By Carrie Downey, Clarity Co.
Stressors are abundant these days. While some people are able to hide their stress reaction better than others, it’s important to consider how these various stressors affect our health. According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, stress is defined as the brain’s response to any demand. It can certainly be the stress brought on by sudden negative changes or traumatic stress. But the less obvious stress that takes its toll over time and is impacting many of us is the chronic stress associated with work, family or other responsibilities.
When these responsibilities are piled high and then complicated by disorganization, life can start to feel unmanageable. Have you considered the role that disorganization and clutter plays in your stress and ultimately your health? Take a moment to look at how the following stressors from clutter are possibly contributing to your daily stress:
Overtaken by Your Stuff
Is your house overrun with clothes, shoes, books, toys, electronics, and papers? Perhaps you’ve fallen victim to the cornucopia of goods and information readily available in our society today. I commonly meet clients who buy without a plan for how to manage their stuff, and are overwhelmed by the piles in every room of their home or office. Worse yet, the clutter is contributing to relational conflicts or making their environment unsafe.
Misplaced Belongings
When you are overtaken by stuff, it’s easy for useful or meaningful items to get lost in the chaos. The daily frenzied hunt for these items causes a rush of adrenaline — especially with the concern of being late. Losing something valuable or priceless can be very upsetting, raising your blood pressure and causing panic.
Clutter is Preventing a Good Cleaning
Maybe it’s all you can do to keep rooms like your kitchen or dining room cleared for their intended purpose. If you are overwhelmed by your clutter then your health can be at risk from the germs and bacteria collecting in that clutter. Even if you have a cleaning service, they need to be able to access every surface in order to provide your house the deep cleaning it requires to make it a healthy environment.
Missed Deadlines and Issues With Productivity
Missing deadlines, because you misplaced the notice from your child’s school or the bill from the electric company, can certainly add to your stress. Is your desk covered with so many papers that you can’t find the data you need to compile a report for work? If these things are happening to you regularly then you are probably feeling like you can’t keep up with the pace of your life!
No Place for Clarity and Serenity
Piles of stuff filling your space leave little room for clarity and serenity. Whether you are consciously aware of it or not, your stuff consumes your mind and provides far too many distractions. It can cause a creative block or prevent productivity. When you need a get-a-way from all of the other contributors of stress in your life, your clutter may hinder you from retreating to that favorite room in your home.
If you can relate to anything on the previous list, you should start thinking about how to incorporate organization into your approach to living a healthy lifestyle. It’s important to take whatever steps you can to minimize the number of times your body goes through the stress response. Nerve chemicals and hormones being released through your body, which in short bursts can be life-saving, can be problematic if always present due to chronic stress. Essential functions such as digestion, excretion, and reproduction are impacted as is our happiness. Not to mention the toll disorganization takes on relationships, the safety of small children and your social life.
Not all stress is bad stress, especially if it’s a motivating factor that gets you moving toward reclaiming your personal sanctuary. If you are ready for change, start with asking yourself what’s preventing you from taking 10-15 minutes, once or twice a day, to put things back where they belong? Enlisting the services of a professional organizer for help establishing where things belong might be just what you need!
Carrie Downey of Clarity Co. is a professional organizer and licensed clinical social worker in Bloomington-Normal who is ready to help you create clarity, one organization project at a time. Visit clarityco.org or call 309-808-2576 to get started with a free on-site consultation.