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Get Dressed: The Psychology of Clothing


Boy with dirty face sitting in bath tub

You might get home organizing anxiety if you are trying to organize your home but you yourself have birds’ nest hair and ill-fitting clothing. That is not to say put on the tie or heels; you need to be able to move around and potentially get dirty. But unless putting on sweats or yoga pants inspire you to exercise, skip them for organizing your home or getting other tasks done.

Cindy Glovinsky, author of One thing at a time: 100 Simple ways to live clutter-free every day (2004), offers this nugget, “if you feel good about the way you look, you’ll feel more like maintaining good-looking surroundings to match this good-looking person you’ve become”. A friend of mine knew this in college; whenever she was having a bad day, she would dress up for no other reason than to make herself feel better. It really worked! According to Psychology Today, even though we may think that our “sunny personality will eclipse our dull attire,” this is incorrect, as “what we wear speaks volumes in just a few seconds” (Fletcher, 2013). This is not just in relation to how other people perceive you, but what you notice when you look down or in the mirror.

Woman in business casual attire

So attire yourself in something comfortable-but-respectable and discover what you can get done today.

References

Fletcher, B. C. (2013). What your clothes might be saying about you: First impressions are often more significant than you might think…Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/do-something-different/201304/what-your-clothes-might-be-saying-about-you

Glovinsky, C. (2004). One thing at a time: 100 Simple ways to live clutter-free every day. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press.

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