How Clutter Messes with your Mind – and How to Clear It
Have you ever walked into a cluttered and messy room and felt instantly stressed? You’re not alone. Clutter can be overwhelming, especially when you’re juggling kids, work, and life. Studies have proven that our cortisol levels rise when surrounded by clutter. It can make you feel like you’re stuck and don’t even know where to begin. You don’t have to live in a constant state of “I’ll deal with it later.” A few small changes can make a big difference. Start with tackling the high-traffic areas first. They get messy the fastest and have the biggest impact when organized. Read on to discover more tips on how to easily clear the clutter and clear your mind.
Fix the Entryway Clutter – Create Calm
The entryway is the first thing that you see when you walk into your house. It’s also the first place for the kids to drop their backpacks and shoes for everyone to trip over. But when it is clean and organized, it sets a calm tone for the entire house. A few simple tweaks can turn it into an organized, intentional space. Adding, a shoe rack + some hooks for backpacks and hats can create instant order. Now, instead of a messy pile, it looks like it was always meant to be there.
We have a closet about 6 feet from the entrance way in my house. I put hooks in the closet as I had hoped the kids would put their backpacks on the hooks. But I quickly realized that having to walk 6 feet, plus open doors to a closet wasn’t working for my kids. They were dropping their backpacks on the floor instead of having to ask an adult for help to open the closet (it’s a hard closet door to open). I changed the system to fit my kids personalities by putting a large bin near the entryway for them to drop their backpacks. Every weekend we hang up the backpacks, but during the weekdays the backpacks live in the bin. Simple system. Easy for the kids to upkeep. Now we have a clear and calm entryway to the house!
Make It Easy
A solid system in any room will change the way you view cleanup time and prevent clutter from building up. Now, instead of it being a long annoying chore, cleanup can be easy. Let’s use the playroom as an example. Toys everywhere that need to be cleaned up, can overwhelm kids and take a while to clean. But when there is a system in place, and everything has a spot to go back into, it becomes easy to clean up. The trick? Figure out what works for your kids. Some do best with closed bins tucked away in a closet. Others need open bins where they can see everything. Think about how your kids use the space, then set up a system that makes sense. The right system is the one that works for your family, not the one that you might see on instagram. A good system = easy clean up. Easy clean up = less clutter. Now that’s a win!
Family Command Center to Beat the Paper Clutter
Paperwork, incoming mail, projects, school calendars, outgoing signed notes, and permission slips, are a big cause of clutter in many of the homes that we organize in. With multiple people living in one home, the dining room table often becomes a drop zone for everyones misc papers and projects. There is an easy fix though. Plan for it! Create a designated family command center. It can be a tray, a closet, a back of a pantry door, or a drawer near the entryway. Hang up a family calendar and mark all important dates as the papers with them come in. Then throw out those papers! Have a notice that needs to be hung up, a pretty cork board can be hung near the calendar for important papers to go on.
Feeling stressed by the clutter? Unsure of which system fits your home? Don’t be overwhelmed. Let’s figure it out together. Book a free consultation for personalized organizing tips.
Till Next Time,
Bracha
