You can declutter your living space
Decluttering is often overlooked when we are balancing work with our social lives. Without these distractions, quarantine will allow us to improve our living spaces, and with it, our mental health.
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Context
A clutter-free home can decrease stress and anxiety levels.
The Argument
In the grip of a busy work week, tidying and decluttering your home often takes a back seat. But a decluttered and tidy home has been linked to an increased likelihood of depression.[1]
As people migrate to online working environments and are forced to spend their weekends at home, they can devote the time required to removing some of the excess clutter in their homes, building a living space that enhances rather than deteriorates their mental health.
Counter arguments
This argument rests on a simplistic worldview. A tidy workspace can elevate happiness under normal circumstances but in the midst of a global pandemic when people are concerned about the health of their loved ones, their financial security, and their job security, the impacts of a tidier home on mental health are likely to be drowned out by the stress and anxiety of the moment.
Premises
[P1] Decluttering and tidying your living space results in higher happiness levels.
[P2] Quarantine will give people more time to declutter and tidy.
[P3] Therefore, it will result in higher happiness levels.
Rejecting the premises
[Rejecting P2] Quarantine imposes stresses that more than offset any of the benefits of decluttering.