icture a long day of classes, homework on the horizon, and a test-filled week ahead. All you want to do is climb into your bed and escape, even just for a few minutes, from the stresses of the day. But alas, you walk into your room and are greeted by mountains of clothes scattered throughout the floor, and your Saturday night 7/11 unfinished pizza you tried to eat on the way back from the Tick-Tock Inn has become a feeding ground for the flies seeking shelter from the impending North Country winter. How does this make you feel? Living in a clean environment is paramount to being successful throughout college.   

It’s easy for us to just tell you to clean up your room, and if realizing that you’re a slob and need to clean up is not enough, this will. Diane Roberts Stoler, explains in her article in Psychology Today, “The Many Mental Benefits of Decluttering,” that several studies show a correlation between clutter and increased stress and anxiety, and can even cause feelings of being overwhelmed and frustrated. Clutter doesn’t only make you look like a slob; it actively stresses you out and raises your anxiety. She also adds that clutter impacts our ability to focus and can reduce our working memory. Personally, I’d like the full use of my working memory when studying for exams, and hopefully, you do too.  

Another study in the Journal of Neuroscience, “Interactions of Top-Down and Bottom-Up Mechanisms in Human Visual Cortex” by Stephanie McMains and Sabine Kastner explains that multiple stimuli in our visual field compete in our visual cortex for neural activity. They also state that the capacity of our visual cortex to process all these stimuli is limited. So, the empty soda can, the towel you just used to shower on the floor (nasty) and your shoes littered around the room all compete for attention in your brain with the task you have at hand. This task could be anything: maybe you’re reading your lecture slides in advance (so organized of you, congrats! Now organize your room), writing a paper, or maybe you’re just trying to relax and watch a movie.    

So how do we get there? The biggest thing is going to have to be to start. By doing a little a day, even just 5 minutes or one corner at a time, within a week, you could be able to clean and keep your room clean for the weeks to follow. Making a checklist can help keep you accountable and give you the motivation to cross one more thing off your to-do list. We all know having a roommate isn’t the easiest, but being able to communicate and set boundaries about what cleanliness means to both of you can help set up a space where you both feel comfortable and productive.   

I don’t have time. My days are too busy. We get it- college days can leave no room for excess tasks on top of all the other responsibilities we Laurentian scholars have, let alone something your mom would tell you when you were 12-years-old: “Clean your room, Cameron.” On the other hand, the time, stress and energy you would save will far outweigh the effort it would take to keep the environment you reside in clean. If you do nothing else besides sleep in your dorm, a clean room will set you up to destress when the day is over and wake up well-rested and ready to attack the day when you wake in the morning.    

Maintaining a clean environment is crucial for achieving success throughout your college career. We implore you to try functioning in a clean environment for a week. Clean your room and keep it clean for at least a week. See what other areas of your life improve, how much more energy you have, how better you sleep, and how it impacts your grades.   

Now, picture a long day of classes, homework on the horizon, and a test-filled week ahead. All you want to do is climb into your bed and escape, even just for a few minutes, from the stresses of the day. You walk into your room and are greeted by the smell of fresh linen, the sound of birds chirping, the sight of a made bed, an empty floor, an organized closet, and a clean desk ready to tackle any piece of curriculum you offer it. How does this make you feel?