Declutter your way to better mental health

Everyone has different ways of coping with stress. For some, it involves kicking back with comfort food. For others, it involves binge-watching their favorite show. Some believe in using mindfulness and yoga for improving their mental wellbeing. 

However, many people use cleaning as a coping mechanism. Whether it be cleaning out the cupboards or scrubbing the floors, cleaning gives stressed people some semblance of peace. 

Cleaning is healthy 

The urge to organize and clean is actually important for your mental health. When you start to remove the mess from around you, you are not only cleaning your environment but also expunging the clutter in your mind as well. 

However, it is just as vital to realize that mental health needs to be addressed; decluttering is a good way, but not a substitute for a Psychologist in Lahore.

How is clutter affecting your mental health? 

It is not just a matter of being a slob; clutter is not good for your mental health as well. When there is clutter and mess around you, you are less likely to focus. 

When more objects are part of your task, your brain is overwhelmed by the visuals. This then also leads to tension, confusion, and irritable disposition. Moreover, these negative emotions also then lead to stress and anxiety as well. 

Likewise, having cluttered spaces, with unfinished projects, things out of place, and a whole lot of mess are also a cause for depression and fatigue in women. 

Women with untidy and decluttered homes are more likely to have greater cortisol –the stress hormone—levels. 

How decluttering helps?

There is a reason why watching home projects that involve cleaning and decluttering is so soothing. 

Decluttering is associated with a number of positive emotions in the body. The presence of order around the space improves focus. Moreover, decluttering is also associated with distressing. 

Other benefits of cleaning the space around you include:

Less stressful moments

We have all experienced moments of extreme frustration when we are unable to find things, especially before an important event. As decluttering helps in promoting systems around the house, it is easier to find things. Thus, the overall frequency of stressful moments is decreased. 

Improved clarity

Naturally, finding your way through the rubble of mess is a hard task at that. Having all the distracting clutter is also not helpful for attention either.

Decluttering, therefore, helps in improving clarity, as there are fewer distractions around you. To perform a task, you do not have to jump through the hoops, dig around the mess and even then, come empty-handed.

Better self-esteem

When we declutter, we gain control of our surroundings. It is also easier to stay organized when you have a clean home environment. Both these little gestures then help with your self-esteem; if you are able to take charge of your surroundings, you are capable of doing other things as well. 

Moreover, most of us are more inclined to clean and pretty living places. As we declutter, we make our surroundings into something that we are proud of. 

Improves mood

Since cluttering is associated with anxiety, decluttering leads to positive emotions in the body. Sleeping peacefully on clean sheets is not a myth; we genuinely feel more rested when we sleep on a clean bed. 

Similarly, the action of cleaning –and not just the result –is also helpful for improving mood by decreasing the symptoms of fatigue, concentration, anxiety, stress, etc. 

Better relationships

Mess does not only ruin your living space but also makes relationships messy as well. Conflict around cleaning is not an exaggeration; whether it be partners or roommates, it is natural that a fight will occur when the clean one is made to survive in a mess. 

The stress from the conflict then wreaks havoc on the mental health, meriting a visit to the Psychologist in Karachi then.