If you’re stressed out about a million things and feel like your life is just about to fall apart, it might be time to clean up your life.

Clean up my life?

WTF?

What does that even mean?

Let me tell you a little story about an 18-year-old girl who took a little vacation but came back feeling her worst…

This past summer, I spent two weeks in Oregon with relatives for a project. I had an amazing time shadowing their law firm and learning more than I ever could in a two weeks in school. Naturally, I brought all of my clothes with me to make sure I had plenty of dressy options for the office, classy yet casual outfits for dinners, and other clothes for sleeping and hanging out. I brought all of my makeup and hair supplies. And the shoes. So. Many. Pairs. Of. Shoes!

Two weeks went by and I was so incredibly sad to leave, but I had to. Here’s where things take a turn for the worse...

I arrived home with even more clothes and shoes and makeup than I had left with. I threw all of my bags into my bedroom and that was that. The worst part is, I lived out of my suitcase for about a month. My room was a hideous mess with clothes everywhere that had overflowed out of the suitcase and there was no sign of the floor anywhere. My desk was covered in makeup and papers and trash. My bed was the only glimmer of hope to be seen when I opened the door.

For the duration of this month of chaos, I had the most general anxiety I’ve ever had in my life. I constantly had an attitude that was not reflective of who I am or who I want to be. My mind was cluttered as much as, if not more than, my room.

The point of this story is that once I cleaned up my room—a task that took about a week—I was a new person. I was better than my old self, even.

If you think it’s time to clean up your life, start with the space you live in. It doesn’t matter if you like it messy, which is likely just a lie you tell yourself so you don’t have to clean it. An organized space will change anyone’s life, especially if the person is struggling with anxiety and is in distress over anything at all.

Then, get sleep. If going to bed really late at night is something you’re accustomed to, you should probably work on that. It’s important to get at least seven and a half hours of sleep each night according to recent studies. Netflix can wait, your sleep cannot.

Finally, keeping a day planner can potentially save your life. Seriously, taking time to plan what you have to do and when will change your life for the better, and it's a relatively easy habit to keep up with. I'm speaking from experience with all of these suggestions and this one, even though its listed last, can also be a good place to start. It's pretty simple and you can even plan time to start cleaning up your room, house, etc. and when to go to bed. If things are written down like this, you're a lot more likely to stick to them.

Now...get cleaning!