There’s a reason why when you walk into a hotel room, they don’t decorate it with a bunch of messy papers on the desk and a pile of dirty clothes on the floor. Those things aren’t conducive to relaxing. Those things don’t calm you. And there’s a reason why high end designer retail shops always look like nothing is out of place. They work hard to provide you with a distractionless shopping experience. I once saw one of the employees of my local corner shop dusting the bananas. I’ve been there hundreds of times but I’ve only seen someone dusting the bananas once. But I bet they’re doing it everyday. Behind the scenes of every nicely laid out and welcoming space, someone is working very hard to make and keep it that way. Someone is dusting the bananas. Someone is mopping the floor. Someone is refolding the sweaters and straightening the shirts. Someone is making sure that all the hangers are facing the same way.
Being neat is a battle, and it’s one that I am constantly fighting. Anyone who has ever seen my room (or desk or closet or garage) will probably find it laughable that I am giving this advice to “Be neat.” Once, my dorm neighbor came into my room and looked at the pile of mess on my desk and laughed and said, “I love your mess.” I have changed some of my habits and I am still working to change other habits so that I can live in a more relaxing environment. Here are a few thoughts that have helped me fight for neatness in my life. I hope they help you, too.
- If you do nothing, then you will lose the battle of neatness.
You have to deal with dust no matter who you are. You might be fortunate enough to be able to pay someone else to dust for you but no matter who you are, there is dust floating around in the air in your house and eventually it will settle and collect and be gross. You must dust or live in dust. There is no in between. If you do nothing to tend to your garden, then it will quickly become overrun with weeds. Messiness has picked a fight with you, and you have to fight back. Go. Fight. Win. It’s the only way.
- Have a place for everything and everything in its place.
“Have a place for everything and everything in its place,” is apparently a somewhat common saying but I had never heard it until I was about 25. If you have a place for everything and put everything in its place, then you will have won the battle against messiness. I realized that it was easier for me to keep the kitchen neat than other rooms in the house and that this was because in the kitchen, everything had a place. Once something has a place, you can put it there. If it doesn’t have a place, where do you put it? If it doesn’t have a place, then it doesn’t matter how badly you want to tidy up and be neat—you will fail to be neat because this thing doesn’t have a place to be put. Observe the next 100 things that you put down in your house and ask yourself if you are putting them in their proper place or whether you are just leaving them out. If you are leaving things out because you are working on them, then remind yourself that you can work on only one thing at a time. Every thing that you leave out now is something that you will have to put away later.
- If you have to do it eventually, then you might as well do it now.
People put off doing things that they don’t want to do, that’s natural. And many people dislike cleaning up. I used to always put off doing the dishes. Until one day when I caught myself doing the dishes only just before I had to use them again. This happened fairly often when I had only one frying pan. Then I realized that by waiting until the last possible minute to wash the dishes, the end result was that I had dirty dishes in the sink 100% of the time. Use it and it’s dirty and in the sink right up until the next time that I have to use it. It was either being used or cleaned or sitting in the sink. It was never stored in the cabinet where it was supposed to be when it was idle. This realization got me to change my ways. It takes the same amount of time to wash a frying pan whether I do it right away or several days later. And I know that I have to do it at some point, so why not now? If I do it now, then I live in a clean house where eggs can be fried at any time. If I wait until later, then I live in a messy house where I have to see the mess every time I get a glass of water or wash my hands, let it grate on my mind, and I can’t fry eggs at a moment’s notice.
- Treat yourself as well as you treat your guests.
It’s pretty normal to neaten up a little before guests come over to your house but it’s a bad sign if this is the only time you ever neaten up. If it’s the only time that you ever neaten up, then the message that you’re sending to yourself is that you are not as important to yourself as your guests are to you. That’s ridiculous. You are the one who lives in your house all the time. You are the one who most often enjoys when it’s neat and feels frayed when it’s messy. You. Not your guests. So the next time you find yourself on your way to your house, ask yourself if you remembered to neaten up for yourself before you came over. You’re the guest who matters most.
- Being neat isn’t anal, it’s awesome.
For a while, there was a part of me that resisted trying to be neat because I thought that neatness was something for anal control freaks and no one else. Now I realize that it’s awesome. It’s why I like checking into a hotel room. It’s why I like eating on white plates. It’s why I like coming home to a nice clean house. If you’re honest with yourself, then you’ll probably realize that you like it when things are neat and tidy too. Now you have to get up and fight for it.
- Spend 10 minutes of every day cleaning up.
Fighting for the calm, relaxing environment that neatness brings takes time. You take the time to brush your teeth everyday and you should also take the time to clean up your house everyday. You’d be surprised what can happen in 10 minutes, whether that’s 10 minutes of putting things in their place or 10 minutes of letting the dust settle and the weeds grow. If 10 minutes isn’t enough time to help you win the fight, then put in more time until you feel like you’re treading water and not slowly sinking. It will be worth the time you spend.
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