Tips For Healthy Living At Home

by Deborah Dobbs, MA

Home. It’s where we start and end our day. Ideally, our home serves as a sanctuary, a place where we can relax and be ourselves. I can’t think of a more appropriate place to set up healthy living. There’s no need to go full-on feng shui. The smallest touches, like plants and natural light, can enhance our health.

CONSIDER STRING LIGHTS

Have you ever noticed the difference string lights can make on a patio, courtyard or even a room inside a home? They instantly create a warm and inviting atmosphere. They also trigger the brain to release dopamine, a happy hormone. The simple addition of string lights to a room or patio can boost mental health.

CLAIM YOUR SPACE

Two of the great stressors of the pandemic lockdowns were the restrictions on privacy and on our freedom to move about. During the lockdown, trauma expert Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D. emphasized the importance of having a place we can go to give ourselves a time-out. Even if our space consisted of nothing more than a chair, we needed it. (This need often contributes to tweens and teens spending more time in their bedrooms.) Your space might be a study, a workbench in the garage, a corner in a room, or a chair on the patio. Regardless of where it is, there’s value in having a place where we enjoy uninterrupted solitude. (Heeding nature’s call to the bathroom doesn’t count.) For those who can’t carve out space at home, you might find it elsewhere, like in a cafe or park. Finding it, however, is vital to our well-being.

TAKE CONTROL OF THE CLUTTER

I saved this for last because it’s a doozy. For some, controlling clutter is not a “small touch;” in fact, it’s overwhelming. I’m not referring to a pathological level such as hoarding, either. (That’s another subject altogether.) I’m simply referring to the accumulation of more stuff than what can reasonably fit in our home. I’ll also include stuff that’s out of its proper place: mail that belongs in the shredder, dishes piled up in the sink.

We tend to think of clutter as annoying but harmless. However, when clutter is excessive, it has a profound negative impact on our health and relationships. It can create tension between spouses, roommates, and between parents and their children. Clutter is an overachiever, too. It can be both a sign of and a trigger for stress, depression or anxiety.

A 2016 University of New Mexico study revealed that clutter can reduce the pleasure people experience when at home. Whether it’s dishes and appliances strewn about a kitchen counter or laundry patiently waiting to be put away, clutter compromises our ability to navigate our environment and it contributes to our misplacement of things.

Furthermore, kitchen clutter has been linked to unhealthier eating habits. We’re more likely to reach for a cookie or chips when there’s chaos in the kitchen. A mess in the kitchen might deter us from cooking a healthy meal and opting instead for a trip to a drive-thru.

De-cluttering can be overwhelming, especially if that little pile has had time to grow. If that’s the case, take small steps, like starting with a drawer or a corner or committing to keeping the sink free of dirty dishes. Small wins can lead to greater victories.

REFERENCES:

Martinez, Shandra (2023) The Psychology Behind String Lights: Why they Can Make You Feel Better. Online Magazine: A Healthier Michigan.

Roster, C. A., Ferrari, J. R., & Jurkat, M. P. (2016). The dark side of home: Assessing possession ‘clutter’ on subjective well-being. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 4632-41. doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2016.03.003

Vartanian, L. R., Kernan, K. M., & Wansink, B. (2017). Clutter, chaos, and overconsumption: The role of mind-set in stressful and chaotic food environments. Environment and Behavior, 49(2), 215-223. doi:10.1177/0013916516628178

Whitbourne, Susan Krauss, Ph.D. 5. Reasons Why Clutter Disrupts Mental Health. Psychology Today. May 13, 2017.