Did you ever think that clutter might be making you sick or stressed, or that it is preventing you from healing? Living with less clutter can actually improve your health.
Stress and overwhelm made me feel awful but I never thought my clutter was contributing to my stress until I took a closer look. While I know stress wasn’t the cause of multiple sclerosis, I do believe it contributed to relapses and symptoms.
- My clutter was a constant reminder of my debt and discontent. That’s stressful.
- Walking into a cluttered home at the end of a stressful work day made me even more stressed.
- Managing my clutter; organizing, cleaning, and worrying about my stuff was stressful.
- Dealing with the emotions about the clutter was very stressful.
Stress from clutter may be in the way of your healing and overall well-being.
The stress of clutter can make you sick physically and/or mentally. Just having all that extra stuff to deal with is too much with everything else we have on our plates. Motherly’s Article, It’s Science: Clutter Can Actually Give You Anxiety explains the science of cortisol: “No matter the ways, reasons and means by which the creep of stuff exceeds our ability to mentally and physically manage it—all of it amounts to stress. Clutter can trigger the release of the stress hormone cortisol, which can increase tension and anxiety and lead to unhealthy habits. Cortisol is a hormone produced in response to stress by the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA).”
How stress from clutter makes us sick
When a messy room or too much stuff makes you anxious, there are health risks to consider. When you experience anxiety, levels of the stress hormone cortisol rise. Stress can affect our physical and mental health negatively and it can result in:
- Disrupted sleep
- Increase in blood pressure, blood sugars and heart rate
- Decreased immune function
- Depression and/or Anxiety or both
Even when clutter isn’t the only thing that stresses you out, it still contributes the stress you carry (and it’s a stressor that is within our control). When you are carrying too much stress, it demands all of your energy and attention. “It is difficult to maintain a state of wellness over time when our body energy is channeled into coping with stress.” – Anne-Marie Gambelin
There is good news though! Decluttering can help. Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, Joyce Marter says that purging unneeded items from our homes is like deleting files to create space on your computer. In this article, she says, “Suddenly, the whole operating system is more efficient… this decreases stress and increases your effectiveness personally and professionally.” This has been my experience!
Fundamentally, we know how to declutter, but approaching it as a challenge or experiment removes some of the stress around letting go or starting something new.
Here are three decluttering challenges to consider:
Until you find a decluttering method that works well for you, try a decluttering challenge.
- 10-10-100 Decluttering Challenge
- The Minimalism Game
- The Decluttering Burst (let go of 100 household items in less than an hour)
If you aren’t sure what to let go of, try these 52 items or these 70 things.
If letting go makes you feel stressed, be gentle with yourself and hide the things you want to release. You can simply box the things up you are unsure about and hide it for 30-60 days. If you don’t miss it or like me, forget what’s in the box all together, it’s easier to let go.
Your home environment will make a difference in how you feel. It takes more than decluttering to combat chronic stress, but it’s a strong start. Every positive change you make and every tiny step taken towards a healthier life will provide confidence and momentum to make the next change. Other things that have helped me eliminate chronic stress include, creating a morning routine, moving my body regularly and daily meditation.
Does this mean I am perfectly healthy all the time? No. While living a simpler life with less stress can add more health, wealth and happiness to our lives, it can’t prevent every mess. Invite simplicity in to improve your life, not to perfect it. Even the messes have something to offer.
If clutter is making you sick (or even if it’s not) …
Even if you are as healthy as you want to be, ask yourself how clutter is contributing to your life. Is it weighing you down or adding value to your life? Does it make you happy or frustrated? What purpose is it serving? Are you holding on because you want to or because letting go is hard? And then remember that holding onto it is hard too.
Once I had a powerful reason to declutter, it was so much easier to let go and stick with my clutter-free lifestyle. And when the clutter in my home was gone, I was able to release clutter from my calendar and my mind for a peaceful existence. If you discover that your clutter is stressful and that clutter might be making you sick and stressed, prioritize your mental and physical health and let go.