My 'All-in-One Pill' for Boosting Your Mood, Concentration, and Heart Health
It's time to roll up your sleeves...
Each year, millions of Americans use the warmer temperatures as an excuse to throw open their windows and tidy up their homes. According to a 2024 survey by the American Cleaning Institute, 80% of American households participate in spring cleaning each year.
And while some of us might put it off, taking the time to clean your home this spring has myriad mental and physical benefits...
Your Focus, Memory, and Stress Levels Improve
It's true... Using brain MRIs and task performance in response to clutter, a 2011 study published in the Journal of Neuroscience found that your ability to focus and process information will suffer if you're surrounded by a hodgepodge of items.
Not to mention, one 2016 study found that maybe your "senior moment" could be stemming from a cluttered abode. Older participants exposed to clutter were less confident in remembering important details – even when they, in fact, remembered correctly.
Oh, and ever since my office glow-up, I've felt a lot less stressed...
Disorganized spaces breed stress. They distract you so your productivity suffers, ramping up your stress levels.
Just imagine trying to focus on a task when all you can see are uncompleted chores and clutter building up all around you.
In fact, University of California, Los Angeles researchers found that women who reported living in a cluttered environment produced cortisol more consistently throughout the day, compared with women who reported living in clean spaces.
So your perception of your own living space matters when it comes to your levels of stress.
Your Mood and Sleep Improve
Not only will you be able to focus better on work or even perhaps a good book from your TBR (or "To Be Read") list, but keeping a tidy space also works like an all-in-one pill for ADHD, depression, and insomnia.
According to one online survey of 2,000 American adults, each hour of weekly cleaning increased people's happiness by 53%.
A single, measly hour out of the 119 or so hours you spend awake (assuming you log an average of seven hours of shut-eye each night) is all you need... The survey also found that 60 minutes of cleaning improved people's relaxation, heightened their focus, and helped them sleep better and be more productive.
And for those of you with kids... good news: Nearly 60% of parents said their kids studied better and 49% saw improvements in their kids' behavior in clean spaces.
Your Heart Benefits, Too
In addition to all the mental benefits of cleaning, you'll also get in a good workout...
Doing chores like vacuuming, gardening, and scrubbing requires balance, strength, and range of motion. So much so that – according to experts – folks can burn hundreds of calories per hour while cleaning.
It's a simple way to sneak in some movement – an essential part of healthy living – during the day. That's the idea behind "VILPA," which stands for Vigorous Intermittent Lifestyle Physical Activity.
VILPAs are brief, sporadic activities like power walking, running after a toddler, lugging a bunch of groceries, or quickly climbing a flight of stairs. Cleaning counts, too.
Well, a British Journal of Sports Medicine study from December found that, in women, even just 3.4 minutes of daily VILPA was linked to a 67% lower risk of heart failure and a 45% lower risk of heart attack or stroke.
And might I add that these results were among women who admitted to not exercising regularly.
Our Tips for Cleaning
Now that I'm sure you're eager to get up and start picking up around the house, here are some of our favorite tips for cleaning...
1. Go slow. You don't want to tackle your entire house in one weekend. Remember, all the moving and cleaning is physically exhausting, but the act of letting things go also taxes us emotionally.
Plan your approach and try to do one or two rooms per day. For more cluttered areas, set aside more time. You might take a three-day weekend to do the garage, for example.
When cleaning, work from the ceiling to the floor to avoid having to reclean floors of debris.
2. Figure out what to keep. When deciding what to keep, ask yourself these questions:
Do I use this item on a regular basis?
Can I still use this item?
Does this object bring me joy?
3. Donate. Often, donating items is easier – and more rewarding – than simply trashing them. Knowing someone else can use and enjoy the item helps us let it go.
4. Use stations. A helpful tip when you're deciding what to do with your things is to set up four stations, such as boxes, trash bags, or simply marked areas of a room. Label them Keep, Trash, Donate, and Store. For each item you come across, assign it to one of those stations.
5. Try the six-month test. Box up items you might be reluctant to give away. Mark the box with a date in the future – six months is usually a good start. Put the box out of sight. You can try the garage or the basement, for example. In six months, see if you've needed or missed anything in there. If it's out of sight, you'll grow less attached, and letting go becomes easier.
6. Go digital. Paperwork is one of the worst offenders of clutter. Our franchise manager Laura Bente recommends going digital. She bought her parents a small desktop scanner to digitize all their important paperwork. (You can find document scanners at Staples or Office Depot for around $100.)
7. Employ the "one in, two out" rule. Typically, we apply this to clothing. For every new piece of clothing you purchase, you must get rid of two pieces. But you can also apply this to books, DVDs, shoes, and even kitchen utensils.
Finally, do what I do and mark your cleaning days on the calendar in your kitchen... or add it as a recurring event on your phone's calendar.
Send your favorite spring-cleaning hacks to us... Shoot us an e-mail: feedback@healthandwealthbulletin.com.
What We're Reading...
- Something different: The 10 weirdest gadgets seen at this massive electronics bonanza.
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
April 3, 2025
P.S. Not only will decluttering improve memory and confidence in older folks, but it could also save their lives.
According to a 2023 Cochrane review, minimizing the risk factors for falls in the home, such as obstacles on the floor can instantly slash the risk of falling by roughly 25%.
The majority of falls happen at home, too. Falls are the No. 1 reason for injuries among the elderly... and for 90% of traumatic brain injuries like concussions, too. Check out last month's Retirement Millionaire for more on how concussions affect older Americans, concussion myths, and tips on how to protect your most precious asset in your bodily portfolio. (Hint: It's your brain.) Get the details on a free trial, if you're not a subscriber.