Mental health is influenced by your surroundings, and keeping your habitual surroundings tidy helps to keep your mind happy.
It’s not an easy task to keep a house tidy. Some people seem to have the art, and some seem always to have messy houses, full of objects not put away. If you’re in the latter category, here are a few tips.
TIP ONE: GIVE EVERYTHING A PLACE
If every single object in your house has a place (which is not on the floor!), then you have the best chance of keeping order. this kind of tidiness relies on two parts: firstly, giving every single object a chosen place; and secondly, being ruthless with yourself in returning each object to that place every time.
TIP TWO: DEVELOP A DAILY ROUTINE, AND FOLLOW IT
If you follow the same routine when you get up, when you eat meals, and when you go to bed, then you have a good chance of keeping the house tidy. For instance, if you include the washing up as part of your mealtime ritual, then everything gets put back in place.
TIP THREE: THE ‘ROOM SWEEP’
A good way of keeping order, from time to time, is to choose a room, and sweep through it, starting at one end, and finishing at the other. As you move through, put away every object that is out of place. If you do this with all rooms regularly, then your house will stay tidy.
TIP FOUR: MAKING SPACE
Your house is like your body. You cannot keep taking in more than you let out. You need to make sure your house has a system by which surplus items are disposed of, whether via the waste tip, or giving objects away.
A MEDITATION
Is my house tidy?
Can I give everything a place, so that I can put everything away, and have room to move freely, and enjoy my space?
Do I follow a routine that includes putting things away every day, ideally immediately after using them?
Do I monitor my spaces to check for items out of place, and systematically put them back?
Have I got a good disposal system, to avoid accumulating surplus items? Or is my house like a body that accumulates without dissipating?
Am I able to support my own freedom and mental health by directing everything to its logical place?
Remindful UK 