Feeling a little down in the dumps lately? While there are any number of things that could be causing you to feel sad, you may not have considered that clutter might be the culprit.
When UCLA's Center on Everyday Lives and Families (CELF) set out to identify the relationships between people and their household objects, the findings resulted in a book that's filled with facts that could explain why your clutter is causing you emotional chaos.
A Few Findings
The study revealed some interesting facts about the ways we interact with our home environments and the impact clutter can have on our emotions.
- Only one quarter of garages were used for vehicles because they were so full of other items there was nowhere to park.
- Women associate success and happiness with tidiness. Anxiety is an impeding threat when disorganization arrives.
- Even folks who want to de-clutter are often paralyzed by the potential value they think it may have or any associated sentimental value.
Keeping the Anxiety at Bay
Knowing how clutter affects your mood is one thing; dumping that dumpy spirit is another. To help you get your spirits back up, here are some helpful hints to put the kabash on clutter:
- Commit to a Plan.Whether you decide to abide by the Rule of Five, and put five things away every time you walk into a room, or you designate a specific time commitment by which to eliminate household chaos, construct a plan and stick to it.
Five minutes of cleaning each hour throughout the day will yield you an entire hour of cleaning time after 12 hours.
- Keep that Sink Clean. The sink is one of the easiest places to get out of control. Pass by the sink in favor of immediate placement in the dishwasher. You only cost yourself an extra second, but the reward of a clean sink will keep your stresses down.
- Free Up Your Flat Surfaces.Do you have old photos, trinkets, and knickknacks on your tables, mantles, and every other flat surface in the house? Put the photos in an album, and find ways to organize the little things. The small stuff really does add up.
- Employ the Internet for Inspiration.There are probably millions of ways to clear up or organize the clutter in your space. Take to the cloud, and look for sources of inspiration on sites like Pinterest.
- Put Yourself to the Test. Not sure if you'll miss some of your treasured trinkets? Put them in a box, seal it up, and store it away. If you haven't opened it in a year, donate it!
Are you looking to tidy up your house from the inside, out? Start with a Las Vegas home maintenance plan! Download our PDF calendar, or import reminders directly into your device’s calendar.
