There is Great Mental Power to Be Had in a Place of Peace
…and great frustration to be had in a cluttered, visually noisy environment!
Do you have a fortress of solitude where there is no visual noise to interfere with your budding big-ass ideas and potent problem-solving? I do. I always say, Peace of Mind requires Peace of Place, and in this second blog post on clutter, I’ve gathered up some of the science that shows just how visual and physical clutter can make our adult ADD/ADHD seem worse.
But to get us started…In which of these two bedrooms do you think you’d fall asleep faster and get a better night’s sleep?
or…
Which would you rather begin your day in?
I know, the pairing’s quite exaggerated, but all to amplify that the latter creates or preserves positive energy…and the former, just drains it.
And importantly, whether you live in a McMansion or a mobile home or a micro-home, you can create an environment for more mental power. All the more important therefore, that our place of work, must be a place of visual peace. And so, let’s talk about…
Visual Clutter’s Impact On Your Brain
…which is of particular importance in your office or other workspace.
Research shows that any excess items in your surroundings can have a negative impact on your ability to focus and process information: Neuroscientists at Princeton showed that physical clutter in your surroundings competes for your attention, resulting in decreased performance and increased stress.
Why is this? What are the mechanics of this? Writing in Psychology Today, Dr. Sherrie Bourg Carter does a nice job of explaining. She says that…
- Clutter pelts our minds with excessive stimuli (not just visual, but olfactory, tactile), causing our senses to work overtime on unnecessary or irrelevant stimuli.
- Clutter distracts us by pulling our attention away from where it should be.
- Clutter constantly reminds us that our work is never done.
- Clutter inhibits creativity and productivity by invading the open spaces that allow us to think, brainstorm, and problem solve.
- Lastly, clutter makes it harder to relax, both physically and mentally.
Now many of you may look around your office and say, “Hey, I like my stuff, I can find my stuff, and I’m pretty productive, so don’t mess with me or my STUFF!”
Well, I hope the evidence-based info above will have you thinking a bit more about getting rid of a bit more! Cuz as I say in the first post in this clutter series, You don’t have to be a hoarder to benefit from some de-cluttering!
And by the way, just as a cluttered desk can slow us down….so can a cluttered computer desktop!
So whenever my desktop gets a little cluttery…
I sweep it clean…and what a difference it makes to my ADHD brain!!
Next installment in this series, I’ll show you a very simple, step-by-step process to getting clear skies ahead…
‘Til then, wishing you Peace…of Place!
Alan
P.S. — We devoted an entire episode of CrusherTV to the topic of clutter. If you’d like to dive into a bigger heap of insights and tips, consider trying CrusherTV! We do an episode each week on a new topic…and we dig in deep, with A-List Guest Experts. Hope to “see” you there!
