Clear Space, Clear Mind: Declutter

Tidying isn't exactly everyone's favorite activity. The amount of energy you have to put into dealing with the mess around and the time you have to work on it appears, most of the time, unappealing. Some will make a cleaning and tidying schedule to keep their space to look peace and nice and there are some who do not clean by themselves and simply need assistance in doing so. 

When it come to cleanliness, it is not about keeping your sweet living space tidy. Cleanliness and tidiness can somehow portray the situation of your mind and the situation of the place you are in can affect it as well.

Having a messy space does not imply that anyone have a mental issue, though it could be one indicator of it and another issue. Reasons could be you're a college student or a busy working person that simply does not have much spare time to take care of your mess. There are also people who live with the way of "organized chaos", but that's another story.

Keeping your space clean and tidy benefit you on aspect of organization and hygiene and it also play role on the wellness of your mind. Space with big mess and clutter could make it difficult to work and focus on daily tasks. The clutter surrounding and piling may become unappealing therefore increase your stress level when you see them.

There have been studies done on the correlation between mental wellness and cleanliness. One study about psychology of home found that people who describe their homes as "Cluttered" were more likely to be fatigued, even depressed. 

While in contrast to people who described their homes as "Restful" and "Restorative" had higher level of happiness. Another one is done the University of California, studying thirty couples for their stress hormones, found those who described their homes as "Messy" or "Chaotic" displayed increased level of cortisol, a steroid hormone produced in the adrenal gland, therefore resulting in more stress. 

It does not just stop there, the act of cleaning and tidying also proved to benefit us as well. A study by British Journal of Sports Medicine proved that by doing twenty minutes of physical activity was enough to decrease stress levels. If you can spare your time just for twenty minutes a day, you can reduce the impact that stress has on your live. There are other studies as well but seeing from the studies above, we can see that there are correlations between the two.

Individuals reported having easier time unwinding at the end of the they when their home was cleaned. Clean and tidy space provides more clarity to your home, it makes your mind feel and stay peace as well. Clean space provides more quality rest after a whole day of hard work. More often your place is clean, the more often you will have quality air without allergens that can attack your immune system. 

If you enjoy cleaning, it can be the ritual that brings you a sense of achievement after you clean and it also brings physical benefit to you. By cleaning your home, you're also make sure that there isn't dirty space for the dreaded rats and roach to creep around.

Being surrounded with a clean and tidy space could bring much benefit to our mind and it appears to make life easier as well, you're not going to stumble upon laying objects on the floor or step your feet on any puncturing sharp object and getting to find your stuff gets easier as well. 

But it is undeniably unappealing and unexciting when it comes to cleaning and tidying. Maybe you do not have enough time or maybe you have too much clutter to begin with which makes you feel stressed out before even starting it.

Piling clutter comes from objects that exists in your house and those objects wouldn't even be there if you did not choose to bring it into your home in the first place. 

You can do anything to get rid of the clutter but if you just bring more and more after each and every decluttering session you're basically going to be trapped into this circle of throwing thing out and bringing more in which will waste your energy and stress your mind in a constant manner. 

Therefore, the way to keep your place in control is to mind what you bring into your house. It could be done by managing purchase habits. Managing purchase habits help you to think every purchase and make sure each one counts and worth it. This one helps you by making you understand what you really need. 

This could actually affect you, aside from cluttering, on financial management and consumerism. If doing a big decluttering is too much for you, a help is always available. You can seek help from professionals or you can seek help from the all-knowing internet for inspiration and tips and tricks. The lifestyle of minimalism is on the rise and it has been a trending way people have been applying to their life so there are great amount of help you can seek from the net.

If you can finally get the hang of it, all in decluttering is the way to go. This one step could be too much, tiring, and emotionally taxing but the end result will speak in another way. Find some free time to go through your stuff. Dig out all the mess and put them in a place where you can clearly see them and it's time to pick what stays and what goes. 

Take a look at the stuff. Do they have actual value or were they just other participant of impulsive purchases? Do they still have functionality or are they just other stuffs you keep just in case? Or are they there just because somehow, they're there? ultimately, are those the stuff that you really want to keep in your home and to live with? 

After doing so you may find a big mess, or a little, of actually unneeded or unwanted stuff by you but it doesn't mean that they do not have value to other people. If you believe they could still have some use and benefit other people in a way they do not benefit you then you can donate it for a second life. There's a saying of "One's trash is someone else's treasure".

And finally, the last thing you can do to keep your place clutter free is to find the little times throughout your days. Every task creates mess even if it's just a small one. Find that gap time to take care of the mess produced. You can also find every other small time to just put stuff back on to where they belong. Just walking around, see that little stuff jus sitting there for no reason? Pick them up and put it where they're supposed to be. By doing little thing like that you're going to reduce the risk upcoming mess.

And that's how you avoid a space like Kapal Pecah.

Peace.