If you’re looking for a way to clear your mind and become more productive, take a look at the physical objects around you. Are they cluttering up your desk? Your entire home? Perhaps you need to de-clutter your physical space in order to organize your mental space. Here are the reasons that getting rid of stuff makes us feel better and more productive.

Physical space and mental space go hand-in-hand.

decluttering can help you become more productive
Apartment Therapy

Clutter is visual noise, and the disarray creeps into our mental facilities as well. So it stands to reason that clearing out or physical spaces, making room for air and light and growth, would be mirrored in our psyches as well. Just think how much better you work when your desk is cleaned off - now extend that to your life.

Separating from the past can heal us.

getting rid of clutter can help your mind feel freer and more productive
The Every Girl

We hang onto so many things because of the memories tied to them. When we de-clutter, we have the opportunity to interact not only with our physical possessions, but with the memories and feelings they trigger. This can be negative but cathartic, as when we let go of things we’ve held onto out of fear of letting go or of not being in control. The act of getting rid of these things can be painful but is nevertheless triumphant, inspiring a feeling of this has no hold on me! as things are discarded. I think watching this interplay between our things and our personal histories is what had me hooked on Hoarders for a time.

For more examples on how de-cluttering can help clear out your mind, visit Apartment Therapy.