Decluttering Reduces Stress

By Gwen Randall-Young
January 06, 2025

Key points from this story:

• Clutter drains personal energy
• Disorganization increases stress levels
• Small steps can lead to significant improvements
• Professional help is available for extreme cases
• Organizing creates positive mental environment
• Maintaining order requires consistent effort

Do you feel stressed, overwhelmed and disorganized? It could be that your work or home environment is too cluttered. Karen Kingston, author of Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui, suggests that areas of clutter drain our energy. If there is a mess by the back door, each time you enter you may start thinking how you must do something about it: train the kids better or tidy it regularly. Then you walk into the kitchen, and if there are dishes lying around, cereal boxes left out, newspapers scattered, you begin to feel the weight on your shoulders of all that there is to do.

Boldly, you decide you can tackle all this, so you go to get changed out of your work clothes and cannot find the jeans you are looking for because the closet is in disarray. You also notice the jumble on the bathroom counter, just as you left it as you rushed out in the morning. Although you were fine when you got home, you are beginning to feel depressed and cranky. At just about this time, a child comes along to complain about what his sister did, and gets his head bitten off!

Although some can tolerate it, for many, clutter is stressful. The same is true in the workplace. If you have several projects on the go, spread over your desk, and you must fumble through papers when someone wants information, your stress level goes up. The thought of getting everything in order can be overwhelming. Kingston suggests starting with one little project at a time-- one drawer, one corner of a room. Some who have years of clutter or are downsizing may find the process completely overwhelming.

There are professional organizers who will streamline the process. Your only job will be to decide what to keep, what to throw away, and what to donate. The organizer will take care of getting things where they need to go. You will notice how uplifting it is to look at a once messy area, and to see everything in its place. It does take time and effort to maintain an uncluttered environment, but the rewards in terms of good feeling and increased positive energy make it well worth it.