Across the country, more people than ever in recent history are working from home to protect themselves and others from the spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants. Although it might seem logical that this type of scenario can save workers money by reducing transportation and other costs, working from home can actually increase expenses. One of the biggest sources of sudden, unnecessary money loss in a work-at-home scenario is clutter. Believe it or not, how you organize every room in your home can positively or negatively impact your work and savings.

Consider the following three ways clutter in your home can harm your finances:

Clutter Can Increase Medical Expenses

Any items scattered haphazardly or piled on the floors where you normally walk, such as near a desk, bed or couch or on a stairwell, increase the risk of a physical accident. You can stumble and fall in a split second and then hit your head, break a bone or experience some other serious injury that forces you to visit an urgent care center or emergency room and deal with expensive diagnostic testing, treatment and rehabilitation.

These types of injuries aren't the only way that clutter can harm your health. When some people work from home, they let dishes pile up and stop cleaning, which is something they might do when they have days off or they're on vacation. They might even reuse the same dishes without washing them or reuse dishcloths, brushes or sponges without sterilizing or replacing them. These actions can expose them to harmful microorganisms that cause sickness and costly medical treatment. Some home workers even allow their refrigerators to become disorganized, forget to check expiration dates and consume outdated food that puts them at risk of food poisoning.

You can also experience increased respiratory problems. If you don't reduce clutter and clean often, you risk an increase of dust, dirt and other debris and dust mites that cause or exacerbate asthma, allergies, congestion and sinusitis. Piles of books and magazines on floors near exterior walls, bathrooms and other high-moisture areas can even cause mold growth that releases spores throughout your home.

Clutter Can Decrease Income by Affecting Mood

Some people thrive in cluttered spaces. They feel comforted when surrounded by objects on all sides. Yet, a lot of people have the opposite reaction. When they're less organized and living and working in tight spaces, they feel tired, overwhelmed, trapped and like they're losing control of their lives, which can cause or exacerbate depression. Clutter can even make you feel like your entire life is nothing but work because the clutter constantly reminds you that you have a growing list of non-job-related tasks/chores that you need to tackle at some point to make your home feel more comfortable.

All of these feelings can make you less organized and demotivated while performing your job. You can become so distracted by clutter that your on-the-clock performance suffers. If this happens at home, you can lose track of time and forget important meetings and responsibilities. Eventually, your poor performance becomes reflected by your paycheck. You might miss out on a big bonus from your employer because your performance dropped or even receive a termination-of-employment notice.

Clutter Can Cause Property Damage

Lastly, many people don't realize just how dangerous clutter can be in regards to property. If you trip over clutter while holding a personal or work laptop or tablet, you might suddenly need to deal with an expensive emergency repair or replacement bill. If you allow clutter to pile up near burning candles or electrical wires attached to chargers or other equipment, a single spark while you're paying attention to work might take away your entire home during a pandemic that has elevated housing costs to an all-time high. As a result, any insurance claim payment that you receive might not be enough to cover the purchase or rental of a new place or even the remediation/renovation costs for your existing home.

Taking Back Control of Spaces

For the most part, if you previously maintained your work area or office and your home well while working away from home, you don't need to do much more to reduce clutter than renew old habits. Otherwise, you need to rethink how you interact with your available space. Simple, common sense is critical to protecting your health, property and wallet. You obviously should never reuse dirty dishes and old dish-cleaning tools, eat outdated food or leave items strewn or piled on floors. If your clutter contains items you no longer use or need, you can sell them to add money to your savings while also making each room in your home more organized, open and airy. Keep in mind, when you live and work in less cluttered spaces, you're more likely to feel invigorated, happier and productive, which can eventually even lead you to receiving a higher paycheck.