Housecleaning can renew your energy, reduce stress
Would you like to feel in control of your environment? Maybe your home hasn’t had a thorough cleaning in five years.
When we get busy, skipping over housecleaning is often the choice we make. We have to let something slide to meet the demands of life.
However, psychologists say that our environment is part of our inner world. When we keep our homes clean, we are contributing a lot to our mental wellness.
Tackling every square inch of your home’s needs can help you in several ways.
First, if you decide to sell your home, you’re ahead of the game. The sale will go smoother and faster. And, if you decide to keep your home, you’re going to feel good about your private space.
Most of us reach a point where we know our lives need a makeover. Everything feels dull and lifeless. A resolution to deep clean your house is one way to get a fresh start in life.
“If you look at the condition of your house, you’ll see a reflection of how your life is going,” says a family counselor we’ll call Patricia. “Anyone under stress is going to let housecleaning slide. That’s normal. But, when I tell my clients to start cleaning their homes, they need a minute to grasp the concept.”
Patricia says that families grieve after an illness, a job loss, funerals, bad
relationships that have ended and much more. She believes that making a plan to give the family home attention is a giant step to healing.
“I have clients tell me they feel more energy as they clean,” says Patricia. “When they can see they have power to brighten things up, it does something for their inner spirit.”
A home inspection expert we’ll call Mark says banks hire him to evaluate the condition of houses. He says that people who’ve abandoned their homes must have neglected them for years.
“I wonder,” says Mark, “if letting everyday priorities slide around the house leads to problems such as divorce. I personally believe a clean, neat house supports the relationships of the family living there.”
These strategies can help you get your house in order:
h Start with the kitchen. Cleaning it for two hours twice each week will yield good results. Go through drawers, cabinets, and kitchen closet areas in detail. Turn on some music to make the work go more smoothly. Take a month or more to clean this room correctly, if that’s what it takes.
h Tackle the bathrooms next. Remove clutter from medicine cabinets, under the sinks and in bathroom closets. Scrub every square inch, including floors and fixtures. All of us need to freshen our bathrooms every day, but a deep scrub will involve a solid time commitment for at least a couple of weeks.
h Clean the living areas and bedrooms one room at a time. Some experts say to move everything out, if this is possible in your home, to clean baseboards, closets, windows and all surfaces in each room. Again, turn on some music or play your favorite TV shows as you clean.
Scrubbing your home to become a clean, fresh space is not the same as decluttering. Cleaning means you’ll dust all books, art objects and collected items. Doing the job right means you’ll go over light fixtures, appliances and shelves.
“When I divorced last year, I started cleaning everything,” says an executive we’ll call Lisa.
“I just needed to take command over my environment. The stress of a divorce keeps anyone from cleaning or taking care of personal items. When you vow to clean, you feel a positive feeling of control rising in you.”