Why Highly Sensitive People Dislike Clutter (and How to Get Rid of It)
Highly sensitive people and clutter is not a productive partnership. Busy space, busy head. That is, in short, why highly sensitive people dislike a cluttered space. Busy environments mean that a highly sensitive person has a lot to process. That leads to overstimulation. Overstimulation means stress. And that’s why no good comes of mixing highly sensitive and clutter.
The Effect of Clutter
Clutter attracts more clutter. I have three children between the ages of seven and twelve, and none of them yet seem to have my hatred of clutter. In fact, far from it. Pigs in mud; my kids and clutter. And it drives me nuts.
The featured image for this post already gives me palpitations. Clutter makes me anxious. It makes me grumpy. I cannot declutter my head whilst my environment is cluttered. It distracts me. And I am certainly not unique.
The findings add to a growing body of evidence that clutter can negatively impact mental well-being, particularly among women. Clutter can also induce a physiological response, including increased levels of cortisol, a stress hormone.
Some people have a gift for being completely oblivious to clutter. I imagine most are not highly sensitive, those people who notice the detail in the world around them.
Clutter causes stress, and as we all know stress is not a great thing to welcome into your life.
In short, clutter is bad for you, and even more so if you are highly sensitive.
Digital Clutter
And the bad news is that it’s not just our physical environments that are causing stress:
The overconsumption of digital stuff—like social media notifications, news feeds, games and files on our computer—competes for our attention, creating a digital form of clutter that has the same effect on our brain as physical clutter.
Being attached to our phones constantly is cluttering our minds up. The constant pinging of notifications doesn’t help us switch off from the world around us. It’s overwhelm from all sides.
7 Ways a Highly Sensitive Can Declutter
There are a number of things you can do to help yourself, and your home.
Stop it before it starts – stop clutter getting into your house. Next time you are out shopping or your finger is poised on the buy button ask yourself, “Do I really need this? Do my kids really need this?”
Spend ten minutes before you head out in the morning quickly clearing a space. Don’t leave it for your return at the end of the day, when the impact of a messy space will be bigger.
Take a walk in nature, leave your phone behind and just walk in silence to declutter your mind.
Hire in help. Such as Amazon Home Services: house cleaning, home improvement, yard services. Get yourself some help to get on top of that cluttered shed, yard, or home!
Over to You
Do you notice clutter around you? What impact does it have on you? Share your decluttering tips!
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10 Comments
Hey! I love this article, its very organized 😉 I embarked on minimalizing my life (if that’s a word) in the last year, and you’d be amazed how much has changed. I feel like I am slowly unearthing myself. Finding I can feel who I am by what is important to keep. I’ve probably halved my overall belongings…and I have two kids, so that’s saying something. Also, miraculously, many people I did not need are no longer in my life, and being replaced by more positive, quality connections.
I like #1 and #2, in your list above, the best. I notice that I no longer purchase things just to purchase things. I honor my space, and want to love everything in it. Thank you for writing!
I am definitely putting potential purchases through the “Do we really need this?” test before buying. That is the definitely the best way to make sure clutter never comes into the house!
Yes, clutter definitely unsettles me and it’s amazing how we acquire “things”. I had mixed feelings about parts of Kondo’s book but in the majority of advice, she’s spot on.
There were some things in Kondo’s book that I couldn’t relate to – totally agree! But I got a lot out of the idea that things have served a purpose and can leave our homes……..
Thanks for making this list to follow! I am very highly sensitive in my emotions and actions, even into my young adult lift and I find my self reacting heavily to just the house being cluttered after a long week. It’s good to have guidelines like these to come across to know there are ways to help that!
Hey! I love this article, its very organized 😉 I embarked on minimalizing my life (if that’s a word) in the last year, and you’d be amazed how much has changed. I feel like I am slowly unearthing myself. Finding I can feel who I am by what is important to keep. I’ve probably halved my overall belongings…and I have two kids, so that’s saying something. Also, miraculously, many people I did not need are no longer in my life, and being replaced by more positive, quality connections.
I like #1 and #2, in your list above, the best. I notice that I no longer purchase things just to purchase things. I honor my space, and want to love everything in it. Thank you for writing!
I am definitely putting potential purchases through the “Do we really need this?” test before buying. That is the definitely the best way to make sure clutter never comes into the house!
Yes, clutter definitely unsettles me and it’s amazing how we acquire “things”. I had mixed feelings about parts of Kondo’s book but in the majority of advice, she’s spot on.
There were some things in Kondo’s book that I couldn’t relate to – totally agree! But I got a lot out of the idea that things have served a purpose and can leave our homes……..
Thanks for making this list to follow! I am very highly sensitive in my emotions and actions, even into my young adult lift and I find my self reacting heavily to just the house being cluttered after a long week. It’s good to have guidelines like these to come across to know there are ways to help that!
Clutter has an impact on many of us for sure – a few minutes a day can already make a huge difference!