How having a tidy home can benefit your health

As the UK is spending more and more time at home, keeping on top of housework and tidying can feel like a chore, but there are so many benefits to keeping your home shipshape, from boosting positivity to benefiting your health. For those with limited mobility who rely on stairlifts or homelifts to get around their homes and up their stairs, it is important to keep your home tidy so there are no trip hazards that can cause a potential fall.

Victoria, known for her blog Lylia Rose has explained why mess can be a trigger for many when it comes to stress and anxiety: “Many people find clutter overwhelming and a daily stress, which is why it’s so important to keep a house tidy and organised so your mind can stay stress-free in your own surroundings. A cluttered home really can create a cluttered mind and a constant sense of chaos. It’s why minimalism has been a growing trend in recent years - for a sense of calm and also to help save the environment from so much needless consumerism.”

Keep reading to find out a little more about how a tidy home can correlate with a tidy mind, improve your overall health and wellbeing, making us feel less stressed and worry less.

Feel less stressed

One of the main benefits of keeping a tidy house is the way it can instantly make you feel less stressed. Keeping on top of the tidying and cleaning can relieve any anxiety you may have associated with untidy spaces. Antonia Colins from the blog Balance Through Simplicity explains a little more about how a clean house can relieve any unwanted stress and anxiety:

“A messy home can be a source of stress. Clutter can confuse and distract our minds and too much stuff around us can weigh us down. Not only does it take up space in our homes, but it can take up our time and energy to manage that mess. We have to move it, clear it away and clean around it. Free up your time, energy and make your home a clearer, calmer and more inviting place by tidying and decluttering. Find little ways to keep your home tidy. Give everything a home, declutter the items that you don’t use, love or want to keep.”

Antonia continues to explain how creating systems can help you manage your spaces: “Create systems and routines to manage the biggest sources of clutter build-up and re-set your home every evening before you wind down for the night, so you’re not greeted by yesterday’s mess when you wake up in the morning!”

Creating a system for cleaning your home can make the process of tidying feel less stressful and enables you to tackle one task at a time. Rachel, founder of the blog Rachel Bustin believes that keeping your home tidy is great for relieving anxiety, she explains a little more.

“I believe that keeping your house tidy helps lower your stress levels and helps with anxiety. I always feel much better when I've had a quick tidy round as it helps to promote a positive mental attitude and helps with your physical wellbeing. It only takes 10-15 minutes a day to keep on top of it, so each day it doesn't feel so overwhelming. The longer you leave it the longer it takes to clear and it can increase your stress levels. I know I don't like entering a cluttered room!”

Improve your mood

If you often feel down and moody, it could be to do with your home and the way it makes you feel when it is dirty or untidy. The team behind Tidy By Habit spoke about how your mood is affected by simple things like untidy spaces.

“Keeping your home tidy has an impact on your health and mood for a few reasons. Keeping things clean is obvious because it lessens your chance of bacteria and viruses building up and possibly making you sick. But it greatly impacts our mood. Our brains process visual cues at lightning speed. So, that clutter around us, our brains notice it every time we see it, which just eats away at our energy. It's something that gets added to our invisible list of things we need to do.”

Set aside 10 minutes a day

They continued to explain how tackling areas little and often and setting aside 10 minutes a day can make the task feel a lot less daunting. “Tackling some essentials, like dishes and the sink every day can improve our well-being. Committing to just 10 minutes a day can have a big impact. You'll be surprised how much you can do in just 10 minutes. Another idea I suggest for people who get overwhelmed  is to try ‘intermittent cleaning.’ Set a timer for 10 minutes of cleaning, then relax for 10. Do as many rounds as you can!”

Worry less

Worry can often be associated with a messy home and an unsettled living space, so keeping on top of the mess can relive any unnecessary worry. Victoria explains how your health and mood can improve when you keep on top of the cleaning duties.

“Once you begin to live in a more minimal and tidy environment, you will start to have less things to worry about; less things to clean, less things to put away, less things to spend your money on.

Being tidy helps you find things easier too, resulting in less stress losing things and trying to find them again!”

She continues to explain some of her top tips for a tidy home and a tidy mind: “My number one tip for keeping a tidy home is to get rid of the clutter and to minimise your belongings. In the process, you can help charities by donating things you no longer need or even make some money by selling your goods on online marketplaces. You can reclaim your home, reclaim some money, reduce stress and even help a charitable cause in the process!”

As the whole of the country has a little more time on our hands at the moment, why not try and implement some of these tips and give your home that well-needed clean it requires or set some cleaning goals and set some time aside to tackle those spaces you keep putting off?