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Leading a happy and healthy lifestyle isn’t only about being active, eating well, drinking enough water, keeping a decent sleeping schedule and surrounding yourself with people who love and support you.
A healthy environment at home is truly essential to our well-being. It’s where we always return, where we sleep, eat, recharge and prepare for what life has to offer.
From the interior decorations you choose to how you organize your closet – it all has an impact on the way you feel, even your health and happiness.
As it is a start of a new month, we challenge you to find time this month in order to focus on decluttering & organizing your closet!
Because chances are, it’s all messy at the moment and by tackling that, we will come out feeling lighter, more confident & content. So let’s begin!
A study led by research scientist and professor Nicole R. Keith at Indiana University found that people with clean houses are healthier than people with messy houses.
Professor Keith and her team monitored the physical health of 998 African Americans between the ages of 49 and 65, a group known to be at an increased risk for heart disease.
They found that the people who kept their homes clean and tidy were healthier and more active.
Marie Kondo, the most popular tidying guru believes that “when you put your closet and your whole house in order, you put your affairs, and your past in order too” and “as a result, you can see quite clearly what you want and what you don’t, and what you should and shouldn’t do”.
Marie recommends that you get rid of anything that doesn’t “spark joy” in your closet as well as home.
She shares her KonMari method of organizing and decluttering your home in her New York Times bestseller: “The life-changing magic of tidying-up”.
Research also shows that having a neat, well-organized, and sparkling clean home plays an important role in mental health and general wellbeing.
In an article published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, women who described living in cluttered homes were more likely to be depressed and tired. These women also had higher levels of cortisol, the stress hormone.
Not everyone lives in a neat and clean environment all the time and if you’re someone who is totally fine with a bit of mess, you’re not alone.
Some of the most insightful minds have not been very tidy people.
For example, Einstein, who was known to be untidy and once said “if a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”
Being a bit messy isn’t a bad trait until it interferes negatively in your life. It’s always about balance, right?
Start small and know your goal!
It may be hard to evaluate what has to go and what can stay so having a short guide could surely help, right?
When we held our second Confidence Challenge, one of the participants Patricia shared 9 questions you could ask yourself to make closet decluttering easy and actually enjoyable!
Perhaps this might help:
1. Does it fit?
2. Is it in style? And is it MY style?
3. Do I look good in it?
4. How do I feel when I wear this?
5. Have I worn this in the past year?
6. Would I buy this again today?
7. Is this item stained or damaged?
8. How many of this type of item do I have?
9. Would it make someone else happier than it makes me?
Considering these, it will be much easier to know what to donate, what to toss and what to keep.
Ask someone to join you and do it together if you feel like you need another opinion accompanying you through this process.
Decluttering and organizing something once and maintaining the look and feel of things for a longer period of time are two different things, right?
If you wouldn’t necessarily prefer untidiness in your home, yet it still always goes back build-up of clutter, try these steps:
1. Remind yourself about how good you will feel once your home is clean and clutter free. Organize one room at a time, don’t aim to clear out every drawer and closet in one day
2. Anytime you buy a new item of clothing, donate one old piece of clothing to charity or to a friend
3. Try the KonMari method, which has people talking all over the world
4. When you’re done with something, put it back.This is a BIG one for me, haha
5. Wash up right after you eat, to avoid an insurmountable pile of dishes. Or put load up the dishwasher if you have one
6. Iron or store clothes away right after you wash them (ok, let's be real, at least try half of the times you want to shove them in a basket). And wash right after a considerable amount of dirty clothes has been collected.
Clean, tidy and organized environment is wonderful to be in, however it’s you that has to create your own systems for this to work.
It can be tidy and organized in your own way and that’s what is actually lovely about this! Enjoy the process!
Wishing you a lovely day,
Andrea Guerin
16 May, 2023
I keep things fairly neat all the time but can always use a little more incentive. Will be going thru clothes and donating. Also household items I no longer use.