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nuvancehealth.org
news
https://www.nuvancehealth.org/health-tips-and-news/how-clutter-affects-your-b…
Studies have found people living in cluttered homes are more likely to experience insomnia and poor sleep quality. Stress and mental stimulation from clutter can keep the brain alert and uneasy, even at night. It’s hard for your mind to power down when it’s bombarded by signs of chaos or by racing thoughts about things you haven't done yet. [...] Studies have described clutter as a form of visual distraction that increases cognitive overload and even reduces working memory capacity. In other words, when your space (or your mind) is overloaded with extraneous stuff, it’s harder for your brain to hold on to the important pieces of information you need right now. You might find yourself forgetting things you just read or losing your train of thought more often in a messy environment. [...] Research confirms people think more clearly, and even become less irritable and more productive, in an organized setting than in a cluttered one. By decluttering, you free up mental bandwidth. Decisions — even simple ones like what to have for dinner or which task to do first — come a bit easier when your brain isn’t constantly managing the excess stimuli and mental load that clutter creates.
Related content: How to achieve physical, mental and emotional wellness for better overall health
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apa.org
news
https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/speaking-of-psychology/clutter
My guest today is Dr. Joseph Ferrari, a professor of psychology and distinguished professor at DePaul University in Chicago. Dr. Ferrari studies the psychology of clutter, including why we accumulate it, how it affects our mental health, and the link between clutter and procrastination. He’s also well known for his research on the causes and consequences of procrastination, and is the author of several books on that subject for researchers, clinicians, and the general public. He has published [...] Deacon Joseph Ferrari, PhD, is a professor of psychology and Saint Vincent DePaul Distinguished Professor at DePaul University in Chicago. He is a leading expert on the study of chronic procrastination and, more recently, of clutter. Ferrari studies the psychology of clutter, including why we accumulate it, how it affects our mental health, and the link between clutter and procrastination. He has published more than 400 scholarly articles and 35 books and book chapters, and is a fellow in six [...] years, psychologist research has begun to find that living and working in cluttered spaces causes stress and anxiety and can harm both our mental health and our productivity.
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verywellmind.com
article
https://www.verywellmind.com/decluttering-our-house-to-cleanse-our-minds-5101511
One study found that clutter, particularly among older adults, decreased overall life satisfaction. Other research has found that helping older adults find ways to tidy up and declutter could help them feel more accomplished and in control.
### Decreased Well-Being [...] The clutter in your environment can even cause you to develop negative feelings about your home. In a 2016 study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, researchers suggest that this is because 'home' is more than just where we live.
Instead, they suggest that home is a constellation of situations, experiences, and meanings. The individual shapes these experiences, but they are also shaped by them.
For this reason, excessive clutter was found to harm subjective well-being. [...] In other words, the research suggests that it can be more difficult to control your impulses when your mental health and your environment are stressful or "chaotic."
### Lower Quality of Life
Clutter can easily lead to a nearly constant feeling of frustration as you struggle to complete daily tasks. The time you spend looking for objects you need or attempting to organize your items could be time spent with loved ones, doing some self-care, or even just relaxing.
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extension.usu.edu
research
https://extension.usu.edu/mentalhealth/articles/the-mental-benefits-of-declut…
There is something to be said about having a clean and organized work or living space. According to a study by Princeton University, researchers discovered that our environment can positively or negatively impact our ability to complete tasks as well as our overall mental health. If the physical space around us feels scattered, it’s likely our mental space will feel the same. A study by the University of Connecticut found that by removing or controlling clutter, we can directly reduce the [...] Remember, life can be stressful enough when you don’t have to spend hours cleaning and straightening. Consider using these tips to keep your clutter manageable and do what works best for you.
## References:
Boyes, A. (2018). 6 Benefits of an Uncluttered Space. Psychology Today.
Gordon, S. (2021). The Relationship Between Mental Health and Cleaning. Verywell Mind.
Deevoy, R. (2021). Why decluttering is good for your mental health. Calm-moment. [...] Boost your mood and help improve your physical health. The ability to complete physical activity while organizing can enhance creativity by allowing the mind to wander. Letting our mind go a little as we organize our clutter can help us relax mentally while our body is staying active. The combination of the two can boost our mood because we feel less stressed about what once was clutter, and we feel accomplished after seeing the progress!
I
ifstudies.org
article
https://ifstudies.org/blog/a-cluttered-home-causes-more-stress-for-women-than…
My childhood experience is not unusual, as many people find clutter in homes and workplaces to be unpleasant and even stressful. For example, a 2025 study in the Journal of Environmental Psychology found that people who considered their homes more cluttered had lower levels of well-being and life satisfaction, as well as higher levels of negative feelings. Clutter also reduces the psychological attachment people have to their homes. Office clutter similarly increases emotional exhaustion and [...] In this study, family members were given video recorders and asked to conduct self-guided tours of their homes, where they described the spaces and their possessions, and the meanings they attached to them. These interviews were analyzed with linguistic software, which provided counts of words associated with clutter, a sense of the home as unfinished, a sense of the home as restful, and words describing the backyard and natural features, such as trees or plants. Based on a principal components [...] components analysis, counts of the cluttered and unfinshed words were combined to create a stressful home score, and counts of the restful and nature words were combined to create a restorative home score. Family members were also interviewed and asked questions about their mental health and provided saliva samples at different times in the day so that researchers could assess their levels of the stress hormone cortisol and how these levels changed.
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www1.racgp.org.au
news
https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/what-does-clutter-do-to-your-brain-…
This response can trigger physical and psychological changes that affect how we fight bugs and digest food, as well as leaving us at greater risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Clutter might also have implications for our relationships with those around us. A 2016 US study, for instance, found background clutter resulted in participants being less able to correctly interpret the emotional expressions on the faces of characters in a movie. [...] The broader constellation of experiences, meanings, and situations that shape and are actively shaped by a person in the creation of his or her lifeworld.
But it seems clutter isn’t always bad. One study showed messy desks can make us more creative. The findings suggested neat, ordered environments make us more likely to conform to expectations and play it safe, while messy ones move us to break with the norm and look at things in a new way. [...] Clutter can make us feel stressed, anxious and depressed. Research from the United States in 2009, for instance, found the levels of the stress hormone cortisol were higher in mothers whose home environment was cluttered.
A chronically cluttered home environment can lead to a constant low-grade fight or flight response, taxing our resources designed for survival.
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webmd.com
article
https://www.webmd.com/balance/ss/slideshow-clutter-affects-health
When everything is in order, you know exactly where you put your glasses and keys so you can grab them and go on with your day. That saves time and a whole lot of hassle. In one study, women who saw their homes as cluttered had high levels of the stress hormone cortisol throughout the day, while those who described their abode as a well-organized, restful space had lower levels.
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## It Doesn’t Get Easier [...] ## Too Much Stuff
If your closets are bursting or your desk is topped with piles of disorganized papers, you may want to take some steps toward a neater home or workspace. While a bit of chaos might have some upsides -- at least one study suggests that a messy room spurs creativity -- it has many more downsides. It can even be damaging for your physical and mental health.
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## Mess Equals Stress [...] If you're a bit scatterbrained because your space is scattered, don't wait to neaten up. Research has shown that adults in their 50s who have too many piles of stuff are more likely than younger folks to put off making decisions about what to get rid of. The study also found that those piles can make you less satisfied with your life.
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## Your Mind Wanders
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pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
official
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9137741
The present study is influenced by life course perspective theories, and Roster and colleagues’ theoretical model for psychological home, clutter, and subjective well-being for age differences. As such, the present study will further examine Roster and colleagues’ theoretical model for age differences, as noted in Figure 1. More specifically, this project will examine whether there are age differences in experiences with the relationships between clutter, sense of psychological home, and [...] for cognition , and psychological home [1,2,5,6]. Results from previous literature testing the relationships between clutter, psychological home, and subjective well-being concluded that the more clutter someone has, the less sense of psychological home and subjective well-being they report [1,2,5,6]. [...] Most previous clutter research has utilized life satisfaction as the objective definition for subjective well-being when testing clutter’s relationship to subjective well-being [1,2,5,6]. In addition to subjective well-being, the research on clutter found that excessive items impact on many other aspects of individual’s lives; including employee burnout/tension and satisfaction with one’s job [20,21], indecision (decisional procrastination) and behavioral procrastination , need for cognition ,