Can cleaning improve your mood?

Written by

Diana

on March 16, 2020

You’re not alone in feeling stressed in a messy home; mess actually does cause stress! Clean homes and organized spaces are proven to reduce stress, improve happiness, and even improve your eating and exercise habits.

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How can that be? This article in psychology today lists numerous studies about the positive impacts of a living in a space that you feel is clean and organized to your standards. Here are a few:

A study of 998 African Americans between the ages of 49 and 65, a demographic known to be at an increased risk for heart disease showed participants who kept their homes clean were healthier and more active than those who didn’t.
In a study specific to women, those who described their living spaces as “cluttered” or full of “unfinished projects” were more likely to be depressed and fatigued than women who described their homes as “restful” and “restorative.” The researchers also found that women with cluttered homes expressed higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol (FYI cortisol is linked to increased storage of belly fat in women).
Clutter can actually make it more difficult to focus on a particular task. The visual cortex can be overwhelmed by task-irrelevant objects, making it harder to allocate attention and complete tasks efficiently.
A survey conducted by the National Sleep Foundation found that people who make their beds every morning are 19 percent more likely to report regularly getting a good night’s sleep. People who were surveyed also reported benefits from having clean sheets — specifically, 75 percent of people said they get a better night’s rest when their sheets are freshly cleaned because they feel more comfortable.

With all these clear benefits of staying organized, why don’t we do it?

There’s too much clutter; you don’t know where to start. We’re going to give you tips about breaking things down into smaller pieces and that will help you get started.
No time. We’re all short on time so you have to find a length of time that fits in your schedule; otherwise you won’t do it. Think 30 min, 15 min, or 10 min at a time.
That “just cleaned” feeling is a distant memory; you simply forgot how good it felt. Did you know that visualizing clean and organized spaces can provide motivation to “get it done”.