As I sat down to start typing up this column, flashbacks of my elementary and middle school days came flooding in. Images popped up of backpacks filled with loose papers and pencils, broken binders stuffed with no rhyme or reason and handwriting that makes the average “chicken scratch” look like calligraphy.

But high school cleaned up my act, literally. Grades mattered more and were padded less. With college breathing down my neck, I knew I had to turn assignments in on time with no excuses, or my grades would plummet. I started actually making, and abiding by, some semblance of a “system,” and saw my academic performance increase by whole letter grades as a result.

It’s easy to just let this habit build and build, especially with an increasing workload as you advance in your courses; after all, with everything that’s expected of you, you might be too busy or tired at the end of the day to do something as seemingly trivial as organizing. But while a day or two is recoverable, insufficient planning can quickly spiral out of control and leave you confused about where things are, and where they need to be.

Researchers from Illinois State and Ohio State found that material attachment may depend on “duration of exposure,” meaning that even generic and low-value items can become very important to us, despite lacking immediate value. Spread this “just in case” mentality to a couple hundred old handouts, papers and assignments, and your miscellaneous junk can easily become overwhelming and disorienting.

The effects of clutter on you and your workspace are major, according to Digital Marketing Specialist Bryan Hunter. Hunter argues that untidy office spaces impact worker efficiency and mentality. For businesses, as that disorder grows, so does the potential loss for the office. The Professional Organizers of Canada found that working in disorganized spaces can cost some businesses more than $65,000 annually.

But disorganization can impact more than just our efficiency. Psychologist Sherrie Bourg Carter describes how a messy environment “bombards our minds with excessive stimuli,” and fools our brains into thinking the amount of stress and work on our shoulders is much larger than it may actually be. You owe it to yourself to tidy up your surroundings and your resources for school and work. When stuff piles up, the negative mental effects can make us feel helpless.

For physical belongings, there are plenty of precautions that can be taken to avoid disorganization. Binders, folders, labels, notebooks and dozens of other options, which normally run no more than a few bucks, can make life much easier. Additionally, forcing yourself to decide whether or not certain items are still useful — or just taking up space — goes a long way toward minimizing clutter.

You may argue that clutter is becoming much less prevalent with the dawn of digital age, but that’s not so. Consultant Deb Lee argues that a digital mess is just like any physical mess: chaotic and inefficient. She added that programs like lists, calendars and inbox cleaners can save so much of your precious time every day, and limit frustration.

Finally, it is important to distinguish when this kind of behavior is more serious than just the typical unwillingness to clean up, and when outside help and counseling may be necessary. If you or someone you know needs help, make sure to contact the NC State Counseling Center for assistance.

Some remnants of those early days stuck with me throughout high school and into my time here in college. And they’ve taken on a more digital form, as I’ve mentioned: years-old documents that are long overdue for deletion, and toolbars within toolbars that I know I’ll never need again.

But now, basic organizational skills keep the clutter, for the most part, to a minimum, and what little disorder there is pales in comparison to those disheveled days when assignments could be lost or destroyed in my labyrinth of a “system” all because I was too lazy to take 30 minutes to tidy up.