Cutting clutter does more than help your home look more organized; it also improves your life! Think about it: Clear spaces encourage clear thinking. They make it easy to find what you need when you need it. They save you the unnecessary stress (and accompanying health issues) of living in chaos. You don’t have to be naturally inclined toward order to get organized, either. The truth is, starting strong habits of order is possible for anyone through an organization diet.
Cutting Clutter Saves Time
If you’ve ever lost hours trying to find something that’s missing, you know how messes can complicate life. Would you believe Americans waste millions of hours every day trying to find household items they’ve misplaced? This is one of the big benefits of cutting clutter: The more neat and organized your home, the more time you save hunting for lost items. When you need a certain shirt, it’s hanging where you always keep it. When your toddler wants a favorite puzzle, you know exactly where it will be. Having a place for everything means saving endless hours searching for keys, money, remote controls, and more.
Cutting Clutter Improves Health
Overstuffed closets, cramped cabinets, piles of toys, and mounting stacks of papers could overwhelm anybody. Being surrounded by disorder causes stress, and this is significant because stress seriously messes with your health. We’re talking overeating, weight gain, anxiety, poor sleep, and a higher risk of depression. Have you been holding on to excess weight? Do you find yourself constantly reaching for sugar to deal with the day? Conquering clutter could actually be a key part of breaking out of your unhealthy routines. Creating a clean, uncluttered space gives you a more relaxing atmosphere in which to think clearly and capably, so you’re less anxious, stressed, and in need of coping mechanisms. Some research even shows people are more likely to reach for healthy snacks in orderly rooms.
Cutting Clutter Is Highly Doable
An organized home doesn’t require a huge income, tons of skill, or a certain personality. Cutting clutter is possible anywhere. Think of it as going on an organization diet: Just as you might limit certain foods in the interest of nourishing your body best, so too you can get rid of extraneous stuff to make your spaces neat and organized. Work systematically, one space at a time, to decrease clutter and improve daily life. Beginning with the first place people enter your home, such as the entryway, get rid of everything you don’t need, and create storage solutions for everything you do. You might mount hooks to the wall for outerwear or add a storage bench for tucking away shoes. Once this space has a good organization system going, move to the next space, and keep organizing until your whole interior is in place.
For more room-by-room ideas on getting organized for less stress and improved health, take a look at the attached resource. In it, you’ll find practical tips and strategies to help you know where to start in forming household habits of order. From going through closets each year to making the most of garage storage space, you’ll find specific ways to create the kind of home in which you love spending time day after day.
AUTHOR BIO: Tom Happ is President of Closet Works — based in Elmhurst, Illinois — which for 32 years has served Chicagoland with customized closet and storage solutions. With more than 100 employees, each solution is designed, fabricated, and Installed to optimize the storage for every room within the home.
Graphic created by Closet Works.
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