Declutter the Home to Lower Stress
Getting Organized is Good for Your Health
Clearing out the clutter and getting organized is not only a great New Year's resolution, it may save time, money, and lead to better health as well.
A recurrent New Year's resolution for many people is to get organized. Like that other perennial favorite, losing weight, getting organized is a process that can only be achieved with some consistent effort. The good news is that it's easier than giving up chocolate milkshakes, and it could save time, money, and frustration both at home and at work.
Good Reasons to Get Organized
A fact sheet from the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) says that clearing out clutter eliminates 40% of the work needed to clean the average home, and there is a lot of clutter in the average home. The NAPO claims that 80% of the items in most households are never used.
Disorganization in the work place is not only frustrating, it is expensive as well. The NAPO fact sheet states that a company with around 1,000 employees will waste an average of $2.5 million a year trying unsuccessfully to locate and retrieve information. Not surprising, since the NAPO also states that 25% of office employees keep vital information in stacks, rather than files.
Taking Care of Clutter is Good for Your Health
People are motivated to lose weight because it improves their health. Surprisingly, research now indicates that clearing up all those unfinished tasks, like organizing the family photos, cleaning out closets, or organizing the office, also improves a person's health. Drs. Roizen and Oz in their recent book, You Staying Young, explain that stress is the greatest "ager" of all, since it increases the probability for developing heart disease, strokes, memory loss, infections and cancer.
However, the kind of stress most of us think of, such as working at a demanding job, scrambling to meet tight deadlines, or even having car trouble on the freeway at rush hour, is not the kind of stress that typically causes lasting health problems. Oz and Roizen say the most damaging stress is the kind created by unfinished projects.
Oz and Roizen refer to these as NUTs - Nagging Unfinished Tasks. According to them, unfinished tasks add eight years to a person's age. In other words, a 35-year old with months of unfiled papers heaped on the desk, or weeks of unfolded laundry piled on the sofa, has a "real" age of 43. What better motivation to clean off the desktop, organize those files and deal with clutter once and for all?
Start Small for Big Results
The NAPO web site states that there is no one right way to get organized. People's personalities, living and working situations and family structures create specialized needs. The important thing is to pick an area to focus on and get started. Maria Cilley, known on her web site as the Fly Lady, acknowledges that getting organized is a big job. Rather than trying to do it all at once, she recommends working on a "hot spot" somewhere in your home or office every day for just 15 minutes. She believes anyone can do just about anything for 15 minutes. The first 15 minutes won't make much of a difference of course, but 15 minutes a day, every day for a month, can transform a room, a home. or an office.
Make this the year to get organized. It'll save time, money and frustration, and it could even make you healthier.
