Self Love Series Pt I: Declutter
Welcome to the first part of my self love series on my blog! In this post, I will share about decluttering and organization can help you in your self love journey.
As a person who struggles with self love (and organization) , I’ve recently discovered just how cleaning and organization can help improve my mood.
As a teenager, it is not that surprising when I say that my room is not always so clean. I would typically clean my room on a weekly basis, but it always somehow gets messy by the end of the week. Everytime I were to come home from school, and when I would open the door and I see papers and books everywhere (thanks to my little brother playing with my stuff), clothes messy in my closet, my bed not made, it made me feel even more stressed and even in a more exhausted mood than I felt before I came in.
Yesterday, I decided to clean because I couldn't handle waking up and seeing the clutter everyday. Of course, I did not enjoy the cleaning, I found it to be quite boring but as I began to see the results, I couldn’t help but feel relaxed and quite pleased with myself. My room is now a place where I feel the most relaxed, and now I know that the moment I see something that doesn’t look right, I make sure to fix it.
When you are surrounded in a messy environment or when you are unorganized in terms of cleanliness, it kind of messes up your head.
According to Very Well Mind, research shows that being in an environment that is cluttered can make it hard for you to focus and it contributes to your anxiety and stress.
That’s why sometimes, even when you don’t really want to, you may feel an urge to clean when your room is messy.
Some benefits of cleanliness can include:
Being a better mood, which helps decrease your anxiety or stress which can improve mental health
It increases focus
Improves fatigue
Improves concentration
Improves health and can be part of exercise
Of course, cleaning can be hard for many people. Depression, stress, outside activities such as school and work can all be factors.
It is always good to start small to eventually build up that habit.
Here are some tips that I recommend! You can combine them as well!:
Set a timer for 5-10 minutes to try cleaning whatever you want, anything at all that’s around you.
Establish a rewards system. Once a week, set time aside to clean what’s around you. When you finish, reward yourself with something you enjoy!
Pick different things to clean!
Example: This week I will try organizing my shelves, next week I’ll try vacuuming the floors.
I know one question that may be on your minds are:
So how does this connect to self love?
By taking care of your environment, you are also taking care of yourself.
By taking time to improve your environment, you are improving your peace of mind. You are letting yourself into something peaceful, giving yourself and your environment a chance to breathe and relax.
You deserve a peace of mind, you deserve to not be around clutter, you deserve to be an environment that you feel safe and comfortable in.
If you feel that you are not in a safe environment, please contact a therapist, a school counselor, or the authorities. Or contact me in my business email below, and I will do my best to help.
I hope this post helps you on your cleanliness journey! Be back next week for Pt II of my self love series!
xoxo,
nasrina
Sources:
Gordon, Sherri. “Mental Health Benefits of Cleaning and Decluttering.” Verywell Mind, Verywell Mind, 29 July 2022, https://www.verywellmind.com/how-mental-health-and-cleaning-are-connected-5097496.
