And it can have spillover effects into other areas of our lives, says Marla Deibler, Psy.D., director of the Center for Emotional Health of Greater Philadelphia. “When we accomplish a goal like cleaning the fridge, we gain confidence that we can succeed,” which helps us tackle projects in other areas of our lives. It’s one of the reasons Julia Stone, 36, a CPA and mom to two in Denver Colorado makes cleaning a priority in her home. “If I can even get something silly organized like a junk drawer, it feels like I accomplished something. I feel ready to take on other challenges.” A good scrub on the weekend makes Stone “feel more peaceful, like I am starting my week fresh.” She typically tackles the laundry, sweeps floors, wipes down kitchen and bathroom surfaces, and tidies up all toys, books, and clothes on Saturday and Sunday. With those tasks under her belt, she feels “like things will go smoothly” during the week. Beaton says cleaning can even help people “feel more control over their environment when they feel a lack of control in other areas of their lives.” There’s no way to force our bosses to love our job on that work presentation, but we can make our home a clean, inviting space that gives us happiness. And there’s an evolutionary need for that control, says Sally Augustin, Ph.D., an environmental psychologist and principal at Design with Science. In our modern-day life, we’re not worried a saber tooth tiger will attack us from the dining room, she says. But “our sensory organs have evolved to always be taking stock of what’s around us.” So we gravitate toward uncluttered spaces that are easier to survey. And when we’re in them, we feel more relaxed. Like many of the Facebook responders, Karras cleans to take a break from the pressures of work and everyday life. “As a freelancer, when I have a deadline, I do everything else on my to-do list before doing my work,” says Karras. Some might see that as procrastination, but Neziroglu says it can be a healthy way to handle anxiety. “People may clean as a form of distraction…and doing something mindless can rest your brain.” That makes sense to Karen Maezen Miller, a Zen Buddhist priest in Southern California, and author of Hand Wash Cold: Care Instructions for an Ordinary Life, who says the “physical components of housework are meditative, because they are simple tasks you perform with your own body, and they are repetitive.” Plus, “you don’t have to analyze how to do them, you don’t have to go to school and perfect them, you just have to get in there and do it.” Ping, whose daily cleaning includes making beds, doing laundry, unloading the dishwasher, wiping down kitchen counters, and picking up endless amounts of dog hair, finds comfort in that repetitive, unchanging aspect. “I like the sameness of it,” says Ping. “I like change everywhere else in my life, but not cleaning.” A messy home can also be an indicator of how you’re feeling about yourself. “People are less likely to take care of their environment when they don’t feel good about themselves,” says Deibler. “And the more chaotic their environment becomes, the worse they feel about themselves.” But beyond undoing the negative effects of living in a mess, cleaning your home “gives you a chance to reassess the message you want to send about who you are to yourself and others,” argues Augustin. If you’ve had a major life event such as going back to school or becoming part of a couple, reorganizing your home is an opportunity to telegraph that to the world by putting up new pictures or restocking your bookshelves. Miller made a radical transformation in her late 30s when she left her life as a successful PR exec to become a Zen priest. One of the pivotal changes she made on that journey was doing her own housework after paying someone else to do it for 15 years. “We wake up, we produce waste and laundry and dust and messes. They are the real stuff in our lives. So the time that we spend avoiding denigrating and demeaning these fundamental [cleaning] tasks means we are rejecting our own life,” says Miller. “By turning toward what you would rather not face, you are making a profound, radical transformation in every aspect of your life. You begin to feel much more comfortable in your life, you feel competent, and you feel fulfilled.”
