Decluttering to Manage Stress
80/20 RUle
We use 20% of what we own 80% of the time. What in your life remains untouched?
Research on Clutter’s Negative Effects
…the experiential quality of home is compromised by ‘clutter,’ defined as an overabundance of possessions that collectively create chaotic and disorderly living spaces.
…we conceptualize psychological home as a reflection of one’s need to identify self with a physical environment.
Findings reveal that place attachment and self-extension tendencies toward possessions positively contribute to psychological home.
Clutter had a negative impact on psychological home and subjective well-being.
Journal of Environmental Psychology (2016)
Psychological home – not only a physical structure but also a source of meaning, belonging, and identity
Place attachment – an emotional bond that develops between individuals or groups and their environment
Self-extension tendencies – possessions are used as an extension of self-identity because they can promote a sense of continuity over a life-span
Four Fundamental Possession Meanings
- “hyper-attachment” to goods as sources of self-identity
- reliance upon possessions to embody and enable memory of past events
- a strong need and desire to maintain control over possessions
- heightened sense of responsibility for possessions
When taken to extreme levels, these meanings can become maladaptive. Clutter can then accumulate to a point where it interferes with daily life functions.
AIChE Article on Decluttering
- Declutter your mind
- make meditation, mindfulness, and/or yoga daily habits
- Develop a personal system
- create daily routine to process mail, paperwork, and action items such as calendar planner and a filing system
- Rely on storage systems
- labeled folders, containers & shelving units, etc.
- Get rid of digital clutter
- empty trash
- reduce notifications for nonessentials
- Reset your space
- create the habit of leaving a room better than when you found it by emptying the trash or removing stray items on the desk/countertop
- Practice being smart lazy
- putting things away correctly the first time takes a matter of seconds and will save you time in the long run when you have to search for items again
- Enlist the help of an expert
Mari Kondo’s Decluttering Tips
- KonMari method essentials
- Commit yourself to tidying up
- Imagine your ideal lifestyle
- Finish discarding first
- Tidy by category, not by location
- Follow the right order
- Ask yourself if it sparks joy
- Organize items by size
- Items with similar utility are usually grouped together but you can also group by similar size.
- Keeping small items with other small items makes it less likely to get lost. When possible, store small items in drawers.
- Store items on frequency of use
- It will get worse before it gets better
- Pile things up
- Example: take all the clothes you have and pile it. Or all the books. This will help you see how much your have and find what you are missing or what you need to replace.
- Thank you home
- Give everything a home
- KonMari folding method
- Use clear boxes
- Make sure everything you keep sparks joy
Decluttering Your Digital Life
- Declutter your computer
- Organize files
- Delete what you don’t need
- Keep logical file breakdowns and name files clearly
- Tackle your apps
- Delete unused apps
- Unsubscribe from unused services
- Organize your home screen and desktop
- File everything away and try a “Temporary” folder on desktop for files that can be deleted after use
- Save your photos
- Delete unnecessary photos to clear up space
- Check out Slidebox – it’s a photo organization app
- Delete unnecessary photos to clear up space
- Emails
- Delete old emails
- Consider using an “auto-delete” rule for anything in your inbox longer than 30 days if the email is not already filed
- Unsubscribe from newsletters and sales you don’t read!
- Delete old emails
You can also find more infographics at Visualistan
