Can Clutter Have a Negative Effect on Your Health?

Do you ever wonder how one dish in the sink turned into twenty? Or how a few pieces of clothes left on the ground suddenly turned into a pile in no time flat? Are you ever concerned over your stress level never seeming to decrease after a long day of work?

Lots of clutter not only leaves you in a panic, but can cause mayhem in various aspects of your life. In case you didn’t need a reason to tidy up before, here are three of the main ways clutter could be affecting your health.

Weight Gain

I bet you didn’t see this one coming! An untidy household can actually wreak havoc on your waistline. When people are put in chaotic environmental settings, their self-control becomes much lower. This leads to a much higher caloric intake for those that allow their kitchens to become disorganized with piling dishes and mess. One study even made the correlation that people with a cluttered home were 77% more likely to be overweight or obese than people with a organized living situation. Clutter can be very stressful for the brain. Additionally, it causes people to try to find coping mechanisms to deal with the increased stress. Unfortunately, for many people that includes filling up on unhealthy snacks and portion sizes as a comfort source. Alternatively, it has been demonstrated that people surrounded by a calm and organized environment made healthier choices in regards to their food intake.

This is where having a personal trainer that can help to reorganize your lifestyle and thoughts can come in handy. Having someone that can manage a portion of your life in an effective way can be just the thing you need to declutter your mind and life. Having a plan in place and eliminating the clutter that is stressing us out can help us feel like we have gained control of our lives again, and that means gaining control of our dietary choices as well. Whether you are trying to lose weight or trying to bulk up (view these details for ideas), decluttering can help you organize a plan and follow it.

Immune System

A disorganized home negatively affects your physical health in more ways than one. Not only can clutter impact weight, it can also impact your immune system. Cluttered rooms have a higher chance of accumulating more bacteria in unwanted places throughout your bedroom. This can cause you to get sick or cause problems for your immune health. Furthermore, having a cluttered home can cause damage to your respiratory system. Cluttered homes on average contain more dust than clean homes. This makes allergies and asthma worse in these households. This could eventually cause long-term health effects if not properly treated.

Mental Wellbeing

Weight and illness aren’t the only factors that clutter affects. A messy home can cause severe psychological effects on an individual. First, clutter can cause a rise in cortisol levels which creates a huge shift in your stress levels. When you are in a constant state of raised cortisol levels, the chemical imbalances can actually change the structure of your brain to become even more sensitive to the stress in your environment!

Clutter has been shown to negatively affect kids behavior. So, if you have little ones running around causing mischief, a disorganized home could be part of the problem. If this doesn’t already sound bad enough there is still more! Next, it causes a person to shift attention from the mess around them from the task they are trying to perform. This causes them to not be able to stay focused on a task because the brain thinks that it is meant to multitask in that situation. This could affect your work, relationships, and general piece of mind. While there are many methods on reducing this anxious feeling such as mediation and exercise, those won’t make a pile of dirty dishes disappear. It is best to reorganize to help solve the root of the problem.

How FitSW Can Help Reduce Clutter

Clutter doesn’t always mean physical objects lying around your home or desk. It can also mean a lack of organization or process in your business. As a personal trainer, you have a lot to keep organized—workout regimens, progress plans, and personalized meal prep for each client. Additionally, juggling an excess amount of information without a single place to store it can lead to frustration and roadblocks in your business.

With FitSW, you don’t have to let clutter get the best of you. With client progress tracking, real time messaging, plus fitness and diet plan management all from your phone, you can focus less on taming the clutter and more on what you love—helping your clients achieve their dream fitness goals.

About The Author:

Lisa Smalls is a freelance writer and cycle instructor from NC. Her life’s passion is to help others find physical, mental, and emotional balance. You can see more of her work at Mattress Advisor, where she regularly contributes sleep health content.