Removing the clutter from your life provides amazing benefits. Many at Aston Gardens At The Courtyards retirement community have discovered the reality that a neat, ordered, uncluttered space adds to the quality of life on several levels. There are even mental and physical benefits of eliminating clutter. Read about it below, and you may have the motivation you need to clean out storage spaces and crammed closets.
Reduces Stress
According to many psychologists, clutter is a source of daily stress. It overwhelms our minds with an excessive amount of visual and olfactory stimuli. The effect is that our senses become unnecessarily bombarded by clutter, resulting in stress. When you live in an environment in which you are surrounded by more than you can manage, you receive a continuous visual message that your life is out of control. The constant discomfort that that clutter causes, that something is unfinished and needs doing, is very stressful.
Improves Health
When clutter is removed, dust and airborne bacteria have less of a flourishing environment. You may also get rid of cozy habitats where rodents and roaches thrive. Your home and the air you breathe will be cleaner, once you have a place for everything and keep everything in its place.
Greater Freedom
When your mind is freed from the stress caused by clutter and the sense of constantly having chores that need doing, you are free to pursue more interests. You will feel ready and able to tackle a challenging embroidery project you’ve been putting off, a new hobby, a regular regimen of exercise, trying new recipes, sewing, and much more. By keeping your home in a neat condition, you will have extra time to do more enjoyable things.
The Joy of Giving
One of the benefits of going through clutter is that you identify many things that you can give away or sell. Think about special items that, through the years, you’ve wanted to pass down to different loved ones. How special would it be to go ahead and give the special people in your life those things now, while you can share their joy of receiving them? Giving things away will benefit you far more than simply helping to clean up your living space. The following are some of the benefits of giving:
- Giving away possessions or giving through volunteering are selfless acts that trigger a hormone in your body that makes you feel good. One result is that you experience more positive feelings toward yourself and others.
- The act of giving helps to cut the risk of depression. If you give things to people you want to express gratitude to, you take a step that has specifically been found to alleviate depression. Another action that boosts happiness is giving out of kindness.
- Perhaps benefits of giving are tied to something Mother Teresa said: “It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.”
More Healthy Disciplines
Most of us need to develop new disciplines that will add to our health and happiness, and living in an uncluttered home is one way to focus on new habits. When we don’t feel overwhelmed by a crowded schedule, exercising new daily disciplines not only feels more possible, it is much more possible. Part of the new discipline could be a daily routine of taking a few minutes before bedtime each night to put everything in the house back in its place.
More Space, Energy-Giving Space
One thing clutter does is crowd our spaces, from our drawers and corners to our tables and closets. There is a euphoric feeling when the clutter is gone and there is ample space for us to enjoy our environment and our possessions. The principles of feng shui can be exercised in uncluttered environments only. Feng shui is the Chinese art of creating a harmonious surrounding. Many have found that feng shui promotes an effortless flow of energy into their lives.
Tips for De-Cluttering
Are you ready to realize all the benefits of getting rid of clutter? It may be a big job, but it will be worth it. Tackle the task one space at a time, and don’t do more than you can handle physically. If help is needed, ask for it. It may be that a friend or family member would be more than happy to tackle the clutter with you. Here are a few ideas:
- As you go through each space to be de-cluttered, put every item into one of four piles, those being: keep, throw away, recycle, and donate.
- Anything that hasn’t been used at all in the past two years should be thrown away, recycled, or donated.
- Do not use boxes for storing items. Anything you keep should be something you can see and get to because it’s useful to your life now.
When you live at Aston Gardens At The Courtyards retirement community, you have the opportunity to live a vibrant and enjoyable life. We hope that our residents, old and new, will enjoy all the freedoms and benefits of an uncluttered life.
Learn about Aston Gardens At The Courtyards! Our state-of-the-art senior living community in Sun City Center, Florida offers sensational dining, senior activities, health and wellness classes, and multiple levels of care from independent living, to assisted living and memory care. Learn more by contacting us online or calling 813.633.2378 today!
