5 Ways Living in an Uncluttered Home can Boost Your Happiness

 

Recently, in an Instagram reel, I outlined why living in an uncluttered home can boost happiness.

 

A week later, the reel had gone viral—to the tune of over 7 million views.

 

As I considered readers' comments, I wondered: Why is this message so popular?

 

Perhaps it's because “the pursuit of happiness” is an inherent part of being human. And, perhaps we're beginning to re-evaluate our relationships with our possessions, realizing they often bring more stress, anxiety, and work than happiness.

 

This stuff-re-evaluation—one I underwent five years ago when I embraced a minimalist lifestyle and let go of 75% of our possessions—is needed.

 

 

In America stuff-ownership is at an all-time high, while happiness levels are hitting record lows.

 

We're living out a counterintuitive scatter plot: as the number of possessions owned has increased over the years, happiness levels have decreased. You could debate causation versus correlation, but it still wouldn't change this fact: we own more personal possessions than any society in history and we aren't happier for it.

 

Data from the General Social Survey, which has been tracking American's happiness levels since 1972, indicates that 19% of Americans were very happy in 2022, which is the lowest number recorded in the past 50 years. In 2018, the number of “very happy Americans” was 31%.

Yet many of us continue to believe the lie that the more we have, the happier we'll become. The average American home now contains over 300,000 items, but 80% of the items people own are rarely used. Fifty-four percent of Americans are overwhelmed by the amount of clutter they have, but 78% have no idea what to do with it.

 

If your own story reflects these trends like mine did, take heart. You can reject the low-grade stress and reduced happiness that can come from living in a home overflowing with unused and unloved stuff.

 

Living in an uncluttered home has the power to change your physiology and brain chemistry in ways that boost happiness.

 

 

 

Julia Ubbenga is a freelance journalist whose teachings on minimalism, simplicity, and intentional living have reached over 1M people worldwide through her blog. Julia also practices what she preaches in her Kansas City home. She resides with her husband, two extremely lively young daughters, three-year-old son, and baby girl. You can also find her on Facebook.