Tidy habits
How to trigger yourself into keeping things routinely clean
What if we told you there’s a way to clean your home regularly without really even realizing it? You’d think we were a few bristles short of a broom, right? Well, thanks to the wonders of behavioural psychology, there is.
It’s called habit stacking — which is basically linking a desired habit to one you already have.
This is done by using habit cues, or triggers. In the case of cleaning, triggers relating to a time, location or event are most effective.
“The reason habit stacking works so well is that your current habits are already built into your brain,” James Clear writes in his book Atomic Habits. “You have patterns and behaviours that have been strengthened over years. By linking your new habits to a cycle that is already built into your brain, you make it more likely that you’ll stick to the new behaviour.”
The Apartment Therapy
website lists some ways you can make habit stacking work in your favour.
■Wipe out the toilet after you flush it in the morning. The cleaning guru FlyLady calls this the “swish and swipe.” By squirting some hand soap in the toilet bowl and swiping it with the toilet brush daily, gunk doesn’t have a chance to build up. If you’re an overachiever, make like FlyLady and also quickly wipe off the mirror, counter, faucets and sink while you’re at it.
■Empty all the garbage cans (and recycling bins) before you take the trash out. Doing it in
one shot will save you from going back for smaller trips later or, let’s be real, letting things pile up too long.
■Put in a load of laundry while you brew a pot of coffee, or prepare some other daily morning beverage. Laundry is the gift that keeps on giving ... and giving, and giving. Help the never-ending cycle along by doing one complete load a day — from washer to back in the drawers. If there’s not enough for a full load, at least make it a habit to check.
■Tidy your desk before you turn off your lamp. You can also clean up after you power off your computer for the day. A study from the Princeton Neuroscience Institute found that multiple items in your visual field at the same time become competitive stimuli. In other words, it’s harder to think clearly when you’re surrounded by mess. The result: You’ll start the next day with a workspace ready for productivity.
■Pick up things in the living room after you click off the remote. Put your throw pillows back in place, fold up blankets, straighten the coffee table tray, and bring glasses and snack bowls back into the kitchen.