Why pandemic stress breeds clutter?and how to break the cycle

Her productivity suffered.“I can’t function with clutter,” says Hicks, a freelance writer in Orlando, Florida, who prefers working in coffee shops under normal circumstances. Whenever I can see clutter, I can’t think of anything else until I deal with it.”Hicks is far from alone in this feeling, which has only intensified as more people have had to live and work at home to avoid COVID-19. In a study from the University of Minnesota, students working in disorderly spaces came up with more creative ideas than their counterparts in clean areas.Clearly, clutter causes more stress for some people than it does for others. Regardless of gender, clutter seems to cause some people to procrastinate in response to stress.Although schools might never be the same in our post-pandemic world, before COVID-19, smart teachers harnessed the power of neuroscience to declutter and create learning-focused spaces.Jared Smith, a high school exceptional education English teacher in Tampa, Florida, understands that organized, comfortable classrooms make better learning environments than chaotic, messy ones. If you can’t get rid of the mess, McLane advises cultivating a mindfulness practice, which can help you stop worrying about problems in your home and focus on your work.“When you notice you’re having cluttered thoughts, ask yourself if you’ve already thought that before.