Let’s imagine two situations.
In one, you walk into a room where your table is stacked with a huge pile of files, your supplies are scattered across your desk, and the paper bin in the corner is full of trash. You look under your desk and find that the computer cables have tangled with several other cables to form a huge mess. The floor is scattered with small pieces of paper, tiny paper clips, and all sorts of things that shouldn’t be there.
In another situation, you walk into a well-organized and tidy room where all your books and files are neatly arranged, the supplies are all put together in a holder, and the cables are sorted and properly organized.
Which room do you think can be a better option to get your work done? Considering how well-kept and clutter-free the second option is, most normal people will go for it.
The first option, on the other hand, can instantly kill your enthusiasm and sabotage your productivity. The reason behind this is nothing but the clutter. It can massively affect your productivity and stop you from achieving your goals.
Not sure how? Let’s find out.
1. Makes You Feel Lazy
When you’re in a cluttered and disorganized environment, you tend to feel lazy and lethargic. When that happens, your brain holds you back from indulging in any productive activities. As a result, your performance gets affected.
This happens because visual clutter has the capacity to compete with your brain’s ability to focus and concentrate. This exhausts your brain and makes you feel lazy. As a result, you fail to think clearly, and your productivity gets affected.
That’s why it’s extremely important for you to declutter your desk or workspace before you start working. This will help you feel fresh and active and boost your focus. When your ability to focus is sharp, your productivity improves to a great extent.
2. Decreases Efficiency
As mentioned above, visual clutter decreases your focus and hampers your ability to concentrate on your work which prevents your growth both professionally and personally. A cluttered space can have a direct effect on your brain.
Our brain likes orders. And when it constantly views a cluttered and disorganized environment around you, the cognitive resources get drained. This hampers your ability to think creatively and has a huge impact on your focus, reducing it to a great extent.
When your focus is distracted, you fail to accomplish your tasks in a timely manner. So no matter how hard you try, it prevents you from doing things effectively.
As a result, you miss deadlines, always show up late, tend to forget things, and so on. This will affect you both at a personal as well as at a professional level.
3. Increases Stress Level
Clutter and stress are directly related to each other. Working in a cluttered environment is like working in a chaotic environment. No matter how quiet and peaceful the place is, the clutter gives you the feeling that you’re working in a chaotic environment. This makes you feel anxious and stresses you out, which, in turn, massively affects your productivity.
But the moment you clear up the clutter, you’ll feel like a burden has been lifted off your shoulders. It makes you feel calm and at peace. It’s a great way to lift your spirit and feel active, fresh, and more productive.
So these are some of the ways how clutter can decrease your productivity. It can be a major reason why you’re feeling lazy, stressed out, and less efficient. When all of these happen, your productivity is bound to decrease. But if you want to be successful, you can’t let that happen. So make sure that you always keep your working environment organized and clutter-free.