It is natural to grow tired of living in the same place year after year, and many homeowners feel inclined to bring some change to their living space. For many, the popular solution is either home renovation or moving places.
However, renovating or buying a home is no longer as simple as it once was. In Lawrence, home prices increased by 2.8% in 2022 compared to the last year. Home remodeling, however, has remained popular in the United States in recent years, and despite a 3.5% decline in the US economy in 2020, investment in home improvement actually grew by more than 3%.
Fortunately, there is also a much less costly alternative for changing the outlook of your home; decluttering! It might come as a surprise just how big of a change decluttering can bring to your home’s interior and your psychological well-being.
So if you are considering decluttering your living space, here are some reasons that should convince you to proceed without delay:
1. Improved focus
Unnecessary clutter, especially in your workspace, can be a huge distraction. With loads of out-of-place items lying around, there is a constant reminder about what you should be doing, and it is difficult to stay focused on the task at hand.
Clutter takes up more than just physical space; it also occupies your mental space and uses your limited mental capacity. It helps to have a clear field of view when working on something; clutter only makes the space chaotic.
Begin by clearing out one room at a time. You might come across things you don’t need at the moment but cannot discard. This is where Lawrence self storage services come in; you can find convenient self-storage service providers near your home and store all such items.
2. Reduced stress
Clutter is strongly related to stress; research by a professor at St. Lawrence University revealed that sleeping in cluttered rooms was linked to sleep and rest disturbances. Cluttered workspaces are stress-inducing, which in turn causes more disorganization.
By clearing out the clutter in your living space, you will be able to get rid of the additional mental pressure and live more in the present. Clutter keeps your mind preoccupied, and throwing away unwanted belongings can serve as a huge relief, not to mention that it helps avoid the embarrassment and anxiety of presenting your guests with a cluttered and messy house.
You need your living space to be calm and peaceful so that you can take a break from the stresses of life and a great way to achieve this end is to declutter!
3. Escape from mental blocks
Many things in life act as roadblocks to your creativity, productivity, and motivation. Many things can cause such mental blocks and hinder your ability to reason out of situations; one of these many factors is clutter.
Cluttered spaces increase cortisol levels – the body’s stress hormone – and cause anxiety. Tidying up can greatly increase productivity by removing such mental blocks and clearing your cognitive capacity for better focus on the task.
Clutter is all the more problematic for over-thinkers; clutter is a huge distraction! Also, when you convince yourself to declutter physically, you learn to overcome and get rid of other mental blocks as well.
4. Easier maintenance
Maintenance costs are a major concern for homeowners in the United States; American housing Survey data revealed that maintenance expenditures totaled nearly $2,100 each year.
You can cut down on maintenance costs greatly when you have fewer possessions to maintain. With fewer things in your home, it is easier to tidy up and clean. With less time spent on looking after your home, you will have more time on your hands for other tasks.
5. Less unnecessary spending
When you work on developing a minimalist mindset and maintaining tidiness with less clutter than usual, you are also less likely to spend on unneeded items. Once you get used to living in a tidy and decluttered living space, it is difficult to turn back.
It encourages you to be mindful of your spending; in fact, with a minimalist mindset, you will be able to spend more on experiences than on possessions. Clutter not only costs you extra money for storage but also can lead to further spending from repeated purchases. When items become lost in the disorganization and chaos of clutter, it becomes easier to purchase another instead of searching through piles upon piles of stuff. Ultimately, decluttering has more than one benefit: saving time, energy, AND money!
6. Greater confidence
Decluttering gives you a sense of control over your life and promotes a sense of achievement. The feeling of accomplishment you experience after tidying your home is multiplied tenfold when you successfully declutter. It surely is no easy task to let go of unneeded items, no matter how useless they may be, and achieving this is highly satisfying.
Also, decluttering reduces your reliance on monetary possessions to define your self-worth. You break free from the constraints of social pressure and no longer need goods to prove your self-worth to anyone.
Decluttering will also give you confidence in your quick decision-making skills, which demand rational thinking and quick action.
7. Recovered lost treasures
Plenty of things are often buried under piles upon piles of clutter; old photographs, souvenirs, and other sentimental memories. Often decluttering allows you to give away and let go of painful memories like old photographs.
You might even locate important items you lost long ago and bought again. You can sell many recovered belongings for profit or donate them to a charity. Or, set up a yard sale and sell valuables you no longer need.
8. Fewer allergens
The more furniture and goods lying around your house, the harder it is to clean around the crevices and ensure cleanliness. Not just dust but even mold and pet hair can accumulate here and there and trigger allergies.
By decluttering, you can make your home much easier to clean and improve indoor ventilation.
Final words
If you want to improve your living space, decluttering is a great place to start. In addition to improving the interior, decluttering will provide many psychological benefits; it will help enhance focus, reduce stress, remove mental blocks, allow for easier maintenance, save money, and locate many lost treasures. In the long run, you will see your hard work pay off.