A clean space goes a long way. With countless expressions accounting for the truth behind this claim, one thing is for certain: your space is a reflection of your mind, and having a clean space can do wonders for one’s mood and mental clarity.
“Clean home, clear mind.”
“A tidy house, tidy mind.”
Decluttering your home can do wonders for the mind.
There are several studies that show just how clutter can negatively affect the mind. Humans, seek control of themselves and their surroundings. This desire for control is natural and so it is sought after in our environments as we speak stability and security.
Many agree that clutter is altogether distracting and stress-invoking. This is how sayings of this nature came to our collective consciousness. We know just how profound of an impact our environment or surroundings can have on us.
Thankfully, the process of decluttering your home is both rewarding and wonderous for your mental health. It can help renew and restore the mind while giving you a sense of accomplishment upon completion.
Here’s just how decluttering your home can help declutter your mind.
Consider It a Form of Self Care
Decluttering your home is a form of self-care. Yes, you read that right. Well, it may feel like pins and needles during the process of decluttering your home, rather convincing yourself to even begin the process, decluttering your home as a form of self-care in the long-term.
In a 2010 study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, the study found that housewives who described their home negative adjectives such as “cluttered” or “unfinished” seemed to have higher stress levels. Whereas women who described their home as “clean” or “restful” had lower levels of stress hormones and overview higher moods in comparison to the women who described their homes with negative connotations.
Research alluded to the fact that there’s a correlation between clutter and the negative effects of long-term high levels of cortisol. It alluded to the notion that women with cluttered homes at higher chances can be more likely to fall into a depressive state due to their increased cortisol levels.
Decluttering Your Home Can Reduce Cortisol Levels
There is quite an intriguing article that details the long-term effects this act has on the brain. In the article, the writer paraphrases psychotherapist Dana Dorfman. She explains the studies that show the significant reduction and the stress hormone cortisol when various items within the home were removed.
This reduction of cortisol levels what’s due impart to a reduction of stimuli. A messy environment makes it difficult for the brain to focus on important tasks.
Research shows just how the visual cortex can be so easily distracted by nonimportant objects within one’s environment. This causes the brain to struggle with retention. This also increases stimuli, causing a reduction in mental clarity.
Reduction of stimuli would allow the mind to become more stable, finding its balance and eventual clarity in the longterm as well as motivation.
Where To Begin: A Checklist
One of the most daunting tasks of decluttering your home can be finding the motivation to do so as we often don’t know where to begin. This is fair as the unknown can cause both fear and anxiety. Therefore, in the effort of making this process a bit more encouraging, consider starting with a decluttering checklist.
Find a piece of paper and a pen and simply devote some time to assess the clutter within your home.
Does this item bring you value? Is this item necessary or important to hold onto? Is this item essential to my life?
The keyword here is essential.
A simple list to assess the value of each household item can be a great starting point when decluttering your home. Give it as a practice of essentialism in efforts to reduce the noise taking up your home, and therefore headspace. Upon completion of your list, it’s time to put some action behind your written work.
Get Into a Flow State
You’ve made your list, now it’s time to rip off this metaphorical Band-Aid. Choose a room that is will be least intimidating, and start there. Use your list to help navigate through this process.
Eventually, you will find yourself in some may call, a flow state, and you will find yourself innately sorting through the physical mess within your home. Stay in this state; it is not only the act of eliminating the clutter that invokes this feeling but also the brain pacifying itself through the physical act of cleaning.
Once your home is cleared of the unnecessary and you’ve restored your space from the clutter of the mental mess that has manifested in the physical, you should feel an inner peace within you as well as a sense of accomplishment.
Clean home, a clear mind, they say.
But sometimes, we need something more… As decluttering your space is wonderful for the mind, sometimes we need professional assistance to work through the pains and traumas that come in our lifetimes.
Cleaning Can Be Therapeutic
Decluttering your home is often seen as a type of therapy. It restores the mind in the longterm and is rewarding upon completion. However, not all therapy is resolved through the act of cleaning.
Intensive Therapy Retreats is here for you. We have online resources available for immediate help as well as a physical retreat located in the beautiful Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts.
If you have been considering intensive trauma therapy, we have space, time, and professionals here to aid in your process of healing. Contact us, our initial consultations are free and we can answer any questions you have.