Unclutterer

1. Posted by Maria in Iowa - 08/15/2008

   Correlation, and I see it in my own life. When I lose some weight, I feel better about myself, and I am neater. When I am neater, I feel better about myself, and eat less.

2. Posted by Kate - 08/15/2008

   Depends on the level of clutter. Who wants to cook in a cluttered kitchen? When countertops aren’t available as food prep areas, I’ll bet there are people who opt to eat out or eat less nutritious but easier-to-fix meals.

3. Posted by Matt - 08/15/2008

   I lost 50 pounds and only then did I start to jettison the clutter. I realized that what makes sense for my health also makes sense for my stuff.

4. Posted by Miguel de Luis - 08/15/2008

   I am aware my observation is less than scientific, but true to be honored I have started to care about weigth as I started to care about clutter.

   Maybe weight is just a sympton of a disorganized life… hmm…

5. Posted by Ray - 08/15/2008

   I’m sure it’s different for different people: for some it’s correlation, for others causation, and among those where it’s causal, I’m sure the direction of causality differs from person to person.

   If I were to guess, though, I’d say for the majority of people who struggle with both clutter and unhealthy diet, that there are underlying causes common to both. So as you address those causes from one angle (either clutter or diet), it follows that there will be a positive impact on the other.

6. Posted by OTM - 08/15/2008

   Oh for Pete’s sake… No, there is NO CONNECTION between “uncluttering” and weight loss. CLUTTER DOES NOT CAUSE PEOPLE TO BE FAT. Nor are fat people more clutter-prone (or sloppier or messier or lazier) then thin people.

   To perpetuate the idea that clutter and mess go hand in hand with fat is to perpetuate the well-worn but completely bogus idea that being fat is synonymous with being lazy, sloppy, messy, etc. Weight, being a largely genetic phenomenon, is no more linked with ones tendency towards clutter than having brown eyes or having red hair is.

7. Posted by May - 08/15/2008

   Thank you, OTM. This post makes me uncomfortable.

8. Posted by Shanel Yang - 08/15/2008

   While there are always exceptions to rules, I do believe that the underlying issues of not caring enough about the tidiness and organization of your surroundings is related to not caring enough about your health/fitness level. Causation or correlation? This sounds like the old biology v. environment issue in that the answer is always “both.”

9. Posted by Fit Bottomed Girls - 08/15/2008

   Seems like time and time management is a better correlation with weight loss. If you have the time and energy to declutter your house, then you probably have the time and energy to workout and make your own healthy meals. If it’s time to make a life change then it’s time to make a life change.

10. Posted by Fit Bottomed Girls - 08/15/2008

    p.s. I know tons of overweight people who are neat freaks and tons of uber fit people who are slobs. So, nothing is ever 100 percent clear cut…

11. Posted by Lori - 08/15/2008

    My personal feeling is that there is probably no causal relationship either way for most people. However, both messiness and weight gain *can* be symptoms of underlying problems such as depression, lack of self-esteem, lack of self-control, poor planning, overcommittedness, bad habits, and probably a bunch of other things not coming to me off the top of my head. For those people, treating the root cause can help alleviate the symptoms. And if becoming less messy helps you find space and time to cook at home instead of running to McDonald’s every time you’re hungry, yes, that will help you lose weight.

    While I agree with OTM that fat is not synonymous with messiness, I have to disagree that weight is a “largely genetic phenomenon.” For some people, yes, your genetic makeup and certain underlying conditions can predispose you to carry more weight than the norm — I know this, because I have one of these conditions. But the evidence shows that the eating, working, and recreational habits of Americans over the past thirty or so years have changed in sync with the rise in overweight and obesity. In most cases, you can’t blame weight entirely on genetics.

12. Posted by Ann at One Bag Nation - 08/15/2008

    I would never agree that one is caused by the other, or even that they’re consistently related.

    I would agree that feeling better and empowered about any aspect of your life will often lead to improvement in other areas.

    I struggle with clutter and disorganization, and with food. Both have improved over the years, but I’m not sure I see a direct connection in my own life.

13. Posted by Rue - 08/15/2008

    I don’t think the article is necessarily saying that weight and clutter are 100% related and go hand-in-hand, as OTM seems to think it’s saying.

    I think it’s saying that since some people have seen weight loss when they tackle the clutter, they can apply some of the same techiniques to weight loss that they do to uncluttering. I can see how that works, especially in the last “Joyner’s world” where Kathy applied the “tackle one thing at a time” idea of uncluttering to tackling one thing at a time in her weight loss goals.

14. Posted by Dream Mom DBA www.dreamorganizers.com - 08/15/2008

    I don’t think there is any connection at all. As a Professional Organizer, I have clients that come in all shapes and sizes and I see no correlation/causation whatsoever.

    On a broader scale, if I were look at my clients in general, meaning not looking at their weight, and simply looking at the causes of being disorganized, it would be varied. For many, there is more than one reason that contributes to their clutter or disorganization and no one reason would fit all of them.

    On the flip side, in terms of being overweight or obese, there are many causes as well: diet, exercise, genes, lack of sleep and the big one of course is emotional eating.

    I think people need to be really careful when they make statements trying to link the two.

    As a Professional Organizer, if I had to pick “one thing” and “one thing” only that I thought the majority (not all) of my clients had in common, it would be that they are going through a difficult time in their life-from divorce, to job loss, to a transition of some sort. That would be a far larger factor than any weight connection. And if I had to list all of the factors that I thought contributed to a person being disorganized, being overweight/obese wouldn’t even be on my list.

15. Posted by MissPrism - 08/15/2008

    Diets are clutter. Soul-sapping, counterproductive, time-consuming, constraining, life-wasting clutter.

16. Posted by DJ - 08/15/2008

    I don’t know about correlation vs. causation, but can only say that the day in January 2000 when I finally decided to clear my closet of all my old clothes, which no longer fit me, was a big turning point for me.

    After I got rid of all the old clothes, I felt so light, as if a big weight was off my shoulders. I felt so good that I decided to go for a walk. Only a short one, but it felt nice. The next day, the same thing.

    By the end of the year, I’d lost a lot of weight, and I’ve kept it off since. But I only felt like taking that first walk because I felt so jazzed about having shed all those old, too small, dusty clothes.

17. Posted by suomichris - 08/15/2008

    I tend to agree with you correlation not causation assessment. However, if one is overweight because they don’t have the discipline to eat right and exercise, it seems that any organization would likely make this easier. It seems hard to believe that someone could organizer their work and home, but still be a disorganized disaster in the food and exercise realm…

18. Posted by J Reed - 08/15/2008

    I think DJ is right on. Uncluttering instills the unclutterer with a sense of accomplishment and confidence that they CAN improve their surroundings. It sets a higher standard for yourself. In this way, living in an uncluttered, organized environment is contagious to other aspects of your life. I believe uncluttering can be a catalyst to living more deliberately, which may include a more serious effort to improve your health.

19. Posted by Beverly Williams - 08/15/2008

    I’m VERY organized and I have completed decluttering. However, I am STILL FAT. As long as there is food in the world and I have the ability to hold a fork in my hand, I will probably remain fat!

20. Posted by infmom - 08/15/2008

    I was a big fan of Peter Walsh’s when he was on “Clean Sweep.” But I tried to read this book and took it right back to the library after just a few chapters. He’s gone way over the top with his preaching.

    I think for most people there is indeed a correlation between giving oneself a bright new perspective by dealing with clutter, and thereafter feeling better about oneself. But that doesn’t necessarily correlate with weight loss (or gain, for that matter). Weight loss is far too complex an issue to be dealt with by being preached at.

21. Posted by Robin M. - 08/15/2008

    For me they’ve gone hand in hand, but not causally, both were correlated with other improvements in my mental health.

    One clear thing is that being organized about meal planning and grocery shopping helped immensely in my weight loss. My favorite point in the article was about weighing my choices: “if I have this croissant, what will I not have later?” or “if I know I want to eat the cake at the party tomorrow, then I won’t have chips at lunch today.” I still do that every day. It’s not cluttered thinking, it’s realistic.

    The other thing is it’s all about maintenance, whether it’s an organized room or weight loss. Sure, it’s possible to hire somebody to set up a bunch of shelves with cute boxes and get rid of excess stuff or to use some special diet technique to lose weight, but will it still look like that in six months or a year? Did you learn a new system and ways to make choices or did you just clear out room for the next load?

22. Posted by Erikalynnie - 08/15/2008

    I know there is absolutely a correlation between the two in Feng Shui. It’s really no coincidence when you think about it. At least not for me. I use food as a way of putting things off. It’s how I procrastinate. I also have a hard time making choices. So to put off figuring out how to organize, for example, I eat. I could go on and on about this. Suffice it to say: There’s something fearless about organization. If you’re organized, you have to figure out what you want your “real” life to be and include, instead of wasting time trying to find things all the time. In essence, you’re choosing to live your life, not put if off anymore. You’re clearing out the excuses, if you will. Without trying to sound metaphysical, I believe there are things that we don’t have a vocabulary for yet. This correlation/cause whatever you want to call it, is one of them. What your body is health-wise absolutely has to do with what’s going on in your brain. (And no, I don’t think people deserve cancer, etc) The same with your home, which is a very close extension of you. No coincidence whatsoever.

23. Posted by Erikalynnie - 08/15/2008

    Thought of another big issue affecting both. Not understanding that you have power in your own life. I’ve heard the official phrase “learned helplessness”. If you’ve learned that growing up, and haven’t un-learned it yet it’s going to have a huge (no pun) effect in your life regarding both weight and clutter. If you are scoffing at this “notion” please don’t write in and say “willpower”. Oh please. You clearly don’t understand what I’m talking about. (I’ve had my share of people saying, “Well, you’re just making excuses, you’re just feeling sorry for yourself”, etc. That’s why I threw that last line in there.)

24. Posted by Annalea - 08/15/2008

    There might be a connection, actually. One of the liver’s main roles is to metabolize fat (i.e. use it as fuel). When under stress (which most definitely clutter creates), the liver sets aside fat metabolism in favor of breaking down all of the hormones (adrenaline, et al) which your body creates during times of stress.

    So, less stress sometimes equals more fat metabolism.

25. Posted by matchbookhymnal - 08/15/2008

    I think there is a relationship. Clutter overwhelms me. When the clutter is out of control, I don’t want to cook. When I don’t want to cook, I eat restaurant meals. Restaurant meals= big portions. Pretty straightforward.

    But, additionally, I have been using a menu plan & weekend meal prep for several years now and my weight has significantly declined without any other measures being taken. I think the hidden factor is takeout food.

26. Posted by Deb - 08/15/2008

    I am glad there is a discussion about this topic. No it is not as simple as clutter less, weigh less. There are multiples of factors for people being overweight and there are factors that can contribute to clutter.

    I noticed that when I didn’t exercise, I felt sluggish and gained weight, which made me feel too sluggish to tackle much organizing.

    When I was stressed, I eat more and sleep less. Unfinished work hangs over my head and although I am procrastinating about doing the work, I am feeling too guilty to tackle other tasks, such as cleaning house. I sit as if chained to the desk trying to do more than shuffle papers around when I should be taking a refreshing walk to clear my mind and just get it all done. It’s a perpetual cycle.

    So, after losing 100 pounds, I did notice that I was spending more time being active and had given up television entirely. Exercise minus TV = burning more calories,, getting more done and not taking IN calories while watching TV!

    This blog is helpful for both organizing and losing weight. I like having something to look forward to and this serves as a daily treat without calories. I enjoy the postings of others which stiulates my mind and banishes lonely feelings, making me less likely to use food for that purpose.

27. Posted by Kate - 08/16/2008

    Eh… the more organised I am, the more time I have to eat.

28. Posted by Susan - 08/16/2008

    I disagree with OTM.
    While clutter is not an ever-present symptom of poor eating habits, is CAN be a symptom of stress, poor home planning and the extra pounds that stress-eating and poor diet that come with it.
    I know that when I am stressed and don’t plan meals and keep our house decluttered on a regular basis, I tend to become overwhelmed and comfort eat as well as depend on fast or pre-packaged foods for meals and my family’s health suffers.

    One rule for me is buying only ONE single serving pack of junk food when I’m craving it. The treat is nice and fresh, and there’s no leftovers cluttering up my kitchen begging to be eaten after the first craving has been fed.

    I also try to spend one Saturday afternoon per month planning/pre-assembling meals so healthy home-made dinners go together faster on hectic work nights (otherwise “The Colonel” would be a regular dinner guest, if you know what I mean!).

29. Posted by Peter - 08/16/2008

    Of course there is a connection. I would think cleaning up takes certain disciplines that fall right into the same category as eating right. If you can be dilligent about one, I’m sure you can about the other.

    http://yinvsyang.com/

30. Posted by Lynn C - 08/16/2008

    For me, it was this moment… I was pushing on towards the end of being 35 years old, and I looked around at my cluttered house and my overweight self and said “Enough.” I started Weight Watchers and a few weeks later, I signed up for FlyLady. Honestly, I think part of it was I simply was not ever given the tools to manage my life.

    I don’t know what it is, really. You’d think in high school, you might get a class on life management. Eating well, how to clean, how to balance a checkbook, do your taxes, put money aside for retirement. These are important skills, and yet, they’re never taught to anyone. Everyone just assumes you know how to do it, or that you just “should know.”

    I know, I know, someone’s out there rolling their eyes at me; “How can you not know how to clean a room?” But I didn’t. Cleaning was this huge big deal, took hours at a time to accomplish, and was just a mess again in 2-3 days. It’s not intuitive to me and I just couldn’t figure it out. Cleaning was a huge chore, not a 15 minute task, and so I avoided it until absolutely necessary.

    Now, 8 months later, I’ve lost almost 50 pounds and my house, while not spotless, is certainly clean and mostly organized. Takes me 10-15 minutes to put a room in order and I’m never ashamed to have guests over at the drop of a hat.

    I don’t think it’s mandatory that these things are related, but sometimes they can be symptomatic of other problems. Depression, feeling out of control, helplessness… I think both things are part of my taking control of my own life, changing the things I CAN change so I can feel better about the stuff I can’t control.

31. Posted by joe c - 08/16/2008

    I completely agree. Once one thing starts spiraling out of your control (I’d include debt in here as well), you get that attitude about everything, unfortunately.

32. Posted by Carol T - 08/16/2008

    I disagree with OTM. I think there IS a connection just that it isn’t necessarily present in every person every time. Also weight is not only a genetic problem. I have a medical condition that causes weight gain if I forget to take my medication. Also overeating/lack of exercise is a huge factor in a person’s weight. I know that if I starved myself I’d never be stick thin due to genetics and my medical condition. However those problems are not the reason I’m considered morbidly obese. That’s caused by not eating properly and not exercising. When I did eat properly and was exercising I weighed 100lbs less than I do now.

    There are certainly people who have weight problems that don’t have clutter problems and vice versa. However there are definitely some cases where holding on to useless stuff and overeating stem from the same underlying problem (such as depression).

    Problems can also come from a lack of knowledge of self-discipline or just because someone wasn’t taught how to take care of certain things. As Lynn C. said cleaning isn’t intuitive. I did learn a little about proper nutrition, cleaning, and how to balance a checkbook but these lessons were never reinforced at home. To this day I still don’t understand what people use an old toothbrush for when they save it to clean with. Not only did my parents not teach me how to clean, they did not teach me about proper nutrition.

    I have found in my own life that if I tackle the clutter I certainly feel better about myself and in turn I watch what I eat and want to take better care of my body as well. When I’m depressed my clutter and my weight spiral out of control. Besides, all that clutter is blocking my treadmill and my pantry is cluttered with boxes of food I shouldn’t be eating. Imagine how much weight I’d lose if I uncluttered those two areas.

33. Posted by Sheryl - 08/16/2008

    I didn’t have time to read the article, but I don’t believe there’s a connection at all.

    I’m a very organized, uncluttered person and I’ve been shopping in the “Big Girls” department for years.

34. Posted by Hade - 08/16/2008

    I don ‘t think one can say that there generally is a causal relationship between decluttering and weight loss. However, as evidenced by examples given by those who commented before me, there are a variety of situations and circumstances that can contribute to both. For me, it was depression – or rather, me trying to get rid of it.

    About eight months ago, I was diagnosed with an episode of severe depression for the second time in my life. I ‘m 23, and I know from past experience that most anti-depressants either don ‘t work for me, or leave me with side effects I can ‘t handle on my own, so go figure. A health care worker told me at the time that living in a cluttered environment can have an adverse effect on mood (common sense, really), and that regular exercise is considered one of the best, if not THE best way to conquer mild depression. So after a while, I took on both. I cleared out and eventually redecorated and reorganized my living space, and I went swimming three times a week. Also, hand in hand with the reorganization went a tighter daily schedule, which meant regular meals, and planning in advance for things like trips to the grocery store, hence, menus as well.

    Yes, all of that helped a whole lot in shedding the ‘depressed’ label. It also made me loose a lot of weight.

35. Posted by Danielle LaPorte - 08/17/2008

    There are a number of threads that ground this theory. Time and space management have a lot to do with intentionality, and if that kind of “self control” is coming from a healthy place (rather than a neurotic place,) I think it carries over to how you take care of your body – intentionally. Weight problems, just like clutter, are so often rooted in old emotions. Lighten up your mental clutter, your stuff clutter, your body has a good chance of following suit.

36. Posted by Elle - 08/17/2008

    I like what Kate and mactchbookhymnal have commented.

    I found an article on this relating to clutter in the kitchen and weight. I don’t think there is enough data to say if there is a correlation, but I could see why clutter in the kitchen would wreck havoc on a diet. I posted about it here a few months ago:

    http://www.definingsomeday.com/?p=38

    Good discussion, thanks Erin!

37. Posted by Monica Ricci - 08/17/2008

    Erin, I often notice that as my clients get organized, they feel more in control and more powerful. (which is ALWAYS my goal!)

    As they begin to take control and feel more powerful, they do so in several areas of their lives, not just with their time and space. So if you ask me, YES people certainly can shed excess body weight as they shed physical and emotional clutter and chaos.

    ~Monica

38. Posted by Denise - 08/18/2008

    There seems to be a fairly high level of overlap. And the third issue seems to be debt.

    Some of it may be causal (if you have little money, and you’ve gained weight, you may keep the clothes that are too small because you fear you won’t be able to afford to replace them if you lose weight), but I suspect that we all know of people who fit one or two categories without being in the third. I’m a recovering clutterer, I’m overweight, and I’ve always been good with money.

    I don’t believe that fat causes debt or clutter, or clutter causes debt or fat, or debt causes fat or clutter. However, I think that they can mutually reinforce each other. If you’re overweight, it’s harder to move around and remove the clutter. If your kitchen is cluttered, it’s harder to make healthy meals. If you go out to eat, the cheapest stuff is often the stuff laden with empty calories.

    At that point, getting a handle on any one of the issues may help with the others. If they’re there.

39. Posted by Josephine - 08/19/2008

    The correlation is definitely there. I view uncluttering as shedding excess baggage: emotional, psychological and physical whether on my body or in my surroundings.

40. Posted by gypsypacker - 08/19/2008

    I don’t think all circumstances fit all cases, but I’ve grown up with a morbidly obese mother and have worked for several obese bosses, and have fought the weight battle. I’ve noticed the following:
    1-Clutter breeds dust, dust breeds dust mites, these create allergies, and allergies breed stress and the nasty little cortisol metabolic syndrome.
    2-I suspect that a safety issue may be present in some cases and that both the clutter and fat are layers of body armor/insulation against stress.
    3-Early poverty and/or refusal to accept delayed gratification–Never quite having “enough” emotionally, subconsciously anticipating future lack of needs fulfillment create the desire to overeat and overpossess/hoard.
    Refusal to accept delayed gratification creates indolence, overeating, and refusal to exercise.

    I’m 20 lbs over what I like to be at this moment, and I’m working, taking 2 classes, and in the middle of rural food canning/harvest season–a cluttered life. Either I can exercise or I can read news, you’s, and surf the net.

41. Posted by Cheryl - 08/20/2008

    Flylady’s book Body Clutter sees them as related but not causal. Check it out!

42. Posted by Celeste - 08/22/2008

    They may be related, but not for everyone and not always. I have a major clutter problem and always have, but don’t have a weight problem and have never dieted in my life.

    They may both somewhat be symptoms of our current society’s state of trying to do too many things at once in less time and faster than we ever have before (having more and trying to accomplish more in a shorter period of time, without actually engaging in as much physical activity). But I don’t think one causes the other.

43. Posted by Ro - 08/24/2008

    I’m there! Trying to declutter and trying to lose weight. I am sure that there is a connection – it has to do with letting things go – whether it’s the excess “stuff” or excess “stuffing”. I find it hard to let go of things, and I think that the weight is just one other of those “things”.

44. Posted by watchthisspace - 03/07/2009

    Definitely a relationship – at least for me.

    A cluttered house makes me feel tired and overwelmed and i am less likelu to tackle anything well – including taking care of my own health.

    Decluttering my house like my weight seems like an endless impossible task.

    I am now taking them both on simultaneaously a little at a time. For me the main issues are not being mindful and stress and lack of sleep. I see it as all related. And yes underneath it all unmet emotional needs. And a feeling of hiding and being kept safe.

45. Posted by Mónica Tisminesky - 08/17/2009

    I think there is causality. Clutter makes it harder to prepare meals and makes you more likely to eat fast food. Clutter causes anxiety which makes you eat more.

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