Blog Entry #4 - The Minimalist Environment

 The Minimalist Environment


        Most of us can relate; when your home is a mess or when there's too much going on visually, you feel it. From a psychology standpoint, clutter can create a cognitive overload. Since your brain is constantly scanning the environment, this creates small distractions that can eat at your mental energy. 

    This can also trigger an "unfinished task" response. This basically shows your brain all of the things you have to do. If there's dirty dishes, all over your counter, you know you're behind on doing the dishes. Same applies for laundry, trash, etc. This can keep your cortisol levels high too! Crazy, but it makes so much sense! 

    Now perhaps, if your house is a mess and you need to find something... Whatever you're needing to look for is going to be so daunting if there are things everywhere and you don't know where you last had the object. Or, lets say you would like to sit down and do work on your laptop, but there's stuff all over the table! Well, now you have to look at the table and decide to clean it. You have to put everything away where it goes, and your brain is receiving a bit of decision fatigue, when all you want to do it sit down and be productive on your laptop.

Here I will use a few bullet points to describe further, the negative effects of clutter in your space. Used from the website https://beyondhealingcounseling.com/minimalism (also the site for the picture to the right)

  • Reduced focus and productivity
  • Emotional attachment to possessions
  • Increased stress and anxiety
  • Often spending more money than needed
  • Overconsumption

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

    

    Now, in a minimalist room aka, a room with minimal items, no clutter, etc... The silence isn't just auditory, it's visual. Since there is no "noise" from the objects that are all over the place, your brain can finally chill out a bit and think clearly. If you want to get even more in depth with this, there have been studies between the amount of physical objects and cortisol. So, a space with neutral colors is a physiological regulator.

    I feel (so do psychologists and the pros) as though (especially with this era of overconsumption) we could all use a bit of decluttering and minimalism. Especially if you're finding it hard to focus or have increased anxiety. I recently have moved to all "natural" and earthy colors in my home; let me tell you it DOES make a huge difference.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TS - Blog Entry #3

 Taylor Schraeder Blog Entry #3     Starting off, I went to Target and picked me up a puck shaped; plastic container with goodies inside...     When I got home, the had to open the container. It was sealed with a sticker like tab on top. Then, I had to pop it open, rather aggressively, that sucker didn't want to open. As I was struggling to open it, it sounded like hard rock like things sliding around. The packaging is white and teal with blue shiny crystals on top,  little reflective flecks. After I got it open, the edible flattened sphere, puck like things shook around. They also contained small blue flecks.      After I popped one in my mouth, the immediate sense of cooling happened and my sinuses felt cool and refreshed. When I inhaled, it was fresh, cold, rejuvenating, mouth watering...The edible puck slowly dissolved into a smaller and smaller puck. After it was fully dissolved, my mouth felt blank, like a clean slate. Like I can breath...
Read more

Blog Entry #1 - The Truth

Image
  Blog Entry #1 - The Truth Taylor Schraeder         Starting off, it was hard to choose just one  hobby for this blog post. The topic that kept coming to my mind that I participate in frequently is, going to the gym. I am by no means a powerlifter or anything like that, I just like to workout to feel strong, healthy and clear minded. That being said, I enjoy cardio, weight lifting and HIIT workouts (not running).     For the longest time, I struggled feeling anxious and eventually the gym became the one place where I knew I would feel better after going to. I suggest exercising for everyone that is able, for many many reasons.      The reason I have stated previously stated the impact of exercise on mental health, but not just mine. It is scientifically proven that exercising increases your mood, energy, sleep, and several other things. This Mayo Clinic website further explains the benefit of exercise;  mayoclinic.org/hea...
Read more

Blog Entry #2; The Doom-scroll

Image
                                                              Blog Entry #2; Socials Taylor Schraeder Imagine this; Someone creates a drug that has been tested repeatedly and proven time and time again to reduce attention span, decrease human memory, increase anxiety in adults, teens and even children, amongst several other side effects; the drug would be banned immediately. Yet, what I am referring to is in our pockets every single day, our phones. Filled with apps that most people spend all day on, over and over and over again.     Starting off, there is an incredible amount of research on this, it's not something that is debatable anymore. A website that I found to be very interesting and educational is; www.nationwidechildrens.org . (Where I also found the image inserted below.) This article is directed towards ch...
Read more