20 Ways The Clutter In Your Home Might Be Making You Sick, According To Feng Shui Expert

When I confided in my friends about my recent financial woes, the immediate suggestion I received was to clear the clutter in my house. "Make room for more good things to come", they said. "Don't be a hoarder. It's not attractive."

Resistant to clearing the hundred or so books lying on the floor of my bedroom, I borrowed the book Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui instead. (Yes, that's another manifestation of procrastination.) Moments into reading the book, I was confounded by the many reasons I needed to clear out my home pronto.

Here are 20 ways the clutter in your home is making you sick:

1. Household clutter makes you feel tired and lethargic

Clearing clutter frees up the energy in your home and releases new vitality in your body.

2. Clutter keeps you in the past

When all your available space is filled with clutter, there is no room for anything new to come into your life.

3. A mess congests your body

The energy of your home can get congested and so does your body.

4. Clutter affects your emotional health

She organizes old clothes to remove clutter making her sick Andrey_Popov via Shutterstock

Clutter and hoarding are forms of self-neglect as shown in a 2022 study.

5. It confuses you

It is difficult to have clarity about what you are doing in your life.

6. Clutter affects the way people treat you

People treat you the way you treat yourself. If you value yourself and look after yourself, people will treat you well.

7. Having a mess around the house makes you procrastinate

You will tend to put off things as clutter stagnates your energy, making it difficult to get yourself to do anything.

8. It can cause disharmony

Clutter is a major cause of arguments.

9. Clutter can make you feel ashamed

You may hesitate to invite people over and positively panic if anyone turns up unannounced.

10. It puts your life on hold

Your life can slip away as you wait until you have the energy to clear your clutter!

11. Mess around the house depresses you

Research in the Journal of Environmental Psychology helps explain how the stagnant energy of clutter pulls your energy down and can make you feel depressed.

12. It creates excess baggage

Lightening up physically can help you to lighten up emotionally and enjoy life much more.

13. Clutter culls your sensitivity and enjoyment of life

You can become a creature of habit and feel like you are living in a rut.

14. It causes extra cleaning

It takes twice as long to clean a cluttered place.

15. Mess makes you disorganized

You may have difficulties finding your things, hence wasting, increasing your frustration, and stress levels.

16. It can become a health or fire hazard

When clutter starts to smell bad, become damp, or disintegrate, it becomes unhygienic for you and your neighbors. Some types of clutter can also be a fire risk.

17. Clutter creates undesirable symbology

Your decorations, pictures, and photographs may be sending out the wrong messages about what you want in your life, as demonstrated in a study on age, clutter, and psychological home.

18. It can costs you financially

Calculate how much clutter you have per room and how it may be adding to your rent. Some people may also be paying premium rentals for commercial storage space elsewhere.

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19. Clutter distracts you from important things

The more clutter you have, the more your energy is tied up in mundane matters.

@nottheworstcleaner As we already know, Clutter can have a HUGE effect on our brains. So im always happy to clean and help organize homes like this to give people that fresh start they need and help eliminate overwhelming feelings towards cleaning 🫶🏻 #cleantok #clutter #cleaningtips ♬ original sound - Not the Worst Cleaner

20. It can lead you to being less intimate

After all, who is going to feel attractive and romantic when there is a mess staring right back at you? (This is my reason).

I have since cleared out more than half my wardrobe and 30 other magazines I was never going to re-read. I feel lighter and more open to what life has to offer. I know now it is not just psychological.

What about you? Anything you need to clear out right now?

Dr. Martha Tara Lee is a certified divorce coach, author of four books, and the founder of Eros Coaching. She has been featured in Cosmopolitan, Men's Health, Elite Daily, and more.