Stress happens to all of us. It can come in waves or hit all at once. And when we feel stressed, it’s common to feel completely overwhelmed. Small tasks feel endless and larger tasks feel insurmountable. That tends to mean we get less done, which then adds to our stress. This quickly turns into a vicious cycle. Luckily, there are a few things we can do to disrupt the cycle and lower our stress before it escalates.
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.
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.
Choice is hard-wired in our brain. From an evolutionary perspective, being able to make choices is what moved us forward as a species. When we’re in situations where we aren’t able to make choices, our brain believes we’re trapped and we have no way to move forward. This triggers our anxiety and increases our stress.
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.
Satisfaction releases happy hormones
There’s a popular sentiment about satisfaction in a job well done, and it turns out, there’s neuroscience behind it. When we feel satisfied, our brain releases dopamine and serotonin in a happy chemical cocktail. It makes us feel good, and that’s a feeling our brain drives us to replicate. And there’s no denying how satisfying it is to watch our inbox go down or bringing a room from messy to tidy.
The best part is that we don’t have to undertake huge projects to feel this. Cleaning off a counter or making our bed can produce the same satisfaction levels and neurochemical release as repainting a room in our house. And it’s actually beneficial to focus on the smaller, easier tasks when we’re stressed.
It may feel like painting the room will give us a deeper and longer lasting sense of accomplishment. After all, every time we go into that room, we’ll get that sense of satisfaction. But it takes awhile to get from the unpainted room to the painted room. That’s a lot of time to feel more stress, which could derail the entire project and give us one more thing to worry about.
The larger a task is, the longer it takes to produce the reward. And when we’re stressed, we want that happy cocktail as fast as possible. Completing ten small tasks gives us ten bursts of satisfaction. This gives us momentum to finish even more tasks, which then trigger even more rewards. When we’re feeling stressed, one of the best things we can do is cross off all the small tasks that have been building. Beyond helping us feel better, it lowers the cortisol levels in our brain, which is the primary stress hormone. Combined, this packs a powerful punch to lower our stress.
Clutter increases stress
While it may not seem like scattered items on our counter or a pile of papers in the corner is noticeable, the fact is our brain notices. And the more clutter that’s around, the harder it is for our brain to focus. That’s because our visual cortex is constantly scanning our environment, deciding which objects require our attention.
Our brain is primarily a filtration device. It’s continuously filtering everything our sensory cortex picks up, and decides where to direct our focus. But like any filter, the harder it has to work, the less efficient it becomes. It may feel like we no longer notice the piles of clutter around us, but our brain does. And because it has to work to filter them out, the more we struggle to focus, which then elevates our anxiety and stress.
It isn’t just piles of bills or stacks of dishes that our brain sees as clutter. Those mementos pinned to our walls or crammed on a shelf can increase our stress too. We tend to hold onto things because of an emotional connection to them. And initially, those items produce more positive feelings than negative. But as they become part of the background, the same item shifts from bringing us joy to actually increasing our stress.
The problem is our expectations. We expect those items to bring the same rush of emotion every time. And they simply won’t. As the memories fade, so do the emotions. Our brain expects the positive emotion and when we don’t get it, we actually feel disappointed instead. It may be small amounts of negative emotions that get released, but when we’re already stressed, that can be enough. Letting go of these items gives our brain new expectations. The space is different, there’s less for our brain to process, and this combination lowers our stress while increasing our ability to focus.
The brain likes organization
Our brain likes to find the perfect balance between predictability and surprise. Which is exactly what organization gives us. If our surroundings are too unpredictable, which can occur when we have too much clutter, we get frustrated. On the other hand, if our space ends up being too predictable, we get bored.
It may seem that organization would lean towards the predictable end of the spectrum, but in fact, it’s the opposite. Every time we sit at our desk, we inevitably end up changing the items directly in front of us. We move files around, accumulate letters or other print papers, use post-it notes, etc. With each of these movements is a new choice. Will we put the item away immediately? Do we need to leave it out to use it later? These choices help strike that balance between what we expect and what we don’t.
Staying organized has a few additional brain benefits. The first is it creates habits, which the brain loves. The brain also loves rituals. Ritual behavior is anything we do on a repetitive basis. It can be daily, weekly, or monthly, but the repeated behavior calms our anxiety and helps our brain process obstacles that we’re facing. In fact, a study out of the University of Toronto showed that engaging in ritual behavior can help reduce anxiety by reducing the fear we feel towards failure.
Getting organized takes work, as does staying organized, which is why it works to reduce stress and anxiety so effectively.
Conclusion
There’s no way we can escape stress entirely. As our modern lives pile things on our plate, stress will often follow. While there are a multitude of strategies we can employ to help mitigate stress, cleaning and organizing is always an easy activity we can engage in that provides numerous benefits. Even better, the more we do, the more effective it becomes. So start organizing today!
