UNITED STATES—A dedicated space is one of the most important determinants of academic success. Even more important is the need to keep your study environment clutter-free. According to research, having a clean space benefits your mental and physical health, motivating you to be more productive and efficient. That said, hectic schedules can keep students from dedicating the time they need to keep their surroundings neat and organized. This article examines some reasons to avoid clutter and how to organize your living space.
- Clutter Increases Confusion
One of the main reasons you need to declutter your personal space as a student is that having materials everywhere creates confusion. According to recent studies, students living in disorganized spaces tend to have cluttered minds. You cannot focus on tasks as your mind shifts rapidly between stimuli. Decluttering your living space is the only way to focus your mind and boost your mental health. Remember, keeping your space neat is as simple as finding an arrangement to stack away your files orderly. Don’t stress if you have more assignments than you can handle. You can always hire a custom writer from a dependable website like MasterPapers to deliver quality work for you.
- Clutter Increases Stress
One of the dangers of living and studying in a cluttered environment is that it increases stress and can be bad for students’ mental health. Clutter distracts, diminishing students’ ability to focus on tasks and beat deadlines. As productivity declines, pending work piles up, causing more anxiety and performance-related stress. According to research, tight deadlines are one of the most severe causes of stress among college students. The stress from the pile of urgent projects can negatively affect students’ mental and physical well-being. When students come from class to a room with clean sheets and organized files, their well-being benefits.
For decades, researchers have been interested in unearthing the nature of the relationship between clutter and the mental health of college students. Recent studies found that a disorganized space overwhelms the brain, causing the increased release of cortisol. Cortisol then triggers a warning to the body’s defense systems and generates stress. When students are exposed to clutter for prolonged periods, the stress can turn chronic, altering the structure and functioning of the brain.
- Clutter Is a Safety Hazard
One of the most obvious reasons for eliminating clutter in your living space is that disorganized items create a safety risk. Recent studies show a close relationship between clutter and an increased risk of home and workplace accidents. For example, when you have materials scattered all over your room, you can easily trip and fall. Furthermore, carelessly placed papers around your room increase the fire risk since most study materials are highly flammable.
- Clutter Is Distracting
Another problem with clutter is that it can also distract students when working on important tasks, eating into the time they should dedicate to their studies. College is already hectic as it is, and you need to work on your efficiency and time management skills; studying in a space with disorganized material forces you to multitask, increasing your stress levels and exhausting your mental faculties. Evidence shows that multitasking is a serious problem among college students, with some learners checking their phones and updating social media posts as they work on tasks. Remember, multitasking means switching rapidly between tasks, diminishing productivity and lowering focus. What clutter does is introduce extra stimuli to distract your brain, forcing your brain to multitask. The distraction means you take longer to complete projects as clutter competes for your brain’s resources.
- Clutter Affects How We Behave
Besides interfering with students’ psychological well-being and academic performance, clutter also affects learners’ behavior. According to recent studies, students living in chaotic and disorganized spaces struggle to regulate emotions and behavior. The implication is that the more disorganized your space, the more likely you will act out. According to experts, young adults draw their energy from the living environment. After all, our habits tend to be the outcome of the environments in which we live.
This article explores the importance of eliminating clutter from students’ living spaces. In general, clutter is bad for your mind and body as it causes stress, distracts you from important tasks, and increases the risk of accidents. Clutter also makes it hard to fall asleep and can lead to other problems related to sleep deprivation.
