Nothing is better than the feeling of having a clean and organized living space. Imagine Sunday morning: your clothes are freshly washed and your bed is neatly made. Finally…the world seems to be falling into place for once.
May 10th is National Clean Your Room Day. Take this day to set aside some time and declutter your bedroom. When your personal space is clean, it can help clear your mind and motivate you throughout the week.
According to Dr. Dawn Potter of the Cleveland Clinic, cleaning and mental health are directly connected. She mentions cleaning develops a sense of control in one’s environment. Potter states, “…if we have some other problem in our life that we can’t quite address at that time, cleaning produces a tangible result that we can see and feel.” Cleaning displays a physical result that we can see. Organization and cleanliness provides us with many benefits including:
- Improved physical health
- Increase in productivity
- Gives a sense of serenity and togetherness
- Keeps bugs and pests away
- Control of environment
- Decreases stress
- Prevents illness
- Creates healthy habits
Cleaning may feel overwhelming at times. Maybe you have multiple loads of laundry, or you have not vacuumed your room in over a month. It is important to note that cleaning in small steps is one of the best ways to get started.
My favorite thing to do when I clean is make a list for myself. Creating a list of goals you would like to accomplish is a great way to physically see what needs to be done. Starting off small can make cleaning feel less overwhelming. For example, on Monday you could specifically aim to get laundry done that day. For Tuesday, you could focus on taking out the trash laying around. Wednesday you can work on organizing your closet and so on.
It can also be beneficial to set a timer for yourself. Each night, just take ten to fifteen minutes to do a quick clean. This can be organizing your shoes neatly or putting your textbooks back on the bookshelf. This helps maintain your clean space and you will feel more accomplished as the day is winding down.
Holding yourself and others accountable is another way to help motivate you to clean your space. For example, if your sibling or roommate also is struggling to keep their space tidy, you could make a deal with them stating that you will both get your rooms completely organized by the end of the week. Even helping each other out with the cleaning process itself can be productive and will make the work go by faster.
A clean room can really improve so many different aspects of your life. Take some time out of your day to organize your space. From there, your life will only improve.