Does the state of your house affect your mental outlook?

[Kristen]

Do you feel more stressed and less able to handle life when it's messy? Or are you able to happily live in a cluttery mess? :giggle

I am always amazed and impressed by people who can function well and live happily in a mess. It's just not in my genes. :p I am a much happier person when my house is clean and organized, and I feel like I can work better. For instance, when my dishes are done and my kitchen counters are clear, it is way easier to make dinner. Or when my computer desk is clear and my papers are organized, I can find what I need, and I have space to do my work.

I have a very hard time sitting and relaxing in a messy space. The mess is almost like a very distracting background noise that makes it hard for me to unwind.

[Shana]

Everything you said, that is exactly me, Kristen :)

[wendygrace]

I can kinda unwind in a mess but only when I've hit "hopeless" which is where the state of my house is at the moment. But definetly the messier my house, the messier my mind and mood.

[malcontent]

I feel awful when my house is messy. I get frustrated and anxious.

[Christine]

I love having a clean and organized house because then I feel like there's nothing for me to do and I can relax. If it's a mess, then I know there's something I *should* be doing that I'm not, and I get anxious. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it needs to have some order or it definitely affects my mood!

[Danielle]

I am always amazed and impressed by people who can function well and live happily in a mess. It's just not in my genes. :p I am a much happier person when my house is clean and organized, and I feel like I can work better. For instance, when my dishes are done and my kitchen counters are clear, it is way easier to make dinner. Or when my computer desk is clear and my papers are organized, I can find what I need, and I have space to do my work.

I have a very hard time sitting and relaxing in a messy space. The mess is almost like a very distracting background noise that makes it hard for me to unwind.

That's 100% me as well!

[MathSpeak]

Absolutely. There's ALWAYS an abundance of work to be done at my house, and it stresses me to no end :(

[Sarah]

Yep, my mood is usually directly or indirectly a result of how clean (or not clean) my house is.

[Jejune]

Yes, but if the mess is large, I reach a point where I hardly know where to start. Liam is like a hurricane, and I often feel I can't catch up.

[Mary]

It makes me anxious when there's a big mess -- but that doesn't mean I'm motivated to clean it up right away! Like Kristen it will hit a certain point where I am at a loss what to do first, or I know that there is so much work to be done that I will never finish it all in one go, so I basically give up.

I've been doing better the past couple of weeks since we got everything cleaned up for the midwife's visit. I've actually been motivated to take the time to do the work to keep it tidied up and I think it's because I was so sick of living in a pigsty and it feels so much better to have it fairly presentable.

[Jejune]

Having written that, I decided to pick a place to start and started with my room. I have a long way to go, but in less than an hour I've made serious progress. If I can get through our bedroom today, then tomorrow I'll start on the boys' room.

[Christine]

You know, there's this book I adore that states spending 15 minutes on any one task will motivate you to get more work done. If you have a project that's overwhelming, only allow yourself 15 minutes. You'll be much more productive because you know there's an end in sight. Spending 15 minutes on a tough room once a day, you can have it completely done in a week without getting overwhelmed. ;)

[Jejune]

Christine, when I had a regular routine, part of it involved an egg timer. I allowed myself ten to fifteen minutes per task and stopped when the timer went off. It worked well.

[Kami]

Yes it effects my outlook! I get so stressed over the house being messy, and that leads to moodiness, and tends to make me just not really care anymore. It only happens on occasion, but I hate feelign that way!

[Amber]

Iit will hit a certain point where I am at a loss what to do first, or I know that there is so much work to be done that I will never finish it all in one go, so I basically give up.

I'm the same way.

My mood is definitely influenced by how tidy (or untidy) my house is. When it's clean, I am happy & have a sense of accomplishment. When it's dirty, I tend to be terribly unproductive & then feel guilty.

[Renita]

yes, which is why my house stays clean. it really affects DH moreso than me. if the house is messy, he cannot relax until it is clean. so he'll whip out the vacuum...:giggle

[Heather]

Ditto to wendygrace, malcontent and Kristen(H).

It drives me insane to have a messy house. But, it is what it is most of the time. Try as I might, I can't get anyone in this house to pick up after themselves.. you'd think with the other messes I have to contend with that they would see that I don't have time to pick up all of the other stuff too. I always joke that I aspire to be a neat freak one day, but at this point.. lol that's far away. Steve doesn't worry about the house being clean.. at all. I do. There's a lot that I don't get embarrassed about anymore.. but if my house is messy(even One room) and someone stops by.. I do get horribly embarrassed. Because I don't think of myself as a "messy" person. I refuse to cook in the kitchen if it's messy at all. If the rest of the house is mess though, my kitchen usually isn't. That's one place where i'm so anal I could probably pop some diamons out if I tried hard enough lol.

[Heather]

Wanted to add.
I was talking to Granny about this just yesterday. She said she watched a show(shes always watching the organizational shows) and the woman featured said that she scours each room once a month, and then does light maintence during the remainder of that month. I found this interesting, as I'm really bad about going into a room to clean and then spending Hours in there. I don't just clean the room.. I pretty much scrub it from top to bottom, sort things, clean out stuff we don't need, etc. So I'm always spending hours just on one room and then I get worn out and don't get to the other rooms. She said I should scour each room once a month and then the rest of the time just keep them picked up and to RESIST my urges to do complete overhauls to the rooms everytime I clean them. Because I'm trying to scour every room, every week and it doesn't work because I'm spending all my time cleaning(except for todaaaay lol).
Makes sense! Let's see how well it works for me though lol

[YourMom]

I love having a clean and organized house because then I feel like there's nothing for me to do and I can relax. If it's a mess, then I know there's something I *should* be doing that I'm not, and I get anxious. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it needs to have some order or it definitely affects my mood!

:lightbulb

[Desirae]

Yes, though like MAry that doesn't mean I'll actually get it taken care of right away.

[Shana]

Wondering why it's okay to have a messy house but not make a run to the grocery in your (tasteful and simple) PJ pants, hoodie and flip flops :p

[Jejune]

Wondering why it's okay to have a messy house but not make a run to the grocery in your (tasteful and simple) PJ pants, hoodie and flip flops :p

Um? Huh?

OK, I'll try to get this one behind me, assuming it refers to my other thread. I don't like having a messy house, and I don't think it's OK. I do have a messy house. I also think it's OK to run to the store in the outfit you described. I see a big difference, though, in an essentially tasteful outfit and full on sloppy just rolled out of bed and didn't bother to get dressed at all. My house, while messy, isn't for public consumption. It's not a matter of OK or not OK. It's a matter of what judgments I would make. I wouldn't make flattering judgments about myself if I saw my house, to be honest. I don't think wearing PJs in public is OK or not OK. I do know that at a certain point, I wonder if a person is depressed. End of story on my end.

[Shana]

Oh Kristen... I'm sorry! I really am, I was just teasing -- oh gosh. I feel really bad -- I haven't even read the posts, I swear.

I was trying to be funny. I think I failed.

My most deepest sincere apologies -- I was trying to be lighthearted. Promise:squeeze

[Jejune]

Shana, I'm sorry I took it any other way. I guess I've been feeling bad for starting the other thread.

[Shana]

Aaaaahhh... I understand. And no worries, it's so hard to really interpret what another person means/intends through written tone :squeeze

[Beka]

ohhhh this is so where i need a camera, my house is always clean but seldom tidy if that makes sense. I can't live with dirty but with 4 kids (one of whom is Jude), 1 large David and only 2 bedrooms my house is rarely tidy as it's hard to keep such a cluttered small space looking unchaotic.

Does it bother me? I gave up caring- as long as it is clean and healthy for the kids clutter and untidiness will not kill them.

Mentally yep, i guess it does- i find life with 4 kids alot easier when the clothes are all sorted (so i can grab and dress) and the kitchen is clear (so i can get on with dishes, laundry, prepping food in the short space of time Loki sleeps- i don't have to clear then do task, i like to just be able to do task) i couldn't give a moo if my bed is made, if i can walk the length of the kids room without tripping over toys and clothes...

I think it comes from being raised by a mother with OCD - honestly- sil and i had this conversation on thursday actually, we believe often you become the polar of whar you were raised in, my mother was an obsessive cleaner, she couldn't sleep if there was one dish in the sink, even when we went on vacation she had to be cleaning and i watched my mom miss out on so much in our life growing up because she had to keep cleaning that it made me realise i'd enjoy life first, worry about the mess later. My mother has extreme hyper tension which i entirely attribute to how stressed she is about cleaning- my house annoys the cr*p out of her - if i leave her here with the kids for too long i come home to find her cleaning if they've taken a nap or are watching TV. Don't get me wrong, i had a great childhood where we did loads of stuff but on vacation my mom would be hand washing laundry in the sink when i headed to bed, still cooking a full meal in the chalet because she didn't think we should be eating out when she could cook (you get the picture) It's just the generation my mom was born in- there is a great shame to other people being able to say their house/kids/husband is more respectable than yours in my moms generation/demographic she was raised in.

My nan and my aunts all have larger families and my nan told me that in 20 years time no one is going to remember what job i had, what money i have, what the state of my house is indoors but they will know how my kids turned out so we work with the ethos the kids are always clean and presentable to leave the house, their clothes are always in good condition even if they're not expensive one, and i don't worry about the rest.

[Lori]

For me, it depends. I prefer to have a clean house, but there are lots of things I'd prefer that I don't have and my life still goes on okay. ;) So I guess it's that ideally I'd prefer a clean house, but there's only so much time I'm willing to spend on it, and if it doesn't reach "ideal" state within that time--which it seldom does--that's fine by me. Having a messy house affects my quality of life less than spending massive amounts of my free time cleaning would, and until the day comes when we can afford to pay someone to clean it, I'm fine with messy.

However, if I have a pressing task that I really don't want to do--like a huge stack of badly-written papers to grade--then suddenly the mess in my house becomes hugely important and I cannot do a thing until I clean it. So I'm pretty good about cleaning when it's a form of procrastination, and when I have an unpleasant task that requires a lot of focus, the state of my house is probably the #1 thing that distracts me. But in those cases, once the house is clean I find something else that's driving me crazy and must be done immediately, so it's more about not wanting to do something than really needing to clean.

[Lori]

I think it comes from being raised by a mother with OCD - honestly- sil and i had this conversation on thursday actually, we believe often you become the polar of whar you were raised in, my mother was an obsessive cleaner, she couldn't sleep if there was one dish in the sink, even when we went on vacation she had to be cleaning and i watched my mom miss out on so much in our life growing up because she had to keep cleaning that it made me realise i'd enjoy life first, worry about the mess later.

Beka, I feel exactly the same way about my mother. She was also an obsessive cleaner, to the point where I honestly do not remember her ever, when we were living at home, just sitting down and relaxing and enjoying herself. She was always doing a chore. And it wasn't necessary, because I'd rather have lived in a house where it was okay to have something out of place or to have dirty dishes in the sink, and it couldn't have been fun for her at all. So I tend to be the opposite. Cleaning is very, very low on my list of priorities, as a conscious choice. The other thing was that my mother was so obsessive about cleaning that she was the only person she trusted to do it, so I never even did a load of laundry until I moved to college. I still don't think I've ever used the washing machine or vacuum in my parents' house, because my mother doesn't trust anyone else to do things the right way. It makes me crazy, and not only do I think it ended up with her having a lot more stress than she needed, but it kept me and my sister from having responsibility that we should have had. So I try to remember that, if Thomas picks up his toys badly and things still look kind of messy, in the long run that's better than me doing it for him.

[Onyx]

Only to a point - the state of my house is a pretty good indicator of if I am manic or depressed :giggle or if I am super busy and stressed. I have kinda learned what I am capible of and try not to worry when my house is trashed :unreal

[Jenny]

I just tend to leave the house more when its more of a mess. I am MUCH happier if its nice and clean (and hairless!!!)

[Shasta]

If the house is a mess, it really puts me in a bad mood, it just makes me feel so overwhelmed. When I've just cleaned and it looks really nice, I feel so good, I feel like I've got a lot accomplished.

[Kate]

I don't think the state of my house affects my mind, but I do think my state of mind affects the state of my house.

In fact, that becomes a barometer of my moods...ideally, the house is immaculate, and when I'm feeling good, it will stay that way, but I do notice when things aren't going well in other areas of my life, the house starts slipping too.

[malcontent]

I had my floors cleaned yesterday and I feel so much better. The tile and grout had ground-in dirt that mopping wouldn't touch, but the professional cleaners were able to make it look almost new again. I feel much less stressed now that my floors aren't calling out for me to scrub them.

[Marzipan]

I'm an anal retentive neat freak and I am completely unable to function if my house is messy. A messy house makes me snappish and irritable. I have a good cleaning routine down, and my husband is a big help. I also do not allow much extraneous clutter and crap in the house, and I find that to be an enormous help.