Study says Clutter Affects 88% of Homes
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According to a new Australian study out today, clutter can cause feelings of anxiety and depression, and is causing “considerable anxiety” in 4/10 respondents. The 15-page report, released by The Australian Institute and titled “Stuff Happens: Unused Things Cluttering up our Homes“, polled 1002 people in December 2007, and can be downloaded here. [links directly to .pdf file!]
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 Photo by Ryan Taylor |
While the findings of the study are no shock to me, I was surprised at how high the numbers actually were. 88 percent of homes have at least one cluttered room! 40% of people report their clutter is causing them considerable anxiety! Those number are huge! While the study only includes 1002 people, it’s not unreasonable to say that this study shows a higher number of people suffering from clutter than many of us might have guessed.
The report breaks down clutter into 4 categories:
- Emotional clutter – things with sentimental meaning but little financial value – including children’s toys or drawings, (unused or unwanted) gifts, school or university notes, and personal possessions of absent loved ones;
- Just-in-case clutter – things with little or no sentimental value but that ‘might come in handy one day’ and that are therefore kept for some time, such as old bills or bank statements, tools and stationery;
- Bought clutter – impulse purchases, often acquired recently, that end up never being used, commonly including clothes, fashion accessories and books;
- Bargain clutter – free or very cheap things acquired at sales, from friends or family or ‘by the side of the road’ which are discarded only reluctantly because they were so cheap.
The study suggests a shift in attitudes toward thinking of shopping itself as a hobby is partially to blame for such high numbers of clutter. While this is probably true, if 88% of us feel that we have a clutter problem, the solution is not as simple as just “stop buying more stuff” (but then, if you’re reading this blog, you already knew that, didn’t you?)
Perhaps the study will spark more research into the clutter and hoarding problem(s) so many of us face.
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Wow, that’s amazing! I’ve been dying to unclutter my spare room. Interesting that so many people have that problem. Have you seen the hoarding episodes on Oprah. Amazing!
@ Emilie - Yes, I’ve seen the ones on Oprah, and on Discovery Channel. Of course, they pick the worst cases to put on TV (it’s more dramatic that way), but at least it’s getting some attention in the media, and at least from what I’ve seen, they try to get help for the person.
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I have crap from all 4 categories! This just motivated me to start pitching stuff this weekend. Clutter completely stresses me out and I have way too much of it!