If you have clicked through my website and read my home page or my bit about self-improvement you will notice one word that I like to emphasize. That word is “action”. I emphasize this word because I believe any strategy an individual utilizes to manage or overcome depression depends on that individual being willing to do something to take action. The challenge with this is that when a person is depressing that act tends to consume them and leaves little will to act upon any other drive. This is where willingness comes in. It does not matter if you think your depression will never go away. All that matters is that you do want to stop depressing and are willing to take small actions to start moving forward.
So how does cleaning your room help? Most people who are struggling and depressing tend to spend a lot of time at home. It may even be difficult for them to leave home due to lack of motivation or anxieties. This makes the home ground zero for beginning the journey to wellness. We must work from where we are in life and learn how to use our environment to support us in reaching our goals. If the goal is to stop depressing and reach a state of feeling mentally well then we must look to our environment for the opportunities it offers to help us reach our goal. If you are stuck and finding it hard to feel mentally well follow these steps and see how your mood improves as you step into action.
Step 1: Find a timer. Most people now days have one on their phone. If you are unable to acquire a timer use music and pick two songs you can play to keep time for you.
Step 2: Pick a time of day you are most likely to be awake and moving
Step 3: Commit to yourself you will do this activity at that set time everyday
Step 4: At your chosen time set your timer for 5 minutes or hit play on your songs
Step 5: Start cleaning. Day 1 might only consist of you grabbing a trash bag or bin and placing it in your room. The point is to stay in action mode for all 5 minutes.
Step 6: Continue cleaning everyday at your set time for 5 minutes. Start by throwing away any trash. Make sure once you fill the trash bag or bin you take it out of your room and place it where the trash goes. This may be your 5 minute activity for the day that is okay. Make sure it goes out for pick up on trash pickup day or find a way to get it to the dump. This may involve asking someone to help you. That is okay; make the asking for help your 5 minute activity for the day. Getting the trash out of the home is a very important step. Visualize as you take the trash out that you are shedding that mental weight that has been holding you back.
Step 7: Continue repeating this process every day. When all the trash is gone, start wiping down surfaces and cleaning windows and mirrors. Once you finish this task start going through your possessions and decide if you want to keep them or if they can go into a giveaway pile. If you make a giveaway pile grab a bag or box to place the giveaways into. When you fill a giveaway bag or box take it to a thrift shop or ask someone to help you do so. If you find you like doing the cleaning and want to do it for longer than 5 minutes then have at it. Just remember you only need to do this for 5 minutes a day, that’s it.
It has been heavily researched and reported that removing clutter and trash from one’s environment reduces anxiety, reduces stress, and improves mood. Allow yourself to reap these benefits and feel a sense of accomplishment for your hard work. You will feel better and be more able to do the work to manage and overcome your depression.
As an additional note…. For better or worse the mind is a marvelous and clever thought making machine. You may find at first your mind tries to sabotage your efforts to escape its grasp on your mental well being. Maybe at the set time you agreed to jump to action and start cleaning you find that all of a sudden you are unbearably tired or start to have a panic attack. This is okay! If you feel that weight of being so tired you think it would be unbearable to get up and start moving, tell yourself you will go back to sleep after the 5 minutes is through and that you can do this. Take a moment to ground yourself. Put your attention to your senses. What can you hear happening around you, what do you smell in the air, what sensations do you feel on your skin, what kind of taste do you have in your mouth, what can you look at that you find beautiful? Then take a deep breath, get up and set your timer and clean for 5 minutes. If you feel a panic attack coming on remind yourself it will come and go just like every panic attack you have ever had before. Do the grounding activity and allow the panic attack to pass. As soon as it passes set the timer and start cleaning. Your mind will learn that you are not going to allow its sabotaging efforts and you will find progressively over time you are better able to get going and do your cleaning at your chosen time. You are in control of your life and you can do this!