SPACE HYGIENE: Why it matters to your brain?

🧐Background theories:

1. Visual clutter increases cognitive load- overloaded working memory, non-filtering of stimuli leads to cognitive fatigue and slower information processing.

Cluttered environment makes brain overwork to suppress the old irrelevant stimuli which again eats up mental energy.

2. Cortisol surges are more often present in cluttered spaces, which adds up to impair mood, reduce focus, and even disrupted sleep.

Cluttered environment is a constant alarm of pending tasks, where once you snooze, it alarms again.

3. Physical boundaries like doorways may clutter the mind, cause forgetfulness- Doorway effect.

🧠Where does it affect brain?

1. Sustained Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) activation-asseses mental tension or discrepancies between desired and actual states. It processes error signals which create a loop of conflicts.
2. Default Mode Network (DMN)- Involves in rest and reflection, and rumination of thoughts during overstimulation. Cluttered environment enhances DMN intrusion.
3. Dorsal Attention Network (DAN)- mainly associated with orientation of attention convexly towards specific task.
4. Limbic system (Amygdala & hippocampus)- Emotional and memory centres. Decluttering helps give safe and predictable cues and also makes one navigate easily in their environment.
5. Habit and reward circuits- Basal ganglia crafts your routine, while dopamine rewards you for task completion. This creates a loop. Routine- automation- task completion (reward)- back to routine.

“An orderly environment helps shift mental states from chaos to clarity.”

📚Space Hygiene for Decluttering:

1. Prevention: “Start small, so you don’t pile up big”. This reduces decision fatigue and its upcoming loop. Just the way you free space in your drive, so you do to your Pre-frontal Cortex (PFC).Routine cleaning leads to higher control over environment anddecreased stress.
2. Regular cleaning and completion of the taskgives completion signal and implies a fresh start.
3. Hygiene should be a structured ritual– never to miss one. Follow routines like:
   1. Making bed
   2. Sweeping floor
   3. Wiping surfaces
   4. Stacking books in order
   5. Arranging some motivational lines or posters
4. Reduce sensory overload: Cleanliness removes distraction like bad odour, dust or visual mess – making working memory have full efficiency.
5. Positive feedback loop: clean surroundings- cue to maintain order- mental and physical clarity as reward- clean surroundings – and goes on.

🎯Flow of Impact- scientifically:

Space Hygiene Habit → Reduced Environmental Stimulus Noise → Lower Sensory & Emotional Load (Amygdala, ACC) → Freed Cognitive Resources (PFC, DAN) → Enhanced Focus & Calm → Positive Feedback Loop via Dopamine & Basal Ganglia Habit Circuitry.