significantly correlated with saving tendencies or self-reported hoarding symptoms.
A hoarding disorder is where someone acquires an excessive number of items and stores them in a chaotic manner, usually resulting in unmanageable amounts of clutter. The items can be of little or no monetary value.
A devotion to the habits and qualities of the ancient Spartans, especially to an indomitable spirit, undaunted hardihood, and stark simplicity.
Having a clean space helps promote mental health and wellbeing. When we clean, we often feel a lot better about that space and that contributes positively to our health. So, when you can't stop feelings of stress and anxiety, you can end up constantly feeling the need to declutter.
We may unearth feelings of nostalgia, regret, longing and loss, as well as confront unresolved issues and emotional 'baggage' that have accumulated over time. In this process, decluttering becomes a form of emotional catharsis—a release of blocked emotions and a step towards healing.
It has devised five main personality types when it comes to clearing out the house, and and thought up hacks to make decluttering easier for each of them. Among the five types are the sentimentalist; the materialist; the high achiever; the evader; and the habit keeper.
Clutter can affect our anxiety levels, sleep, and ability to focus. It can also make us less productive, triggering coping and avoidance strategies that make us more likely to snack on junk and watch TV shows (including ones about other people decluttering their lives).
Maladaptive coping is when a person deals with stressors in an unhealthy way — like avoidance, getting angry, or picking up harmful habits — rather than seeking out healthy solutions that lead to more positive outcomes. These maladaptive coping mechanisms may help the person feel better in the moment.
Work stress tops the list, according to surveys. Forty percent of U.S. workers admit to experiencing office stress, and one-quarter say work is the biggest source of stress in their lives.
Behavioral/psychological: Clutter caused by depression, attention deficit disorder, low self-esteem or lack of personal boundaries. Time/life management: Clutter caused by the need for better planning. Of these, the behavioral/psychological-driven clutter is the hardest to solve.
Symptoms of ADHD Clutter Anxiety
This may include cluttered surfaces, piles of paperwork or clothing, and difficulty finding necessary items. People with ADHD clutter anxiety may also experience feelings of overwhelm or anxious when faced with clutter or disorganization.
Start small and simplify. Beginning the decluttering process by starting small and focusing on one area at a time can be a highly effective strategy to prevent overwhelm, maintain motivation, and achieve tangible progress in organizing your living space.
The 333 method philosophy revolves around one simple rule: you choose 33 items to wear for 3 months. This includes clothing, accessories, outerwear and shoes, but excludes essentials like underwear, sleepwear or workout gear.
Be ruthless by picking out just a few items to keep that are your most favorite, and consider parting with the rest. Give yourself grace as you go through sentimental items. You won't be able to do it all at once, and it may take several sessions to decide which difficult items to keep or let go.