Did you know tomorrow is Get Organized Day! If that’s not motivation enough to do spring cleaning, the fact that getting organized can improve your health might!

First, you’ll sleep better – if your bedroom is messy, studies have found your quality of sleep goes down.

Plus, you’ll also breathe easier – a messy home usually means you’re not dusting regularly, and some who think they’re allergic to pollen might just need to clean more.

When you have stuff lying around cluttered, your brain is visually overstimulated and it’s hard to focus on anything. And beyond that, clutter affects our mental health – holding or hoarding possessions beyond their intended use can affect us emotionally, physically, socially, and financially.

So, it may be a late start, but you can still get some spring cleaning done this weekend!

Image Credit: Kostikova / iStock / Getty Images Plus

Did you get a poor night’s sleep last night? The best way to recover – tell yourself you didn’t!

A new study found how much our mood can be affected. And after a bad night’s sleep, just thinking you had a good one might benefit you more than if you did!

Researchers looked at sleep patterns to compare how restful sleep was compared to the mood of the participants. And if they simply thought they had a good night’s sleep, they were more likely to be in a good mood. If they thought they didn’t, then they’d be more likely to be in a bad mood.

But since you know whether you did, you can still use this trick. Especially if you wear a sleep tracker and it tells you that you had a better sleep than you initially thought.

Image Credit: gorodenkoff / iStock / Getty Images Plus

You know you’re not supposed to just sit around all day – but being on your feet is impractical. What’s the right balance?

Experts now have the answer! A new study found the exact time we should sit, stand, sleep, and exercise each day. And there’s plenty of time to relax, but we probably are doing too much of that already.

Here’s the perfect balance:

When it comes to sleeping, 8 hours and 20 minutes is what you want to strive for.

Sitting – 6 to 7 hours total. And for many who sit behind a desk and have a long commute to work, you’re probably doing way more than that.

Standing should be about 5 hours – and that also applies to walking around, not exercising.

When it comes to exercise, it’s 4 hours – that’s physical activity, and half can be light activity like household chores, the other half actual exercise.

Image Credit: dusanpetkovic / iStock / Getty Images Plus

Well this is something we’ve all been doing wrong our entire lives.

It’s apparently one of the biggest first aid myths – when you have a cut, don’t use hydrogen peroxide to clean it. Nor should you use rubbing alcohol!

Most of us had our parents do it for us when we were little and still do it today. And it’s true that they do kill bacteria – but they also apparently kill skin cells.

Both hydrogen peroxide and rubbing alcohol cause “corrosive tissue damage” which can slow the healing process and make scars more likely.

The better bet is to rinse your cut with water and just use antibiotic ointment.

Image Credit: Zyabich / iStock / Getty Images Plus