Clean your room

Cleaning your room or apartment can be a cleansing activity. If your apartment is dirty or cluttered with things, it also clutters your mind. There will always be this thought in the back of your head that this should be tidy, that this can be clean if you would just do the chore. Things lying around take up mental space and demand your attention, even if you try to ignore it.

The longer you wait to act, the harder it gets and the greater the resistance in your mind is to actually do it.

You cannot escape it at home because you can always see it. One can notice the difference when not being at home, for example while taking a walk. There your mind is not burdened by the messiness of your home. Nothing to clean here and not your responsibility to put things in order.

I was always someone who didn't feel the need to really clean my home. Random things cluttered my floor all the time and the piles grew and grew. One reason for that is that I seldom get visitors. I have a small apartment that is not really suitable for meeting up. I told myself that I don't have to tidy up when I am comfortable with the chaos. It does not bother me at all. A clean apartment is for others, not me.

Self perception

But I underestimated how a messy home would clutter my brain and influence how I see myself. Because you are responsible for cleaning your home and you know deep inside that the current state is not right, but you do not act on that impulse, you begin to perceive yourself as a messy person. Your environment shapes your identity.

Other activities are also harder to do with these thoughts. You can't even take care of the basics, so why should you tackle other tasks? The degree of order in your home is something you can control while life often has many more things you can't directly control. You can interpret cleaning as a way of taking control of your life. After achieving progress in that area, you feel motivated to tackle more things.

Suddenly you don't fear unexpected visitors and can invite people to your home. You can be more open to the outside world and don't have to hide yourself. Don't let the chaos get unmanageable. Act a tiny bit every day and prove to yourself that you have the discipline to be a person who is able to take control of his life.