Being neat and tidy is how you prefer to maintain your home, but then life happens, throwing your good intentions into the wind.
Having bills stacked on the kitchen counter can begin to feel like a fixed piece of modern décor, placed there to cause you confusion.
No one likes to have a cluttered living space, but you get busy and begin to overlook the crammed shelves in the corner of the room. However, kids may not be so willingly neglectful.
Turns out that the same clutter that gives you anxiety is also impacting your children. Residing in a cluttered space has all sorts of negative consequences, no matter the age.
In a article published by the Journal of Environmental Psychology titled, “The dark side of home: Assessing possession ‘clutter’ on subjective well-being”, Catherine Roster et al. finds that clutter is “an antagonist to the normally positive benefits and consequences of home for subjective well-being.”
This means that all the effort you have put into making your home a peaceful and safe space for your family can be diminished by clutter.
Adults and kids alike can begin to feel that they are not doing well, just because piles of material objects have not found an organized resting space, regardless of their actual success in life.
This begs the question, what exactly is clutter? Is it when I didn’t have time to pick up my clothes from the night before, or when toys are covering the living room floor an hour after the kids get up?
According to the study, clutter is defined as an “overabundance of possessions that collectively create chaotic and disorderly living spaces.”
Normal mess from day to day living would not qualify as clutter, so don’t think you have ruined your children’s childhood because you leave dirty dishes in the sink after dinner.
The pile of junk mail and forgotten sippy cups on top of the credenza are a different story.
The study goes on to explain that a cluttered space also affects your psychological state by mirroring the room.
When the space around you appears chaotic, then you start to feel in disarray; thinking less clearly and feeling like you can’t handle any more stimulation.
Have you ever noticed a child struggling to hash out a math problem on a dining room table covered in sports paraphernalia from practice earlier in the day?
Or, how about a child acting out when sent to their bedroom where there is barely a spot of carpet to be seen?
Another study in Environment and Behavior further clarified the issue, finding that the space the children learn in affects how well they can concentrate and complete their assignments.
Any mother knows that children are easily distracted. Sometimes it takes telling a child ten times to put his shoes on when there is a television show playing.
Kids also may avoid areas of overstimulation and chaos naturally, without knowing why.
Walking into a space where toys are spilling out of the closet, stuffed animals have taken over the bed, and the dresser has clothes overflowing in open drawers makes anyone’s insides cringe.
Cat Bowen writing for Romper talked with professional organizer Lisa Krohn of New York and reveals there is an important aspect to consider when “assessing the space of a child.”
“Clutter causes confusion, accidents, paralyzes children from making decisions, and creates anger and temper tantrums. Clutter is too hard to process. They can’t see the forest through the trees,” says Krohn.
Little minds already have so much to process with simple everyday tasks, it is asking a lot for them to sift through their space to process what they need out of it.
To solidify what many already know to be true, and not just the first born OCD types, science has shown that clutter contributes to stress.
Dr. Ryan Sinclair, Ph.D. wrote in Dayton Children’s Hospital blog that “A direct relationship has been established between clutter and tension. For some individuals, a more cluttered household may increase our stress levels.”
So how do you fix the cluttering problem in the home?
Make a decision to create a fluid space for your family that supports the health and well-being of everyone in the home.
Start with one room at a time as to not become overwhelmed. Get the whole family involved in the project.
If you begin decluttering the living room while dad is working on a hobby plane and the kids are setting up train tracks, you will never accomplish your goal.
Dr. Sinclair suggests getting the kids involved by giving them age-appropriate tasks. This way they will fee the sense of calm and reward that comes when you organize an area.
Hopefully, the association will encourage them to continue in helping you maintain a clutter-free zone.
Uplift yourself and the whole family by getting rid of unused, unwanted material possessions, and then finding spaces to organize the things you have kept.
After you begin making the transition to a clutter-free life, be amazed at the improvement in your own mental health, as well as the behavior and attitude of the children.
Please let us know in the comments section if you have any experience getting a new take on life after you decluttered.