The last thing you want to be doing after a long day of work is scrubbing the toilet or washing the dishes, and almost no one wants to spend their weekend vacuuming and dusting, but household chores need to be done, and it may make you feel a little bit better to know that experts suggest it’s good for your mental health.

Think about it this way: when you are feeling stressed or anxious, it helps to have a distraction. There has been a small study, published in the journal, Mindfulness, which has focused on how cleaning can reduce levels of anxiety. Good Housekeeping notes that researchers determined this by observing individuals “mindfully washing the dishes,” and found that they experienced 25 percent more “mental inspiration” as well as 27 percent less nervousness.

VeryWellMind shares a similar thought, explaining that cleaning can be an opportunity to express gratitude for the things you have; like how beautiful the plates you are washing are, and when vacuuming, you may be grateful for the cozy feeling the carpet brings to your home. The publication notes that if you clean mindfully, it can be a “stress management technique in itself.”

Having a clean home can reduce stress simply by removing clutter from our lives, which VeryWellMind reports can cause stress. An organized and clean living environment not only looks better, but it can also remove the stress of not being able to find important things in the home, and helps to maintain items. This is a thought psychologist Dr. Sal Raichbach expands on, telling Elite Daily: "Where you live is an extension of yourself, and it feels good to come home to a place that is tidy and organized. Even people who don't enjoy cleaning find that if they approach it as a form of self-care instead of a chore, it can be very therapeutic."

Cleaning can also be very beneficial when feeling anxious, as Alicia H. Clark Psy.D, a clinical psychologist and author, told Good Housekeeping. "We want to be able to do something when we get anxious, and what we really want is to be in control and take action," she explained. "While there are times we have to accept some situations in life, we do not have to accept an untidy home."

In summary? Clutter, bad! Cleaning, good! Get on those dishes now, and concentrate on the task at hand.

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