How Physical Clutter Increases Anxiety

I walk in. 

My heart starts to race. I feel it.

My anxiety is on its way to take a grip on me. Oh for what has brought great pain to the orbits in my head?

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD ITS A MESS! 

Say it isn’t so. I HAVE GOT TO CLEAN.

This is true folks. This is me. The REAL me.

If I was to say I was any character from a popular tv show I'm soooo Monica from Friends.

If you were to ask me what brings me great joy aside from my family of course, it's a clean, well organized, everything in its place, home. I'm kind of a Virgo that way if you believe in that sort of thing.

Just writing about it makes me happy. I'm so not kidding (a bit cray cray? Well maybe).

I clean for fun. But really I clean to ease.... anxiety. My entire life I've had to clean a space thats messy before I can be in it. I can't think straight in a mess.

For some of you, you may be reading this and saying,

HELL NO! WTH is she even talking about? Cleaning gives her joy? Thats just nuts!

I hear you. I get it, on some level, but not really. (Wink)

Or, some of you may be totally getting my vibe and are like, HELL YEAH! I feelz you Shan.

If you suffer from any amount of anxiety, are disorganized, or feel the walls closing in, or are overwhelmed, one reason could be it's because your surrounding's are a hot mess.  At the very least it's influencing the anxiety you already have by making it worse.

I fully, 100%, with everything I have, believe, that one of the paths to serenity and peace, is a clean, well organized, spacious home and/or office.

It eases anxiety, helps the mind be at peace, gives you the feelz, and allows your mind to hold space for other important things like creativity and problem solving. Think of how you feel just looking at the pictures on this blog post.

May I also mention that if you have less stuff in your home to begin with, and keep things picked up during the week, it makes cleaning your house on the weekends a total snap. I religiously practice this and I can proudly say I can clean my house in just a couple of hours. It's because I don't have a bunch of stuff collecting dust, and I'm not spending extra time picking up stuff laying around and having to put it away before I even start to clean.

When a space is clean and has no clutter, it physically allows the mind to calm, rest, and focus. It gives the mind space to heal and deal.

Here's the deal on clutter:

• Subconsciously seeing clutter tells you nothing is done, thus making you feel guilty 
• It makes you feel overwhelmed
• It distracts the mind from being able to focus on tasks 
• It makes it difficult to relax
• It causes frustration when you cannot find anything (not to mention wastes time looking for that thing, leading to more frustration and anxiety)
• It's embarrassing when a friend or hot date drops by (ouch)

If this is you, have no fear. I've got you. Here are some simple tips I practice that make life much, much easier:

• Twice a year (spring, fall) go through closets/drawers and get rid of things you simply just don't use and donate them. This is also a great time to get those closets and drawers organized so you can find what you need when you need it.
• Lose all the knickknacks collecting dust that you don't need. Less is more here.
• Designate drawers for particular use: like a "junk drawer" as some call it. This can be a place for pens, scissors, tape, screwdrivers, push pins, measuring tape etc. get a drawer organizer and go crazy (this will change your life)
• Don't leave stuff thrown about or dirty dishes in the sink. Do you know the phrase "a stitch in time saves 9"?- totally true here. Take the extra step and don't leave it 'til later.
• When making dinner and you're waiting for things to cook, clean the counters and load the dish washer with plates, bowls or utensils that you've used to prep. Please for the love of all things holy- don't leave dinner dishes for the morning, I can't even. 
• Not sure if Virgos can own this saying, but I think we'd like to think we can: "a place for everything and everything in it's place". Yes indeed. Designate places for your things. But make sure they are out of sight, not on a shelf where you can still see them. (exception: check out the photo above. Do you not just love the blankets on the wood ladder idea? Stellar. Now this is what I'm talkin 'bout)
• If you're living in a home with stairs- get a basket to placed at the bottom of the stairs to collect items that need to go back up so you're not making 500 trips.
• For desks: get a pretty container for your note pads, scissors, push pins, sticky pads etc. 
• For your pets- get a cute basket or bin to place all of their toys.
• For closets invest in baskets or bins with labels.
• And yes, my tried and true Mason Jars for the win to store just about anything.

So there you have it.

For more inspo if you haven't yet, go check out the new Netflix show Tidying Up for some seriously great tips. 

You know, I watched the first episode and very proudly (or arrogantly) said out loud....

I ALREADY DO THAT!  (So Monica of me) 

No I’m not competitive either. 

Now I gotta be honest tho.

I did like the folding of t-shirts idea for drawers. 

So I'll take it and try it.

So what will you try?

With much organizational joy,

Go forth and declutter yo.

 xoxo

Shannon