It’s nearing the end of the semester and things are starting to get a little crazy around here. Everyone is stressed out with homework, end of the year projects, trying to figure things out for next year and trying to find time for a social life in all of it. It feels so good when you can take time for yourself but nothing feels better than walking into a clean space that is your own.
A person's space has a direct affect on their mood the minute they walk into it. This means if you walk into your room and it’s a mess you’re going to feel stressed out and like everything is out of control. This could also mean that if you walk into your room and it’s cleaned up and looks like a picture straight off of Pinterest then maybe you can feel like at least something in your life is put together. Cleaning isn’t hard to do but for some reason people either love it or hate it, I personally love cleaning my room because I love seeing the end result. I love the feeling that everything is in the place that it should be and that I have one less thing to worry about.
Having a clean dorm room isn’t something that’s hard to achieve, you just have to find the time and motivation to do it. One of my number one tips is to turn music on, I know that this is what everyone says but it really does help. If you’re on your phone or laptop the whole time then you aren’t cleaning but if you’re playing music you’ll want to stay off of it.
The first place that I would start out with would be to put your laundry in the washer. While you’re cleaning the rest of your room your laundry can be going and by the time you’re done you’ll have clean clothes. The second thing that I would do before starting on the rest of your room if you didn’t need to wash your bedding would be to make your bed. You will feel so accomplished already without even touching the rest of your room. This makes your room look so much cleaner than what it is and then you can set stuff on your bed while you’re cleaning since it’s made already. Next, I would do your dishes if you have any because I know that a lot of people just use paper and plastic stuff but for the ones that don’t I know it can stack up quick. It’s very easy to just put your coffee mug to the side or your cereal bowl on your desk but just pick it up and wash it. You’ll avoid growing mold this way and you won’t be looked at as the nasty roommate that never did their dishes.
After doing and putting away your dishes I would just organize in general, this means putting papers away where they need to go or recycling them. Go through your desk drawers and book bag and get rid of what you don’t need so it’s not taking up space. Trust me, it seems like a lot but once you’re done you’ll thank yourself. Now that all of that is do I would either switch over your laundry or if it’s done fold it and put it away right away because let’s be honest, you won’t put it away later if you don’t do it now. After everything is done all that’s left to do is sweep your floor or vacuum the carpet if you have one. Dorm floors are disgusting, so I would sweep them about once a week because if not who knows what they’ll start to look like. You’ll feel so proud of yourself after your room is done and organized that you’ll either be on a roll to get everything done that day or you’ll want to take a nap but trust me you deserve it for all of the hard work.
Rachel Laher is an undecided freshman studying at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk to Rachel? Email her rl218617@ohio.edu.
