"When home feels out of control, no matter what the reason, unsettledness and anxiety can seep in, and the chaos becomes internal as well as external." - Myquillyn Smith
According to the National Counseling Society, untidiness makes us anxious in two ways. One of which is on an instinctive level due to our brains being programed to have a degree of anxiety about mess because of the health hazard it may present. On a personal level, people in messy environments may become anxious about what others may think of their living conditions, the time it will take to clean up, and so on. Dr. Danielle Roeske, a doctor of psychology, states that "Our outer worlds invariably affect our inner worlds and vice versa. When there is order and structure to our outer environment, it can help us feel more able to manage some of the internal feelings and states." This is why a messy space can cause stress, anxiety, general unhappiness, relationship strain, difficulty focusing, depression, procrastination, feeling overwhelmed, and so on. We can't control everything about our environment but there are things we can control like a messy and cluttered home. Many of our clients comment on how having us come clean for them on a regular basis helps so much with their mental state and this is one of the main reasons we offer our cleaning services.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners has reported on research that shows cluttered home environments do negatively influence the perception of our homes, and ultimately our satisfaction of life. In the study, it is noted that this is because we define "home" not just as a place to live but as, "The broader constellation of experiences, meanings, and situations that shape and are actively shaped by a person in the creation of his or her lifeworld." Forbes Health shared a study that was conducted in 2017 in which it was discovered that young adults found clutter to be linked to procrastination, feeling overwhelmed, and lower quality of life. In our line of work, we've noticed that one can clean all day long but until you declutter, you're not going to physically see a big difference. Too much clutter also makes it harder to clean and harder to focus. Reducing clutter helps you (and outside help that you may hire) to clean more efficiently as well. This is why we always recommend our clients declutter before their cleaning appointment in order to get their money's worth. It keeps us from missing spots, it frees up time for us to clean more of your home, and it makes a huge difference in the overall feeling of your home after a clean. So many of our clients share with us that they find it easier to motivate themselves and also keep their homes decluttered when we come in to clean for them on regular intervals. It's normal and very common not to be able to do it all alone. There's no shame in asking for help here. We encourage it as well as prioritizing your mental health!
We believe that having a clean and uncluttered home is a form of self-care. Caring for yourself is not only a necessary part of caring for others but it also aids in keeping your mental health in check. It's important to view self-care as an investment rather than an expense. Searching out help for things like a clean home or other needs that may stress you out are a form of self-care and you deserve it! We always try to share tips here and over on our social media pages that can help motivate and keep others from being overwhelmed when it comes to tackling some of the messes in our homes. It's not always feasible for everyone to have someone come into their home to clean it (but we do offer that, too!) so we do our best to help in any way that we can! Always reach out to us if you have any questions regarding ways to clean certain things and we will do our best to help.