How Decluttering and Streamlining your Life Will Benefit your Mental Health

In 2019 Marie Kondo floated onto the global stage and swept it clean of clutter. Her book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying and the accompanying 2019 TV series sparked joy in the majority of those who read it. 

While Kondo does have a large band of loyal followers from all over the world, some would dispute her theories and disregard them as nothing more than housework. However, some proven health benefits come from living and working in a decluttered environment. Much like businesses use BPM tools to optimize their systems and boost productivity; you too can streamline the way you live and the way you work through the simple act of tidying up. 

Here are just a few:

1. Lowing stress levels

Clutter may not seem like the most stressful aspect of your life, but the smallest annoyances can suddenly manifest themselves into massive problems if you let them pile up. Your sock drawer sticks out every morning because you never throw away your old worn-out pairs. You can't find the matching lid of your Tupperware because the cupboard is so unorganized. Your coat always falls off the overloaded coatrack and ends up on the floor.

Small annoyances such as these build up every day and can become a real bane of your daily life. Go through your home, room by room, and identify places where these tiny annoyances can be rectified. Declutter and de-stress.

2. Boost your productivity

Visually, clutter can be very distracting. Having too much in your field of vision when you are trying to concentrate on a singular task can affect your brain's ability to process information. Whether you are at home or work, keeping your workspace clear of clutter will boost your productivity and help you to work more efficiently. This means that you will be able to complete work in record time and hopefully get to head home early!

 3. Improves your sleep

Sleep is a precious commodity in your life. It is a practice you overindulge in as a teenager and get nowhere near enough of as an adult. Bringing decluttering into your bedroom can help with that. Making your bed is such an easy thing to forget to do in the morning, but if you can make it part of your daily routine, you will find that you get a much more restful sleep. The mess of an unmade bed translates to messiness in your mind, making it harder to switch off at bedtime. As well as this, it is also good practice to remove the clutter of electronic devices out of your bedroom. This can be hard, particularly if you rely on your phone or tablet as an alarm in the mornings. Invest in an alarm clock and leave your phone on charge downstairs, see how much more restful your nights can be.

And if caring for your mental health wasn't enough of a reason for you to consider decluttering, remember that decluttering could very well lead to never having to go through the pain of standing on a Lego brick ever again.