Waking up in a clean room starts my day off right. I feel calm and optimistic. Waking up in a room strewn with things that don’t belong on the floor, however, makes me cranky. I’m not obsessively organized, in fact I could stand to do some cleaning out of my closet right now, but I have an innate affinity for clean, open spaces. This simple pleasure of mine made me wonder – does this hold true for everyone? Do clean spaces naturally make people happier?

Obviously there are health benefits, such as not stepping on or tripping over things, less dust in the air you breath, no room for mold to grow in your bathroom. According to feng shui, clutter disrupts the flow of energy in the area. The energy becomes still, and cannot flow like it ought to, and we all know what happens when water is stagnant; I assume the same holds true for energy. I’m not a feng shui follower, but I have to admit, in a cluttered room I am unable to concentrate, a little bit cranky, and constantly tired.

There are no conclusive studies about how clutter affects one’s mental health, although research is ongoing, and many experts claim that de-cluttering your home or office space will make you more productive, more positive, and in some cases can even help you lose weight. The key thing to remember, they say, is that de-cluttering is not organizing things into bins. It is eliminating unnecessary and un-useful objects from your life.

Do you find that you work better in clean areas? Does being in a clean room make you happier?