Declutter Your Life: Reduce Stress, Increase Productivity, and Enjoy Your Clutter-Free Life by Michelle Stewart Read Free Book Online
Authors: Michelle Stewart
Tags: Self-Help Guide
The Cost of Clutter in Your Life
Whether or not you realize it, clutter has a price in your life. It could be costing you in areas of productivity, finances, emotional well-being and physical health. Everyone deals with clutter in his/her own way and each person’s clutter threshold is different. For example, when I was a teenager my mother would say, “You have got to clean that room! It is a mess and there is stuff everywhere!” What was chaos to her ended up being a couple of pairs of jeans thrown over furniture and several books scattered on the floor. On the other end, my husband had a small office in our home. For several years, you could not even reach the farthest wall due to stacks of paper and boxes of electronics. His clutter threshold is obviously higher than my mother’s, but there is a happy medium between absolute order and reigning chaos. It is in that happy medium that most people will find the best state.
The Cost in Productivity
One of the most common costs of clutter has to do with productivity and time. If you lose five minutes every morning searching for something that is not in the right place, then you are giving up over 30 hours per year. If that does not seem like a lot to you, here are some things you can enjoy or do in 30 hours:
Watch 15 movies,
Read three to six books,
Take an overnight trip, or
Earn 30 hours of overtime at your job.
Clutter at your office desk can cost minutes every day and can even result in lost work. Social clutter may cause you to overbook appointments or waste time with poorly made plans. Mental clutter can slow you down and even cause anxiety that keeps you from necessary tasks. No matter how you slice it, clutter interferes with your ability to get things done.
The Cost in Dollars
Clutter can hit your wallet and you never realize it. The kitchen in our home is galley style with minimal cabinet and counter space. My husband repurposed three old cabinets and put them in the basement to act as an overflow pantry. The space quickly became cluttered, mostly because I did not feel like going into the basement to check on our canned good needs every time I shopped or cooked. Additionally, one of the cabinets was out of my reach and required a stool for access. It was a perfect breeding ground for clutter and we did see a financial impact. I often bought items we already had and used things out of date order. The result was that we threw away expired food on several occasions before we reorganized our food storage.
Other ways you might see a cost in dollars include buying replacement items for those that you cannot find or that are damaged in the clutter. If you do find an item that was part of a pile or unorganized shelf, you might find that it was damaged and need to pay for repair costs. However, the cost of clutter is not only related to the accumulation in your home or office. It can also generate from the actions that lead to clutter in the first place.
Buying items that you do not need, do not have a place for or are purchasing on an impulse can lead to clutter. They also cost money that you could spend on things you really need or save for a rainy day. Retail establishments play to our impulses by creating attractive displays at the end of aisles, putting things on sale and using a variety of proven psychological methods to increase the amount of items customers bring to the check out. One of my weaknesses is buying things that are on sale for a great deal. If an item is regularly $20 but is marked down to $11, I think I save $9. My husband is quick to point out that we did not need the item or plan to buy it. Thus, instead of saving $9, we spent $11.
The Cost in Physical Health
Some people suffer physical ailments due to clutter in their living space or office. Clutter causes an accumulation of dust and other particles, leading to problems with allergies. Excessive clutter provides a breeding ground for rodents, insects and other pests. You may not realize that
Whether or not you realize it, clutter has a price in your life. It could be costing you in areas of productivity, finances, emotional well-being and physical health. Everyone deals with clutter in his/her own way and each person’s clutter threshold is different. For example, when I was a teenager my mother would say, “You have got to clean that room! It is a mess and there is stuff everywhere!” What was chaos to her ended up being a couple of pairs of jeans thrown over furniture and several books scattered on the floor. On the other end, my husband had a small office in our home. For several years, you could not even reach the farthest wall due to stacks of paper and boxes of electronics. His clutter threshold is obviously higher than my mother’s, but there is a happy medium between absolute order and reigning chaos. It is in that happy medium that most people will find the best state.
The Cost in Productivity
One of the most common costs of clutter has to do with productivity and time. If you lose five minutes every morning searching for something that is not in the right place, then you are giving up over 30 hours per year. If that does not seem like a lot to you, here are some things you can enjoy or do in 30 hours:
Watch 15 movies,
Read three to six books,
Take an overnight trip, or
Earn 30 hours of overtime at your job.
Clutter at your office desk can cost minutes every day and can even result in lost work. Social clutter may cause you to overbook appointments or waste time with poorly made plans. Mental clutter can slow you down and even cause anxiety that keeps you from necessary tasks. No matter how you slice it, clutter interferes with your ability to get things done.
The Cost in Dollars
Clutter can hit your wallet and you never realize it. The kitchen in our home is galley style with minimal cabinet and counter space. My husband repurposed three old cabinets and put them in the basement to act as an overflow pantry. The space quickly became cluttered, mostly because I did not feel like going into the basement to check on our canned good needs every time I shopped or cooked. Additionally, one of the cabinets was out of my reach and required a stool for access. It was a perfect breeding ground for clutter and we did see a financial impact. I often bought items we already had and used things out of date order. The result was that we threw away expired food on several occasions before we reorganized our food storage.
Other ways you might see a cost in dollars include buying replacement items for those that you cannot find or that are damaged in the clutter. If you do find an item that was part of a pile or unorganized shelf, you might find that it was damaged and need to pay for repair costs. However, the cost of clutter is not only related to the accumulation in your home or office. It can also generate from the actions that lead to clutter in the first place.
Buying items that you do not need, do not have a place for or are purchasing on an impulse can lead to clutter. They also cost money that you could spend on things you really need or save for a rainy day. Retail establishments play to our impulses by creating attractive displays at the end of aisles, putting things on sale and using a variety of proven psychological methods to increase the amount of items customers bring to the check out. One of my weaknesses is buying things that are on sale for a great deal. If an item is regularly $20 but is marked down to $11, I think I save $9. My husband is quick to point out that we did not need the item or plan to buy it. Thus, instead of saving $9, we spent $11.
The Cost in Physical Health
Some people suffer physical ailments due to clutter in their living space or office. Clutter causes an accumulation of dust and other particles, leading to problems with allergies. Excessive clutter provides a breeding ground for rodents, insects and other pests. You may not realize that
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