When life seems hopeless, clean

And to the best of your abilities and circumstances, rearrange

Many moments in life, while trying to produce or focus or be inspired, the weight of it all — anxiety, pressure, uncertainty, frustration, distraction — can feel immobilizing.

I’ve read all kinds of great articles about tactics and strategies for overcoming these moments. How to keep going, push through, and “make the world a little smaller” when it feels immense.

One thing I do that always seems to help is to clean up my space and to the extent possible, rearrange it.

For me, right now, that means tidying my bedroom. I make my bed, pick things up off the floor and store them in drawers or closets. I wipe down surfaces, which tend to accumulate dust and water spots. I throw away nonessential papers, and then empty the trash so it’s not overflowing.

I put laundry in the machine and light a candle. I open the blinds and crack a window.

All this is really helpful. It gives me a sense of accomplishment and makes my environment more orderly, less chaotic. Which in a way, is what I’m trying to do to my brain.

To extend the effect, I like to rearrange my furniture or at least reorient my desk.

Why? It instantly changes my outlook. I’m no longer staring at the same wall or mirrored closet doors. I have a new view, and feel even just a sliver of creative inspiration by envisioning a new configuration and implementing it successfully.

For me, this isn’t a new concept. I grew up with a creative mother who by day ran a branch library (then later in life, designed print graphics). By night, or over the weekends, she painted and repainted the rooms of our house, regularly swapped out furniture and art — we always had a storage unit while I was growing up — and shopped at stores like Pier 1 and later IKEA for inexpensive new bedding, pillows, or accessories.

We had a cache of felt pads she would use to slide heavier pieces all over our 1926 pine wood floors, as well as paint rollers, drop cloths, and plenty of blue painter’s tape to ensure clean lines.

The dining room walls might be “lemon pepper” one day and “cypress grass” the next.

Shopping for housewares at Potter Barn in the 90s. My mom is on the left, with her British friend Madeleine.

Occasionally, she’d hit up the fabric store and sew a new slipcover for our couch or chairs. They’d go from gray tweed to red and white stripes. Objects would be repositioned and lamps would shuffle.

She always did it while my dad was away, and just when our poor blind Abyssinian cat had memorized the position of all the furniture.

I never knew this habit was unique until in middle school. Friends would sleep over periodically and remark how the house looked different. No one else’s mom rearranged the furniture or repainted every quarter.

At her memorial service in 2015, I eulogized her for her many superior qualities as a mother (while sobbing hysterically), but for levity, added an anecdote about her regular design shakeups at the house. Everyone laughed knowingly.

Later, several people mentioned to me that she inspired them to do the same in their houses anytime they came over to ours.

For her, I think it was a way of figuratively and literally refreshing her attitude and looking at the same problem (/project/job/issue) from a new perspective.

I see it as a blending of practices like Feng shui, which addresses energy flow, and Marie Kondo-esque tidying up, which is all about surrounding yourself only with what brings you joy, functional or aesthetic.

We never had a militantly-clean home, but every Saturday morning was partly reserved for vacuuming and mopping, polishing, emptying wastebaskets, and outdoor tasks like sweeping the pool. Looking back, my parents totally had the mindfulness-through-chores thing down.

Between the tidying and the rearranging, our home always felt fresh and full of life.

Psychologists tend to support the idea of rearranging and tidying. Dr. Carrie Barron mentions several positive effects, many of which are related to the manual aspect of moving stuff around, touching and feeling along the way.

It’s also good for myriad practical reasons according to Huffington Post, like evening the wear and tear on electrical outlets and carpeting, and ensuring no dust bunnies hide out indefinitely.

Of course, Sarah Jacoby reminds us that it’s important to know when to stopfussing.

In life, change is constant. Many meet it with resistance or fear, and treat their homes and bedrooms as sanctuaries from the speed of life. But perhaps it’s change in that very space that we need, even if the adjustments are minor.

The next time you’re overwhelmed or feel blocked, spend a few minutes (or a few hours) cleaning, tidying, and rearranging. Heck, go all out home improvement and repaint that sucker.

The investment may be minor and cost you little, but the return could be transformative and give you a new appreciation for your creative prowess.