What Amount of Decluttering Helps Anxiety and Well-Being? It’s Different for All of Us
If clutter contributes to stress, can decluttering and organizing the environment around you relieve that stress and improve your sense of well-being? Yes, but know that we all differ when it comes to what’s an acceptable amount of clutter, says Darby Saxbe, PhD, a professor of psychology at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
“Clutter is ‘in the eye of the beholder,’ in the sense that some clutter might perturb some people and be totally fine for others,” Dr. Saxbe explains.
Roster notes that clutter is a spectrum. “Some people with extreme amounts of clutter may think they don’t have a problem with it at all, while others can be quite distressed by it when there really isn’t much there,” she says.
Making an effort to declutter can make you feel as if a weight has been lifted. No matter what you physically count as “clutter,” whatever is there is a constant visual reminder of things that need to be done, Saxbe explains. “Decluttering allows you to cross things off the to-do list, which gives you a sense of accomplishment,” she says. “Removing clutter also takes away visual interruptions. It’s an easy way to cleanse the palate and have a fresh start.”
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