Being in a messy space is one of the fastest ways to increase my anxiety. As a daughter of a clean-freak, I have been trained to maintain a neat environment and actually find myself getting anxious when I’m in a cluttered area. Now I’m certainly not as obsessively tidy like my dad, but I have come to appreciate a clean space. In addition, as someone who gets distracted easily, it’s crucial I have a relatively organized location to stay focused. If the area around me isn’t clear, sorting out what I need to do becomes much more overwhelming because I’m unable to think clearly. Although some may say a messy room doesn’t faze them, there’s no doubt that it prevents efficiency when it comes to finding certain things or navigating around the area. In, “There’s Scientific Evidence That Clutter Causes Anxiety, “ the author speaks to the correlation between clutter and anxiety. She pointed out that waking up to an unkept environment can cause a feeling of dread because it makes it seem like there’s a never-ending amount of work to do. This underlying stress causes our brain to go into overdrive, trying to strategize how to tackle the mess, along with the rest of our to-do list. We can’t do our best work if we don’t feel our best, and we can’t feel our best if our environment isn’t looking it’s best. Therefore, an effective way to improve your mental clutter is to eliminate the physical clutter that surrounds you.
Clutter Causes Anxiety
