We are officially into January and many people have started the year off determined to become more organized in an effort to streamline their lives and retire their hot mess status.

If you’ve found yourself going through your home trying to eliminate excess stuff after the holidays, you’re not alone. Studies show that there’s an increase in donations made to local charities at this time of year, as we try to eliminate things that clutter our lives and don’t “spark joy,” as the organizational guru Marie Kondo says.

But eliminating clutter has more than it’s aesthetic purposes; it can actually improve your whole life and significantly impact your brain, overall well-being and productivity. Research shows that clutter can affect your anxiety levels, sleep, and ability to focus, and it can basically turn you into a lazy, anxious, procrastinating, junk-food eating chronic avoider.

That may sound extreme, but it’s science. Our brains like order, routine and predictability, so having piles of stuff everywhere derails your focus, impacts your memory, and causes cognitive overload in your brain.

Here are some of the negative impacts excess clutter can have in your life:

Clutter Affects Your Health
-it can affect your mental health by increasing the stress hormone cortisol and causing anxiety
-the visual distraction of clutter creates cognitive overload and impairs your memory and ability to focus
-it can impact your physical health by creating more dust which causes respiratory issues
-studies have shown that it can affect your diet by overwhelming your brain and causing you to seek coping mechanisms such as overeating

Clutter Affects your Relationships
-excess clutter impacts your ability to focus on your personal relationships and may cause you to overlook problems in your love life
-studies show that children who live in cluttered homes have a harder time making friends, are embarrassed by their home and are less happy overall

Clutter Affects Your Career and Productivity
-excess clutter is distracting to the brain and can derail productivity
-when working from home, clutter impacts your ability to locate important documents or office supplies and can hinder your overall performance and time management
-clutter increases procrastination and promotes laziness
-studies show that a cluttered desk could prevent your employer from promoting you

Clutter Affects Your Wallet
-people who live in cluttered homes are frequently replacing things that they can’t locate
-clutter can lead to unnecessary purchases because a lack of organization leads you to purchase things you already have

The bad news: Clutter is proven to affect all areas of your life including health, relationships, career and even spending habits. But the good news? It’s not as daunting of a task to clean up, if you take your time and tackle your home one area or one pile at a time. Browsing Pinterest or doing a simple Google search will lead you to many decluttering and organizational challenges that you can try yourself, such as this one:

Or you can call in the professionals and let them work their magic for you. Rose Cleaning Service provides organizing services and we can help you transform your space and your life. Contact us for a quote!

Written by: Stacey Wood