7
WAYS CLUTTER IS RUINING YOUR LIFE
CLUTTER
OVERLOADS YOUR SENSES, JUST LIKE MULTITASKING OVERLOADS YOUR BRAIN. HERE ARE
ALL THE WAYS A MESSY SPACE CAN AFFECT YOUR LIFE.
Take a quick glance around your
workspace: Do you see piles of papers on your desk? Supplies you haven’t yet
put away? An overflowing trash can? This clutter adds up and can make you
stressed out and overweight.
Clutter isn’t just a housekeeping
issue; it’s a health issue. "I'm a firm believer that physical clutter
creates emotional clutter," Robin Zasio, author of The Hoarder In You:
How To Live A Happier, Healthier, Uncluttered Life, said in an interview withPrevention magazine. "Every time
you walk into your home, that clutter brings you down. There's this sense of
not feeling comfortable and emotionally free in your own house."
While clutter can make you feel
depressed, it’s doing a host of other things to your brain and your body:
Clutter limits your brain’s ability to
process information, and can make you feel distracted. In a study done
at Princeton University Neuroscience Institute, researchers found that
"multiple stimuli present in the visual field at the same time compete for
neural representation by mutually suppressing their evoked activity throughout
visual cortex, providing a neural correlate for the limited processing capacity
of the visual system."
Overconsumption and its residual
clutter make your stress hormones spike. A study from UCLA looked at Los Angeles families with homes
that were filled with an abundance of toys and household items. In fact, 75% of
the families couldn’t park their cars inside their garages because they were
overloaded with stuff. The researchers found that the mothers’ cortisol levels
spiked when they were home dealing with their belongings, but dropped when they
left.
Clutter overloads your senses, just
like multitasking overloads your brain, causing you to be stressed out and
anxious.
3. IT CONTRIBUTES TO PROCRASTINATION
At its core, clutter is
procrastination. It’s setting something down with the idea of dealing with it
later. If your office or home is cluttered, you’re most likely procrastinating
with other things as well.
CLUTTER OVERLOADS YOUR SENSES, JUST
LIKE MULTITASKING OVERLOADS YOUR BRAIN.
"People don't realize that clutter
actually is delayed decisions and delayed actions," says Lorie Marrero,
author of The Clutter Diet. "Think about everything you have sitting around on
your counter or on your desk, that's an action you haven't taken or a decision
you haven't made. If you can make better, faster decisions, you will be more
organized."
4. IT COSTS YOU TIME AND MONEY
Clutter robs you of time you could
spend doing something else. Think of the time you spend looking for that paper,
computer file, or your keys. Americans collectively waste 9 million hours per
day searching for misplaced items, and nearly a quarter of us of admit to
paying late penalties because we’ve lost bills, according to the National
Association of Professional Organizers.
5. IT AGGRAVATES ALLERGIES
Clutter makes it harder to clean your
environment, creating a germ haven that aggravates allergies and asthma. Things
that collect dust also collect dust mites, according to the Mayo Clinic. These microscopic organisms can trigger allergy and asthma
attacks.
6. IT MAKES YOU FAT
While clutter increases your stress
hormone, which can cause you to gain weight, it also represents bad habits that
can transfer over into eating patterns as well. After working with families who
have overwhelming clutter, organizing expert Peter Walsh noticed a link between
overconsumption of stuff and overconsumption of food.
"All of us deal constantly with
the urge to consume more," Walsh writes in his book Does This Clutter Make
My Butt Look Fat? "They’re just not very
different. Clutter and fat: I see it. I want it. I’ll have it."
AMERICANS COLLECTIVELY WASTE 9 MILLION
HOURS PER DAY SEARCHING FOR MISPLACED ITEM.
Weight issues are caused by lifestyle,
says Walsh, and clutter, chaos, and fat are inextricably linked. "Your
home is a reflection of your state of mind, as is your body," he says.
7. IT KEEPS YOU FROM LIVING IN THE PRESENT
Clutter is a way of clinging to the
past. According to feng shui principles, clutter represents trapped energy, and
it is believed that when you clear clutter, you release negative emotions,
generate positive energy, and invite opportunity into your life.
In her book, The Life-Changing
Magic of Tidying Up, author Marie Kondo
says the true purpose of tidying is to live in the most natural state possible,
surrounded only by things that spark joy.
"Keep only the things that speak
to your heart. Then take the plunge and discard all the rest. By doing this,
you can reset your life and embark on a new lifestyle," she writes.
BY STEPHANIE VOZZA
http://www.fastcompany.com/3052894/how-to-be-a-success-at-everything/7-ways-clutter-is-ruining-your-life?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fast-company-weekly-newsletter-featured&position=5&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=11132015
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