10 Benefits of Decluttering Your Home
What grown up house did you imagine in your mind as a child? I wonder was it as neat and quiet as a magazine spread or a scene from Tom and Jerry… Either way, if you yearn for freedom as you sigh into each morning, surrounded by papers and sticky odd socks, I promise you can have that dream home. It’s possible for you too.
Even just muscling through a power hour (try this 60-Min Refresh) will make a huge difference. Here are 10 ways living in a decluttered house will change your life forever.
(Just so you know: Some links in this post are affiliate links, which means that if you click on them and buy something I get a small percentage. Thank you for supporting my small business in this way!)
Photo by Mitchell Henderson from Pexels
1. Less Cleaning
When you don’t have to manoeuvre around things, there is a lot less standing in your way of giving surfaces a proper clean. In fact, getting rid of clutter would eliminate 40% of housework according to research conducted by National Soap and Detergent Association (USA).
I don’t know about you, but awkward cleaning in tight spaces causes me to hold my breath and form a rising scream inside me. Think of those precarious piles of books, dusty ornaments, undefined gatherings of post and papers that make cleaning seem overwhelming - it’s not helping us live healthy lives. In fact, 69% of people did not clean areas of their homes that they felt they should in the ACI National Cleaning Survey (2019)… scary stuff.
2. Less Arguing
Would you rather be talking about that funny squirrel video you saved on your phone instead of reminding family members that the dishes that are still not done. Or that they need to toss out those boots with the hole in them. Or get rid of that bread maker before you lose your mind!
Living with people who are ‘clutter blind’ - i.e. are not bothered by overflowing stuff - has been shown to cause a rise in the stress hormone cortisol for spouses who perceived the clutter at home (Saxbe & Repetti, 2010). No wonder you feel drained by the constant need to toe the line between nagging and reminding, bickering and standing your ground. **Sigh**
3. Less Stress
The more you have the more you have to do - to keep on top of, to clean, to maintain, to pay for and ultimately to scurry away when you want to have guests coming over (fun fact: ‘scurryfunging’ is the Old English word for cleaning up in a hurry for incoming guests) - the more stress you bring into your daily life. Decluttering anxiety is no joke (read more here).
It’s a constant reminder of things not done yet, a sort of ‘mental to-do list’ as described by Fumio Sasaki in his book, “Goodbye Things”. He says that your things talk, reminding you of your failures and lost talents as the objects sit there gathering dust. Clear your physical space and watch the space open up in your head too.
4. Less Searching
Did you know that a 2017 survey by the tracking device company, Pixie, found that 60% of people were late for school or work because they couldn’t find essential things, or that a the average American lost 2.5 days of the year to searching for misplaced items?!
Losing things is frustrating, time consuming and expensive. There is a delightful satisfaction knowing everything is in its place going to sleep at night, and ready to grab in case of an emergency.
5. Less Brain Fog
It has been shown that when you have more objects in your space you use more brain power to process them, and this interferes with brain processes, making it much harder to focus on what you are doing (McMains & Kastner, 2021). No wonder working from home surrounded by stuff is so exhausting.
Our brains are always trying to protect us from pain, which may not make us the most productive!
6. More Down Time
When you have less to clean, organise, and maneouvre around your evenings and weekends become time for you and your family. What could you spend that time on? A new hobby, a community clean up or a trip out to the beach?
Joshua Becker talks about the pivotal Saturday morning that he denied his son precious father-son playing time because he was cleaning out the garage for many hours longer than he expected and it hit him how much his stuff was controlling him.
Do that thing you’ve wanted to do forever when you’ll ‘find the time’.
Photo by MART PRODUCTION from Pexels
7. More Control
With so many things in the world that we cannot predict or control, knowing what and where your stuff is is actually massively comforting. In an odd way, you get to enjoy your perfectionistic tendencies when you have less to perfect - the mugs lined up by shape and colour, all matching stationary, KonMari folded linens… it is all delicious. Just ask the experts.
8. More Patience
When you have less in your head and less on your to-do list, a calm washes over you. When you live in the peace of knowing your living room is just 10 minutes away from clean enough to welcome unexpected guests you can stand behind an obnoxious person in the pharmacy without your blood boiling over… its a special thing.
Start inviting that calm into your home and watch it flow into the rest of your life.
9. More Plans
How much does your clutter hold you back from the big picture plans tucked away in your mind? If you got the skiing equipment out of the spare room, you could rent it out or give it to your daughter who’s never had her own room.
If you cleared out your great-aunt Myrtle’s china sets from the kitchen you could rip out the cupboards and give it the makeover you’ve always wanted to.
You could finally move house.
You could finally move country. What is your dream that clutter is getting in the way of?
10. More Peace
The peace of a Saturday morning alone with the cat on the couch… and not squashed next to three loads of laundry, is very special. So is a shed where you can get at the unrusted tools on the back wall in the instant you need them.
The peace of empty corners, nicely closed cupboards, unstuffed drawers and easily dusted windowsills is a magic that is like no other.
There are so many benefits to decluttering - once you go over that threshold, there is no going back!
Suzy xx
