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heragenda.com
article
https://heragenda.com/p/cleaning-keeps-stress-down
1. As cleaning requires attention to detail, you can use this opportunity to concentrate on each movement you make or every sensation you feel.
2. Typically, meditation relies on rhythmic and repetitive movements. Restoring order in your home abounds with these actions, such as sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, wiping, packing, etc. Their rhythmic nature can take you to a meditative state and fill you with tranquility. [...] 3. Scents, tactile sensations, and sounds present around you while scrubbing around your home can help you stay present in the given moment. If you activate all your senses and observe everything around you, you can easily slide into a meditative state.
4. Decluttering your home can be an ideal moment to declutter your mind. It can provide you with a cathartic experience that can liberate your mind from all the burdens you’ve been carrying. [...] Cleaning regularly can keep stress down; it is an opportunity to focus on turning dirt and mess into cleanliness. This is also a time to center yourself; some people play music and zone out into their own world.
## Cleaning Positively Affects Your Mental Health
Oxford CBT says cleaning is just as beneficial for our mental health as mindfulness related activities. For some people, coming home to a clean and organzed house helps them to unwind after an overwhelming day.
O
oxfordcbt.co.uk
article
https://www.oxfordcbt.co.uk/stress-management-cleaning
## How to Incorporate Cleaning Into Your Life
1 Start small and do a little bit each day. The thought of having to clean your house from top to bottom in one day can be daunting and will only add to any stress or anxiety you are feeling. Don’t make your to-do list bigger than what you can handle mentally. To begin with, choose one thing to do today, and then something else tomorrow and so on. You won’t then be faced with a daunting feeling when you come to cleaning. [...] Can cleaning help you reduce stress? There are lots of different ways that we can manage our stress. We each have our routine that we reach for when we feel overwhelmed. Some may try yoga, or mindfulness exercises, maybe even head to the hairdressers or for a massage. For others, dusting shelves, wiping down the kitchen or organising is their way to deal with stress. Cleaning is just as beneficial for our mental health as mindfulness related activities. For some people, coming home to a clean [...] 3 Set a time limit so you have an end goal. This is very popular with online cleaning sensation Mrs Hinch. Having a set time (30 minutes for example) will keep you focussed on what you want to achieve. Get all your cleaning products organised and ready and refer to your list of what you want to achieve in that time.
C
columbiadoctors.org
news
https://www.columbiadoctors.org/news/reduce-stress-through-decluttering
Whether someone is dealing with depression or is simply overwhelmed, we often use a technique called behavioral activation, which involves purposefully engaging in achievable activities to improve mood. This approach has been borne out in research; one study even suggests that cleaning can help alleviate stress, even when the stressor has nothing to do with the clutter. Spring cleaning is a great example of behavioral activation. [...] In behavioral activation, we help our clients identify objectively achievable tasks (this will often include cleaning or straightening up) and help them differentiate these actions from the stressors and tasks that the individual finds overwhelming. We also help them chunk down any large, overwhelming task into smaller, more manageable steps. [...] When we evaluate someone’s mental health, we typically include appearance within an overall assessment of their ability to perform activities of daily living. If someone presents as noticeably disheveled or does not appear to be engaging in normal grooming, that could indicate the person may be struggling in many areas, including their home environment, driven by depression, anxiety, or some other mental health disorder.
## Where does spring cleaning fit into stress reduction?
K
kwikbrain.medium.com
article
https://kwikbrain.medium.com/fight-stress-by-cleaning-it-really-works-33cd50e…
One way to fight stress is through cleaning. This is probably a solution many of us have never considered as a destress solution. In fact, cleaning is something many people add to their list of things that adds stress to their lives. But there’s a lot of science to back this up. Here are four ways cleaning helps lower stress.
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Photo by Volha Flaxeco on Unsplash
### Provides a sense of control [...] Whether it’s cleaning out a closet, organizing our inbox, or scrubbing the floors, cleaning can help us feel like we’re in control of an outcome. We start with a mess and end with a tidy space. This is even more powerful if the cause of our stress is something we can’t control. [...] Engaging in an activity like cleaning, where countless choices need to be made and progress can be visually marked helps alleviate that anxiety and stress. It grounds us, giving us a sense that we’ve regained control of our decisions. It also engages our executive cognitive abilities, keeping our brain focused on the task at hand instead of worrying about all the unknowns.
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Photo by Crema Joe on Unsplash
### Satisfaction releases happy hormones
P
prowellness.childrens.pennstatehealth.org
article
https://prowellness.childrens.pennstatehealth.org/the-connection-between-clea…
Additionally, the Anxiety and Depression Association of America indicates that the physical activity of cleaning coupled with the end result of a cleaner home helps reduce stress, feelings of anxiety, and depressive symptoms.10 Cleaning can also reduce fatigue and improve concentration.
### Cleanliness and Focus [...] ### Start Small
Most people put off cleaning because the task seems way too big to tackle. But instead of expecting to get the entire house into order in one weekend, start small and do just a little bit each day.
Commit to doing one thing around your house or apartment each day. Before you know it, your environment will be much cleaner and less stressful. [...] The key is that you don’t make your to-do list bigger than what you can mentally handle or you will just increase your stress rather than reduce it. To enjoy the benefits of cleanliness and decluttering, start with what you can realistically manage.
### Set a Timer
P
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
official
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11925691
others; Tesser, 2000). Paralleling such mental mechanisms, we observe that cleaning can attenuate the effects of psychological threats to one’s self—as moral (West & Zhong, 2015), as rational (Lee & Schwarz, 2010), as competent (Kaspar, 2012), and as socially accepted (the present findings). This opens up a broad and exciting avenue for future research: Daily cleaning behavior, mundane as it seems, may serve supplementary coping functions that not only attenuate stress but also sustain positive [...] ## found that (a) concrete visual simulation of cleaning behavior alleviated residual anxiety from a stress-inducing physical scene, an effect distinct from touch, and (b) actual cleaning behavior enhanced adaptive cardiovascular reactivity to a highly stressful context of social performance/evaluation, which provides the first physiological evidence for the attenuation of stress-related effects by cleaning. Overall, actual cleaning and simulated cleaning attenuate effects of physical or [...] Our work also provides the first physiological evidence for the attenuation of stress-related effects by cleaning, extending the hitherto mostly experiential evidence to a new level of analysis. An additional nuance is that cleaning effects in some of the present experiments were evident for indirect measures, including pictorial assessment of basic affective dimensions and physiological markers, but not for direct verbal measures that used specific emotion terms, which can operate
E
elevaterecoveryhomes.com
article
https://elevaterecoveryhomes.com/cleaning-as-self-care
Cleaning can help reduce stress because it offers a sense of control, especially when everything feels overwhelming – the act itself is often predictable and tangible, which can be comforting when your thoughts are racing. It also creates immediate, visible results that boost mood and confidence.
### Is cleaning a form of self-care? [...] Use Sunday to prepare for the week:
Clean kitchen and bathroom
Do laundry
Meal prep
Organize work space
Set out clothes
Starting Monday with a clean home reduces stress all week.
### Keep Supplies Visible
Try putting your cleaning supplies or chore schedule in sight if you want to be better about keeping things neat.
When supplies are hidden under the sink, you won’t use them. Keep them accessible.
### Declutter Regularly [...] Smelling soap and hearing the swish of a broom are sensory cues that can pull you out of a mental spiral and back into your body.
## Cleaning as a Coping Mechanism
### When to Use Cleaning for Emotional Relief
The act of cleaning can be an emotional ritual, a coping strategy, and even a form of self-expression.
Cleaning helps when you:
Feel anxious or overwhelmed
Need to regain control
Want to process emotions
Feel stuck mentally
Need a distraction from racing thoughts
H
healthieru.unl.edu
research
https://healthieru.unl.edu/news/spring-cleaning-mind-how-decluttering-reduces…
focus on what truly matters. Taking breaks from social media and engaging in restorative activities like walking, reading, or meditating can further ease stress and promote inner peace. [...] Practicing mindfulness, journaling, and limiting information overload are great ways to clear mental space. Decluttering your physical surroundings can also enhance mental well-being, as a tidy environment promotes relaxation and reduces distractions. Writing down tasks instead of keeping them in your head helps free up mental energy, reducing anxiety and improving productivity. Setting boundaries and learning to say no can prevent overwhelming feelings, allowing you to focus on what truly [...] Lynn McGill
Spring is the perfect time to refresh and reset—not just our homes, but also our minds. Mental clutter, like negative thoughts, worries, and endless to-do lists, can increase stress and make it difficult to focus. Just as cleaning a messy room creates a sense of order, clearing mental clutter can bring clarity and calm, allowing you to be more present and intentional in your daily life.