192 | What is the Clutter in Your Home Doing to You?

When you think about clutter the general consensus is that clutter is bad we don’t want clutter around us we don’t want it to be a thing in our home and clutter is frustrating it’s frustrating to have it and it’s frustrating to be surrounded by clutter we’re going to get into one of the real issues with too much stuff and all the clutter on this episode of the intentional edit podcast

 There have been numerous studies done on clutter and they affect on clutter. Really, what I should have said is, and the negative effects that it has on us, because clutter is not a great thing. One of the studies that I recently was looking into is from 2009 and the results were similar to every other study that I’ve ever read or looked at on clutter. It talked a lot about the hormone cortisol cortisol is a stress hormone it is [00:02:00] higher in a people that live in cluttered home. So basically, the results are saying that when you live in an environment that has clutter and you’re surrounded by too much stuff, there’s excess around you. It raises your cortisol levels. They go up meaning you are more stressed. You feel more stressed. When I talk about, or when I see things like how does your home make you feel, or how do you feel when you walk into your home? When you come through that back door, what are the feelings that come up if you are instantly stressed because of the state of your home? Those feelings are usually because of the clutter. It’s because of the mess. Sometimes we just say we have a lot of stuff. It’s a mess at my house. We don’t use the term clutter, but realistically, anything that is out and about causing this mass of belonging is that doesn’t have a place to go when that has accumulated. That is clutter. we know this is a cause of frustration. We know this is adding to our stress, but we get to the point where we can’t take the mess any longer, where you are fed up. Basically, we’re fed up and all of a sudden it’s like this fast paced, crazy decluttering session where You grab a trash bag and you toss everything into it. You grab as much as possible. You’re moving frantically through the house and there’s like crazy fast manner. Getting everything, you possibly can thinking about how much stuff can I get out of my house as quickly as possible. That is like frantic.

De-cluttering like rage cleaning type of thing. And it does feel good in that moment. It might help in a situation for a day or two, but the reality is you are not getting the long-term results because you’re not completing the three steps of successful long-term organization. And you’re not getting that result of having the orderly home. So those results are just temporary those feelings where it felt good that is just temporary[00:04:00] What I mean by that is, it is extremely short. It’s not going to last for very long. temporary. Might even be a nice word to use because. Basically the results will not last. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.

The stress that they’re referring to in this study will still be there. You’re still going to have that spike in cortisol levels. You’re going to feel stressed. How, because you didn’t really do anything to solve the problem you gave a band-aid fix a little band-aid solution. You might have a few hours, a few days of temporary relief where it feels good, but you’re going to feel defeated because you’re going to say, oh, the message here again, the clutter. Crept back in. And this situation. This is when you send me messages. Like I did a purge, I got rid of a bunch of stuff, but my house is still a mess. What I’m doing, isn’t working. Those are the messages I get when you don’t actually follow this three-step process of the purging, the organizing and the routines, combining all of those things. When you are on this journey to a simplified home, you are really seeking a home. That is a place that you feel good in that your family feels good in your home should be restful. It should be peaceful and the room should function. For the needs of your family, the, this all will take place and it’s not contributing to the stress. It’s not adding to the stress. In fact, it’s taking away from your stress because your home is this peaceful place that works the way that you need it to. And that’s what I mean. When I say your home is functioning for you, it’s functioning for your family.

When you have a home that is functioning, it’s serving a purpose. It’s taking away from the clutter instead of adding to it. If your home is cluttered or you’re listening to this episode of thinking that your home might be adding to the stress in your life, like, Hey, I might have a little too much clutter and I think it is a stressful situation. Could it really be raising your cortisol levels and putting you in that constant fight or flight response? Yes, it could be. [00:06:00] There’s a few things that you can do to take inventory of what is actually happening. And you can pick a plan to move forward, to make the necessary changes, to create that home. That really is an antidote of stress, not the actual stressor. So one thing I want you to do is reevaluate how your home is working.

Is there too much stuff? Do you have too much stuff? There? Are there a lot of items that you can see if you are looking around and you see what is on the surfaces? What’s on the table. What’s on the ground. What are these things in your home? Do you see things that you aren’t using? Do they see things that no one in your family is really using or hasn’t used in Hawaii? That’s one thing to think about, when you are aware that these things are there, they can be very aggravating. You know, you need to do something, you know, you need to take some kind of an action, but instead of that constant pile, the constant stack, the constant amount of clutter is constantly there.

Just tapping you on the shoulder. Being this constant reminder of, Hey, Hey, take care of me, do something with me. Instead of removing it and having a peaceful area without the excess that has piled up. Another thing to think about is how is the decorating done is the decor out of style. And what I mean by that is more, is it out of style for you? We’re not talking about the trends or the latest fads or what’s in the designer magazines. But what does the decor do for you? How do you feel about it? What feels good to you? if it doesn’t feel good, that can be the same as clutter. If you purchased signs and decorations and all kinds of stuff, 20 years ago, that you loved and put it up all over the walls. Without really any intention behind it. And now you look at that stuff and you don’t even like what it looks like. It feels cluttered. It’s not your style anymore. People change [00:08:00] people evolve. We’re allowed to do that. If you don’t like it, if it’s not something you use, if it’s not bringing you any joy or happiness. You can remove that from the walls and kind of remove some of that clutter so that you start to feel better in your home instead of having that constant reminder of these things that you don’t like, and that you don’t even want that. You are not enjoying in your home anymore. Something else to think about is. How is your home actually functioning? Do the rooms serve a purpose? Are they working for you and your family in a useful way? Are the things that you use all the time in the areas of your home, in a drawer, in a pantry, in a cabinet, are the things that you use frequently? Are they easy to get to, or do you have to move things around?

And it’s hard to get to the things that you actually use on a daily basis or frequently. When you think about how the rooms in your house are functioning, that is a perfect example of why I teach you how to implement the three steps that are required for an organized house and a home that stays orderly and stays functioning with long-term benefits. So you’re not going back and redoing the work that you’ve already put in all the time, if there’s too much stuff and that spy stuff, I mean, clutter. You have to remove it. Your home is not functioning for your family. If everyone in the home is surrounded by clutter, because there is this stuff also known as clutter everywhere. When you’re constantly looking for something and you know that you own this thing, you know, it’s somewhere, but you’re wasting all this time looking for it, or you need to find it because you need to use it. That means you’re lacking the organization piece. That’s when you add the organizing, that step has to happen to. When you’re constantly frustrated because things are not being put away. They’re not be putting back. Then that means there’s not a process in place for the common tasks and the [00:10:00] routine things that we do. If you always feel like you’re running around last minute, or maybe you’re even late, or you are just dropping the ball, you can’t keep it all together. That’s when you have to dial in those systems and routines to serve you and to serve your home and the needs of your family. So all of these things have to work together, the decluttering component, the organizing, and of course those routines and those things you work together and that’s when you’re home and every room in your house. Is functioning and it’s serving your family. It is something that is helpful to you because you’ve taken the time to intentionally remove the extras. That would be the decluttering. To organize what you decide is really important to keep and to have, and the things that you use in your home. And you’ve put those routines in place. That keep it all going and simplify all of the daily tasks, the bottom line. And I guess the basic way to say this is we know stress is bad for us. All around wherever the stress is coming from, stress is not good. We want to reduce the stress as much as possible, rather than add to it. When I look into these studies, when I read about them or hear about them and they talk about the negative effects of stress. It reminds me of all the things that we have going on in our homes, whether it be specific things to our individual lives, how it work with our jobs. In the world in general, in our communities or in our extended families, whatever it may be. All of these things can add to the stress and constantly adding to our stress means our cortisol levels are rising and rising. And most of the things that add to our stress. Are out of our control. We don’t have a say in a lot of things that cause our cortisol levels. Rise. this is when I’m reminded that our homes are significantly more important than we think the condition of our homes, how we [00:12:00] choose to organize them, the stuff that we allow in them, what takes place inside our homes. Is something that we can control. We have complete control over that environment. And how this home can be a place of rest and enjoyment and a really a peaceful place to be is a good thing. Or if we don’t take control of that, it can be, something that is an additional stressor. And that’s what we want to remove. We get to decide and we get to do the decluttering and organization and we get to set up those intention routines. When we implement those to keep our homes going with less effort. That means. Everything is becoming streamlined. It’s going to work as simply as possible. When we put these things into effect, we have to put in the effort to purge. Every single thing that we do not use if we don’t use it, if we don’t want it, if we don’t like it anymore. If we don’t need it anymore, those are things we can remove. So there is less stuff and less clutter to cause our stress to rise. We also have control over how we organize. We organize what is staying and then we move on and we get going on those routines that simplify everything. And that’s what makes the day to day easier. That’s when we say I took this journey, I simplified my home and I feel good. My home is not something that is causing me to have more and more and more stress. It’s a place where I go and I feel good and it’s peaceful and I can relax and I can unwind and I can be refreshed in my home. enjoy my family because we have the systems in place these routines that are getting us through the day that are making it so that the clutter doesn’t creep back in. So you start with the decluttering to put the decluttering in motion. Go to the podcast description, wherever you are listening to this episode and download the [00:14:00] purging project that I have. It’s a purging challenge. It’s a simple plan to purge. And what it is is 10 different purging projects that take less than 20 minutes. You can do these in 10 days. It’s completely free.

It’s called the practical purging projects. And all you have to do is click the link and sign up so that you can receive the download. So that you can walk through these attend different purging projects. One each day. For 10 days and you will have significantly decluttered and gotten some of this stuff out of your house that is, uh, causing you to feel stressed right now. And when you finish with that, keep going, but let that be the starting point. Let that be the place where you kick off. So go to the podcast description, click on the link for the practical purging projects.

It’s free. You sign up, you receive an email with the download, a detailed, and you can start decluttering with short projects that will help you remove some of. Of these things from your home in the next 10 days.