When you are having a rough time with mental health, it is common to not take care of typical responsibilities such as keeping up with cleaning or organizing. As your room becomes more cluttered, you may start to feel worse. Feelings of stress, anxiety, and even depression may become overwhelming as you realize you cannot find anything and you feel swallowed by the walls of your room. However, organizing and cleaning up the clutter can have a huge impact on your mental health. By decluttering, your mental health can improve dramatically as you start to eliminate the stress that is surrounding you.
Being surrounded by clutter, disorganization, and things you don’t need can be overwhelming. You may feel stress by just looking around your room. The list of things you have to do, such as cleaning, organizing, throwing out trash, finishing projects, and making your room a relaxing space again, can be daunting. This daunting list can have a major influence on your mental health.
One of the ways a messy room can affect your mental health is by you not being able to find anything. When everything is organized and in its place, you don’t have to worry about finding your keys or wallet when you’re running late for work. This can help reduce stress and keep you from scrambling everywhere in the morning and starting your day off on the wrong foot.
In one scientific study, women who had messy homes had higher cortisol levels, the stress hormone, in their bodies throughout the day compared to women that saw their homes as organized and relaxing.
When your space is messy, it can be challenging to concentrate. You will always be distracted by the things surrounding you and unable to focus on anything. A clean space means fewer distractions, and you will be better able to pay attention to your responsibilities.
It is easy to become isolated if you live in a disorganized space. You may feel embarrassed by the mess, and therefore never invite your friends or family over. This can become quite isolating and even cause problems in your interpersonal relationships as people may think you don’t want to spend time with them.
Living in a messy space can have an enormous impact on your mental health. Organizing your room and living in a clean space has excellent benefits. The benefits of organizing can even be strong motivators to begin the process.
7 benefits of organization include:
During the organization process and after, you will notice improvements in your mental and physical health. The symptoms of mental illness will decrease, and you will have more motivation to take care of responsibilities and grow.
The thought of starting the organization process can be stressful. It is recommended to break up the organization process into smaller pieces, taking baby steps to get your space clean and organized. For example, you can divide up the rooms you need to take care of. Then, take fifteen to twenty minutes each day to organize. You can sort through books, take out things you don’t need, and get rid of old clothes. Contributing a little bit of effort each day will encourage you to keep going and finish the project.
To get organized, you need to take an inventory of what you have. For example, if you are cleaning out your closet, take out everything and lay it on your bed so you can see it all. This way you can see just how much clothing you have and what you normally wear. This will make it easier to sort through everything and organize things into what you want to keep, what you want to donate, and what you want to throw out.
Hanging onto items that no longer have any value to you or your life will just cause more clutter over time. Letting go of items that are no longer needed is a way of getting rid of clutter in your room. If you haven’t used the item in at least a year and doesn’t have sentimental value, it might be time to part ways with it.
Once you have organized your room, and it is clean, decorate with items that will make you feel at home, happy, and relaxed. Decorate with artwork, plants, and more. The point of organizing is to make your space relaxing and enjoyable to improve your mental health. Putting your personal touch on your room can wrap up the process nicely.
Taking care of your mental health can seem complicated and overwhelming. However, doing something as simple as organizing your room can improve it. Living in clutter can cause stress, depression, anxiety, problems with interpersonal relationships, and more. When you declutter, you are alleviating the disorganization in your room and in your mind. By organizing your room, you will have better sleep, an improved mood, more time and energy, and better interpersonal relationships. You’ll also be more productive. To start organizing, take things step by step, so you don’t get too overwhelmed. Part with things you no longer need, cut down on clutter and finish the process by decorating a bit to put your personal touch on the room. At Northstar Transitions, we help our clients take care of their mental health in various ways, including things as simple as organizing. For more information on improving your mental health, call us today at (303) 558-6400.
