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Are you finding it hard to start decluttering your home, even though you know it desperately needs it? Maybe what you need is a big list of the benefits of decluttering your home to give you the motivation you need to get started.
Well, if a list of benefits is what you need, a list of benefits is what I will provide. So here you are, a list of 15 brilliant benefits that will improve your health, wellbeing and enjoyment of your home.
But first, here’s a little insight into why you might be lacking the motivation to declutter.
WHY YOU MIGHT BE LACKING MOTIVATION TO DECLUTTER
Sometimes it is really hard to find the motivation to declutter your home even though you know it desperately needs it.
Failing to declutter can make you feel really bad about yourself and have you feeling mystified as to why you lack the motivation to just get on and declutter.
One of the main reasons that it can be hard to find the motivation to declutter is that the job ahead feels overwhelming.
Decluttering can take a lot of time and energy, it can also be quite an emotional experience.
This is why it can be easy to simply procrastinate and live with the clutter, even though you know you really should get around to decluttering.
Another reason for lacking the motivation to declutter is feeling overwhelmed in other areas of your life, stressed at work, loaded up with parenting tasks, feeling depressed or unwell.
In short, there is quite a long list of reasons that can stop you from simply getting on and decluttering your home.
If this is the point that you are at right now, where you know you need to declutter, but you just can’t find the way to start, I’ve put together a list of 15 of the best benefits of decluttering.
These benefits will provide you with the extra incentive you need to not only start decluttering, but see the job through and create a beautiful, clutter-free home.
The list of benefits I’ve put together encompasses health benefits, emotional wellbeing benefits, financial benefits and practical benefits.
In short, this is a list that could be the key to kickstarting the big declutter you know you need to do. The declutter that will help recalibrate not just your home, but your health and wellbeing too.
So, what are you waiting for, let’s get started…
15 BENEFITS OF DECLUTTERING YOUR HOME THAT WILL GIVE YOU THE MOTIVATION TO START DECLUTTERING
1. IT HELPS YOU FALL BACK IN LOVE WITH YOURSELF
I’m starting this list of benefits with a look at something truly wonderful and heartwarming that can occur as a result of decluttering the space you live in.
Self-love is often something that gets shoved to one side in the quest to get through the busyness of the days and weeks of family life.
Decluttering your home and allowing yourself to live in a clutter free space is a big expression of self love.
You are choosing to do something positive for yourself.
Something positive that you will experience on a daily basis.
By decluttering and keeping your home free from clutter you are demonstrating to yourself that you can make change happen.
You are also demonstrating that you are competant and capable, which is a great way of boosting your self-worth and your confidence.
Inspired? You might also like to read my post on simple ways to declutter your life.
2. IT GIVES YOU MORE HEADSPACE
Decluttering gives you more headspace.
Why?
It’s because a cluttered home does nothing to keep your mind uncluttered, in fact it can cause your mind to be foggy and cluttered.
Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to focus when you’re in a room or home surrounded by clutter?
It’s not good.
If your home is full of clutter, take a moment to really experience how it makes you feel.
Then perhaps think about how you feel in a space that it ordered and clutter free.
Does it make you feel lighter?
I bet you’ll find that this is one of the biggest benefits of decluttering.
3. IT HELPS YOU FEEL MORE EMOTIONALLY BALANCED
The stress and anxiety caused by living in a cluttered home can really weigh you down.
Both stress and anxiety can play havoc with your emotions.
Emotions that can lead you to be out of balance, to shout when you don’t mean to, to react in extreme ways.
A clear and uncluttered home goes a long way to giving you the kind of balance that brings harmony to your life.
4. IT HELPS YOU FEEL LESS OVERWHELMED
Living with clutter can be really stressful. Waking up to a home full of clutter, walking in from a day at work to a day of clutter, parenting surrounded by clutter.
It’s enough to make your brain feel completely overwhelmed processing the mess of stuff that it has to navigate around your home.
The feeling of overwhelm caused by living in a cluttered home can also lead your brain to feeling unsafe and insecure, which in turn puts stress on your central nervous system.
By taking control and getting rid of the clutter you can take your feelings of overwhelm down several notches, which will also help you cope more effectively with other areas of your life that might also be causing you to feel overwhelmed.
5. IT HELPS YOU TO RELAX BY AVOIDING OVERSTIMULATION
It is hard to escape the ‘always-on’ world we all live in.
Our phones are like an extra limb, we’ve got laptops and tablets at our fingertips, Alexa of Google a voice command away, social media galore… it’s not hard to find yourself in a state of being constantly overstimulated.
So one of the best benefits of decluttering your home is that it gives you a haven to relax in and retreat from all the stimulants of everyday life.
Picture this. Instead of walking through the door and seeing clutter, jobs that need doing, mess that needs sorting, you can arrive home and relax.
That’s it, simply walk through the door, put your phone down and switch off.
So say goodbye to that feeling of overwhelm by decluttering your home and creating a clutter free space for you and your family to relax and thrive in.
Not sure how to start? Read my decluttering hack post for a simple hack that allows you to declutter your house fast.
6. IT HELPS ALLEVIATE ANXIETY
Anxiety is a debilitating and upsetting state to be in. You might be suffering from acute anxiety brought on by something specific or you might suffer from anxiety disorder.
Either way, taking control of your home space by decluttering it can help reduce anxiety by allowing you to feel like you are actually in control of an important area of your life, at a time when you might be feeling stressed and anxious.
The act of taking control and creating a calm, clutter-free environment to live in can go a long way to reducing your levels of anxiety.
Once you have created a calm and relaxing environment to live in you will likely find you have more time to focus on dealing with other areas of your life that are causing you to feel anxious.
7. IT HELPS YOU TO SLEEP BETTER
If you live in a cluttered home and the clutter is causing you stress you won’t have a restful night’s sleep.
Your brain will be mentally processing the external stimuli of all that clutter and the fact that decluttering is a job that needs doing but isn’t being done.
Moreover, sleeping in a cluttered space is the opposite of restful.
Keep your bedroom furniture to a minimum.
Don’t let your bedside table become a home for a stack of paperwork.
Keep housework stuff like laundry out of the bedroom.
Make your bedroom your sanctuary and you will find your brain able to switch off more easily at night.
Related: Simple tips for better sleep
8. IT GIVES YOU CURATION SUPERPOWERS
Curating your home to be free of clutter is a great way to help you curate other areas of your life as well.
It helps you focus on what’s necessary and what is important to you.
In the same way as being selective about what you have around you in your home, you can focus on being selective with the way you live your life and the things you do.
It will help you to say no more often to things that are superfluous and things that don’t have a positive effect on you and your family.
9. IT REFINES YOUR STYLE
A wardrobe crammed full of everything you’ve ever bought is not a great way to define your style.
It’s the opposite of a capsule wardrobe.
But declutter your wardrobe, get rid of the things that don’t suit you, things that don’t work with each other and don’t bring you joy and you will find that you have defined your personal style.
The same goes for your interior style.
It’s easy to think that you need to buy more stuff to create a beautiful room.
But sometimes it takes getting rid of stuff, decluttering and simplifying, to create a beautiful space.
10. IT CAN MAKE YOU MONEY
One person’s clutter is potentially another person’s treasure.
That’s how eBay started after all.
So if you are looking for ways to make extra cash, this benefit could the just the motivation you need to start decluttering.
That said, you don’t want to find yourself going down a selling clutter rabbit hole.
Read my post on the best way to make money from your clutter to understand how best to sell clutter, what to sell, what to donate and what to ditch.
11. IT CAN SAVE YOU MONEY
Whilst buying less doesn’t always mean spending less – quality over quantity – if you have a neatly ordered house and for that matter, wardrobe, you will find that you spend less money.
Why?
Because you will have defined the space in your home and defined your capsule wardrobe to the point where you don’t need to add to either of them.
I know, I’ve tried it with my wardrobe and it works.
I’ve found it astounding how much less clothes I’ve wanted to buy since editing my wardrobe and creating a much smaller, capsule collection of clothing that works for me.
12. IT GIVES YOU MORE TIME
The less cluttered your home is, the easier it is to clean.
Whether you clean your home yourself or whether you have a cleaner, the less stuff there is to shift around and tidy before the cleaning can start, the better.
There is also, by default, less to clean.
So if you’re a lover of having stuff on display, work out how much extra time it takes to clean everything and then work out if it’s worth it.
You will also claw back time by knowing where everything is.
No more searching for that screwdriver that you think you put in the kitchen cupboard, but didn’t!
Seriously, this is one of my favourite decluttering benefits. Anything that means I have to spend less time cleaning is an absolute winner for me.
13. IT GIVES YOU MORE SPACE IN YOUR HOME
Now this is a great reason to get motivated to declutter your home.
Ever have that feeling that you’ve outgrown your home?
Take a look around, assess how cluttered your home is and reassess whether you have outgrown your home or whether, in fact, your home is simply crammed full of stuff.
Decluttering a room can totally transform it.
It can turn a dumping ground into a functional space.
Editing and decluttering a room can give it a new use or help define its use so that the room gets more use.
14. IT WILL RID YOUR HOME OF ALLERGENS
Dust, dander (dandruff and pet dander, yuk) can build up really easily in a hard to clean, cluttered home.
Even if the clutter is in rooms that you don’t really use, it’s still creating a build up of allergens.
So get rid of excess clutter and notice what an improvement it makes to anyone in your family who suffers from allergies like dust allergy, hay fever, asthma or eczema.
15. IT WILL BOOST YOUR PRODUCTIVITY
If there is a place for everything and everything is in its place it is so much easier to get stuff done.
Not only is it easier to find stuff, a calm and clutter-free environment will improve your focus.
And improved focus will help improve your productivity. Which means you’ll be able to get stuff done faster and more efficiently. Which in turn will help reduce your stress levels and give you more time to spend doing things you enjoy.
This is literally one of the all time greatest motivations to declutter your home!
NOW YOU’RE FEELING MOTIVATED YOU CAN USE MY FOUR BOX METHOD TO START DECLUTTERING
So there you have it, a whole list of 15 of the best benefits of decluttering your home. Benefits to your health, wellbeing, your finances and style no less!
So if this big list of benefits has got you motivated to actually started decluttering, you are going to want to know the best way to declutter your home fast.
And I have that information right here: How to declutter your home fast using the four box decluttering method.
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Luci is the founder of Mums Make Lists. She has written about all aspects of organising family life for ten years. Her main areas of expertise are family finance and budgeting, simplifying housekeeping and family admin and kids’ party planning. Read more.