Around this time of year, springcleaning is a popular task on the “honey do” list. While an unorganized area isn’t typically a major stressor, organization can provide a reduction in stress and anxiety in your home or work environment. Bring the uncluttered strategy outside to the garage or shed for additional storage options. Let’s not forget that vigorous cleaning can burn hundreds of calories.
Spring-Cleaning for Reduced Stress
As psychologist Sherrie Bourg Carter of psychologytoday.com says, “mess leads to stress.” In more detail, clutter:
• Averts our attention from what we should be focusing on
• Makes relaxation more difficult, mentally and physically
• Creates feelings of guilt and embarrassment if friends and family spontaneously arrive
• Inhibits creativity and productivity
• Can prevent us from locating important items, including bills, purchasing items we already
have but don’t know their location; or going out to eat instead of cooking at home because
the kitchen is such a mess.
Mary Kovac is a professional organizer and owner of Mary Kovac Organizing Services. Her suggestions are easy to implement at home and suggests starting with one small area, such as one drawer or cupboard. Give yourself a realistic time frame of 30-60 minutes to complete the task without any interruption. (Turn off your computer and cell phone!)
“Many people become disenchanted or overwhelmed because they literally bite off more than they can chew,” said Kovac. “Don’t try and take on your garage when your kitchen junk drawer, or sock drawer overwhelms you.”
Once deciding what to organize and designating appropriate time to complete the project, Kovac suggests starting de-cluttering with the 10 second rule: quickly decide if you want to trash, donate, or sell the item. A good rule is for every one thing you keep, put one item in the other piles. By the end of the de-cluttering, you have downsized by at least 50 percent of the original mess. If you can’t decide within 10 seconds, put the item in the sell pile and come back to it when the time comes to price it.
Create a designated location for important paperwork or frequently used items. Design the area that maximizes the space with appropriate storage. In an exposed area (no doors), clear containers and a label maker will improve efficiency when locating items. Once accurately
measured, you can find esthetically pleasing bins and containers from popular retailers.
A perk of spring-cleaning in April is that for the first week, the kids are out of school, so this can become a family venture. At the end of the day, you’ve spent time with your family while creating a more relaxing living area.
“Although it sounds fairly simple, de-cluttering can be the biggest hurdle for many people in
that downsizing the amount of materialistic accumulation is a challenge for a lot of folks…
especially if there’s sentimental attachment,” said Kovac.
Physical Benefits of Spring Cleaning
According to MyFitnessPal, an app allowing you to track your calories, a 150-pound female can
burn 104 calories in 30 minutes of vigorous cleaning. This means that if you are cleaning the
house inside and out for two hours, you will burn 416 calories. In comparison, running at a five mph pace (12-minute mile) for 45 minutes would burn the same amount of calories. For those who aren’t runners, like myself, clean away!
We all have heard how bad stress is for our health. By de-cluttering our physical surroundings,
we can be happy to walk in our homes with a sense of relief that everything is where it needs to be. Mental de-cluttering may be more difficult than our physical environment. Focusing on one project without the distraction of technology can help us mentally focus on the present moment.
For more information about organizing and a directory of professional organizers visit the
National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) website, www.napo.net.
Outside Organization Ideas
In the garage, take the time, a weekend or back-to-back days, to begin categorizing clutter. Apply the same suggestions mentioned by Kovac in the home to the garage or shed.
Ideally, the garage has room for shelving, or shelving is already in place. If not, place the organized clutter in a location with easy access and limited traffic. Installing built-in cabinets is an option for optimal organization.
A final suggestion is to set a date to revisit your newly organized clutter and make sure everything is still where it needs to be or use it as time to evaluate how often you use certain items.
