Spring cleaning is a centuries-old concept from multiple cultural and religious practices — and the act can mean more for you than just a decluttered and more organized home.
As it turns out, the practice of cleaning when the clocks spring forward, can potentially lead to increased happiness and productivity, too.
"A cluttered environment can clutter the mind," says Michael Messina, a clinical psychologist and owner of Dr. Messina & Associates, a practice that provides psychological and psychiatric services. "That can be indicative of how a person's doing."
Living in a messy space can lower your self-esteem and cause a lot of anxiety, Messina adds. But on the flip side, having a clean house can have positive effects on your mental health.
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Here are a few ways Messina says spring cleaning may improve how you feel and what you're able to get done at home.
3 ways spring cleaning can boost happiness, increase productivity
1. Boost mood
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"The act of cleaning itself can be rewarding and reinforcing, [by] being able to see a task accomplished," Messina says. This can leave you feeling motivated and happy.
Spring cleaning is also exercise, and though it isn't equivalent in intensity to the kinds of exercises you should aim for every day, "it includes physical movement," he notes.
"When you're pushing a vacuum around, picking up boxes and moving them, there's movement involved in that. So you don't think about that as exercise, but it really is," says Messina.
Research shows that greater physical activity is associated with a higher satisfaction for life and more happiness.
And when you consider your home to be warm and welcoming, you're more likely to invite people over, which adds a social component to your life that can increase happiness too, he adds.
"You don't want to have people in your house if you're living in a mess," says Messina, and that can isolate you from the ones you enjoy spending time with.
2. Improve focus
Unable to focus while working from home? Well, it may be because the state of your environment is getting all of your attention, says Messina.
"If you have stuff in your environment that's cluttered, you're distracted by those things and you can't focus on the things that are important," he notes.
"It's going to be hard to focus on work, and you're going to have poor work [productivity]. And then you're going to feel the effect of that; that could be low self-esteem [due to] poor job performance."
Alternatively, he says, having a clean space can allow you to:
- Think more clearly
- See more progress
- Organize your day better
- Have a better sense of control over your environment
3. Reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression
When people are experiencing severe depression, "it's really hard for them to engage in the cognitive work of therapy," says Messina. "We have to start with the behavioral work of therapy. It's basically getting people going," which is called "behavioral activation."
Small tasks like organizing a cupboard or straightening up your room are great examples of behavioral activation, he adds.
"It's activating them in a way that's towards a productive activity and includes physical movement. And when they can do that, their mental health is going to be helped or raised a bit, so that they can do the difficult work of cognitive therapy," Messina says.
Given all of these benefits for your mental health, Messina is strongly in favor of spring cleaning, especially because the physical activity involved in it is "going to be very beneficial for a person's anxiety, depression and sleep."
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