While we are living in a time where our workplace and living space is one, we should look around ourselves to declutter our multifunctional space.
COVID has made our lives so monotonous that we are surrounded by mess and not even realising it. Space where we live, study, or work often defines our creativity and productivity. Mess usually affects our level of concentration and mental peace therewith. If you are still not admitting it then sorry you are suffering from ‘clutter blindness’. The amount of clutter we spread daily and forget to organise results in mismanagement. Small piles of books, stationery, eatables start gathering everywhere.
However, there are reasons why we might not notice the clutter that slowly builds in our living. One main reason is that we are so habituated to our environment that we stop noticing the things around us. Research has shown that people stop noticing things in their environment that they see every day – even a bright red fire extinguisher gets unnoticed if we see it regularly. Even if a heap of things is in our plain sight we tend to not notice it.
Another reason could be that we label the clutter as personalised clutter. As a result we start getting comfortable with it. We start convincing ourselves that we need those things all the time, then why keeping it aside. This also becomes a problematic issue when we are sharing a space with someone else as well. The other person can’t turn his/her eyes off the mess we are responsible for.
Thus a cluttered desk or drawer is not a puzzle instead is perfectly fine for those who created the clutter as they feel they can still find things among the haphazard system they created. People often get attached to the clutter that it’s nearly impossible for them to get rid of a few things sometimes. They keep saving the clutter as it adds value to their life. They get emotionally attached to certain things that makes it hard to part with them.
Decluttering can have a calming and peaceful effect (especially once it is done), and some evidence suggests that those with a clear and clean work environment are more likely to be more creative and more productive.
Once in a while, you can take out some time to unclutter your home which is your workplace as well, these days. It would only help in clearing unnecessary additions that you don’t really need on your desk. It then feels like a fresh new beginning which embarks a productive day or week.