6 Health-Promoting Benefits of House Chores

Introduction

You might think of your household chores to be another part of your daily schedule to plow through. However, did you know doing housework can provide numerous physical, mental, and emotional advantages? These beneficial housework chores can include everything from ironing and vacuuming to washing the floor and changing the bed. 

So how does carrying out housework help you healthwise? Consider the following six ways that performing chores can lead to greater well-being for you and your family.

1. Better mental functioning

Household chores force you to move physically but also require you to use the planning and organisation functions of your brain. Given this, they can support healthy mental functioning, which can be especially important for older adults. For example, seniors who keep carrying out chores around the house tend to enjoy better cognition and mental functioning compared with older adults who have stopped doing their chores. These include sharper memory and a longer attention span. 

According to other research, doing everyday household chores like vacuuming and doing the laundry is positively associated with brain volume and cognition in older adults. This applies to the hippocampus and frontal lobe, which are associated with memory, learning, and cognition. As a rule, the greater your brain volume, the younger and healthier your brain.

2. Improved physical strength and general well-being

Your everyday household tasks can help you improve physical strength and general well-being. Seniors who continue doing their household chores tend to enjoy more physical strength than those who ceased doing so. This probably applies to people of all ages. Furthermore, household chores can lower the risks and alleviate the effects of chronic conditions and mortality. 

3. Lower risk of falls

According to the research, older adults who do housework have a lower risk of falls. In general, staying physically active can boost your physical and mental health, and doing chores will help you incorporate more physical activity into your day. Associated benefits of fall prevention could include a lower risk of immobility and death and maintaining greater independence for longer.

4. Mood, stress, and anxiety

For some people, daily chores like tidying up the drawers, doing the dishes, and vacuuming the floor could lower stress and anxiety. Even simply starting your day by making your bed can help with a greater sense of productivity and well-being.

The act of the chore itself can be calming by compelling you to focus mentally on the task at hand. Concentrating on something simple and practical over which you have full control could inspire positive feelings of centredness, empowerment, and accomplishment. The physical movement allows you to burn off excess energy, which in turn can have a calming impact. 

What’s more, families and couples who jointly participate in housework may be happier because it’s a group activity that could boost trust and unity. This can also support better mood and mental and emotional well-being.

In addition, messy, cluttered spaces can encourage states of anxiety, stress, or even depression. According to research, people who see their homes as cluttered tend to have higher levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. They’re more likely to feel depressed and tired compared with those who think of their home spaces as restful.

In addition, clutter results in visual stimuli that can undermine your concentration, and this information overload could lead to stress. Decluttering, therefore, could help you be calmer and more productive. By decluttering, you’ll create a calming environment that’s conducive to rest, peacefulness, and tranquility. All of these can support an improved mood. 

5. Burn extra calories

Consider this: just 30 minutes of intense vacuuming or sweeping can burn as many as 130 calories. Different types of household chores can help you get more exercise during the day without working out:

• Sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming
• Scrubbing, rinsing, and drying dishes
• Dusting and scrubbing the windows
• Washing and chopping ingredients before cooking a meal
• Cleaning and disinfecting bathrooms and kitchens
• Washing your car
• Grocery shopping and putting them away
• Doing the laundry, including hanging up wet laundry, bringing it inside, and folding it
• Gardening, including weeding and cutting the lawn, trimming your bushes, and planting and picking flowers and vegetables

These can support healthy weight maintenance, which in turn can lower the risk of conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers.

6. Cleaner, more healthful environment

Finally, a less cluttered and cleaner home environment can support better health by minimising the risk of viral, bacterial, and fungal infections. A cleaner home could have less dust, mould, and allergens, whether these have been removed from your curtains, flooring, or carpeting. 

Cleaner air and surfaces can all contribute to better health, comfort, and mood in your household. As noted above, a clutter-free home can also have a calming effect, helping you destress, sleep better, and achieve better health as a result.

Conclusion

Doing household chores provides surefire benefits, and these can be especially important if you’re an older adult. Improved mental functioning, enhanced physical strength and well-being, and reduced risk of falls are some of the main benefits. What’s more, chores around the house can improve your mood and alleviate stress and anxiety. You’ll have the opportunity to burn off excess calories to facilitate healthy weight maintenance. Finally, regularly engaging in household chores lets you keep viruses, bacteria, and allergens at bay, which can also lead to better health.