At first, remote learning seemed like the dream scenario for students, but it turns out that more time at home eventually equals more mess.
Your room, which may previously have just been used to chill and sleep, is now also your classroom and your library. When this happens, the lines between relaxation and work can become blurred.
What to do if you’re feeling overwhelmed by clutter
Clutter accumulates in a sneaky way, often without your knowledge.
Just when you think your room is all right, clutter creeps in and piles up while you’re distracted. (You know… that one chair in your room that holds all your clothes because you’re going to hang them “later”.)
As we get comfortable at home, chores like cleaning your room can easily be procrastinated.
Even though it may start out seeming like nothing, clutter can make it significantly more difficult to focus on tasks, especially if it overwhelms your visual space.
Having a clean space can de-stress your mind and make you feel more productive. So, what can you do if you’re feeling overwhelmed by clutter?
Get inspired! 
If you need a little extra motivation to start decluttering your space, here are 5 shows to help you feel inspired.
- Tidying Up with Marie Kondo (Netflix) – Expert Marie Kondo tries to help everyday people declutter their homes and their lives. Kondo assists her clients in clearing out the clutter and choosing joy in a series of inspiring home makeovers.
- The Minimalists: Less Is More (Netflix) – A documentary where less means more, rejecting the American ideal that things bring happiness.
- Get Organized With The Home Edit (Netflix) – Expert home organizers Clea and Joanna help celebrities and everyday clients edit, categorize and contain their clutter to create stunning spaces.
- Hoarders (Netflix) – Explores the world of extreme hoarding and provides an in-depth look at real-life stories of those directly affected by compulsive hoarding. A team of experts try to help clean out their massive hoards and set these individuals up for future success.
- Bea Organized (Amazon Prime) – Beatrice Copeland helps people transform their spaces by changing the way they think about their stuff.
Benefits to cleaning up
- More free time. The less cluttered your living space, the quicker it is to clean and easily find things.
- More energy. When you’re not weighed down emotionally and physically by your stuff, you have extra energy to take new opportunities.
- Easier to focus. When your space isn’t distracting you, it can be easier to focus on the task on hand — whether that’s schoolwork, homework, games, music practice, or whatever inspires you!
Tips for refreshing and organizing your space
Organizing and cleaning up isn’t fun for a lot of people. It can seem like it will take forever to do. This doesn’t have to be true!
Even if you only have a few minutes, you can help your space feel more organized and less stressful by following these simple tips:
- If you have 10 minutes – Do a fast clean up.
A quick way to make your space feel better is to simply throw away trash, put all your dirty laundry in a bin and clear off your desk. You’ll be surprised by how much it can make a difference in the amount of visual clutter.
- If you have one hour — Address one section.
Pick one area that overwhelms you and start decluttering. When you approach decluttering in sections, you view each area as a separate task. Consider choosing from your closet, drawers, bookshelf, desk, or nightstand. Understand that decluttering will temporarily create more of a mess! Think about getting nice boxes/baskets to have a designated place for your items and keep clutter out of sight. Here are few options you can use in your space.
- If you have one day – Try the KonMari method.
If you have more time, try the KonMari method. Named after Marie Kondo, a tidying expert and author from Japan, the KonMari method is based on asking yourself a simple question: Does it bring you joy? If it does, you keep it. If it doesn’t, you thank it (a show of gratitude) and put it in a donate pile or trash pile.
- If you have two days – Make it a habit.
Once you declutter, the harder part is to maintain it. If you do a little decluttering on a regular basis, you can save time and relieve the stress of doing it every 6 months or year.
Don’t forget to donate
Giving your items to nonprofits and charities not only helps those in need, but it helps boost your physical and mental health. Giving activates the parts of the brain related to pleasure, trust, and relationships with other important feel-good chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin. This rush is often referred to as the “helper’s high.”
Here’s an extra benefit to enhance your “helper’s high” — giving away items supports sustainability. When you donate your items like clothes, room decor, or games, you are giving them a second life instead of sending them to a landfill.
Need more help?
If you feel overwhelmed by clutter or other problems that are holding you back from being productive, The Bougainvilla House offers weekly webinars on topics like de-stressing, managing anxiety, and more. We also feature activities like yoga and Zumba, free of cost. Sign up for our next webinar here: https://thebougainvillahouse.org/event-gallery/webinars/