Cleanliness is Next to Stresslessness

It may seem like a no brainer for some and a surprise for others, but stress is highly associated with clutter. While living with depression can often increase the risk of clutter, studies have shown that the more clutter you are surround in, the more stressful an experience you will have. Living and working in a clean environment is a surefire way to begin eliminating stress from your life. Whether it’s just tidying up more regularly or doing a major overhaul of your clutter, the moral of the story is the same. Less mess equals less stress. 

 

It can be frustrating for many to keep up on household tasks. This is especially true for people who live with others and have varying standards of cleanliness. A good way to address this issue is to assign those you live with specific tasks that you can work on so that the stress of cleaning up after others is eliminated as well as the messes themselves. 

 

If you find that you are struggling with people who don’t want to help you keep your environment clean, sometimes the best way to handle it is to take responsibility for yourself and yourself only. Clean your own dishes, do your own laundry, and claim a space for yourself that you can easily maintain without the interference of others. This will help you to wash your hands of a problem that can sometimes seem to have no solution. 

 

If you find it difficult to keep up on household duties and maintaining a clutter free environment, don’t worry. You’re not alone. You could very easily begin to improve. Take small steps at first in putting a system in place that you can maintain. If things are bad, start one room at a time until completion and have a plan ready to keep it maintained. Set rules for yourself using charts and planners and alarm reminders so you know that on a certain day you will be dusting and doing regular household upkeep.

 

Once everything is deep cleaned, then maintaining that standard can be as little as ten minutes per day if you break it up into a routine. Then once a month you can begin to do a deep clean so it gets easier and easier to stay on top of the clutter. 

 

Everything can benefit from having a good system in place. This can be especially true for motivated and busy people. If you are having a hard time juggling your responsibilities and tend to put cleaning at the bottom of the list, you’re not alone. However, it would significantly reduce the stress that you are experiencing if you move cleaning up on your list of priorities and develop a regular schedule for your daily routine that includes making sure that the spaces where you spend the most time are as clean as possible!