Having a clean workspace can help us declutter mentally.

Cleaning our desks can improve our mood and provide a sense of accomplishment, increasing our efficiency and reducing our anxiety. The habit of cleaning my desk became a ritual since I understood the psychological reasons behind this simple activity. We can feel that our things are a hologram or extension of ourselves. This phenomenological idea drives us to, by organising our workplace, also organise our psyche and vice-versa.

When we are trying to make our desks as beautiful as possible, we are setting a sense of calm. This is due to the connection between our mental peace and an organised and clean place that feels reliable for us. In some ways, clutter and mess are linked to negative emotions like confusion, tension and irritability and can even contribute to depression.

A study by Princeton University researchers discovered that clutter could make it difficult to focus on a particular task. More specifically, they discovered that a person's visual cortex can be overwhelmed by objects not related to a particular task, making it harder to focus and complete projects efficiently.

There are several reasons why organising our workplace can help us to destress, with the main idea being that our environment can dictate our behaviour. If we want to organise our psyche, we could start organising our place. Clutter represents unfinished business to our brain and this lack of completeness can be highly stressful for some of us. This fact is especially true when people have significant concerns pressing in on their lives.

In his book Beyond Order, Jordan Peterson mentioned: "I don't know how you can go out and protest the structure of the entire economic system if you can't keep your workplace organised." Peterson believes that cleaning up your room can be a powerful metaphor for taking control of your life. He argues that when we take time to declutter and organise our space, we are also taking control of our thoughts and emotions. Through making our places more orderly and presentable, we are also sending a powerful message to ourselves that we are in control and making positive changes.

Clutter can make us more likely to feel fatigued with higher levels of cortisol that limit our brain’s ability to process information.

Limiting the number of possessions, you own can have the same impact as it reduces the number of things vying for your brain's attention.

If you are looking for options to improve your workspace, a Vari desk is a great place to start. If you are looking for inspiration to get your own space in order, Jordan Peterson’s Beyond Order is a great read to help you achieve it.

We sometimes put off cleaning because the task seems way too big to tackle. But instead of expecting to get the entire place in order in a day, we can start small and do just a little bit each day.

“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”

—Mother Teresa

Ask yourself this question next time your mind is feeling a bit cluttered: If I had to make this desk a better desk to study at in 20 minutes, what would I do?