Tidying up one’s space can have a profound impact on mental health.
After a long winter, it always feels good to clean up around the house and get ready for the warmer months to come. Most people spend a lot of their time in the winter inside the house, so it can become cluttered and a little uncomfortable as the months pass. The tradition of spring cleaning is not a new one, but it may have more concrete, demonstrable benefits for mental health than was previously understood. Taking into consideration the mental health boost that might be available from cleaning up around the house and combining this with the practical benefits of living in a more organized space, it’s not hard to find extra motivation to get to work on those chores that one might have been putting off for a while.
It’s easy enough to write off clutter as not being a big deal. Leaving a few extra things laying around the house might not seem like it could take much of a toss on overall health, but that doesn’t really seem to be the case. Taking a closer look, mental health can be negatively impacted by a cluttered home, so tidying up can go a long way.
Perhaps most surprisingly, studies have shown that people living in cluttered spaces might even find it hard to make progress on personal projects like eating better or exercising regularly. Thus, it’s difficult to achieve other wellness goals while surrounded by too many things. It seems to be the case that having a messy home full of things can send a person’s mind into a chaotic state, causing them to not have the mental capacity or motivation to stay focused. Whatever the impact happens to be on each individual, there is little doubt that living in a clean, organized space is beneficial for many reasons.
Those who want to clean up in the spring to leave both their home and mind in the best possible condition should have a clear game plan before getting started. One good first step is to look for things that can simply be removed from the house, either by throwing them away or donating them to a good cause. Tidying up around the house is much easier when there are fewer things to organize and put away. Then, the things that are left won’t take up so much space – mentally or physically – and the whole task will feel far more manageable.
Once unwanted items are gone, the old adage “a place for everything and everything in its place” comes into play. When all of one’s possessions have a spot to land when they aren’t in use, cleaning up becomes much easier. It just takes a few minutes to move things back to where they go, and suddenly the whole space feels and functions better.
Is spring cleaning a magical cure for all mental health issues? Of course not – but it can be a good start. For some people, cleaning up around the house might be a starting point for more meaningful, substantial gains in the weeks and months to come.
Join the conversation!