More than a trend to start the New Year, decluttering is a good year-round practice. The “season of new” can be anytime! So, if you are thinking about tackling your clutter, but something is still holding you back, do not put off your decluttering until Spring cleaning! Understanding why decluttering is good for you and how decluttering improves your life can help you become more motivated. Then, adopting attainable steps towards creating a clutter-free environment will help you achieve a tidier home and optimal well-being.

How Decluttering Helps Mental Health
Finding a way to tackle your clutter may help minimize stress, anxiety, and depression while boosting focus, a sense of control, productivity, and pride in your home. Environmental psychology studies how our environment impacts our motivation and mood, with clutter being one of the relevant factors. There is a relationship between tranquil spaces and happiness, as the vibration of your environment plays a significant role in your well-being. With a clutter-free space, you will have more room to pay attention to your mental health. Even deemed a prescription for wellness, the benefits of decluttering are next to endless. Here is how a clutter-free space has the potential to dramatically improve your well-being:

• How decluttering reduces stress – Having insurmountable piles all over amps up stress levels, triggering anxiety. Studies show that people who live in cluttered environments exhibit elevated stress hormone levels. The opposite is also true, with people living in a tidy environment having lower cortisol levels and a more serene, calm state of mind.
• Limits anxiety – Stress and anxiety diminish when piles are toppled and dealt with.Putting something away in the same place every time you use it is a small effort to take towards eliminating the anxiety-producing fear that you have lost something for good. And it saves time from looking for it the next time you need it.
• Quiets the “noise” – Minus the noisy clutter, you will have a quiet space to listen to your feelings, rediscover your innermost self, and prepare to address your needs.
• Boosts focus – Having less clutter helps with concentration by decreasing distractions. To help you focus even better, consider donating your pre-loved “stuff,” which has been proven to benefit mental health. You can better tune into your immediate environment or the task at hand without extraneous clutter to distract you.
• Reduces depression – There is a connection between unfinished projects and depression. Conversely, the lack of interest and motivation that comes with depression may keep you from completing projects you were interested in previously. The related sleep disturbances, fatigue, and lack of energy make it hard for people to push themselves to clean up after themselves, contributing to disorganization. Tackle your clutter, and the cloud of depression will begin to lift.
• Takes control – They say that a disordered home equals a disordered mind. While the jury is still out on whether this is true or not, you cannot argue with the fact that decluttering elicits a sense of control. When you declutter, you do not just take back control over your space; you take back control of your peace and serenity.
• Improves productivity – A clear space allows for better thinking, which is critical for productivity. Clutter undermines time management and performance, potentially distracting and keeping you from optimal functioning. So, tidy up to level up your life.
• Saves relationships – Disorganized spaces can adversely affect relationships. If one partner is a clean freak and the other is comfortable with clutter, this can breed tension. Couples may argue over who put what where, or stumble over someone’s pile of laundry, etc. Being more tolerant of your partner while working to keep piles to a minimum can help eliminate this potential source of relationship strife.
• Boosts moods – Cleaning and decluttering can be therapeutic. The physical effort of moving about to clean windows or vacuum gets those endorphins pumping, boosting moods and energy. The tangible, visible result creates satisfaction and improves self-esteem for a job well done. Decluttering can also help eliminate clutter’s isolating effects. When your home is free of clutter, you will feel more comfortable welcoming visitors.

Decluttering How To Start
Need help tackling this undertaking? Here are some actionable steps and suggestions for how to start decluttering your house and mind:

• Identify roadblocks – Growing up with scarcity and various fears may make you want to hold onto things “just in case” as they provide feelings of security. For example, is your brain telling that you will wear that clothing item again, or is sentiment making you hold onto useless, broken artifacts from your childhood? Once you determine what is causing you to stall and process it, you can get busy.
• Just start – While having a plan is helpful, controlled chaos is better than total chaos. So, go ahead and dive in and start anywhere, anytime!
• Take baby steps – Decluttering does not have to be a huge process, nor does it have to take tons of time. You do not have to clean out a whole room at once or empty all the cabinets in the kitchen today. You can start small. Say you will clear off one countertop or organize one drawer, cabinet, or closet per day. If you decide to do more, great! But breaking it down into piecemeal or bite-size pieces can prevent becoming overwhelmed. Then, give yourself ten minutes per day to do one small drawer or cabinet.
• Declutter for a cause – Each year, the month of February is dedicated to decluttering for a cause. You get to tidy up your space and give back to your community. We cannot think of a better motivation to spur you into action.

Clearing out your home and office and giving pre-loved, unused items to local shelters, charities, and non-profit organizations that do not have much funding this time of year can be just the incentive you need to get into high gear. Chances are that in this age of consumerism, you have more than you need that would greatly benefit those who may have less. The hassle-free 12:12:12 approach coined by renowned minimalist Joshua Becker ties in beautifully to decluttering for a cause. In his method, you would find 12 items to toss, 12 to give away, and 12 to return where they belong.

• Take out the trash – If you have items in your home that you associate with triggering experiences, letting this literal baggage go and getting it out of sight can be a decisive, emotionally decluttering step towards an improved state of mind.
• Give it a monetary value – Try out the 20/20 rule, which encourages you to get rid of an item if you can replace it in less than 20 minutes for less than $20.
• Maintain a clutter-free home – Make decluttering part of your daily or weekly routine so that it does not build back up again. If you use something regularly, permit yourself to keep it out (in an orderly fashion, of course!), and put away items you use occasionally.

It will take just a few seconds to get it out when needed and a few more to put away. Keep future clutter from piling up by not over-consuming and watching impulse buying. Readjust your mindset - you do not need as much as your brain tells you, and the peace acquired from having less will ultimately be more satisfying.

• Declutter your vanity – Toss that expired exfoliating cleanser, skin care cream, or body moisturizer to make way for new ones. Next, to help you stay on track with your skincare goals, select an appealing countertop organization container to corral your new, clean skincare products, keeping them in sight, top of mind, and ready to use!
• Should it stay, or should it go now? – You may think you need multiple purses or whatever you buy in multiple quantities, but accumulating more and more is not the answer. In the words of William Morris, “Do not keep anything in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” What is enough? To cull down the items in your closet, decide how many pairs of jeans you need. Keep the handful that you love and donate the rest.
• Create a list – List all the areas that need to be decluttered and break them down into small, specific tasks. Crossing off each area on the list after finishing up is wonderfully self-esteeming and rewarding.

Decluttering Suggestions
Decluttering is not easy and can be fraught with emotional attachments. Here are some suggestions to maintain your wellness amidst the decluttering process:

• Avoid decluttering distraction – Watch out as decluttering or cleaning can be a form of procrastination that keeps you from an important task. Ask yourself if now is the time or if you can do it next week after an upcoming event or deadline.
• Do not go overboard – Cleaning to the point of exhaustion in the quest for perfectionism can come with a cost. While your space may look better, this incessant drive can trigger anxiety. If you cannot say good enough without crossing the line, you may want to see a professional to determine if you have trauma, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), or other mental health issues driving you.
• Know yourself to maintain serenity – If your personality works best with a tidy desk, take a few moments daily before diving into work. But if you like to have your files within arm's reach and know where everything is, keep things front and center if that helps you function better.
• Declutter your emotions – Decluttering does not just apply to stuff - it is about emotionally decluttering. Clutter is also considered a trauma symptom. If you can relate, enlist the help of a professional to get to the root of your issues before attempting to clear away the clutter from your home.
• How to start decluttering when overwhelmed – Making decisions about whether you need to get rid of something or keep it involves ranges of intensity, emotional attachment, beliefs, etc. If you feel stressed about decluttering, start slow and practice tolerating the anxiety of throwing something away or getting rid of it before moving on to the next item.

But if you are strongly compelled to keep things and feel anxiety at the thought of getting rid of them, you may have a hoarding disorder. Stocking up on canned goods “just in case” for emergencies, keeping some areas tidy and others less so can be more manageable with mild hoarding disorder. But, when it requires you to keep “all the things” and your home becomes unmanageable or unsafe, you should seek professional help.

• Neurodivergence and clutter – Folks who have different types of mental functioning from those who are considered “normal” tend to have unique relationships with clutter. ADHD, for example, often manifests in messiness, challenges organizing, and seeing projects through to the end. Despite some believing that a cluttered space associated with ADHD equals a disorganized mind, that messy closet, desk, or home may also be a sign of genius. Functional clutter is also common among creatives who claim to thrive amidst chaos.

Clutter becomes problematic for everyone, neurodivergent, creatives, and neurotypical folks alike, when it takes away from our functioning and enjoyment of life. When clutter hinders project completion and gets between us and our relationships with others, we can all benefit from these tips to help keep our space clutter-free and our minds serene. Want to reward yourself for your efforts? VisitFind A Spa to treat yourself to an in-depth consultation for your ideal products and professional Pevonia treatments for face and body to experience your healthiest skin ever.