Channel Your Energy: The Very Best Things To Clean When You’re Angry

When you’re angry—or even just a little peeved about something beyond your control—how do you deal in a healthy way? Some people exercise, and others go out with friends to blow off some steam and have some fun, for example. But there’s another way to deal that can also help you be productive at home, too: angry cleaning.

Personally, I’m an emotional cleaner—I clean when I’m stressed, when I’m sad, when I’m anxious and definitely when I’m angry. Honestly, if you haven’t tried taking on your anger with a scrub brush, you really might want to consider it…and if you do, here are some of the best things to clean when you need to get your frustrations out.

Your bookcase is the perfect spot to take on when you need a distraction from whatever is making you mad—meticulously picking up and dusting each and every object that normally adorns each shelf (and then the shelves themselves, of course) will give you something to focus on instead. Plus, it’ll probably take a good chunk of time to get it done if you’re thorough. Just think of it as the literal version of dusting your shoulders off.

You know what’s really satisfying when you’re mad as hell? Leaning into it and taking on a task that requires both focus and a lot of energy—and gross grout is the perfect combination of both. Scrubbing your grout is a time consuming and exhausting process, which is why it’s probably one of the chores you tend to avoid. But those times when you’re so angry that you need to take your frustrations out on something? Your grout is there, just waiting to be cleaned (and to totally tire you out).

Sometimes you just need to exert a little brute force when you’re angry to get your endorphins going (which ultimately makes you feel happier). You could go hard at the gym or take a boxing class, or you can get a little of that anger out at home by taking on the task of flipping your mattress. It’s a challenging task that requires some force (plus, it gives you an excuse to toss around your pillows because you’ll have to make your bed anyway). When you finish, feel free to fluff your pillows with a little extra oomph, just for good measure.

What if you could just use a Magic Eraser to get rid of whatever is making you angry? Okay, so you know that’s not really a possibility, but you can take out your anger in a more productive way and clean spots and marks from your walls and baseboards. It requires a little less physical exertion than scrubbing your grout, but will leave you with the same sort of satisfaction—and you may not wind up with a clean slate in whatever is making you angry, but an actual clean slate can’t hurt.

Moving around or taking a walk are common ways to deal with frustration—exercise has been found to help with anger, after all. And the easiest way to get up and get moving when it comes to cleaning? Sweeping, mopping and vacuuming the floors. Kill two birds with one stone and go over every inch of your floors thoroughly while you get your steps in—you’ll wind up with a cleaner house and a calmer attitude to match.