Clear your countertops to clear your mind

iStock.com/snjewelry

The anxiety and stress that clutter causes can negatively impact our mental health and well-being. When things at home are chaotic, it’s difficult to concentrate and focus.

The kitchen is a great place to start your decluttering journey. To reduce the amount of visual clutter in your kitchen, start with a small project like clearing off the countertops. The beauty of this project is you can see your progress immediately, and having open space on the countertops can be such a boost. Also, the project can be completed quickly since it contains fewer emotionally-charged items that tend to derail progress.

As a general rule, it’s helpful to keep daily-use items such as a coffee maker or toaster readily accessible on the countertop and store less-frequently used items like a crockpot or blender in a cabinet or pantry. When you assess the items on your countertops, think about what you need on top of your kitchen countertops and clear off anything that doesn’t belong there. 

 To maintain the clear space and keep the visual clutter at bay, make it a habit to put away any items that belong elsewhere so you’ll always have a clear space to chop vegetables for dinner or whip up a batch of cookies for dessert.