Let’s Talk – Clean Spaces
Hi Friends!
Welcome to Let’s Talk, a section on the blog where we get vulnerable.
We’re going to talk a lot about mental health. I will share a lot of my experiences and ways in which my space has helped me improve.
Today I want to talk about a clean space. I don’t mean uncluttered that will be for a different day. I mean clean, dishes done, floors vacuumed, no dust, a made bed.
When my area is clean I feel better. I feel motivated and happy. It took some time for me to realize the impact this really made in my life and from that I’ve adapted routines that help those feelings stick around.
It started when I was living with my parents, I was noticing that I felt chaotic when my room was messy, my anxiety was heightened and I would stay in my dark place and kind of wallow. So I made one simple change and I can almost promise that you have heard this one before but I’m telling you it really makes a difference. I started making my bed every single morning. It wouldn’t matter if I was running late or if it was Sunday and I knew I’d be back in bed binging Netflix in a couple of hours. I always made my bed. It just made me feel like I was starting my day off on a positive note. And this simple change led to so many others!
The next thing I started doing was a larger clean every Sunday. I would do all my laundry, dust off all the surfaces, clean my desk, vacuum and make sure i was getting to bed on Sunday night with a fresh set of bedsheets. I mean not much can top jumping into bed with a clean set of bedsheets. This was a way for me to mentally prepare for my week ahead.
Then I moved out and things got crazy for a bit. Not only does change make me a bit anxious but I also moved in with my partner, which isn’t as picture perfect as people make look. We both have different ideas of what messy is. It took some time for us to figure it all out and it wasn’t easy, we both had to make compromises, something I was not great at doing. That being said I still make the bed every single morning and wash our bedsheets on Sundays!
It took me about a year to figure out a routine that works for me and one that helps me keep my anxiety and my dark place at bay.
Let me just take a minute to Street the importance of a vacuum! When we moved into our little home, we though, oh its only 600 sq ft. and it’s all hardwood a broom will do just fine. It will not. We finally decided to get a vacuum after nearly a year. We ended up with a Dyson v7. I had some points on my Amex so we redeemed those to get it. That being said I would gladly have paid full price for this baby. It’s perfect for our space! I recommend looking into points you might be able to redeem off any credit cards you might have. Amazon also has a great selection!
So vacuuming, I do a whole vacuum of the condo every night after dinner, it takes maybe 10 minutes. But with my boyfriend working construction, our kitten running around tracking dust about and myself with the amount of hair I seem to shed that 10 minutes makes a huge difference and helps ensure our bed doesn’t get little bits of dirt in it.
Make sure your dishes are washed before going to bed! There is nothing worse then getting up the next morning to make your coffee only to realize your French press needs a wash.
The last little bit of daily cleaning I do is disinfecting, I do our kitchen counter, coffee table and all door handles (I mean COVID is still a thing)
All in all this takes me about 20 minutes, it’s now part of my routine and ensures that my mind is that much more at ease. This routine has had a huge impact on improving my anxiety. And I hope that you found something in here to ease your life as well!
Let me know in the comments if you plan to implement any of these in your routine!