Control Your Physical Environment. Don’t Let It Control You.
Why Einstein was wrong on this one
Let’s face it. You have too much stuff cluttered around. I do too. Things you buy, things you receive as gifts. Your closet is overfilled with clothes and shoes.
Your drawers are packed to the brim with all sorts of stuff you don’t even realize is there. Your pantry is so filled with non-perishable food items that it’s hard to find what you are looking for.
Having too much stuff cluttered around isn’t just a disease of overconsumption causing unprecedented damage to our Earth, however. It also causes great damage to ourselves.
When the physical space is cluttered, it makes it easy for our thoughts to do the same. It sends a message to our brain that the work is never done, preventing our ability to relax while channeling our focus away from what is important. It induces anxiety while impeding creativity.
A cluttered physical environment also makes it more difficult to design our environment for success, where we make the beneficial actions more easy to carry out and the less beneficial actions more cumbersome.
When our physical environment is cluttered and not set up for ultimate success, we humans do what we have evolved to do. We find the path of least resistance. We find the most convenient option.
When you do this, it’s your survival instincts kicking in.
Because in the majority of cases, the most convenient option is usually not the best option.
To go even further, the most convenient option usually delivers immediate pleasure, but comes with serious long term consequences.
Grabbing some potato chips from the pantry is a lot easier than making some beans and rice. Sitting and watching TV is a lot easier than getting up and going to do some exercise.
One is easier yet harmful over time. One is more difficult yet with compounding positive effects over time.
“Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior.” — James Clear
A cluttered space is a hidden tax on your focus
When you clutter your physical space, be it your bedroom or office, you are subjecting yourself to sensory overload. With multiple objects competing for your attention, your brain has to work harder to filter out everything that it doesn’t deem important in that moment.
Studies from Princeton University using fMRI brain scans show just this: When focusing on a given item (say a book you are reading or a project you are working on from your computer), the more additional objects that enter into your visual field, the more tired and suboptimal in functioning your brain becomes.
Einstein once famously said, “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”
But 99.9% of us aren’t Einstein, an undeniable genius. We need to be more intentional in controlling our physical environment to achieve maximum impact.
A cluttered space may not seem very impactful at first, but the documented impacts on focus and brain power required to overcome clutter only compound over time.
Bottom line is: If you’re struggling to focus, start with one of the easiest fixes. Declutter your physical space. Having a clean place will look different for everyone, but if you feel your physical space and the objects in it are pulling you in various directions, that’s your surefire sign to take action.
A cluttered space is a hidden tax on your wellbeing
The more cluttered your space is, the more effort it takes to make the good decision. You’ll have to use your willpower, which would could more be channeled to somewhere it’s more needed.
You’ll constantly be faced with decision fatigue, as your brain tires itself out trying to figure out what to look at, what to focus on and what to do.
And what does your brain do when it’s overwhelmed? It gravitates to the easiest choice. And as we know, the easiest choice is usually not the beneficial choice for the long term.
In this way, a cluttered space can have a direct impact on your wellbeing.
It can affect your focus, inhibiting your ability to make progress on the task at hand.
It can cloud your ability to make it easier on yourself to carry out good habits, since your brain will have so many competing physical cues to decide between.
It adds an additional step between yourself and a desired good behavior (e.g. going out for a walk, conducting focused work on your computer). This makes it harder to establish the habits you wish to cultivate, which are the foundation of change.
These are all mechanisms through which clutter can impact your wellbeing, and ultimately your life, like a hidden tax.
You don’t have to go full Marie Kondo.
Sure you could go full Marie Kondo, looking at each item you own and ask “Does this spark joy?” That might take awhile but it will definitely do the job.
Or you could be a little more thoughtful about how things are strategically placed in your space, taking some steps to move things around or discard items when you see it is detracting from your focus and your brainpower.
“Whether or not you’re aware of it, your environment profoundly affects your health, wealth, family life, relationship, and yes, even your destiny.” — David Kennedy (author of Feng Shui for Dummies)
There’s enough obstacles in your path that you must work to overcome. Your physical environment should not be one.
Helpful Resources
- 📝 Article: Psychology: Your Attention, Please (article from Princeton University on the research of psychology professor Sabine Kastner)
- 📝 Article: Why Mess Causes Stress: 8 Reasons, 8 Remedies by Sherrie Bourg Carter, Psy.D.
- 📝 Article: Less Clutter, Less Stress by Susi Amendola from Ornish Living
- 📝 Article: How To Improve Your Health and Productivity Without Thinking by James Clear
- 📖 Book: Feng Shui for Dummies by David Daniel Kennedy
- 📖 Book: Principle 11 (Set Your Environment Up For Success) from our ebook The 17 Principles To Live Well & Be Well
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Originally published at https://wellelifestyle.com.
