When your home is cluttered and chaotic, it can have dire effects on how you feel mentally. 

As well as influencing how comfortable and at ease you feel in your space, shambolic living conditions can also negatively impact your mental state – causing stress, anxiety, and even depression in some cases. This connection between clutter and mental health has been proven; indeed, we cannot deny the turmoil we feel internally when our homes are in chaos. 

But with some simple steps, you can turn it around. Here are our top strategies to help declutter your space, and at the same time, reach an optimal, zen-like state of mind. 

Doom Piles & Depression Rooms: How Your Living Space Can Become a Physical Manifestation of Your Mental State

“Didn’t Organize, Only Moved”? Don’t worry – you’re not alone in your “DOOM” piling. Many of us are guilty of this dirty little habit: stacking piles of miscellaneous objects into messy mounds we’ll “deal with later”, but honestly, never do. The result? Disastrous. While it may seem like a simple short-term cleaning solution, the creation of doom piles only adds to the chaos – making your space seem even more cluttered than it is. 

If you’re across social media, you may also have seen the viral wave of users sharing their ‘depression rooms’ – having given up on cleaning, and in a sense, their lives. This may sound dramatic, but indeed, depression is how we feel when we ‘give up’ – and failing to complete basic tasks like keeping our living spaces tidy could be a signal of something serious. 

Sound familiar? Make sure to monitor your emotional state. If you find your mental health declining, consider requesting a psychiatric referral from your local Family Nurse Practitioner, or a qualified medical professional who has completed the requisite online FNP programs. The knowledge they’ve acquired through their accreditation will enable them to identify if you’re displaying signs of mental illness, as well as refer you to a licensed mental healthcare practitioner who can help. 

Why You Should Keep it Tidy: The Benefits of a Clean Home for Peace, Zen, & Mental Health

Can’t seem to stop doom piling, or escape your depression room era? There’s good news: you can turn it around. And if you do, the benefits of decluttering will be massive.

Having a clean space will not only help you feel calmer, more zen, and more in control, but it can also lift your spirits. Yes, a decluttered home can improve your mood. It can help you feel less anxious, so you can focus and concentrate better. The best part? It even makes being at home more enjoyable. Situating yourself in filthy surroundings is far from uplifting, and worse, it can be detrimental to your physical health and hygiene – which goes hand in hand with how you feel mentally. 

Need more reasons to keep things clean? There’s something to be said for the sense of accomplishment we can achieve by staying on top of our household chores and maintaining a welcoming, inviting, and clutter-free living space. Even better? Coming home from a bustling day outdoors to a peaceful, calming sanctuary  – rather than a chaotic, messy environment – speaks for itself. 

If that’s not enough to get you scrubbing down surfaces, we don’t know what is. 

Here’s how to do it. 

Strategies for Success: Tips to Declutter Your Space, & Your Mind

There are a few approaches to tackling that mountain of doom piles you’ve been avoiding. 

One of these is the ‘all-or-nothing’ approach. Take the time: schedule a day entirely dedicated to deep cleaning – you’re doing it all, and you’re doing it properly. Think of it as a ‘spring cleaning’ session – with no surface left unwiped, you can expect this approach to take you multiple hours. 

How to stay motivated while you do this, though? It helps to break down your deep clean – room by room. Start with the bathroom, for example, then the kitchen, and finish off with the bedrooms. Turn up some invigorating music, put some comfortable clothes on, and make a day of it. Yes, you will be exhausted at the end, but it will be worth it. 

Another approach? Try to keep things relatively tidy as you go along. This is certainly the least overwhelming method and simply requires you to think about where you’re putting things on a day-to-day basis. 

For the best long-term results? Avoid doom piling altogether. 

Author Name: Sara Chenchabi
Author Bio: Sara is a Melbourne-based writer who is passionate about all things travel, fashion, and food. She loves writing blogs about her weekends spent wining, dining, and bar-hopping across Melbourne’s array of world-class hospitality venues. When she’s not writing or enjoying a meal out with friends, Sara enjoys listening to music, going to Pilates, and walking in nature.
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Author LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-chenchabi/