Friday, June 8, 2012

Clutter Causes Stress


According to this article, clutter is not good for you. The older I get, the more I dislike clutter. I like clean and uncluttered counters and walls. I am not the type to have to have every corner decorated. It just seems to be more work to have to clean.

Now there are studies that show that clutter contributes to stress. We have too much stuff!  Way too much stuff. If you can't find a place to put something, you need to get rid of it.  Living in a clean and uncluttered environment is good for you. Order is good for you. God is a God of order. His ways are best and so we must strive to live lives of order.

You don't need three of everything. At one time, I had many different pairs of eyeglasses.  They were all over the place but for some reason I was always looking for a pair. Now I have two nice pairs and I rarely misplace them. We don't need ten pairs of jeans or thirty pairs of underwear. If you haven't worn something for over a year, get rid of it. Hoarding is not a good thing.Get rid of things you aren't using and give them to people who could use them.

Don't keep things because you may need them some day. You will end up keeping too much stuff. God doesn't intend for us to be slaves to our stuff but to be content for godliness with contentment is great gain! It's all going to burn someday anyways. We are told to store our treasures in heaven, not on this earth. "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matthew 6:21)

Live simply. Teach your children to clean up after themselves and to keep their rooms orderly. When you are trained as a child to be disciplined and neat, you will grow up to be a disciplined and neat adult.

Stress is killing us. Do everything you can to get stress out of your life. If that means having less stuff, have less stuff. Your health and your life are more important than stuff.

Let everything be done decently and in order.
I Corinthians 14:40


Comments (23)

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hoosierbeck's avatar

hoosierbeck · 668 weeks ago

Amen! That is really all I have to say...other than needing to really start applying this. :)
I am sharing this. This is a challenging one for me as I love to make albums, books and do crafts with kids. This is true and even that sweet picture ministers to me and I am sure others! A worthy goal.
I definitely agree with this!! I feel very overwhelmed when we have too much stuff! I often feel the urge to purge our house, and I'll go room to room filling bags of stuff we don't need anymore.

I've also noticed this with my children's clothing. My mom goes a little over board with buying cute little clothes. I've learned that I only like our children to have 10 outfits or so that fit per season. It makes it a lot less stressful than having so many clothes that they could only possibly wear each one twice through a season.
I found FlyLady.net years ago when I was living in a 1200 sf home with my hubby and six kids. The clutter and mess were overwhelming! She has a very simple system to follow, and I felt so good once we dug ourselves out of it. I could use another give-away session, though. Maybe you've inspired me to go grab a trash bag!
Clutter = stress.

I de-clutter on a very regular basis and love the feel of a clutter free home, I can breath in it. All the things you mentioned are the things I do - allows me to get through my day stress-free. I taught my sons from a very early age to clean up after playing and one is now very good at it, the other one needs far more training, but at 19 that might be a little too late.
I was just talking about this topic with my hubby, we both agree that it is time to declutter again. It amazes me what accumulates over a year, even when you are being thoughtful about what comes into the home, and I fully agree that disorder and clutter can cause a huge amount of stress. Wonderful post! :)
Jai Boardway's avatar

Jai Boardway · 668 weeks ago

well said!
I use to be someone who kept everything. I learned not to keep stuff recently. I donated tons of books to church, clothes to people, and threw away things. I love get rid of stuff now. I also love how it taught me to think twice before buying something. I got rid of things I never even used! Anyway, as always I love your blog. I don't have a mentor but this blog is a sort of mentor for me right now. I look forward to it everyday:)!
Yes, clutter does cause stress. I sure hope to un-clutter some things today. I just have to unplug for a while to get it done. I think if I don't look it I won't notice but it is still there.
I love order... 'everything has a place, and everything in it's place'. I hate clutter! I find I become overwhelmed, stressed and cannot think straight if working amongst clutter, so I tend to tidy up as I go along; I also find that by doing such, I get a chance to relax a bit and study God's Word in more depth come the weekend as I work during the week and the opportunity isn't quite the same.

Something I hate is junk mail and so I tend to deal with all the post + any junk mail as it comes in the post. I don't let it mount up as I'd get stressed if I had to go through weeks and weeks of mail.
Cynthia Swenson's avatar

Cynthia Swenson · 668 weeks ago

Lori, sometimes decluttering causes more stress than hoarding the stuff! No, seriously as I was raising nine children sometimes I would get overwhelmed for example when someone would give us clothes & I had shelves & dressers overflowing with out of season or outgrown things. I learned to thank God for the bounty & clean by breaking down the tasks into manageable ones,for example, just one shelf or drawer at a time. One of my FAVORITE cleaning tips is to put a free shelf or box right by your street or driveway. My neighbors eventually take EVERYTHING I set out there & decluttering has become wonderfully easy & rewarding too! Love & prayers, in Jesus, Cynthia
Amen! I clicked on a link from modestmomblog and I am going to have a look around ;o) But I just wanted to say that I agree with you 100%. I have been on a bit of a journey decluttering my home. I commited to doing it all in 2 years, and it's been 13 months already. I've done a lot, but after several passes you can always find more to do. It's very freeing though.
I agree. I have been working through this on my blog as well. 10 minutes a day decluttering. I will get there!
I agree wholeheartedly~ I was just chatting with someone today about honing our homes and making them work for us and not against us. Clutter waste time and energy!
I've let things pile up; and have held onto things for 'someday' or 'just in case'. No more!

I'm culling my assets and divorcing the clutter!
I try to go through my clothes and items regularly to pitch things I know I don't need. I used to keep everything and then I moved 1500 miles away from home and all I could bring was what I shoved in my car. The TV and body pillow didn't make it! And a lot of other things were paired down, as you can imagine. I love the feeling of a clutter free existence! It truly does bring peace.
I agree-- the older I get the more I dislike clutter! Clutter never used to bother me but now! My youngest seems to think that he can just set things where ever he feels like it. It drives me completely nuts and means I have to wander picking up after him. I keep thinking that once he is older it will get better but he is almost 10 now....ahhh!
OMG! This is so true. I don't need studies to tell me that. Every time my house is messy or cluttered I feel like crap. It's emotionally draining. As soon as I'm done cleaning and organizing I feel like I can breathe. My mood completely changes. Loved reading this post. :D
Mrs. Mom of 6's avatar

Mrs. Mom of 6 · 667 weeks ago

Sitting in a room that's really cluttered right now. I wish I had more energy to purge. :) We (my husband and I) are on a family mission to SIMPLIFY and CUT BACK on stuff! We want to have LESS, somehow, things keep coming into the house faster than I can get things out.... I feel like it's an uphill battle... but I keep trying to purge. Thanks for the no nonsense post.
it's definitely a slow process, it seems even more so when you have kids. i can take 20 items to the thrift store and it seems like 40 replace them as soon as I get home. yikes.
I agree wholeheartedly! I've been feeling like decluttering and getting rid of stuff has become a necessity for my sanity. This year has been a tremendous year of personal growth for me. I truly believe it's a 'God thing'. I'm not as available to serve Him when I'm bogged down with stress and confusion over what to do with all my stuff. For my marriage, children and ministry I'm going to get it done, in Jesus' name!!
Good words. Thank you for this post. Being frugal, I tend to save things I might need later. I think that is fine as long as I don't go overboard. I'm looking for the balance.
Is that your kitchen in the photo? If so, I'm green with envy! That is a beautiful kitchen.

And yes, clutter does cause stress.

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