I have some good routines around keeping my apartment clean and clutter free. I try to mop my floors every week, clean my office every Monday, and I always do my dishes right after I’m done with my food preparations. However, sometimes, when I overload myself or when I get too busy, I start to underprioritize the cleaning.
The same happened recently with my CKS preparations. After I booked the CKS exam, I became completely focused on the studies and spent less energy on the things outside of work and study. I hadn’t mopped my floors for a couple of weeks, and there was clutter accumulating in the places I don’t usually walk or stand.
Interestingly, these things bother me, and they would only take 10 minutes to fix, but when I’m in that hyperfocused mindset, it seems to take a huge amount of effort to just get going with these type of tasks that seem like distractions from the studies.
After I received the CKS certification, I made a point to not pick up anything new before I had my whole house in usual operational order again. Yesterday evening I took out all of the cardboard from the packages I received recently, cleaned my floors and toilet, cleaned the office, and after waking up after a good night’s sleep my mind feels so calm looking around in my clutter-free, hygienic and calm space.
Not only is having a clutter free surroundings pleasing to my eye, but I genuinely believe that it contributes to being able to focus and limiting distraction. Instead of having the nagging voice in your head saying “I should probably tidy that up” every time you look at an unfinished chore somewhere, you get a feeling of satisfaction seeing that there is some empty space or a completed task. This leaves more room for productive and creative thinking, or mental energy to focus on studies. Being intentional about keeping your environment clean is an act of self love. You are investing time in making your surroundings pleasing and conducive to your progress.