Why cleaning your room feels like solving world peace!

Have you ever walked into a garden adorned with dewy green grass, neatly trimmed bushes lining the sidewalls, and plants blossoming with roses and daisies? Did it suddenly make you feel like all your life problems have disappeared into thin air and everything is just better? Or have you ever walked into your room, maybe after days of zero organising and felt like you are drowning in uneasy thoughts, like all your problems have piled up on your head, just like the pile of clothes on the chair in that corner? Does all this sound familiar? Well, read along as I solve the puzzle around the amazing feeling you get after cleaning your room.

When people feel anxious or stressed out after a long day at work or after a fight with a friend, some go for therapy, some might indulge in yoga, while others journal their thoughts to feel lighter. However, don’t we all know that one person who indulges in cleaning their wardrobe or dusting their shelves as they believe it is equally, if not more so, beneficial for their mental health and peace? They are not wrong at all! Did you know that a healthy lifestyle and a sterile environment promote good mental and physical health? In fact, it is a great way to clear your mind. So, the question that arises is: can cleaning your room actually result in amazing effects on your mind?

A lot of clutter and chaos in your surroundings leads to a string of negative thoughts in your head as mind and body have a very strong connection. As a result, one tends to overthink situations and eventually spiral down into a huge mess of emotional and mental instability. Therefore, it is essential to understand the correlation between your environment and your mood.

Let’s try to recognise how cleaning your physical mess can help declutter unwanted psychological stress:

Boosting mindfulness

Cleaning your room or your house helps in improving your overall focus. But how exactly? Too much clutter in your room, like your clothes, shoes, skincare products, books, etc., causes a visual overload. It makes it difficult for the brain to process so much information. With an information overload, one tends to shift focus towards less important things or things that don’t deserve their attention. Eventually, neglecting important and meaningful things that require consideration and are right in front of the eyes. When you clean your room or surroundings, you tend to clear your headspace and allow your brain to relax and cool down. This, in turn, empowers the brain to focus on important things, things that matter and will bring out value.

Promotes relaxation

When you see a messy home, you may not feel anything in the moment but somewhere in the back of your head, you have this lingering thought that clearing all of this one day will become even tougher and cause more stress. But when you actually get down to it — when you start addressing the need to declutter and clean your house, half of the job is already done. It’s like a weight is lifted off your shoulders. Knowing that you are now in the process of cleansing itself is extremely therapeutic.

Fosters relationships

Imagine feeling disorganised before a big day at work or messed up before leaving for a date with the new guy you’ve been crushing over. These aren’t great feelings to deal with. Living in a disorganised environment can lead to a lot of unwanted stress and anxiety. This anxiety can cause temper issues, disinterest, and mood swings. All of this will eventually ruin the experience you were heading out for.

Empower self-esteem

One’s environment speaks a lot about the person living in it. Those who live in a cluttered environment, would more often than not, have a low sense of self-esteem. People who don’t put an effort into cleaning their surroundings and be in an elevated space, tend to feel helpless, demoralised, and sometimes might even consider themselves as a failure. But that can change. Once you start cleaning your room or a part of your surroundings, be it your wardrobe, a small cabinet, or even your car, it can bring a sense of ownership over your life. Ownership brings control; having control over your life and how you feel, is a positive vibe overall.

Now that you understand how cleaning your surroundings and environment boosts overall mental health and satisfaction levels, let’s dive into the process! Here are some methods that can help declutter the room and the mind:

Start small

There is no rush to clean the entire house in a single day. First, start with whatever seems the easiest and the fastest. It could be as small as a makeup vanity or a cabinet in the room or washing your car.

Stick to a plan

Do your laundry, gather the trash, fold your sheets, dust your cabinets and bedside, wash the dishes, and then relax. Take a deep breath. This is enough for a day.

Imperfection is key

Don’t aim for perfection. You should not be aiming to become a world-class home cleaner. Rather, you should look at having some fun and uplifting your mental health while at it. If you are cleaning your entire home, start with a quick closure on the garbage bins, pull them out of the house, wash the dirty dishes and clothes, and then move to the other big-ticket items like sweeping the floors or doing the laundry.

Ask for help

If you are struggling, and don’t know where to start, ask for help, seriously. Everybody needs support at times. It is fine to ask for help. Reaching out is not a sign of weakness. Ask other people to hold you accountable for your plan of action for the day, asking for professional helping hands is also not a bad idea at all. You can delegate your work. The end result should be a decluttered space with no more mess and a better mental headspace. I hear young adults, especially Gen Z, complaining that cleaning is fine but it is not fun. Sometimes, things don’t have to be fun. However, if you are still reluctant to get on with the job, here are certain ways where you can turn mundane tasks into fun activities.

Clean with your buddy

Cleaning your room with your partner, your friend, or your family member can be a lot of fun and can also improve your camaraderie. When you work with a partner, you tend to joke around, work on your bond, and also inculcate the habit of sharing the load of responsibilities at home. Dance your way through: If you find cleaning to be a mundane chore and you get bored easily, make a cleaning playlist. Music can instantly elevate your experience of decluttering your space. Turn up the tunes and dance around while you also sweep the floors or load the dishes in the dishwasher.

Set challenges

Having an organised cleaning routine — something you can follow each day — can really help in terms of knowing what is done, what is to be done, and what can be moved to another day. Apart from that, you can try challenging yourself. It could be time-based, speed-based, or you can find your fun way!

Treat yourself

Now that you are adulting, treat yourself with good cleansers and disinfectants to ensure your cleaning process is efficient. Using good-quality products that you know about can help make the entire process a lot more likeable.

Reward yourself

All the hard work you put into physical and mental cleaning deserves to be rewarded. Once you are done completing the assigned tasks for the day, have a piece of chocolate, treat yourself with a good hot steaming cup of coffee, or go for a movie you’ve been wanting to watch for some time.

Now that you are well-versed in the logic behind the feel-good factor you achieve after cleaning your room, I hope you’ll start seeing this chore in a different light. Next time you feel low or have had a bad day, don’t sulk and bury yourself in your blanket. Just turn up your speakers, pick up a dusting cloth, and clean away the mess in your room and the chaos in your head!