Three Lessons for a Cleaner Lifestyle

Life can get messy. As deadlines approach and minutes fly by, it’s hard to keep track of the little things that can slow us down. For me, one of those “little things” was my room. Despite sleeping, working, and occasionally eating in it, I paid little attention to keeping it clean. Digging assignments out of a gargantuan pile and grasping at wayward pencils as they rolled off my desk became routine. Now though, I must admit: this place is a mess!

And it’s not just my room; a plague of clutter borne from momentary laziness has spread to my wardrobe, my living room, and even my digital devices.

All this—and the relentless annoyance of my parents — got me thinking, how can I clean things up? Thus began a long search for tidiness, filled with doubt and frustration, which taught me three crucial lessons for anyone seeking to bring order to their lives.

Lesson 1: Keep the Benefits in Mind

Before starting, you should have a clear reason for cleaning your room — and there are a lot to choose from. A clean room doesn’t just look nice; it can reduce stress and increase your productivity. Organization decreases the time spent looking for things, can help you focus, and slashes the mental energy wasted by trying to make sense of chaos.

Most importantly, unkempt spaces can collect dust and bacteria, causing health issues down the line.

Lesson 2: Consistently Win Small Battles

Since the task is time consuming, I couldn’t expect to finish it in one go. Instead, I focused on one area a day. This made cleaning manageable and turned a chore into a small task I could do during breaks.

The steady work of sorting books and throwing away extra papers can even be calming, so you can kill stress and clutter simultaneously.

Lesson 3: The Journey Never Ends

I began by rearranging my shelf fervently for half an hour. Much to my disappointment, this only moved the mess to my desk where it sat triumphantly for a few weeks. Similar battles occurred all over the house, followed by devastatingly similar retreats. The reason was simple: cleaning up once was not enough. I had to continue my efforts of stifling messes.

After settling into a general layout for where things went, I made sure to stick to it by keeping different items in their respective containers. I placed all my pencils and erasers in a large box dedicated for stationary, making it easy to return them to a contained location. I knotted each cord so it wouldn’t become tangled with its neighbours. To ensure my entire workspace was orderly, I even cleaned up my computer.

Cleanliness isn’t limited to your home, it can be brought to all aspects of your life from your school locker to your office. Even if something looks relatively clean, take a moment to inspect it.

Are there any corners where you’ve let stray items build up? Are there any places where things could be straightened out or dusted off? If so, I hope these lessons will compel you to take your first step into the rewarding mission of cleanliness. Just remember, the journey of a thousand papers begins with a single binder. Happy cleaning!