How Can I Declutter My Life and Reduce Stress?

Let’s face it. Clutter is stressful. It overtakes your life and makes it feel heavy, cumbersome, and difficult to manage. The more clutter you have, the heavier your life can feel. For that reason, it’s extremely important to take an approach to decluttering that confronts all the places clutter can collect. Really, it’s all about decluttering your life. In this blog, we discuss a few places that can bring real stress to your life. These include the bathroom, kitchen and entranceway.

There is a scientific reason why clutter causes stress.

Clutter can increase cortisol, the “stress hormone.” A study by UCLA found a link between a high density of household objects and elevated cortisol levels. Messy spaces signal the need for future cleaning, and the mental weight of this increases stress. According to the UCLA study, clutter mentally and physically affects women more than men. And the Mayo Clinic suggests that clutter can decrease your ability to focus and be productive. Existing in a cluttered environment taxes your brain because the cluttering objects compete for your attention. Further studies by St. Lawrence University and Princeton University show people with cluttered homes tend to suffer from insomnia or exhaustion because the stress of clutter affects their mental energy.

What the Mayo Clinic says about clutter.

In fact, the Mayo Clinic suggests that objects have the power to make us feel anxious. They explain that when working couples gave tours of their homes, women who used more words describing clutter and disorganization also tended to show high levels of cortisol. This suggests that clutter causes constant, chronic stress. On the other hand, those who described their homes as being restful or talked about their beautiful outdoor spaces were less stressed and reported fewer sad feelings as the day went on. So, there really is a connection between clutter and stress.

With this scientific explanation, it’s easy to see why it’s so important to declutter your home, car, workspace, environment, and life. Life comes at us at lightning speed, and without a place for everything, things pile up. Shoes and backpacks get left at the front door. We trip over them on our way to our next destination. In our decluttering and organizing business, we have seen people stop using their front doors because of so much built-up clutter. This changes the energy of the home. It can also be a hazard.

The entry hall is an important space to declutter.

The entry hall, which should be an inviting space, becomes a battle zone. According to Marie Kondo, “If the entranceway is full of shoes and other things, the atmosphere in the home will be suffocating.” She advises that in the entranceway, it’s best to keep as little as possible. Try to focus on just one thing in this area that brings you joy and display several small beautiful and meaningful items around it, grouping on a tray or some other such decoration. Save other decor, especially big and bulky items, for decorating other parts of your home and leave the entrance-way free. The entrance to your home sets the stage for either a hectic feeling, or a soothing one.

Room by room clutter can build up stress.

Other places that can be transformed from chaos to calm are the bathrooms and kitchen. In the bathroom, people often gather in groups. An example of this is when children are getting ready for school in the morning. Making sure that each child has his or her own space and place for personal items goes a long way to making the morning routine that much easier. Instead of creating a stressful situation, the morning routine can be peaceful.

That peace flows to the kitchen as the family gathers for meals. A peaceful morning routine will help set the day off to a good start instead of causing discord first thing in the morning. Knowing where everything in the kitchen is so that children can help themselves to breakfast also makes the morning better and easier. Children go off to school in a good mood because their stress is less.

Items that help organize a kitchen go a long way to creating harmony. For that reason, many home and décor stores feature articles about decluttering the kitchen and rooms where clutter seems to pool. They stress the importance of an organized home and a home that functions well.

One example of a home store that has gotten in on the decluttering act is Crate and Barrel. Crateandbarrel.com recently featured products to make your kitchen flow more easily. Their motto is: Clean Your Kitchen, Clear Your Mind. They offer several tips to make kitchen storage much simpler. Consider their two pro tips that make kitchen storage and organization take on a professional look.

Tip 1: It’s much easier to know what ingredients you have if you can see them. Clear storage lets you quickly find just what you’re looking for – and speeds up meal prep.

Tip 2: Counter space is always at a premium, so make use of vertical space with organization that creates tiers and platforms for storage.

Enjoying meals with others relieves stress.

Cleanliness is especially important in the kitchen area. Having fewer things in the kitchen area helps to reduce mess. Moisture and oil are the enemy of the kitchen. That’s why ease of cleaning the kitchen gets top priority in the KonMari® Method.

It is helpful to eliminate items near the stove or sink so that cooking oils and water do not mix with kitchen items. Keep pots and pans to a minimum, as many of us hold on to kitchen items that are never used. Store all cooking utensils in one spot for ease of use and take advantage of vertical storage solutions for foodstuffs. Remember to decorate your kitchen, as well. Cooking and enjoying meals with others are a stress reliever if done properly. You may experience much more happiness in other parts of your life, as well.

A few final thoughts about decluttering.

Finally, consider this: Having fewer things means making fewer choices throughout the day. And making fewer choices causes less stress. So, declutter your life and make it easier to have more good days than stressful ones. The change will have a health benefit to you, as well, as you reduce your stress and make more time for the things that bring you happiness and peace.