Yesterday morning I did a bit more puttering around my house, trying to get various bits & pieces put away, moving piles, eliminating piles, and clearing clutter. I cleared out one small section that had been driving me particularly batty and was instantly, absolutely giddy at how it felt to have something so small cleared up.
It made a huge difference in my morning.
I thought back to a post from early in 2016 about de-cluttering and its benefits on health, and I thought it would be a good time to revisit the topic. :)
Cheers! Here's to your health and finding something that makes you giddy. ;)
February 17, 2016: De-Cluttering
I’ve been trying to figure out what one change I could work on this week to improve my health (mental/physical/emotional) and I realized that clutter drives me crazy. (I know, I know. “Drives??”)
Clutter impacts your health in multiple ways. Think about it! Dust. The more piles of stuff around, the more opportunities for dust to collect. And then when you do finally move the pile, you breathe in more dust. And there’s sneezing. And headaches. And having to clean more. Plus the fact that the clutter is intimidating and frustrating and eventually the guilt or aggravation over not dealing with the clutter can start eating away at you and making everything worse. Add to that the feeling that things are closing in on you…well, I think you get the point.
I am terrible at remembering to put things away. It seemed until this week to be worst with clothes. Not wanting to take the ten steps to put away a sweater or hang up a pair of pants just seems silly. So I started putting the clothes away. It felt like an accomplishment! I put things in the kitchen cupboard that had been on the counter since the last time we bought groceries. I removed a pile of miscellaneous papers that had been on a shelf and put them where they must be dealt with before I can sit on a particular chair again. (Ok, so that was just rearranging the pile…but I’m going to deal with it! Really!) And when someone is going to come over? Ok…for some people maybe you think “They are good enough friends not to care.” But generally there’s the panic-stricken “OH NO PEOPLE ARE COMING WHERE DO I PUT THINGS” feeling that makes it hard to enjoy anticipating company.
Clutter can be a cause of stress and depression. (It can also be a result of stress or depression.) There can be any number of causes (or results). What is one way to get back some of the control or peace or pleasure in your space, reduce your stress, and increase your mental and physical health? Clean one pile. Put something away instead of leaving it on the back of the sofa. Hang up the coat. Put the keys on a rack. (That way, you’ll always know where they are!) Decide on places to put stuff; if you don’t have somewhere to put it, how can you put it away? Be kind to yourself. Take it one step at a time. You didn’t end up with a cluttered, dusty space all in one day.
Cheers! Here’s to your health!