How cleaning your space cleans your mind

We think of stress in terms of the big stuff: deadlines, work, the weight of the present, and the uncertainty of the future. But the reality is that it's often the messy stuff lingering in the corners of our lives that leaves us truly exhausted.

For example, a bachelor living in Dhaka, this 'messy stuff' takes on a particular, suffocating flavour. In areas like Farmgate, alleys of Kalabagan, or Azimpur, or the shared apartments of Bashundhara, personal space is a luxury few can afford. Here, the quiet seepage of stress is almost physical.

It starts on that single, creaky bed that must serve as a dining table, a study station, and a wardrobe all at once.

You tell yourself that the pile of 'not-yet-dirty' clothes at the foot of the bed isn't a problem, but every time you have to push them aside to find a place to sit, a tiny fragment of your mental energy evaporates.

The environment of a hostel is a masterclass in sensory clutter. There is a ceiling fan that has needed oiling for three years, the sight of a roommate's half-empty tea mugs colonising every flat surface, and the tangled 'nest' of multi-plugs and chargers that snakes across the floor.

When you are surrounded by disorder, your brain never truly feels 'off duty.' You are constantly processing the chaos of your surroundings, leaving very little room to process the actual challenges of your career or education.

This exhaustion follows you out into the city, where the digital world offers no respite. Dhaka life involves a significant amount of waiting—waiting for the bus, waiting in a rickshaw stuck at a signal, waiting for the lift.

During these gaps, we retreat into our phones. We take screenshots of job postings we won't apply for today, save recipes we'll never cook in a communal kitchen, and ignore WhatsApp messages that feel too heavy to answer.

By the time you navigate the fumes and noise of the evening commute and return to your room, your digital life is just as cluttered as your physical one.

We often blame our tiredness on the 'hustle'—the long hours at the office or the intensity of the library. While those are certainly factors, the bone-deep weariness many bachelors feel in Dhaka is often born from the accumulation of small, neglected things. It is the mental load of living in a state of 'temporary-ness' where nothing is ever quite in its proper place.

We are waiting for the 'big' moment when our lives will finally feel organised, not realising that the organisation is what allows the big moments to happen.  

The effects of physical disarray have a mental component that we do not fully understand. Enter a room where clothes are constantly piled on a chair, where your water bottles are stacked in a corner of the bedside table, or where your desk resembles an archaeological site.

Cleaning up one's living environment, therefore, becomes not just a chore but also a means of rebooting. It refreshes the mind and gives the pleasure of accomplishments. You may have had a 'bad' day and maybe be thinking of yourself as not 'good enough,' sorting out these unfinished chores will make you feel capable of doing something.   

The act of wiping down the table, tidying up a corner, and finally dealing with that notorious 'chair pile' has little to do with achieving perfection and everything to do with freeing up one's mind. This is why so many people claim to think more clearly in a clean room than in a messy one. 

But disorganisation these days does not stop with four walls. We also have a second room with us wherever we go, and it is our cell phone. And, unfortunately, this room is often just as disorganised as our physical space. 

Digital clutter

Unorganised photos, unread emails, abandoned apps, tabs we plan to get back to soon—it's a different type of chaos for your brain.

Each notification icon on your phone is an opportunity, each app is a choice, each message is just a gentle pull on your attention. Many of us open our phones for one reason but end up mentally handling ten things at once.

The most interesting part? Physical and digital order feed into each other. Clean your desk, and you suddenly have the energy to clean your phone. Sort out your gallery, and you may be inspired to vacuum your room.

Ultimately, decluttering isn't about becoming minimalist or obsessively organised. It's about reducing the friction between you and your day. When your surroundings stop competing for your attention, whether it's your bedroom or your lock screen, you finally have the mental room to breathe, think, and exist without noise.