Whether you’re homeschooling the kids or working from home, or maybe even both, optimal organization should be a top priority. According to the author of Your Health Destiny: How to Unlock Your Natural Ability to Overcome Illness, Feel Better, and Live Longer, Eva Shelhub, “At the end of the day, being organized is about having more time for yourself, and enabling you to live a more balanced life.”
Clutter leads to chaos, and it can even lead to poor eating habits. As a stay-at-home mom, whether you’re watching the kids all day or working from a home office while the kiddos are away at school, staying organized is key to your mental health. Let’s take a closer look at how organization impacts mental health and explore helpful tips you can follow to keep things neat and in order at the home base.
Organization Increases Productivity and Improves Mental Health
Organization augments a balanced life and allows you to have more time for yourself at the end of the day. A well-organized home is free of clutter, enabling you to be more productive in your daily tasks. It gives you a setting to work in that facilitates success and helps you reach goals.
It’s almost impossible to concentrate and complete a project when you’re surrounded by distractions. Clutter reminds you of all the things you never got around to doing and all of the chores that you need to do. Piles of laundry or other unfinished projects cause stress, which affects your mood, sleep, and many other areas of your life. A messy home will rob you of inner peace and will influence the care you are able to provide to family members.
Planning ahead at the beginning of each day and staying on task takes time and effort, but at the end of the day, you will feel more accomplished, happier, and relaxed. And when you’re happy and relaxed, you’re more likely to go to the gym, meditate, and even make healthier food choices, which in turn means a healthier you. The Psychological Science journal says people who work in neatly organized spaces are twice as likely to choose healthy snacks over unhealthy ones.
Organization Helps Combat Life’s Curve Balls
Living and working in a clean, well-organized environment helps keep everyone on schedule, which means less conflict and tension between you and your family members. Organization brings a sense of order and control even for families with busy schedules. When everyone is finding what they need and getting to where they need to be, the whole family feels better and tends to have a more enjoyable day.
And while your home needs to be clean and organized, it also needs to be functional to ensure everyone feels comfortable. A cluttered home will keep you from focusing on the things that are important to you, so spending the extra time to stay organized is well worth the effort. While life is full of surprises, a well-organized home makes unexpected events much more manageable. Space that is clean and orderly can be a restful respite from the storms of life for you and your family.
According to Dr. Selhub, “Disorganization can lead to shame and embarrassment and actually create a physical and emotional boundary around you that prevents you from letting people in.” When life is throwing you curve balls, you need support from friends and family members. A neatly organized home ensures you don’t feel guilty about inviting them over when you need them the most.
It’s a Family Matter
Creating an organized and soothing atmosphere should involve the whole household. When everyone is participating and taking responsibility, it gives everyone a sense of self-worth along with a realization that they are needed. They will feel appreciated and it will build their self-esteem by knowing they are dependable and contributing to the overall well being of the family. Organization instills a sense of order in a young child’s life and it starts with teaching them responsibility.
It is important to have a schedule for when things need to be done, such as chores, errands, and homework; this ensures everyone is on the same page and that everyone knows what is expected of them. When goals are met and tasks are completed, it provides a sense of accomplishment, which turns into motivation. In the process of getting organized, many have found that tackling large tasks can be overwhelming, so setting goals as a family and working together can bring unity and a sense of control, both of which are essential in combating an atmosphere of chaos.
Conclusion
The Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin reveals that in homes where there is lots of clutter or unfinished projects laying around everywhere, women experience higher levels of stress, depression, and fatigue. Today is the day to start getting organized. When the house is neat and in order, you’re going to enjoy numerous mental health benefits that you’ve been longing for. And even better, the entire household will find it easier to get through each and every day regardless of what life throws your way.
