Today – the intriguing psychology behind tidiness and cleanliness
The most important thing to know about people and their attitude to cleanliness is that nearly everyone has a different idea of exactly what constitutes clean and what makes a space tidy. People can also be split quite evenly between those who prioritise cleanliness and those who prioritise tidiness. For most people, by the time they reach adulthood, this will simply be a fact of life in the way they see the world.
The intriguing psychology behind tidiness and cleanliness
A vital skill for living with other people, therefore, whether they are flatmates, partners or spouses, is to learn what they need to see and perceive to feel at ease in a room, and how to reconcile this with your own sense of cleanliness. Read on for our advice on how best to approach issues of tidiness and cleanliness.
Clutter
Clutter can easily stress people out and make them feel alienated in their own homes. In this busy age, there are more gadgets, books and tools than ever, which can offer us some help and entertainment but which, when we look around for the next thing and the next, can also leave us neck-deep in clutter we only need occasionally. It is important not to let clutter build up in a way which will impede your life.
If you are struggling to tidy all of your clutter, it can be worth decluttering. Take a page out of Marie Kondo’s book, and be quite strict about what you do and do not need and what you will likely not use again. Once you know what you want to get rid of, it is possible to sell or give away items to charity shops or online.
Once you know you want to keep what you are holding onto, a graceful solution to space issues can be to get a loft ladder installation from Instaloft or a similar company who specialise in converting lofts. Having a ladder to the loft will mean you can store a huge range of items out of sight and out of mind, letting you live a tidier, less cluttered life, but will be able to get them out easily when you do need them.
Hygiene is fairly essential to the psychology behind tidiness
Dirty flats can become unhygienic places, especially if plates and food are left out for long periods of time with a chance of mould growing on them. In flats in this state, it is common for people to fall ill easily. It is therefore very important that, whatever level of clutter and relaxation is your personal default, you have a system in place for cleaning to ensure you maintain a basic level of hygiene.
A good idea in line with the psychology behind tidiness is to work out what the minimum you could safely do would be, and then aim to build a system where you clean twice as much as that. While this may seem like overkill, you will likely still be looking at remarkably little work if it is to be done with focus. If you have a focused half-hour twice a week with a friend or with your favourite music, or with a treat afterwards to motivate you, it will not take very long, provided you do not give it time to stretch out.
While having more cleaning than you think you need may sound excessive, it is good to have some give in the system for times when things get too busy or in case surprise health or personal issues knock you down for a few days unexpectedly.
The intriguing psychology behind tidiness and cleanliness is a feature post you might also like my post on a speedy tidy up trick
