It really is quite amazing how much more at peace I feel when the environment I am in is neat and tidy. Granted, the disorder of my surroundings is not what usually causes stress in my life; it is usually the other way round: stress causes my surroundings to become chaotic. However, when I make the small pockets of time to keep things in their place, I definitely am able to think more clearly and this usually indirectly reduces stress. Briefly, a few lessons I’ve learned this past month:

• When surroundings are orderly, objects are not lost. When I kept things neat and organized, I tended not to lose things. In fact, the definition of order means that things are not lost. However, if I did misplace something (usually due to being lax with the challenge), the quickest and most stress-free way to find it was to just start cleaning up. I experienced this by accident the first week. I could not find my phone and started randomly and then frantically searching. I was not having success and just decided to clean up the room instead, since it was somewhat messy. The first thing I picked off the floor, literally, revealed my phone underneath. I wasn’t even expecting to find it, thinking I must have left it in another room or in the car!
• It is easy to keep things neat if you always put things away. Now, let me say first off that this obviously does not apply if you have kids. However, when you are the only person contributing to the disorder in a room or environment, taking the extra second or two to hang the shirt up in the closet, put the book back on the shelf, or straighten the sheets makes a world of difference.
• Small, quick cleanings are awesome. It is possible to keep floors vacuumed, rooms dusted, and rooms tidied as long as you are always doing small things. Just 10 minutes of cleaning per day makes an hour a week, which can be significant. Now, these cleanings are not thorough, just enough to keep things looking decent and relatively sanitary.

What I would like to take away from this past month is to always leave a room in a general semblance of order. If this becomes a lifestyle then it can become as second nature as showering every morning or checking email.