Take it room by room and space by space When your home is truly messy, I've found that it's best not to go wandering around the house doing a little here and there and creating piles everywhere. Instead, try tackling one room at a time and one space (or task) at a time within that room.
Sometimes, a messy house can be a sign of hoarding disorder. Hoarding disorder is a mental health condition that causes people to accumulate an excessive amount of things with no real value. Some experts think it's related to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), while others say it's related to dementia.
Almost everything about how we feel boils down to perception and brain signaling. When you see your cluttered home or workplace, a signal is sent to your brain that work isn't yet done. You become anxious as you're overwhelmed with so many things to do to put things in order.
Mess Equals Stress
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.
Clutter can affect our anxiety levels, sleep, and ability to focus. It can also make us less productive, triggering coping and avoidance strategies that make us more likely to snack on junk and watch TV shows (including ones about other people decluttering their lives).
Messiness can actually be a sign of creativity and freedom. Or it may mean a teen is busy with school, hobbies, and socializing, and hasn't made time to clean their messy bedroom. However, a messy room can also be an outward sign of feeling disorganized or overwhelmed.
But research shows disorganization and clutter have a cumulative effect on our brains. Our brains like order, and constant visual reminders of disorganisation drain our cognitive resources, reducing our ability to focus. The visual distraction of clutter increases cognitive overload and can reduce our working memory.
If you don't clean your house, it might mean you are busy and have little time to clean and organize. It might be a sign that you have too much stuff. Or it might be the result of having young kids in the house who are usually not motivated to clean up after themselves.
Psychologically, a messy room can mean several things.
A messy room can be a sign of depression or another mental health issue. Clutter affects your mood and can cause more anxiety or stress. Your child can get caught in a cycle of messiness that worsens their mental health and vice versa.
Having a messy house is very normal and common, even if it doesn't seem so. Mess can be found in every house.
Getting sick and unhealthy
Here are some reasons why not cleaning enough can make you unhealthy: Polluted air vents and untidy filters can contaminate the air. Soiled sheets and bedding can cause skin rashes and irritations. Dust mites can trigger allergies, asthma, and other respiratory issues.
For example, someone with mobility problems may be physically unable to clear the huge amounts of clutter they have acquired, and people with learning disabilities or people developing dementia may be unable to categorise and dispose of items. Mental health problems associated with hoarding include: severe depression.
Many of these individuals have a mental disorder which allows them to create mess and then live in it without concern. They may be able to function adequately in other areas of their life, but their psychological problems are demonstrated by the literal dirty secret of their filthy home.
Excessive clutter and disorganization are often symptoms of a bigger health problem. People who have suffered an emotional trauma or a brain injury often find housecleaning an insurmountable task.
People with depression can often find themselves living in messy spaces. This is because feelings of hopelessness, low energy, and lack of motivation can make it hard to keep on top of everyday tasks, such as tidying.
Clutter in the living room might suggest blockages in your social life, as well as your relationship with yourself, while a cluttered bedroom might relate to issues surrounding your sexual self, fears of intimacy or gender roles.
"If you're depressed or overwhelmed with life you may feel you don't have time to clean/organize, you may feel you don't deserve a clean space or you may be so preoccupied with other things you don't even notice how messy your room has become."
The clutter is often a matter of delayed decisions and delayed actions. Maybe it seems to you that it is impossible to sort out all the accumulated mess. The very thought of the process of tidying up bothers you, and that's why you keep leaving the room tidying up. Procrastination may be part of your mentality.
Messy House Disorders
Indeed, according to psychological research, sloppiness might be an indicator of emotional distress. Like someone with OCD who feels they need to micromanage every aspect of their life, someone who is chronically disorganized may suffer from depression or another mental health condition.
Research published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology found that clutter has a negative impact on overall well-being. It also increases stress, decreases productivity, and leads to unhealthy habits.