Clutter Free, Lighter Weight, and Better Sleep?

I’m everything but clutter free.

I sit at my desk (aka the dining room table) and can count 5 piles of unique content, just reduced from 6 because I have one sitting behind me on the chair to toss. I’m not proud of this and I know the direct correlation between inability to focus and the mess I see. But it happens in some kind of effort to keep it top-of-mind so I get to it next.

Thanks for not asking how well this is going. Apparently 55% of us are stressed by the clutter in our homes. Assuming now that this is also work for many of us this includes the office. Yet, over 94% of us (from a survey from organise my house) say a clutter-free home is important to us.

Clutter also contributes to cortisol, which in turn contributes to weight gain or weight loss resistance. A 2015 study showed 77% of individuals with cluttered homes were also overweight. Other studies have shown sleeping in a messy room isn’t as restful. So, it’s not just a way of being. Cleaning up your environment may actually improve your physical health.

So which comes first: the chicken or the egg?

Cardiovascular Fitness Walking Tips

My Guest:

Tracy McCubbin is a decluttering expert and the author of Making Space, Clutter Free and her latest book Make Space for Happiness. Tracy looks at the root of our clutter to find the real cause and ways to get real solutions. As the CEO of dClutterfly, she has helped thousands of clients clear the clutter in their lives to create space for positive life changes.

Questions We Answer in This Episode:

Do you have personal experience with clutter?
What about the correlation between clutter & cortisol levels?
How is stress directly affected by your clutter?
How does a cluttered kitchen lead to bad eating habits?
Can clutter affect a good night’s sleep?
Can you share a few stories?
What if he’s a mess and she’s a neat freak? Does this ever come up?

More Tips for Walking Effectiveness and Comfort

How to prevent tightness in hip/low back? What would cause lower back pain while walking?
Lower back pain can be prevented with improvements in walking posture. Imagine a tall posture, leaning forward from the ankles. The biggest mistake is made leaning from the waist.
Your fascia – the layer of ligamentous tissue covering your muscles – essentially stiffens. Change the gait or stop and stretch periodically.
Find warmups at my Youtube channel.

Long strides or short?
Yes! Based on the previous response, you want to mix it up.

Best posture while walking up a hill? Saving our knees?
I’m not sure these are the same question or separate, so I may misinterpret in my response. You maintain the same forward angle from the ankle as when on a flat. Avoid bending forward from the waist or the neck.

Best walking routine to burn the most fat in a shorter period of time?
This one completely depends! If you want to burn fat you have to be in an optimal cortisol and insulin dance. I could tell you a routine that for someone would support fat burning but for you might encourage fat storage or adrenal fatigue.

For Osteoporosis – [This question is not quite clear but doing my best]
Walk, but don’t only walk. We are mobile during the day so more of the same load doesn’t overload bone enough to add more stimulus.