Order in the room! How to prevent clutter from stressing out your life

“It’s urgent, we need it by yesterday.” This phrase, as absurd as it may seem, is not uncommon in Desks or workplaces. Although this is just one way of saying, instead of promoting efficiency and speed, what it promotes is disorder at work, anxiety that turns into chaos, then into stress and finally into anguish.

This is avoided by scientific research which associates disorder and disorganization, both at work and at home, with various complications at the level of Mental Health : from a greater likelihood of developing mood disorders to memory problems, difficulty controlling impulses and even poor eating habits.

“The disorder can generate stress and anxiety, because it creates a feeling of lack of control and difficulty concentrating,” explains Rocío Mayol, director of the postgraduate course in Clinical Neuropsychology at the Alberto Hurtado University. It is also capable of “diminishing the feeling of well-being, happiness and security that a person obtains in their personal spaces”.

Luis Pino, director of psychology at the University of Las Américas, says that clutter can be the first step toward losing control over one’s space, a deep feeling that involves irritability, stress and anxiety. Something that “pierces self-esteem” and manifests itself in other areas of life, such as relationships with peers and the most intimate environment.

It’s time to think about every time you see an emergency or a problem that requires a lot of celeridad, where there’s something important, but when you see an angustiosa when you don’t encounter the keys, the ticket will be where the materials you need to take care of them Before. Not to mention the time wasted. What is the cause of the disaster? The disorder.

This is why order is a good ally, whether at work or at home, where for many people their workspace is also located. “Organization is an essential element to our mental health,” explains Pino.

“Maintaining an orderly space can provide a feeling of calm and control,” adds Mayol, which would avoid the risk of despairing over not finding the document that needed to be sent “by yesterday.”

A study, published in 2019 , first examined clutter as a physical stressor in the workplace. The authors argue that workers whose roles require completing a large number of tasks at a rapid pace would be more likely to experience job strain and, as a result, emotional exhaustion.

This, in turn, drains your energy, making it more likely that your work will fall behind schedule. The study results show that “procrastination in decision-making,” i.e. putting them off, increases office clutter, “which in itself is a physical stressor “.

Clutter, says Luis Pino, represents a greater sensory load. “A person will be more exhausted and overwhelmed when there are too many objects in their field of vision.” This affects the ability to concentrate and pay attention, which can lead to procrastination.

The risk, says the psychologist, is that all this promotes a vicious circle and that the ability to have “organized thinking” is reduced, leading to situations that affect self-esteem. The domino effect is that they can increase the risk of other complications with mood, memory or interpersonal relationships, not to mention professional instability.

On the contrary, the advantage of an organized space is that it makes it easier to find the materials and resources necessary to accomplish tasks. According to Rocío Mayol, this helps “reduce wasted time and can promote a clear and focused mind by minimizing visual and mental distractions, which improves concentration on important tasks.”

An orderly environment will therefore promote organized thinking, beneficial to productivity, self-esteem and, in some cases, also creativity, sometimes so necessary to overcome difficult situations. “Organization can help generate new ideas by allowing a clear vision of current projects,” Mayol explains.

“If people are clear and organized, their flexibility and plasticity in dealing with difficult situations will be greater, which will involve more creativity and good decision-making. On the contrary, between disorder and stress, problems tend to get worse,” explains Pino.

But be careful, this is not always the case…

But is disorder something intrinsically negative? No, based on the evidence.

“Order and disorder are prevalent in both nature and culture, suggesting that each environment confers advantages for different outcomes.” supports a study published in 2016 . There is evidence that orderly environments can be associated with tradition and convention, while disordered environments “encourage disruption,” giving rise to creativity and innovation.

“Both environments can modify preferences, choices and behaviors,” note the authors. The question remains whether this is a cause and effect relationship, as suggested, or a multifactorial relationship.

Luis Pino argues that order and disorder may be behavioral indicators associated with personality and mental health. Both may reflect compulsive disorders in which, for example, the act of tidying up is more relevant than having everything in order.

“The most popular compulsion is Diogenes’ disease,” adds the psychologist, the one in which someone accumulates things to problematic levels, without being able to detach themselves from them, even for their own good.

Regardless, we understand that disorder and disorganization are not negative aspects in themselves. But they can represent difficulties and complications, in a cultural environment which mainly appeals to tradition and conventions.

For Rocío Mayol, one of the reasons disorganization is so often linked to mental health problems is that it “can have a negative impact on the way we perceive ourselves and the lives we lead.”

Although habits of order and organization begin to be instilled in early childhood, thus fostering the ability for organized thinking, it is never too late to work on them.

To achieve this, suggests clinical psychologist Joan Black, it is necessary to understand that there is no “one universal method of order and organization that one must subscribe to in order to feel better or be more productive.” Rather, it is about “generating an order and an organization that have their own meaning; In other words, it has to do with who we are, our needs and our interests.

The idea, says Black, is to generate a personal project that can be used for the well-being and growth of the person. “It can even be a creative expression or result in a creation,” he says.

“An environment that we love, to which we devote time, makes us feel good and can produce pleasant emotions with space,” explains Mayol. A study published in 2016 uses the term “psychological home” to refer to the need to identify with a physical environment, the establishment of this attachment to the place of residence and the feeling that possessions are an extension of oneself, contribute positively to the concept of ” home” and subjective feeling. well-being of people.

Black adds that living in an orderly space, in accordance with personal needs and desires, “and which allows the deployment of work, creativity, calm and meetings with others”, will have a psychological but also practical impact: “It makes our lives easier. “”. Otherwise, it may “embarrass” him.

Respondents recommend starting by setting realistic goals. “Those who set themselves big tasks have very good reasons not to achieve them,” warns Pino.

“It’s helpful to start by identifying specific areas that need attention and setting achievable goals,” says Mayol. “It is important to review internally how we are, what we need. Then, implement custom organizational systems such as to-do lists, calendars, and efficient storage methods. Start with less and set aside time daily to organize yourself,” he adds.

Mayol, also an academic at the UAH Faculty of Psychology, recommends using technology – “it can be very useful” – to create your own organizational system. Apps like Google Task either Any.do They allow you to create calendars and plan with both home and work in mind.

“Writing down pending tasks is an effective strategy: it will allow you to be clear about what remains to be done and prevent them from turning into stress and anxiety,” says Pino. He also advises simplifying the workspace, especially when there are many items that are not necessarily used for these purposes. “To the extent that you do this, you can better visualize your objectives and goals,” he says.

The important thing is that order and organization become something pleasant, which provides the satisfaction of a solved task, beneficial for self-esteem and well-being, and not a job experienced like any other unpleasant burden. We already have enough.