The Wellness Column: Decluttering Your Room Pt 2

03.03.2021

At any particularly hectic point in the semester, some people may find themselves opening their door to a room that reflects their frazzled mental state. Upon stepping over some opened cardboard boxes, a hidden textbook may trip them, leading to a flailing motion that knocks off water bottles and drops a binder full of loose paper. After this destructive chain reaction, shame washes over and realization hits: it is time to clean.

        Most people seem to fit into one of two categories when it comes to organization and cleanliness. The first includes those who consistently keep things in order, making their personal spaces always presentable and refusing to let any bit of disorder disturb their pristine domain. The second category consists of people who thrive in chaos, particularly proud of their ability to stick their hand into any pile of objects, fumble around, and extract the target of their search. As someone who often has an assortment of papers and books strewn across my desk, I admit that I belong to the second group. Like many others, consistent disorder does not bother me, especially in the form of seemingly innocuous clutter.

        However, being able to tolerate mess does not mean that it never causes stress at all. As any viewer of the Netflix series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo will realize, clutter can lead to loss of productivity and feelings of failure, leading to stress. This is important to note because stress is not only detrimental to the body through physiological changes such as increased blood pressure, but also an increased tendency to overeat, especially sugary and fatty foods. After realizing that being unorderly is a questionable lifestyle choice, the added stress may wear down the body and make it more difficult to resist crunching on the emergency stash of chocolate bars and cookies.

        Besides reducing stress, organizing personal spaces can also lead to greater productivity. In between bursts of room cleaning sessions, too many books and papers that are irrelevant to the current task are on my desk. It does not help that I also tend to scribble down ideas on innumerable scrap pieces of paper, making it difficult to find them later. With so much visual stimuli competing for attention, it is easy to become distracted, despite knowing that not all of them are important. Once papers are placed in drawers, books are shelved and closed, and writing utensils are herded into a pencil case, there are distinct rectangles formed by my laptop, one relevant textbook, and a notebook for scrapwork to the side. With only a few things to look at to complete my work, I do not have to split my attention across multiple points in my visual field and can fully focus on the immediate task.

        Furthermore, I have realized that doing a thorough reorganization of your room can provide an opportunity for reflection and relaxation. While tidying up my dorm room to clear floor and desk space, I listen to a podcast or audiobook that I normally cannot make time for. If I simply want to relax, I also sing, as cleaning does not take much thought and occupies the vision and hands. Or this may be a time to organize mentally as well. As a sort of meditation, I can think about the next course of action, reflect on how the day has gone, or organize my emotions to clear the mind from noise caused by a frantic lifestyle. Because it feels as if I am being productive by either multitasking or clearly seeing progress while cleaning, this does not feel—and is not—a waste of time.

        In order to keep your room or any space from reverting back into a chaotic state, the best way is probably to take short amounts of time to tidy things up at the end of the day. Taking a mere ten minutes to clear away any trash, place things back into their drawers, and make sure any article of clothing is tossed into the laundry bag or stored properly will be more than enough time. We can reduce stress that can inconspicuously accumulate by making small changes, maintaining an open, uncluttered room and state of mind.