Spring is a great time to examine your health and look for areas to make some lasting positive changes. As the weather starts to improve and being outside becomes more bearable, it’s a fantastic opportunity to start fresh with making healthy choices that will benefit you for the rest of the year. Spring is also a time where people have historically made a conscious effort to de-clutter and downsize. In our last two newsletters we have covered a lot of ways that you can overhaul your health habits. This article is going to focus on the health benefits of de-cluttering both your home and your daily life.

A strong connection is being made between cleanliness and mental health. Research is beginning to show that living in a cluttered environment can actually increase your stress levels. One study looked at young women caring for an infant in either a normal (orderly) or cluttered environment. The chaotic surroundings did not affect mood/responsiveness to the child, but elevated physical stress levels were observed in the women who resided in the cluttered homes. In addition to its effects on stress levels, it is thought that having an organized and de-cluttered home will boost one’s mood and reduce symptoms of anxiety.

It is believed that clutter can actually affect a person’s ability to focus on specific tasks. This is because a person’s visual cortex can be overwhelmed by objects not related to the task at hand, making it difficult to focus. Let’s say that you’re working remotely from your home, but the room you’re working in is disorganized and cluttered. You will have a harder time focusing on your work because your brain is being overwhelmed all the external stimuli in the room. Clutter will lead to stress and anxiety, but by cleaning, organizing, and reducing clutter, people can take back control of their environment.

In addition to decreasing signs of anxiety and stress, spring cleaning/de-cluttering can have a positive effect on one’s physical health. An Indiana University study found that people with clean/orderly homes tended to be healthier than those with cluttered homes. This is likely due to the fact that they are not burdened by all of the extra adverse mental effects that clutter can cause. If you find yourself constantly having the urge to clean/declutter spaces in your home when you’re stressed, this could be a way that your brain/body are looking to bring some order to your life. Let’s explore a few way you can kick start your spring cleaning and de-clutter your life:

• Start Small – break your home down into manageable areas and maybe focus on one specific area in a room at a time. Don’t make your to-do list larger than what you can mentally handle, or it will simply lead to increased stress.
• Set a Timer – designate a certain amount of time each evening to straightening up/de-cluttering and see how much you can get done. This is a great way to build a new routine.
• Downsize – limiting the number of possessions you own can have a positive impact on your mind, because it reduces the number of things competing for your brain’s attention.
• Maintain – once an area/room has been de-cluttered, prioritize keeping it de-cluttered – a minute or two each night for maintenance can help keep your environment stress-free.

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