By Peter Yurek, BSc.Phm.
One of the things that age has taught me is that a tidier space can help you feel calmer, happier, and in more control.
Benefits of decluttering:
- Getting rid of visual clutter helps you focus better.
- Improving your living space can restore feelings of competency and pride.
- Too much clutter can cause conflict with those around you.
- Decluttering can lower the risk of allergies and asthma by reducing dust, mold, and mildew.
- Improves lifestyle and well-being by making it easier to cook healthy meals and attain restful sleep.
Tips for decluttering your spaces:
- Start small so you do not get discouraged.
- Build in structure by setting deadlines.
- Don’t strive for perfection – make it work for you!
In my observation, clutterers are often ‘people persons’; they spend much of their time doing things with and for others and end up procrastinating their own chores.
Cluttering may increase as we age due to a reluctance to dispose of unwanted possessions and the required physical effort needed to do so.
Decluttering is difficult for people with hoarding disorder, a recognized and treatable psychiatric disorder where people cannot organize and manage their belongings. However, most of us can take gradual steps — and feel better.
Happy purging!
