The Psychological Benefits of a "Clutter-Free" Space

Why could we not just have a messy workspace? Some of us thrive on organized chaos. Why does it matter if your desk is cluttered, jumbled or littered if you know where everything is? When in a restaurant kitchen there is yelling, screaming and flying pans during a peak dinner time but the dishes keep going out on time without issue - then it is called structured disorder but when you forgot to throw away that empty bottle of water because you were too deep into your project - now that, is filthy.

So where is the problem? The key word here is organized. That noisy kitchen environment during a dinner rush is in disarray only at that time - off peak everybody immediately tends to their stations and cleans them, getting ready for busy periods again. If you have a tendency to leave those bottles on your desk because you are lazy - that may eventually spiral, grow into a bigger problem and fester. 

Weathered and broken, an abandoned window silently tells the story of time's passage.

BROKEN WINDOWS THEORY (BWT)

In criminology, Broken Windows Theory suggests that visible signs of disorder and neglect - like broken windows, graffiti, litter, or public drunkenness - can encourage more serious crime to happen in that area. If a building’s window is broken and left unrepaired, people will assume no one cares. That invites more broken windows, vandalism, and eventually worse crimes. Basically, small signs of disorder lead to a spiral of decline.

So you should address the problems when they are small. Repair the broken windows within a day or a week, and vandals are less likely to do further damage. Clean up the sidewalk every day, and the tendency is for litter not to accumulate. The Broken Windows Theory assumes that the landscape “communicates” to people.

And you can see that mentality clearly reflected in the country globally known for its cleanliness - Japan.

Serene street scene of a Japanese town, where there are no waste bins, contributing to the overall cleanliness of the area, reflecting a commitment to reducing litter and encouraging recycling. Without bins cluttering the streets, the focus remains on the charming Panasonic store and the traditional barbershop, enhancing the visual appeal of the town.

Streets have no trash cans but no litter either. Physical and spiritual cleanliness are deeply interwoven in Japanese culture. Streets are particularly clean because people dispose of their garbage at home then thouroughly separate that waste into burnable, non-burnable, recyclable, and even specific types of plastics or paper. In 1995, bins were taken off the streets after a doomsday cult used them to conceal nerve gas in the Tokyo subway, resulting in 13 deaths and injuring more than 5000 people. To this day, this meticulous cleanliness of the Japanese people functions as an unspoken deterrent to misbehavior, reinforcing a high standard of order, paralleling the Broken Window Theory.

Streets are cleaned by their citizens. Residents often sweep in front of their homes or businesses, and neighborhood clean-up events are common. Japanese express the idea that keeping the city clean is not up to the government - it is everyone’s duty. This way Japan’s urban hygiene remains excellent.

Households and businesses do a deep clean when the year ends to purify the space for the new year. This exercise is called Ōsōji. 

A quaint and rustic Japanese storefront nestled between traditional wooden structures and vibrant signs, invites passersby for a refreshing drink and local snacks. The area is kept tidy, with litter-free surroundings and well-maintained facilities.

Schools are cleaned daily by their students. They clean classrooms, hallways, and toilets as part of the aforementioned Ōsōji so they are ready and prepared to properly do it later on in their lives as responsible adults, respecting the social aspect of cleaniliness.

"An empty traditional classroom with wooden desks and chairs, reflecting the simplicity and elegance of historical Japanese school architecture."

Public transportation is clean and quiet, riders refrain from eating, drinking, or speaking loudly.

Passengers during a commute on a busy train, capturing a slice of modern Japanese urban life. The train is remarkably clean, with polished surfaces and well-maintained seating that reflect the care taken in its upkeep. Passengers seem to appreciate this cleanliness, as no one is eating, contributing to the tidy environment. Instead, the atmosphere is one of focus and solitude, with each individual engrossed in their mobile devices.

Shoes are removed before entering homes, schools, some restaurants, and even fitting rooms, to keep indoor spaces clean.

Two pairs of traditional Japanese wooden sandals, known as geta, rest on a rustic wooden floor, ready to be worn again. Removing shoes before entering homes and certain traditional establishments is a practice rooted in cleanliness and respect.

Food is handled with utmost care. Restaurants, even small street vendors, emphasize hygiene and presentation, often wearing masks and gloves.

Street vendors wearing masks serve fresh snacks to customers in a bustling Japanese market, showcasing an array of delicious offerings.

As you can see, orderly spaces speak to us, sometimes subconsciously and sometimes they speak loudly like a brick flying through a window. 

Japan has its own, distinctly unique approach to the Broken Windows Theory. They enforce order through social norms instead of visible policing but when they do, that policing is cooperative and community-based instead of being punitive and they culturally prevent disorder from happening instead of emphasizing fixing signs of disorder fast.

Adachi region in Tokyo was once considered the most dangerous area in the city, but it implemented the “Beautiful Windows Campaign” based exactly on the Broken Windows Theory. This movement resulted in a decrease in the total number of reported criminal offenses, with the number of criminal offenses in 2019 falling by 80% compared to its peak.

However, no country can be perfect in every aspect and Japan is no exception. In the beginning of the article we pointed out that the public drunkenness is one of the factors that the Broken Windows Theory entails. We will now introduce a new term called Shibuya Meltdown and delve into the culture of the Japanese salarymen.

The lively urban atmosphere of Tokyo's Shibuya district features the iconic 109 building surrounded by bustling crowds and brightly illuminated advertisements.

Alcohol is central to Japanese business culture. As night falls in Tokyo, Shibuya becomes a lively nightlife hotspot. After extended work hours, Japanese white-collar workers, who devote themselves entirely to their companies, frequently participate in “nomikai” - drinking gatherings with colleagues and bosses, where attendance is often seen as an unspoken requirement. As the night goes on, the impact of alcohol becomes apparent. Overcome by fatigue and inebriation, salarymen frequently find it difficult to reach home. It is common to see them sleeping on benches, leaning against buildings, or even lying directly on the sidewalk. Scenes like this are observed in other districts as well but the name has become closely associated with Shibuya because of its popularity and how easy it is to spot. This phenomenon is a unique aspect of Japanese urban culture, and in the context of the Broken Windows Theory, it raises intriguing questions about the social dynamics and safety of Japan.

One could argue that Shibuya Meltdown, despite all that, is still somewhat of an organized chaos that we mentioned in the first paragraph of this article. You will not see passed out workers being robbed or harassed and it is oddly safe despite how vulnerable everyone looks. There is almost a silent cultural agreement that this is just part of life in the high-pressure world of Tokyo's work culture. This sight is not new and is a long-accepted part of urban life in Japan. It is chaos, but with invisible boundaries - like a ritualized burnout zone. You crash, recover, and go again. However, organized chaos, even in the country with public drinking tradition like Japan, cannot last forever and as of October last year, Shibuya’s public drinking ban is now permanent.

This ban signals a shift in urban governance in response to globalized tourism and crowd dynamics. It reflects a Broken Windows Theory approach to urban management: by tackling minor but visible behaviors like public intoxication, the city aims to preserve order, reduce crime, and maintain the area's image. While effective in some ways, it also opens up a dialogue on how much control is too much, especially in a district known for its youth culture and freedom. They need to be able to break at least some windows.

Albeit not 100% fool-proof, the overall respect of the Japanese for the environment, the exemplary success of the "Beautiful Windows Campaign" initiative in the Adachi ward and the public drinking ban in Shibuya show that order can be achieved and demonstrates how the Broken Window Theory can be adapted to local contexts.

Tokyo Tower illuminates the skyline of Tokyo at dusk, standing tall amid the bustling cityscape and overlooking the expansive waters of Tokyo Bay.

We covered windows, litter and public drunkenness but at the start of this blog post we listed graffiti and now it is time to talk about it. Coming down from our almost perfect japanese, proverbial cloud nine, and getting back to the UK, even here we can see the Broken Windows Theory adapted to local context and put into practice because British authorities use it to crack down on graffiti and remove it, but they purposely do not remove it all. They leave behind anything interesting or in a place that will not bother people. This environment has given rise to street artists such as Banksy - a very famous, british street artist.

Entrance to an art exhibit featuring a vast collection of privately owned works by the enigmatic and iconic street artist Banksy, described as "subversive, mysterious, brilliant."

In the UK, graffiti is prohibited under the Criminal Damage Act 1971, which categorizes marking or defacing property without consent as criminal damage. It is often regarded as vandalism, and when certain graffiti is racist or offensive, it can incite fear and distress. However, unlike issues such as dog fouling, which is consistently viewed as diminishing the quality of local environments, graffiti can sometimes enhance certain urban areas like unused or derelict land or underpasses. Some works, like those by Banksy, not only make cityscapes more vibrant but are also acclaimed for their artistic value and social commentary.

CAN I GET BENEFITS FROM ORGANIZED CHAOS, TOO?

We talked extensively how keeping order is good. And we agreed that at least some chaos is neccesary for a closed system to work properly. But are there any actual benefits of organized chaos apart from giving the population the illusion that they can misbehave without consequences (until they cannot)?

Maybe that empty water bottle you forgot to throw away half-way into your project was not that bad of a crime after all. Chaos is partly responsible for sparking creativity, novelty and genius, right? It has to come from somewhere and it usually comes from that mess up in our brains - the stream of conciousness.

Our brains love routines but too much order can stifle creativity. Chaos breaks those patterns, forcing the brain to make new connections - which is literally the definition of creativity. Novel ideas often emerge when things aren not clear-cut. Chaos creates a space where rules are blurred, which allows for unexpected combinations, perspectives, or insights to emerge. Many great minds of the past embraced or even needed a certain amount of chaos - mentally in their heads and environmentally on their desks and in the workspaces - to explore unconventional ideas and challenge norms.

In innovation theory, the "edge of chaos" is a sweet spot: enough structure to not fall apart, but enough disorder to encourage experimentation and risk-taking. Controlled chaos leads to progress and allows innovation.

A complex digital sculpture made of metal strips intertwined with cyber-patterns and arrows, creating a dynamic, high-tech geometric design set against a dark gradient background. Strips are chaotic but flow through structured geometric cubes.

WHAT ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF ORDER ON A SMALLER SCALE?

Chaos runs our daily modern lives. And if we want to change that, that change starts with us. An it often starts small. You may not be able to stop vandalism in your city but you can un-vadalize your house. And the concept of Broken Windows can even be applied to you. Do not let the small stuff spiral.

1. Become more self-aware - as Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson roughly puts it, only by taking care of your immediate environment can you then move onto bigger challenges. Cleaning your room is practicing how to get things in order. It symbolizes taking responsibility for your own life and environment. It emphasizes the idea that before you can tackle larger societal issues, you should start with yourself and your immediate surroundings.

2. Do not get overstimulated by excess - it is very easy to get caught up in buying things you do not really need in today's world of constant social media and too many items can be, visualy and mentaly, extremely taxing. Allow your brain to relax.

3. Do not get burdened by decision fatigue - when you fill your home with too many things, every little decision, like where to put that new gadget or how to organise your wardrobe, adds to your mental load. Simplify your environment.

4. Stress less - clean and organized space promotes a sense of control, calmness and relaxation. Mess produces cortisol, avoid it.

   
   

You will in turn become more productive, your mood will increase and you will manage your time better.

IN THE END

We collectively mentally benefit from our houses, workspaces, cities and their surrounding environent being clean, tidy, quiet, calm, peaceful, proper, structured, regulated and lawful. But remember:

Sometimes, at least one window will need to be broken.

A minimalist facade of a modern building showcases a grid of neatly aligned square windows, each framed in subtle shades that create a harmonious geometric pattern.