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Who said we have to save clearing out clutter for spring? The new year is upon us, and there’s no better time to get tidying...
Cramming another new jumper into the wardrobe, it’s bursting at the seams.
And trying to find a spare bit of space to store all those candles you bought on special offer, you realise that all your cupboards are already full to the brim.
You just seem to have so much stuff –too much stuff...
Sound familiar?
Then maybe it’s time for a good old declutter.
Chris Lovett, TEDx speaker and professional minimalist, explains what the life changing magic of minimalism is.
Emerging in the late 1950s, it’s built on the foundation that less is always more.
‘Maybe in the not-too-distant past, more meant better,’ explains Chris. ‘We aimed for a bigger house, an expensive car, a big salary, a lucrative job title...’
The average consumer sees around 5,000 messages about products every day, so it’s no wonder that we think having more things will make our lives better.
Only now, some people are beginning to question why we constantly feel so overwhelmed – and why mental health problems such as anxiety and depression have more than doubled in the past few years, according to OECD.
‘Excessive clutter in the home can have a negative impact on both our physical and mental health,’ explains Chris.
This is because all the extra clutter bombards our minds with excess stimulation, causing our senses to work overtime.
Clutter can draw our attention away from where our focus should be, making it more difficult to relax.
In fact, in 2016, Cornell University found a link between a disorganised home and poor eating choices and in 2018, research from Harvard found that even our relationships with others can be affected by all our clutter.
In one study, participants with messy desks were perceived to be less dedicated, and less likeable.
Princeton University also found clutter to decrease productivity in 2019.
But, luckily, there’s a simple solution –minimalism.
‘Minimalism is essentially removing the things that do not add value, in order to enhance your experience of life,’ says Chris. ‘Physical, digital, mental, emotional or career ‘things’ can get in the way of us being the version of ourselves that we have always aspired to be.’
While physical clutter can be more obvious, it’s important to notice mental clutter, too.
Mental clutter can be defined as simply having too many thoughts in our brain –trying to keep track of the million things you have to do, worrying about the future, and ruminating about the past.
