How Listening To Music Can Actually Help You Declutter Your Home

Decluttering is an annoying chore sometimes, and if you don't have any motivation, it might feel like it takes forever to get through even one room or task. You feel like Sisyphus, only the boulder is a pile of shoes and odds and ends in your closet. One trick you might try is listening to music while cleaning and decluttering. Music is a proven productivity booster and can help you power through tasks, increasing efficiency as you work. Listening to your favorite tunes during a decluttering session, therefore, might make it easier to focus on the task at hand. 

It isn't just a clever idea, it's scientifically-based. Research shows that listening to music has a positive effect on our brains. A Stanford University School of Medicine study showed that "music engages the areas of the brain involved with paying attention," which may give you that extra boost of focus. It can even help with older adults, as a 2014 study in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience examined the cognitive effect of music in older adults and determined that upbeat music offered an increase in mental processing. With those natural mental boosts, here's how you can make listening to music be one of the best strategies for decluttering your home.

Decluttering your home with the aid of music starts with the right tunes. Consider what music makes you feel happy and ready to take on the world. Play the songs that make you want to get up and dance so cleaning feels less like a chore. Take a little time to make a playlist, maybe a '90s mix of catchy pop tunes or some '80s classics. It might sound weird, but even video game music is meant to help you focus and improve concentration. For instance, look on YouTube for a playlist devoted to cleaning music with the soundtracks of The Sims gaming franchise. Want to involve your kids? Throw on a Spotify playlist of Disney favorites and whistle while you work! 

Do you remember playing musical chairs in school or at a birthday party? Instead of walking around a row of chairs, put on music, and declutter until the song or playlist ends. Take a break, a deep breath, then continue on. You can also incorporate music while decluttering with the Pomodoro Technique. A Pomodoro session is a popular productivity strategy where you work for 25 minutes, then take a five-minute break, followed by another round of 25 minutes, repeating until you're done with your task. With the right soundtrack and a little bit of time, you can easily conquer that decluttering you've been avoiding.