Correlating Mess with Stress: How Clutter Affects Your Brain
Whether you have realized it or not, stress can rapidly build up and affect your mood, ability to concentrate, and even cause depression with a list of other symptoms. Even though it’s coming up on winter time, Spring cleaning should never be left to only Spring. Keeping your home clean (and yes, that includes the garage, indoor and outdoor storage, and the room you like to avoid) should be a priority to maintain your mental and physical health.
Clutter – Why It’s Bad for Your Brain
Did you know that your brain is constantly taking visual snapshots of everything around you in your home? Simply close your eyes and envision your living room. How does it look? How does the garage look? Even though you aren’t always actively thinking about the disorder at home, your brain is being subjected to stress from the disorder it has seen around you that has been left unsolved.
So, what happens to your brain over time as that clutter builds up space within your brain?
The space in your brain that should be used for solving problems, concentrating, and dealing with your day to day life ends up being filled by the junk that hasn’t been taken care of. It can then affect not only your focus, but you ability to fall asleep, stay asleep, and your anxiety. Many people see physical reactions cause by the mental coping strategies our body puts forth just as looking for junk food, which compounds the negative effects on your brain.
Studies show that by de-cluttering your home, you can improve your productivity, happiness, and enjoyment of your normal activities with improved sleep at the end of the day.
Physical Symptoms of Clutter
Clutter has negative effects on your physical health by increasing your cortisol or stress hormone levels and put you in a fight-or-flight mode that drains your body and mind until your actions and habits degrade as well.
We already mentioned poor eating habits, but did you know the junk food you tend to eat while stressed also has negative impacts on your mental and physical well being at the same time? Why would anyone do that to themselves if they can easily get rid of the clutter they have no clue what to do with. Because, let’s be honest: most of the time people just aren’t sure where to put things anymore.
Instead, rent a dumpster, throw out that unwanted junk and clear up your home, your brain, and you mental and physical health before it causes your heart and brain irreparable damage.