The end of the school year is incredibly stressful. There are exams and tests, and many simply feel burned out and thus have no motivation to do any work.
When I am stressed, I tend not to have any motivation to clean or organize my environment, and in turn, when the spaces I spend most of my time in are unorganized, this leads me to feel even more stressed. Over the years of living in this constant cycle, I have found some ways to keep my spaces clean and organized even when I am stressed and short on time.
How to organize your mind:
There are periods in my life where I don’t have much going on, and I am able to create a mental checklist in my head of what things I need to get done; there are also times in my life when I have a ton of stuff going on—usually a combination of school, sports, social life, etc.—and my brain is cluttered with so many things, which makes me unable to keep track of it all. During the latter periods, it’s routine for me to make lists. These lists will plan out my particularly busy days and are accurate down to the minute, or they will consist of various tasks I need to complete in no particular order. Some apps that I use to help me organize my time and thoughts include Notion and Google Calendar. Notion helps me plan out my homework in an aesthetically pleasing way, and Google Calendar allows me to plan out events I have coming up. I find that when my mind is organized, I feel less stressed, and it also helps me to keep the spaces I spend the most time in clean.
How to organize your backpack:
Sophomore year, my backpack was an utter disaster. There were papers everywhere with no clear system. All my folders had been misplaced halfway through the school year, and even the ones that had managed to stay in my backpack were not being used. Whenever a teacher would ask the class to take out a specific paper, I would have to rifle through a six-inch stack of unordered papers—this process would typically take me around five to ten minutes. Because of how inefficient my system was, I made it a goal to keep my backpack organized and clean throughout my entire junior year. A few of the ways I have made this happen is by purchasing nice folders that will not break, as well as getting different colored folders so that it is easy to depict which folder is for which subject. Another problem I faced last year was simply being too lazy to put my papers away, so this year, every time I would start to shove an assignment in a random place in my backpack, I would have to remind myself to take the extra second to put it in the correct spot. Lastly, I make it a goal to clean out my backpack at least once every other week. This ensures that all of my assignments are in the appropriate places and that my backpack is overall more organized.
How to organize your room:
95 percent of the time, my room is a cluttered mess. There are clothes scattered everywhere, an unkempt bed, and books and papers dispersed about the room. Recently, I have been trying to keep my room cleaner because living in such a messy area puts my brain in shambles. One way that I do this is by trying to stay on a cleaning schedule. I try and do my laundry at least once a week, and instead of putting my clothes on the floor, I make sure to put them in my laundry basket right away. I also try to do a light clean every Sunday, and a deep clean every month. All of these things help me to stay mentally and physically organized.
When I am in stressful periods of life, there are many things I cannot control; keeping my space and mind organized is something I can control, so following these steps helps to mitigate stress.
