Haul Buns

Clutter = Pounds?

April 14, 2009 at 6:30 pm 2 comments

Just to be clear, this isn't my clutter.

Anyone who’s been to my apartment or office can attest to my horrible tendency towards clutter. “Organized chaos,” Courtney — one of the cool chicks who visits this site — called it last night, watching bemusedly as I burrowed through a pile of backpacks in an unfulfilled search for my heart rate monitor. I’m nothing like those crazy stories you see on the news, where people fill rooms with discarded pantyhose, newspapers and tinfoil balls. (Want to be horrified? Click here.) But I often pile papers to deal with later, stack books until they’re ready to fall on some unwitting bystander and toss just about anything into my gym bag until it’s a workout just to lift it on my shoulder. But could that clutter be holding me back in other ways?

This New York Times piece (which originally ran in January, a month famous for people trying to streamline their lives) suggests that clutter-free homes makes for healthier, happier people. Lynne Johnson, a professional organizer quoted in the piece, says organization sometimes equals weight loss. “I think someone decides, ‘I’m not going to live like this anymore. I’m not going to hold onto my stuff, I’m not going to hold onto my weight,’” she said. “I don’t know that one comes before the other. It’s part of that same life-change decision.”

Are you a Messy Molly or an Organized Olivia? Have you found a link between ordered living and your health?

Entry filed under: Reasons Why. Tags: Kim.