Have you heard of the hit Netflix show “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo”? A series where tidying expert Marie Kondo helps people declutter and organize their homes. In case you haven’t, let me introduce you to the concept of decluttering. By definition, decluttering is the removal of unnecessary items from an untidy or overcrowded place. The concept of decluttering has been very popular lately all thanks to Marie Kondo’s book entitled “The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing”, in which she referred to decluttering as the process of getting rid of things that “does not spark joy”.
There are many ways to declutter but given the current global pandemic, now more than ever, we find ourselves spending more and more time in the confines of our homes. Which is why in this article, I listed down 10 benefits of decluttering your home. SAVE TIME, MONEY & ENERGY One of the benefits of decluttering your home is spending less time and energy cleaning and dealing with your belongings. On average, a person spends two and half hours cleaning a two-bedroom house. So instead of spending hours tidying up during the weekend or on your day off, decluttering your home gives you extra time and energy to spend on something else. In addition, decluttering also saves you money. It prevents buying duplicates or making frivolous purchases. Having cluttered home sometimes blinds you to what you already have, because you either can’t find or remember what you already own. You can save a lot of time, money & energy if you raise your standards of what is good enough to occupy space in your home. EASIER TO CLEAN AND TIDY Keeping your home clean and tidy is a very demanding task to do. From vacuuming to dusting—it will be a lot easier when there aren’t too many things sitting around that needs to be picked up or moved. The lesser clutter, the easier to clean. Decluttering is a great chance to get rid of the things that you do not need and no longer use, it is also a great time to re-organize your home. Owning less does not necessarily mean having a perfectly neat and tidy place all the time. Your home can still get messy, but it is a lot easier to fix. REDUCE STRESS AND ANXIETY Most of the time, having a lot of unnecessary things around can be overwhelming. And when these things get out of hand, it breeds stress and anxiety. A cluttered home equates to a cluttered mind. As psychologist Sherrie Bourg Carter explains in Psychology Today, “Messy homes and workspaces leave us feeling anxious, helpless, and overwhelmed.” There are many studies that show having excess clutter in your home increases your cortisol levels which is the stress hormone in your body. By getting rid of the clutter, you are actually getting rid of stress. So, if you find yourself feeling stress and anxious in your home you should definitely give decluttering a try. It is a useful tool that will help you relieve stress and anxiety by creating physical and mental space. INCREASE CONCENTRATION AND PRODUCTIVITY Decluttering boosts your concentration and productivity level. Being surrounded by clutter at all times makes it difficult for most people to concentrate. Having excess things surrounding you distracts your mind, and it negatively affects your ability to focus and pay attention on what you are doing, therefore it decreases your productivity. For instance, studying or working in a messy and disorganize space makes it hard to focus on the task at hand. By removing the clutter, it takes away the distraction and help you concentrate and be more productive. LOCATE ITEMS EASILY Have you ever run late for work because you can’t find your car keys? You’ve looked everywhere—under the sofa, beside your bed and even inside the fridge? You’ve looked everywhere but you still could not find it. Perhaps you’ve got too much stuff around that nothing in your home had a specific place that it belonged. You would be surprised at the amount of time you spent looking for your misplaced belongings. Having a decluttered home will help your day-to-day routines go smoothly as it will be a lot easier to find items. When your place is well organized and not too crowded with stuff you would know exactly where to locate your belongings. No more wasting time looking for things and never knowing where to find them. GAIN MORE LIVING SPACE Having a cluttered place makes your home look and feel a lot smaller than it actually is. If you do not have excess stuff sitting around, you would have more living space to use and enjoy. Decluttering can maximize and transform your home. Try looking around your house and go through all your belongings, decide whether to keep or dispose them. Clearing up your clutter will give you much more extra space to use in your home. Sometimes, having less is more. MAKE MONEY OUT OF DECLUTTERING Not only can decluttering help you save money, but it can also help you make money. When you declutter your home, you can find valuable things that you no longer need or use which you could then sell for cash. Sometimes, the things you consider worthless may be considered valuable by someone else. As they say, one person’s clutter is another person’s treasure. So, if you have some items that you want to get rid of, try selling them online on Facebook Marketplace or you can even have a garage sale if you have several more items that you want to dispose. IMPROVE SLEEP Have you ever woken up feeling tired? A study showed a direct correlation between high levels of clutter and poor sleep quality. It turns out that reducing clutter in your sleeping environment improves the quality of your sleep. Your bedroom is your sanctuary. It is where you are most comfortable and most at ease. Having a cluttered room causes stress and stress in return causes restless sleep. If your room is crowded with things your brain mentally processes the external stimuli of all the clutter resulting to a poor and disrupted sleep cycle which could lead to insomnia or over-sleeping. LOOK FORWARD TO COMING HOME Your home is your safe haven and your comfort zone, it is where you rest and relax after a long day from work or school. But what if a huge pile of clutter is waiting for you at home? When you know that there isn’t a bunch of clutter, chores, or things to do waiting for you when you get home, you literally look forward to coming home every day. It can totally change your perspective and how you feel when you are entering your house. A HAPPIER OUTLOOK IN LIFE Decluttering can transform not only your home but your life as well. Some say that clutter signals that you do not have control over your life. When clutter gets unmanageable it starts to take a toll on both your physical and mental well-being. It has a negative impact on your physical and mental health as it causes unwanted stress and anxiety. Decluttering can improve your emotional outlook in life, it is a way of achieving happiness. Just like exercising, decluttering releases a hormone called endorphins which helps in dealing with stress and reducing feelings of pain, by doing so it makes people feel emotionally and physically better. That is why the less clutter the happier you become.
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AuthorA real estate marketer in Philippines. Archives
October 2021
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