How to Get Your Energy Back by Decluttering
Energy and clutter are inextricably linked. When my home environment is dirty or needs decluttering, I feel exhausted. When my home is clean and tidy, I have abundant energy. A cluttered environment also drains your mental energy and makes you feel overwhelmed.
Clutter steals your energy.
What saps your energy?
A home filled with too much, excess clutter, and untidy spaces saps your energy. This is even true if your home is overflowing with things you love. It draws your eye here, there, and everywhere. A house full of clutter can also cause depression, which drains your energy. Psychologically, you may feel crowded and overwhelmed. Your eyes try to make sense of everything in sight because we, as humans, are natural, innate “groupers.” You try to figure out how all the pieces go together, what needs to go and what needs to stay. You also think about what you should be doing next - sorting, organizing, labeling, and dealing with “stuff.” It’s overwhelming and exhausting!
Clutter also consumes your precious time. People with clutter often spend a lot of time looking for lost items, keys, a wallet, papers, an insurance card, shoes. Even when an item is put back in its place, it can be lost in a sea of other things that cover it up.
Clearing cluttering brings immediate visual peace to a space and boosts your energy. Keeping a donation box in your clothes closets or by a door, as discussed in an earlier blog, gets you in the habit of donating items that you’re no longer using or don’t like or need. Fill the boxes, and then immediately take it to your favorite donation location.
A dirty environment saps your energy.
Dirty dishes, dirty clothes…all reminders that you have work to do. Every room carries visual reminders of the unfinished chores that need to be done. It saps your energy just to think about them. On the other hand, a clean house is energizing. Put in the time it takes to give your house a deep clean, and you’ll feel the positive effects. And, before anything piles up, get in the habit right away of keeping on top of dirty laundry, dishes, vacuuming and tidying up. Once your home is clean, it takes much less maintenance to keep it that way.
If you can afford to have help, either cleaning help, or decluttering and organizing help, don’t be afraid to make a call to ask for help. At The Uncluttered Life, we help people get on top of their clutter all the time. It makes a big difference and puts you back in control of your life.
Mental clutter saps your energy.
Undone tasks drain your energy as much as physical clutter does. Procrastinating, for example, consumes a lot of energy and brain power worrying about finishing a task, completing your to-do list, and watching as more and more piles up around you. Get your list out and calendar your most important to-do’s. Delegate tasks to others who can help. Back burner things for which you have no time. Say “no” instead of “yes” to things that can wait.
How to get your energy back.
The bottom line is to protect your time like the precious resource it is, surround yourself with the things that you love, keep less rather than more, and prioritize your energy as a form of self-care.