Ways to Create Calm in Your Home
Ways to Create Calm in Your Home

by Cheryl Lock

You can do everything else in your life right, but if your actual home is a mess, you're likely to feel like your life is a bit out of control as well. You don't need to hire a weekly housekeeper to stay sane, though. Here's a few easy things you can do right now to create a better sense of calm in your home.

You can do everything else in your life right, but if your actual home is a mess, you're likely to feel like your life is a bit out of control as well.

Actually, researchers at the University of Louisville, Columbia University, New York University and Virginia Polytechic Institute found that the more chaotic a family's life is, the more likely kids are to encounter issues with vocabulary and IQ, and to have higher levels of attention, aggression and conduct problems, and much more.

You don't need to hire a weekly housekeeper to stay sane, though. Here we'll provide you with three easy things you can do right now to create a better sense of calm in your home.

1. Plan Ahead

These days, we all live by our calendars, but you can use a lot more than a calendar to keep track of your life's events. For one, monthly meal planners like Cook Smarts and Plan to Eat help you collect recipes your family loves, provide new and healthy ways to eat some of your favorite foods, organize and print shopping lists, and much more. (Now if only they could do the dishes, too.)

2. Think First Before Tackling a Task.

Research out of Penn State University found something interesting about human nature: When given two tasks to finish, participants often chose an action that takes more physical effort, which may lead to over-exertion or unnecessary risk. Of course, tackling household chores that need doing probably won't lead to anything overly dangerous, but the added stress of feeling like you have to clean something up after a long, hard day could actually be detrimental to your health.

Instead, try to set aside 5 to 10 minutes every morning -- before you get too bogged down in the weight of other everyday tasks -- to accomplish something around the house that needs doing. Unload the dishwasher. Load the wash and put the timer on. Give the dog a brush. The high you get from having accomplished something early will help you feel productive throughout the day, and those small tasks accomplished each and every morning will really start to add up.

3. Focus on What You Can See.

Let's face it: pretty much every refrigerator top could use a dust, and we seriously can't remember the last time we tackled our windows. The truth is, keeping your abode "tidy" is more likely to make you feel happy than is a deep clean every week, since tidiness is something we're more likely to notice throughout the day. Focus on some of the main aspects of your home each week -- making the bed, cleaning the toilet, sink and tub and vacuuming, and plan for the weekends to tackle those harder things that tend to get left behind. Make a note on your schedule or in your calendar to do so, and you'll be even more likely to keep that plan.

Article: Copyright ©,

Home & Garden: "Ways to Create Calm in Your Home"