Doing These 10 Simple Tasks Around the House Can Improve Your Life, According to Experts

Do you want to find ways to improve your life but lack motivation? you’re not the only one. Lots of people want to upgrade their daily routine but they are busy with time consuming goals. Significant changes require a lot of energy and dedication, and implementing a massive change all at once can often result in jumping ship.

Small victories are the key to making real change. Simple everyday tasks that are easy to accomplish feel good and positive. These small tasks can turn into habits, which may eventually lead to more dramatic changes in the future. We’ve created a list of 10 easy to-dos along with reasons why doctors, psychologists, and other experts support the benefits of these small changes.

Related: 10 Housekeeping Habits of Happy People

1. Make the bed every day

An unmade bed may urge you to climb back under the covers, while a well-made bed is a cue to move on with your day. Making your bed start your day, and research shows it encourages more productivity, because completing that little task provides a dose of accomplishment, which is really nice. The advantage of making your bed is that there is no visual clutter – a tidy room helps calm your mind when you go back to the bedroom for sleep.

Related: How to make a bed the right way

2. Separate your spaces

Telecommuting can blur the line between work and home. It is essential to create destination spaces for these different activities—both can take place under one roof, but having distinct areas can help create a better work-life balance. Setting boundaries will help keep your home like a place to relax.

A separate workspace helps you focus and be more productive because your brain associates the area with work, not with home activities. When you’re off the clock, it’s easier to mentally leave your work in one place than to have it follow you from room to room. In addition, a workspace for others at home indicates that you are working and should be left alone, which increases your productivity.

Related: 10 tips for creating a home office that works for you

3. Remove visual clutter

Are you guilty of leaving piles of dirty laundry piled on the bedroom chair or letting recycling pile up on the counter instead of hauling it to the warehouse? Small messes add up. Tidying up your home can help manage your stress or anxiety, as clutter can make you feel overwhelmed.

Organize your home by focusing on small spaces at a time to help prevent overburdening yourself. It doesn’t have to be a big project to have a big impact. Put your clothes in the laundry basket, sort through the mail, or move recycling to the garage or car to reduce the visual impact of clutter.

Related: 28 insanely clever ways to beat clutter

4. Ban electronics from the bedroom

Many people are plugged into their devices, even during a nighttime routine. Remove as many devices as possible from your bedroom for better sleep and better health.

According to the Sleep Foundation, the lights and sounds from your electronic devices can negatively affect sleep by stimulating the brain and disrupting melatonin production. If you sleep with a device in hand, the temptation to use it is always there. Eliminate those distractions and wake up refreshed and ready to take on your day.

Related: 10 ways to buy better sleep

5. Create a closing time routine

Companies have end-of-day processes to close out today and leave things in order for tomorrow. You can implement “closing time” at home, too. Create a routine that signals the end of your day, and make a list of end-of-day tasks that you can complete quickly to set yourself up for success in the morning. For example, load and run the dishwasher, pack tomorrow’s lunch, wipe the counters, or choose an outfit for work.

Preparing for tomorrow can make your mornings smoother, cleaning can help reduce anxiety or stress and can help improve your mood and even your sleep.

Related: 10 simple ingredients for a super comfortable bed

Procrastination can add to stress and possibly waste time in the long run. Always do any task that takes less than two minutes right away instead of putting it off. For example, put the dirty bowl in the dishwasher right away instead of leaving it on the counter for later. If the toilet paper roll is empty, change it quickly.

It’s easy to put off a “one-minute” task, but those simple tasks add up, and suddenly you’ve racked up an hour’s worth of chores—adding to the household clutter and stress. Taking on small, manageable tasks instantly takes the stress out, and completing these small victories helps you feel confident.

Related: 19 home maintenance mistakes that only take a minute to fix

7. Offer items that make you feel good

Organizing your happiness nook or wall is sure to spark some happy moments. Hang a favorite picture of your friends, place a small ceramic cat or other tchotchkes, and add other things to your space that make you smile—decorate for joy, not for style.

Decorating with positive memories or things helps you create a space that brings you a sense of comfort and happiness. This “relaxed decorating” can help put you in control and boost your mood at the same time. Depending on your intention, this relaxing space may become a meditation area, a reading nook, or a quiet place to hang out with a hot drink.

Related: The best picture frames for a gallery wall

8. Start an ongoing donation fund

Disassembly is an ongoing process. Many people have things in their homes that they keep, even though they don’t use them or don’t particularly like them. For example, babies quickly outgrow clothes, toys, and other items, and it’s easy to let unused items hang around indefinitely.

If the items are adding to your home’s clutter and not enhancing your life, it may be time for them to find a new home, but rearranging all parts of the house at once can be daunting. Keep a box in the locker for donations. When you come across things you don’t want or need, put them in the box – when it’s full, donate the box, and start over. Controlling unnecessary things by getting rid of clutter makes you feel happy and relaxed, and as a result, you will sleep normally as well.

Related: 25 Things Your Local Thrift Store Doesn’t Want You To Donate

9. Add some highlights

One of the easiest ways to improve your life is to change your lighting. Proper lighting helps improve your mood, creativity, and cognitive performance. If your home is dark, bring some light into your space. Some quick ways to add more natural light is to clean the windows to let in natural light or to remove heavy curtains in place of the breezy ones.

When it comes to lamps and lamps, opt for warm colored lighting to create a relaxing relaxation space. Good lighting becomes especially important in the winter months when there are fewer hours of natural light. Let more sunshine in and boost your mood.

Related: 11 home office lighting ideas for a more productive workspace

10. Tend to your houseplants

The mere presence of plants can help improve your mood, reduce stress, and make you feel peaceful and positive. Plants add extra life to the home and bring you closer to nature.

Gain mental health benefits when you take care of your houseplants, while at the same time relying on plants to naturally boost air purity. Of course, you only reap these benefits if you take care of your houseplants properly—getting some low-maintenance plants might be the right way to go if you’re looking for something with minimal care requirements.