Clutter and Anxiety
Clutter and Anxiety: It’s Science, Clutter Can Cause Anxiety.
Our recent experience of decluttering to overcome the feeling of too much and never feeling quite organized enough.
Typically, Tom and I work very hard to have an uneventful low-key weekend. Between drill weekends, work, and other commitments we cherish the weekends we have an empty calendar on and are all home together. In a personal attempt to use my time wisely I have been “reading” audible books. My most recent choice “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up” Written by Marie Kondo inspired me and the work quickly filled our weekend! Marie Kondo has several videos online as well.
We both have recognized the amount of clutter in our home was beginning to get out of hand. The truth is that the few times we have moved we just moved all our “stuff” never taking the time to really go through items.
Kondo’s philosophy is to purge some deserving items and only keep items, which provide us ‘Joy’. The author is quirky but she provides you with clear instruction and a attainable direction. We started with our bursting closet and ended the weekend on our mudroom closet. (See Pictures)
Being an avid goodwill customer, I am always up for a good find and or stylish addition to my already large wardrobe. Tom is keen on keeping t-shirts he either made during his screen-printing venture or items he use to wear in Military College or some random football game….a few short (20 +) years ago…
Call it what it is we are both guilty of hoarding clothing, shoes and accessories for the inevitable moment we will either feel awesome in that pair of pants or super comfy in that hoody. Something about needing more than your fair share of t-shirts you can paint a house in seemed silly since… neither of plan to do any painting any time soon or ever for that matter.
Even though Tom did not read the book, he had already been feeling some angst with his side of the closet and bought into what I was explaining to him. If you are short on time like most of us, you can find a good summary of the book here.
We also knew right away we were going to put in more work on this project than we normally would be good with during our valuable “FREE” weekend. However, we both agreed and believed our Monday and the weeks ahead would benefit from our attention to this event. The emotional release and physical freedom of this work has put us in a better state of mind for our work, family and life events ahead.
In the midst of the process of beginning this decluttering, I recognized that it was more than just cleaning, it was therapeutic and stress relief. I did some additional research on why mess might cause stress and found an amazing article on Psychology Today: Why Mess Causes Stress: 8 Reason & 8 Remedies. A few of the points made in this article really stood out to me:
1. Clutter takes away our energy. It causes our senses to work overtime and distracts us from what we should be focused on; life, family, friends, living.
2. Clutter prohibits relaxation. Whether it is picking up or organizing, or being mentally concerned with the task-at-hand. You are likely to feel like it will never be done.
3. Clutter causes us guilt. Guilt of either feeling like a terrible house-keeper or having too much stuff and not knowing what to do with it or where to put it neatly. (Reading this book took away the guilt of getting rid of quality items, realizing we do not need them any longer)
4. Clutter = Frustration! How can you find your one item in the midst of too much stuff? Alternatively, if you are Tom, how are you always prepared for what if, if you cannot find the life saving tool you need to keep everyone safe! He has dozens of each … somewhere!
Although not mandatory, if applicable, collaboration with a partner / household is definitely helpful for this decluttering process. It was definitely a team effort for Tom and I and we were able to enjoy the celebratory Corona at the end of the day. (You can see our progress here in pics) We both understand this is not the end of our process but we both feel confident what we have accomplished with a little effort should provide our family some non-cluttered peace. Additionally, we all get to buy at least one new pair of shoes if we donated at least 2 pair. Reward made the work fun and even helped more with getting Tom and the kids buy in.
I would love to hear your ideas on how you uncluttered a room or closet. Tips, Tricks or a how to are always welcome! I would also love to hear any learning you have come across to help keep the house organized!
