People across America are realizing the many benefits of decluttering, particularly the economic and psychological benefits.
The "Great Recession" prompted many people to declutter out of necessity.
eBay and other online selling venues created an outlet for quick cash for unwanted items.
Being forced to sell the family home thanks to the housing bust also created the need to sell off or give away items that simply would not fit in a smaller abode.
Others, however, don't wait for a crisis.
They realize that decluttering reaps big rewards, the biggest of which is psychological.
On one end of the decluttering spectrum is the extreme form of compulsive hoarding, defined as a chronic and debilitating condition that represents a significant public health concern.
Hoarding is characterized by four key elements: difficulty discarding, excessive acquiring, clutter and distress and impairment due to hoarding.
With an estimated prevalence of 5 percent of the American population, compulsive hoarding may be twice as common as obsessive-compulsive disorder.
(Addressing these cases should involve professional organizers and licensed mental-health professionals.
) As with compulsive hoarders who receive help, the vast majority of clutter kings and queens who commit to a declutter their environments will remove more than just "extra stuff.
" They will rid themselves of obstacles they may never have known existed.
Items around the house and items in storage that no longer serve a daily or routine purpose can stand in the way of a lifestyle that a person deems efficient.
Living clutter-free equates to living in an environment that is organized and efficient, which leads to a feeling of accomplishment, peace and control, the same buoyancy experienced after tackling a messy, disorganized room and turning it into a functional space.
Studies have shown that those who are liberated from clutter often experience a feeling of euphoria likened to the runner's high.
Looking at a tidy room, you breathe more easily and find a renewed sense of energy.
The sense of powerlessness when faced with a problem that's bigger than you disappears.
Psychologists have identified one area of sensory input - vision - that allows those living in a clutter-free to feel a sense of control.
People perform a remarkable range of tasks that require search of the visual environment for a target item among distracters, for example finding one's keys amidst the clutter of a desk.
The Guided Search model, which is widely used as the psychological account of human visual search, measures a person's memory of locations in the visual field and predicts what is considered "gains" for the search.
This model has found that control of the environment is a huge factor in optimizing the search, the find, and thus the reward.
The adage "it is better to give than to receive" is another positive factor when decluttering.
When items are donated to organizations such as the Salvation Army, Goodwill or the local church or homeless shelter, the basic inner satisfaction found in altruistic deeds comes to the surface.
The same goes for the act of giving items away to family and friends.
By all measures, whether short-term or long-term, decluttering is a fail-safe way to boost the positives of living more efficiently and more generously.
The "Great Recession" prompted many people to declutter out of necessity.
eBay and other online selling venues created an outlet for quick cash for unwanted items.
Being forced to sell the family home thanks to the housing bust also created the need to sell off or give away items that simply would not fit in a smaller abode.
Others, however, don't wait for a crisis.
They realize that decluttering reaps big rewards, the biggest of which is psychological.
On one end of the decluttering spectrum is the extreme form of compulsive hoarding, defined as a chronic and debilitating condition that represents a significant public health concern.
Hoarding is characterized by four key elements: difficulty discarding, excessive acquiring, clutter and distress and impairment due to hoarding.
With an estimated prevalence of 5 percent of the American population, compulsive hoarding may be twice as common as obsessive-compulsive disorder.
(Addressing these cases should involve professional organizers and licensed mental-health professionals.
) As with compulsive hoarders who receive help, the vast majority of clutter kings and queens who commit to a declutter their environments will remove more than just "extra stuff.
" They will rid themselves of obstacles they may never have known existed.
Items around the house and items in storage that no longer serve a daily or routine purpose can stand in the way of a lifestyle that a person deems efficient.
Living clutter-free equates to living in an environment that is organized and efficient, which leads to a feeling of accomplishment, peace and control, the same buoyancy experienced after tackling a messy, disorganized room and turning it into a functional space.
Studies have shown that those who are liberated from clutter often experience a feeling of euphoria likened to the runner's high.
Looking at a tidy room, you breathe more easily and find a renewed sense of energy.
The sense of powerlessness when faced with a problem that's bigger than you disappears.
Psychologists have identified one area of sensory input - vision - that allows those living in a clutter-free to feel a sense of control.
People perform a remarkable range of tasks that require search of the visual environment for a target item among distracters, for example finding one's keys amidst the clutter of a desk.
The Guided Search model, which is widely used as the psychological account of human visual search, measures a person's memory of locations in the visual field and predicts what is considered "gains" for the search.
This model has found that control of the environment is a huge factor in optimizing the search, the find, and thus the reward.
The adage "it is better to give than to receive" is another positive factor when decluttering.
When items are donated to organizations such as the Salvation Army, Goodwill or the local church or homeless shelter, the basic inner satisfaction found in altruistic deeds comes to the surface.
The same goes for the act of giving items away to family and friends.
By all measures, whether short-term or long-term, decluttering is a fail-safe way to boost the positives of living more efficiently and more generously.
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