“Your bedroom is so awful it looks like a tornado just ripped through it! If this sounds like your mom or dad, don’t worry you are not alone. There’s an epidemic spreading to moms across the world; they are obsessed with cleaning. Why I say this…well, read along!

It was a lovely Friday morning and I was basking on my mother’s garden in our petite balcony which was filled with bright flowers. A whiff of their aroma swims over and steals its way into my nostrils as I gaze at the cloudless blue sky, reminding me of spring. After a minute of appreciating their fragrance, I considered doing something worthwhile. So, I wandered over to my bedroom and forgot why exactly had I come there.

Therefore, I had a look at my TO DO list and decided to write an article for IIK. Not surprisingly I had so many dimwitted ideas and trying to juggle them started to overwhelm me. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why none of the ideas were coming out the way I wanted… until…it hit me, not an idea but a revolting stench!

Could it be rotten eggs, dropping of a Labrador, skunk spray, or a bloated dead whale? When I rose to investigate the big question, I slipped on a banana peel I’d chucked a couple of days ago. Aargh! Could this day get any worse?

Just then my mother entered my room, she took a second to sniff the air, dashed to the basin and lost her breakfast.

I don’t have words to describe how catastrophically untidy my bedroom is nevertheless below is just a teeny glimpse of how it looks.

My room is covered with hideously dark yellow wallpaper coupled with posters of Lee Chong Wei and gigantic money plants. besides, my bedside table would qualify as a pathogen paradise! Here’s more… All the moldy dishes infested with fleas would lie at one corner of my room. And I have to tiptoe my way to the bed because there’s no enough space to walk and my sofa sits beside, serving as my study table by virtue of being the only place where I can place my laptop and books. …and the list goes on and on and on...

But back to my mom…

After a couple of minutes in the sink, my mother entered my room with a World War 2 gas mask, (just kidding but you get the idea), she wore a nose plug and two face masks topped with a hot pink helmet (I wonder where she got that from). And when she saw me holding the banana peel, she ran to get her rubber gloves and went bananas, …nay…a mini World War 3 took place, no wonder she wore the pretend gas mask (I should’ve known...)

This is what she said” It's officially time to clean your entire room say, spring cleaning? If you don't know where to start, hmm, well, it's up to you tackle one small thing at a time until everything is free of grime, mildew, dust, and whatever else is making it look and feel- filthy. Grab your rubber gloves, start cleaning or else blah blah blah...” (forget it, she gave me a 2-hour lecture)

I was beyond miserable, but hey! I’ll have to clean it one day or the other.

Hmph!

The day worsened i.e. with cleaning, mopping, searching for dishes in nooks and corners and wiping the stubborn stains on the windowsill. Otherwise speaking, we did spring clean. I’m really not into spring cleaning. Come to think of it, I am not into summer, fall or winter cleaning either.

Then came the most annoying part…The dustpan-phobia!

All of you must have experienced the nastiest feeling when that small line of dirt wouldn’t go into the dustpan… I hate it with all my soul.

But soon came my superhero (my dad!) at the wrong place at the wrong time. I annoyed him to the core of his bones until he helped me out with ‘dustpan-ing’.

I laboriously worked all day and was worn out. But I was actually quite impressed with myself. One moment I despised cleaning, but after I saw what a great job i’d done, I just stood there admiring its splendor for like half of the day!

I may be crazy but, the idea has been nagging me since then that perhaps the biggest favor we could do for ourselves is clean our room. Not inspired yet?

Here are some tips that can spark the desire in you to tidy your room:

1.You can find your things easily.

Have you ever found yourself looking everywhere for the matching pair of shoes or lost your bus, unearthing a pile of clothes as you couldn’t find your glasses? All of us must have faced this. A straightened room can not only be a sight for sore eyes but can also help you find your things easily.

2.Tidying can inspire you to be more productive.

Scientists have found that a topsy-turvy room represents a topsy-turvy mind. Hence, if you want to be more productive, organize a clean-a-thon (just don’t do it during ‘corona-times’).

3.It can save your time

Keeping your things where they’re supposed to be after using them, instead of cleaning after everything is in disarray can save heaps of time. And it can also be easier as you don’t have to binge clean it the whole day.

And the reason why I had to clean due to the horrendous smell at first…

Well, it was because of a smelly old sock that never went into the wash for the past 2 months. And to ensure that those socks keep delighting me for years to come, I flung them into the wash-machine.