Tidy house, tidy mind: 7 tips to improve your mental health by tidying up

By Charlotte Brown

I’m sure we’ve all had our bedroom start looking akin to the local trash heap at some point, whether we’re too busy, sick, feeling down or simply avoiding cleaning it. However, the link between a messy room and lower mental health might be stronger than you think.

The first person that comes to mind for most people when talking about tidying lately is Marie Kondo. She is a tidying expert who first rose to fame with her bestselling book, ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up’, and now has her own Netflix show where she teaches people her famous decluttering method. The rise of the KonMari method triggered a wave of tidying worldwide, although whether people have stuck to her principles in the time since is another story. To this day, tidying up properly (including this popular method) is touted as a key component of self care, as shown by the many ‘before and after tidying’ social media posts and videos.

Psychologist Dr Rebecca Corona commented on this KonMari phenomena with some insight as to why it might actually be beneficial not just for the general look and space of your room, but also for your mental health: "For many people when they live in a cluttered environment, it's hard to relax.” According to her, mess can be accumulated as a result of a depressive spell, or a desire for comfort and familiarity. Too much mess can affect sleep, as well as generally feeling overcrowded, unorganised and stressed - all things that are particularly detrimental to already stressed university students. Therefore, a messy room resulting from a depressive spell can have a reciprocal effect and lead to further worsening mental health.

If you’re struggling with keeping things tidy (as a lot of us are this far into term), we’ve collected a few suggestions for how you can start clearing away some of that mess with the least stress possible. You never know, it may just help you get into a healthier, less cluttered mindset.

1 - Set manageable goals

This is possibly the most useful tip here. You can set yourself the goal to clean your entire house in a day if you like, but that’s a lot of time and effort for when you’re not feeling your best, and if you don’t accomplish that goal you may actually feel worse at the end of it. We suggest trying to assess what you’re able to do realistically and planning your goals accordingly. For example, you could aim to clear off your desk today and do the laundry tomorrow, or if you’re not feeling great, even set a goal to tidy a little area of the room like picking a few clothes off the floor.

2 - Do what you can

That leads on to our second point - do what you can. If you’re up to cleaning the whole kitchen, great! But if you’re not, that’s OK too! Even washing one plate is better than no plates. Being hard on yourself is likely to make you want to do it even less, and showing yourself some compassion is always a great way to go.

3 - Prioritise the areas making you feel the worst

Sometimes my room will be a mess in general, but that one specific pile of trash that gathers next to my bed is making me feel worse than the rest. Try starting with whichever area is most upsetting your mental health for a good starting point. Once that’s clean, it might be a bit easier to tackle the rest of the clutter.

4 - Ask for help

If you live with other people, there’s no harm in asking them to help you with your tidying a little bit. They could do something simple like helping to move trash bags out of your room, or drying the dishes you’re washing up. Doing a tough task with a friend can make the effort required seem half as much as it was.

5 - Music!

My personal favourite, blast some tunes! I actually like tidying as an excuse to zone out with my music. It can be a bit harder to get in the mood when you’re feeling down, but with your favourite songs on you might just feel a little bit better. It’s a great energy booster and generally makes things a lot more fun.

6 - Reward yourself as you go

You did the dishes? Congrats! You hoovered up? Amazing! When you’re in a bad mental state even the smallest tasks can feel humongous, so be proud of yourself for getting them done! Having a treat at the end, whether that’s a nice snack, some time with a video game or whatever else you’d like, can make the hard work seem a bit more worth it. Plus, it’s a nice incentive to clean if you know you’re getting something enjoyable at the end of it.

7 - Keep up as you go

For a messy room, the best cure is prevention. If at all possible, doing a little bit of tidying a day can stop the clutter accumulating to unmanageable levels, and it makes your job a lot easier later down the line. One way to do this could be setting aside half an hour of your day to get the basic household tasks done. Your future self will thank you 💙