How can (or how does) clutter, junk and a generally speaking messy apartment affect one's mood or behavior?

Question

I find myself drowning in paper, books, magazines, brochures, music cd's, scrap wood, merchandise packaging, clothing I no longer use, etc.

I have also noticed how depressed and angry I usually feel when I'm home. Could these things be related? If so, how does that happen?

I have too much cleaning to do and so much clutter to get rid of that I feel completely overwhelmed. Only recently have I begun the task by selling a few things online. Most things though, I find I cannot or do not want to part with because of sentimental value or emotional value. Where does that come from?

What can I do to straighten out my life and live more simply? Please be serious with your suggestions. This is a very serious problem with me. The simple "throw away what you're not using" has never worked for me. I'm trying all I can to find a way to deal with this problem in a way that will not cause me grief and regret.

Thanks very much for taking time to post your thoughts here:)

Answer 1

let me start with this: when my house is only a little messy, it bothers me. when i get rid of the junk every friday (my clean up day) i feel sooooo much better. i wanna light candles, play music, drink my glasses of wine but, i dont feel this way before i clean. get rid of it man. everything that you dont need throw away. the items with sentimental value you can just store in a box or something and put it in the top of your closet. if your house is cluttered, take it one step at a time until its finished. if you notice yourself that when you get home your mood changes then, its time to fix what you yourself said the problem is.

good luck and take your time

Answer 2

Take a look at www.flylady.net. I too suffer from way too much junk in my house. If you follow there simple rules and simple projects it can help declutter your home.

If you are looking to do it all at once and get things completely cleaned over a weekend then I suggest getting some help from some trusted friends. Clear everything out of your house that is causing clutter. Spend 20 minutes sorting it into piles such as throw away, definitely keep, and sort through. Then spend 2 hours going through the go through pile. Make a commitment to have someone pick up all the stuff that you can just give away and take it to Goodwill.

Answer 3

I know how you feel sometimes when the house is mess i cant do anything untill i clean it. I think if this is really effecting you then to just take one day maybe a saturday or a day when your not doing anythinng and clean the whoolleee apartment. maybe have someone who really knows how to clean help you and straighten everything up so you have a comfortable place to do the things you need to do at home. I know how its reallly hard to do things when theres alot of junk laying around. and i know how it is hard to throw away things but sooner or later your gonna have to you cant just keep all this stuff storing up in your apartment. if theres so much of it then maybe you can rent like a storage area that way you dont HAVE to get rid of it but still have it NOT cluttering up in your apartment.

Answer 4

It gets me very down. Right now it is pretty bad. I go through periods where I do some really deep cleaning. I also take lots of stuff to the Goodwill. Though my grandchildren are going to help with a yard sale. I think we will wait until late spring.

Answer 5

confident a love a tidy, sparkling and properly organised ecosystem. i like to comprehend the place issues are, by way of fact i'm getting under pressure if i can not locate some thing. i'm able to submit with mess, as long because it will be tidied up surprisingly quickly afterwards.