I never thought about clutter quite this way before, but it does make some sense. From the New York Times:
Getting organized is unquestionably good for both mind and body — reducing risks for falls, helping eliminate germs and making it easier to find things like medicine and exercise gear.[...]
But experts say the problem with all this is that many people are going about it in the wrong way. Too often they approach clutter and disorganization as a space problem that can be solved by acquiring bins and organizers.
Measures like these “are based on the concept that this is a house problem,” said David F. Tolin, director of the anxiety disorders center at the Institute of Living in Hartford and an adjunct associate professor of psychiatry at Yale. [...]
Excessive clutter and disorganization are often symptoms of a bigger health problem. People who have suffered an emotional trauma or a brain injury often find housecleaning an insurmountable task. Attention deficit disorder, depression, chronic pain and grief can prevent people from getting organized or lead to a buildup of clutter. At its most extreme, chronic disorganization is called hoarding, a condition many experts believe is a mental illness in its own right, although psychiatrists have yet to formally recognize it.
I know that there have been times in my life, where things haven’t gone my way, and where my place looked as chaotic as I felt…and indeed, the act of getting things straightened and cleaned up was part of how I would get out of my funk.
More recently, after my wife’s accident and with her subsequent disability, our housekeeping has been occasionally “interesting”. When a household member has limited mobility, and frequently-but-randomly needs quiet rest to help deal with a bad pain episode…bringing order to the house can be a challenge.
For those who unfortunately face a similar challenge, I can offer the trick I use to try to keep things from getting out of hand, without stressing too much about it. I rely on Outlook to keep myself straight when it comes to “to-do’s”, and reminders. Accordingly, I just set up a set of recurring tasks to clue me in on what I want to focus my efforts on, should circumstances permit. My cycle runs:
- Mondays — dusting/light cleaning in living room
- Tuesdays — dusting/light cleaning in main floor bedroom, bathrooms, and laundry room
- Wednesdays — mopping/light cleaning in kitchen (beyond the daily, necessary cleaning)
- Thursdays — dusting/light cleaning in dining room
- Fridays — off
- Weekends — outside chores, dusting/light cleaning upstairs office & bathroom
In addition, weekends are also for more detailed cleaning in one of those zones, tracked again with recurring (every 35 day) tasks.
If circumstances don’t permit doing the daily/weekly task…well, it can slip and I’ll try to get it next time around, thereby avoiding the stress of attempting to play “catch up”, and ensuring that generally everything gets hit about equally, since the opportunities to clean / the need for quiet can be pretty random.
It’s not perfect, and it might seem a little over-structured to some…but being able to follow some form of a pattern to the extent possible can go a long way towards making the chaos of life in our household survivable.
