That's Fit

I know that exercise can improve my mood and it's one of the best stress management tools I have, but I can't say that scrubbing the bathtub has ever had me jumping for joy. But that's what the authors of a recent study were trying to determine -- just how much physical activity is necessary for better mental health. It doesn't take as much as you would think. Their study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, reveals that as little as 20 minutes of mild activity such as house cleaning can boost your mood. So get out that vacuum, polish the furniture, and chase away all the dust bunnies -- it's time to give your mental health a little spring cleaning.

I was glad to see that the study went on to say that, while mild activity was effective, greater mental health perks were realized with more intense and more frequent activity. I'm not a big fan of the articles and programs that tout cleaning house as physical activity. It's active, it's good for you, and everybody needs a clean house... but let's not fool ourselves. 20 minutes of vacuuming is not the same as 20 minutes of real exercise. So take it up a notch -- if 20 minutes of mild activity will boost your mood just imagine how great you'll feel when you exercise (for real) every day!

Hello, my name is Maggie and I'm a neat freak. My house is far from perfect, but everything has a place and that's how I like it. But the other day I got an itch to spring clean and I ventured into (cue scary music in the background)... the basement. Eew. It may look relatively neat down there, but I found boxes that haven't been moved in ages. There were dust bunnies that were mutating into dust elephants. By the end of it all, I was slightly disgusted at what was lurking in the unseen corners of my basement, but I was happy to have all that dust and dirt removed from my house.

While it's, of course, important to keep your home sanitary and clean year-round the spring cleaning ritual is a great time to get into all the spots you may overlook during regular house cleaning. Some ideas:

• Have your mattresses steam-cleaned.
• Empty closets/pantries and scrub down the shelves and walls.
• Vacuum underneath furniture.
• Move your fridge and scrub the back of it and vacuum any gathered dust.
• Wipe down tops of door frames and other places where dust can collect.
• Steam clean your carpets and furniture.
• Remove and wash drapes.
• Wipe down window blinds.

There's nothing like cleaning the clutter out of your house in order to clear the stress from your head.

If you're like me, you did it New Year's Day: After chucking the Christmas tree, sweeping up the needles, and putting away the lights and ornaments, you keep going until you've cleared out all the extra crap in the nooks and crannies of your house. If your not like me, you've never thought about the novelty of shifting a historically springtime chore to the middle of Winter. And I'm writing to tell you it's time. Who wants to be in the house when warm temps hit and flowers bloom?

The January purge is one of the most satisfying chores I accomplish each year. It just seems a natural progression from the tree and all. I burrow through each bedroom, closet and file cabinet as well as the basement and take the piles of throwaways to the local Salvation Army. Sometimes I also donate to Purple Heart, which does pickups. Being able to do good with stuff you don't want provides an added feel-good element to freeing your house from the clutter that's stressing you out more than you realize.