Clutter
Clutter erodes your ability to focus and perform creative tasks.
When we clear clutter from our environment, we are better able to focus and process information, and hence, our productivity increases.
In other words, your messy desk is causing your work to take longer than it should, because your brain is too busy having a quiet little freak out to concentrate on the job at hand.
Throughout the day, we are not only using vital brain energy to complete our tasks, but also wasting precious brain cells dissuading ourselves from veering down the wrong internet wormhole (and, regardless of whether we veer down the wrong path or not, extending our workday).
Our mental space and physical space is cluttered with distractions.
Physical clutter
e.g. disorganized desk or workplace or a disorganized room.
Hoarding is vertical, involving numerous piles of similar things, while clutter is horizontal, describing my desktop.
Digital clutter
This is the more modern iteration of clutter and it is less physically visible. Files on your computer, notifications from your phone, notifications from your social media accounts, email notifications and anything that goes ‘ping’ in the night competes for your attention.
Most of us office-bound cogs of the 21st century aren’t dealing with messy desks and stacks of paper. Instead, our mess is most often of the digital variety.
The great paradox of using a computer — the pinnacle of efficiency — is that it also comes with an infinite number of distractions. Our computers makes our jobs easier, but they also makes it so that our attention can, at any moment, go from working on something to scrolling through the Yelp reviews of the restaurant we are going to that night. That is clutter, and it by nature, distracts us from finishing our work as efficiently as we’d like.
We often find ourselves mindlessly scrolling through YouTube videos despite how they don’t bring us any actual joy. With our friends busy and no work to complete, we resort to instant gratification that don’t bring us any actual happiness. However, our brains still perceive this instant gratification as being the most fun thing to do. So we continue to consume content or play video games.
We can cut back on our mindless scrolling by building up our attention muscle with practices like meditating. Try to actually make a meaningful change in your life by meditating for just 3 minutes a day for the next month rather than than scrolling onto the next video/article. We will notice a massive difference in our ability to concentrate and prevent ourselves from mindlessly scrolling.
We can also install software that would block certain distracting websites and apps that we don’t get true enjoyment from. Our lives are already way too stimulated. So the more stimulation we can remove, the better. Start with the distracting games and websites that are easier to give up and that you don’t find plays a fulfilling part of your life.
Clean it up
Mess creates stress.
There’s a strong link between your physical space and your mental space.
Clutter is bad for your mind and health. It can create long-term, low-level anxiety.
When the book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, by Marie Kondo became a best-seller, it wasn’t too surprising.
We are all looking for ways to create more meaningful lives with less to distract us.
Get rid of clutter at your office, on your desk, in your room, and you will send a clear message of calm directly to your brain.
Start decluttering in small, focused bursts. You’re not going to clean up your entire space in a day, so start small to make it a daily habit that sticks.
Set yourself up for success by making a plan and targeting specific areas you’re going to declutter, clean up, and organize over a prolonged period of time.