Did you know that January 14th is Organize Our Home day? We all know the saying “clean home is a clean mind,” but having a clean home affects more than your mind. By organizing and decluttering your space, you improve your focus, the quality of your sleep and your relationships. On top of those benefits, a clean home helps reduce depression and anxiety. A clean home can give you all these benefits without a visit to a doctor’s office or a medication.
A study in Personality and Social
Psychology Bulletin found that women who live with clutter were more
fatigued and depressed with a higher level of cortisol than the women who had
organized homes.
Having a clean home is great, but when you have
allowed things to pile up for a long time, you may find yourself overwhelmed
and unsure where to start. Here are simple SMALL steps you can take to motivate
yourself and get yourself onto the path of an organized home.
1- Look around the house and
notice the items that are out of its place. Then, set a clock for 20 minutes.
Start picking up items that do not belong and place them where they belong, or
if that cannot be done right away, pile it aside where you can pick it up and
put away later. For example, if an item belongs upstairs, put it on one side of
the stairs (make sure there is enough space to use the stairs so no one gets
hurt). When you are going upstairs, take some of the items you have placed on
the stairs and put them back in a space where they belong.
Do not go over 20 minutes. By
setting a specific time limit, you prevent yourself from getting overtired. If
you get tired, your brain will not want to do this tomorrow. You want to build
a habit of doing this every day. Do this every day and before the week is over,
you will have an organized home where everything is put back where they belong.
2- Deal with the pile of
dishes in the sink. Do one small washing at a time whenever you wash your
hands. Start washing one plate at a time and before you know it, your kitchen
sink will be clutter-free. When you start seeing the possibility, change is
possible.
3- Focus your attention on one
room at a time. Do a quick 20 minutes organization. Having one organized room
will make you feel accomplished for the day. Our brains tend to want to do
things that do not cause pain. When we accomplish a task, it makes us feel
good. Feeling good allows us to want to do it again.
4- Make a place for all your
items. For example, if you drop your keys at the nearest table as soon as you
walk into your house, make a place for your keys. It can be a hook or a bowl.
It can be anything to hold or contain the keys as long as it is a designated
location where you can leave your keys every day.
5- Keep it up. Remember that
organization is progress and it starts with small steps. If you want the change
to happen overnight, it takes days and weeks to organize. Most of us do not
have the time or the energy to devote all our time to the organization. But, by
taking these small steps, it makes the organization less daunting. If you are
less intimidated, you will be more likely to keep it up leading to a
better-organized home.
Just a small effort on your part means a more
organized home which in turn could lead to better sleep and focus and a
reduction in stress, depression, and anxiety. What is there not to like?
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