Ready, set, go: This 30 day de-clutter challenge will transform your home (and life)

Find yourself feeling stressed and anxious a lot?

You are not alone. These days, so many adults, and especially women, admit to feeling stressed out and anxious too, something which can interfere not only with our sleep and energy, but also our overall wellness and health.

Often, our busy lives are being blamed, as well as money worries and even social media. And while they all no doubt contribute to our stress, have you stopped and looked at the state of your home lately?

Is it tidy and organized? Or, like so many of us, have you got so much stuff it’s hard to keep on top of all of it? Clutter, whether scattered around your house or hidden in drawers and behind doors, comes with a mental cost, explains psychologist Sherrie Bourg Carter .

“Messy homes and work spaces leave us feeling, anxious, helpless, and overwhelmed. Yet, rarely is clutter recognized as a significant source of stress in our lives.”

On the contrary, research shows that – in addition to stress – clutter can spur on anxiety and depression. Especially in women. A 2009 study in SAGE followed 60 dual-income spouses and analyzed what language they used while giving self-guided home tours. Using their words, researchers grouped them into two types describing either a stressful home or a restorative home. In comparison to women who used “restorative language,” those who used “stressful language” had an increased depressed mood as the day went on.

“Cortisol data show a link between unhappy verbal characterizations of arrays of household possessions [chronically messy, cluttered rooms or unfinished remodeling projects] and higher stress levels as measured by the hormone cortisol in the mothers in the study,” said UCLA anthropologist Jeanne Arnold.

Toys, clothes, decor, sports equipment – we all have more of everything these days, and this clutter culture is causing us to feel stressed and anxious.

However, it doesn’t have to be this way. This de-clutter challenge is currently trending on Pinterest, and once you start, you’ll see why. Instead of trying to de-clutter your entire home in one day or even one weekend, this chart lets you tackle one task a day for a month – something which is far more doable and realistic.

Have you been putting off de-cluttering for days, weeks, months, or maybe even years? If so, there is no better time than now to start.

1. Empty out One Junk Drawer

It doesn’t matter how many you have… don’t even think about that! It will only overwhelm you. Choose one and tackle only that one. Whether it’s old flyers or bills, dried out elastic bands, golf balls, garbage wrappers (you’d be surprised) … get rid of it! A good rule of thumb is that if you haven’t used it on the last three months, you probably don’t need it.

2. Purge Your Closet of the Things You No Longer Wear

Time to take a trip your local charity shop! If you have to think twice about a piece of clothing, throw it in that plastic bag.

3. Go Through Your Movie Collection

Keep your favorites – no, they’re not all your favorites – and ditch the rest. Plus, does anyone really need those things when you have Netflix?

4. Clean out Your TV Stand