At any moment in time, the state of our mental health depends on any number of simple and complicated internal and external factors. Stress is a major source of and contributor to that state of mental health.
Whether mental or physical, clutter creates stress. And as we discussed in my prior blog post, the last thing we need, in higher education or as diverse individuals, is additional stress. In fact, physical clutter can actually create a sort of “mental clutter.”
According to many psychologists, clutter makes it more difficult to relax, distracts our attention and focus from more important areas, frustrates us and makes us anxious by signaling us that our work is never done.
With that in mind, last year I created the EmBODY WELL #SpringRelease Challenge to run during the month of March. Running it again this year, during every day of the month, I challenge my clients and students to release something. Anything. A person, place, thing, word, thought, way of thinking, limiting belief or assumption, etc.
My personal experience last year with #SpringRelease was incredible. Not only did I feel a sense of relief whenever I released something, but it also gave me a huge feeling of accomplishment. I felt more productive and energized with each thing I released.
With physical clutter, admittedly, I can be a bit Type A. When there is a lot of clutter or things are not in a certain order in my surroundings, it “makes me crazy.”
Even if you are not as Type A as I am, you will still appreciate the difference you can feel when trashing, giving away or recycling something that you no longer need, want or use.
