Bring out your inner child and avoid house cleaning–it just might be good for you.

Housework will always be there. It’s like death and taxes; no one escapes. It’s easy to get caught up in the humdrum routine of everyday life, but life is so much more than going to work, food shopping, and house cleaning. While you can’t shirk off work or food shopping–you’ve got to eat!–housework can wait, though.

So let it go until next weekend and do something fun instead. Remember, all work and no play makes us all too stressed out! Instead, refresh, destress, and bring out your inner child by doing any one of these activities instead of house cleaning. Future you will thank past you!

Put Off House Cleaning with These Fun Ideas

1. Take an Art Class – Always wanted to learn how to paint or throw pots? Look into art classes at your local art center, or try online sites like Skillshare.
2. Make Water Kefir – Water kefir is a delicious lightly fermented sweet beverage. Get started with making your own by buying a starter set of the grains. Cultures for Health is an online resource.
3. Volunteer at a Local Animal Shelter – Did you know that many animal shelters are looking for volunteers to spend time with the kitties and puppies? Sounds way more awesome than house cleaning, right?
4. Enjoy Nature with a Peterson Field Guide – Get out into nature and learn about the big wide world around you with a Peterson Field Guide for your region.
5. Be a Big Sister or Brother – Give back to your community. Providing mentorship to girls and boys is way more important than cleaning your house.
6. Take up Bodyflow – Bodyflow is one part yoga, one part Pilates, and another part Tai Chi–and all set to music. You can find classes at many health centers, or look for videos online. Bodyflow will change your life.
7. Read a Good Book – This time of year is a great time to discover new books via best book lists. NPR just recently came out with the Best Books of 2015–that’s a good place to start.
8. Catch Up on Your Netflix (and Chill) – So many TV series and movies, so little time–unless you avoid cleaning the house. “Jessica Jones” and “Master of None” are two series that you could waste away an afternoon watching and cuddling up with someone special.

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Image: Toddler Doing Housework via Shutterstock

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A clean house is more than just a matter of a spick-and-span appearance – it goes way deeper than that.

Winter is here, and you likely (and quite understandably) have the windows shut, the doors locked and the heater on full blast. While you may feel more comfortable in the warmth of the cozy indoors, you are actually locking yourself into a chamber of toxins and bringing yourself ever the more closer to sickness. So while your home may look clean for all intents and purposes, it likely could use a little help. Here are 5 low-effort, high-impact ways to make sure your hibernation shell of a home is as toxin-free as possible.

In the winter, the air holds less moisture, which makes it lighter and thus easier for bacteria to travel and sickness to migrate quicker and more easily. So, simply being in cooler air during the winter makes you more vulnerable to sickness. Even though it may be warm inside, your heater’s ventilation is often full of dust and debris that is ventilated throughout the house. Meanwhile, the average home contains as much as 1,000 chemicals and 10-times more electrical pollution than it did 40 years ago – to say nothing of the mold, mites, fungi, spores, pollen and aerosols that commonly hold to surface areas around the house.

Here are 5 ways to detox your home and contribute to your 2015 goals to cleanse your mind, body and soul!

1. Take Off the Shoes

A clean house starts with the obvious. Think about where you’ve been today (especially if you live in a busy city), and imagine the kinds of things you must have stepped on, both knowingly and inadvertently. If you often walk into your home with your shoes still on, be aware that you are bringing the streets into your personal quarters. Shoes account for 80 percent of the muck that is brought into the house and they carry some pretty gross stuff, like road sealant, pesticides and lead dust.

2. Open the Window

But only just a little bit. Indoor air can be as much as 5-times more polluted than outdoor air. Closed windows and doors make indoor air relatively flat and full of bacteria, dust and other debris that circulate without proper ventilation. Even in the winter, consider keeping one central window slightly cracked to let in some fresh air. If it gets too cold throughout the day and night, instead pick a 5-minute time frame everyday to open the window completely, letting in as much fresh air as possible. You may want to throw on a jacket or scarf or head out to run an errand during this time. Once at least 5 minutes is up, close the window and warm up. This small amount of time is all you need to improve air quality in the house and, of course, your health.

3. Clean Green

This is often the first step to decreasing toxins in the household, simply because you are in complete control of it at all stages. Simply don’t introduce harsh cleaning products. Instead of using pungent and powerful chemicals as well as the average kitchen, bathroom and laundry cleaners you find at just about every store, go green for a clean house! There are a bevy of brands that have emerged in recent years offering you incredible clean without all the harmful chemicals. Or, you can make your own!

4. Toss the Silent Culprits

Did you know that your vinyl shower curtain releases some 108 volatile organic compounds that become gaseous at room temperature, causing headaches, nausea, dizziness and eye and throat irritation? Swap vinyl for cotton, nylon, polyester or EVA or PEVA plastic.

Meanwhile, your kitchen situation is likely in danger. Plastic containers, albeit practical, often contain a chemical called bisphenol-A (BPA). BPA can mess with hormones as well as contribute to obesity, cardiovascular disease and other conditions. Avoid plastics marked with a “7”, which may imply it contains BPA. Look for PET-1 plastics, which are safer, or use glass instead. If you continue to use BPA products, relegate them to cold food and beverages only, as heat accelerates the leaching of BPA into whatever with which it comes in contact.

5. Dust Smartly

Dusting sprays add to the chemical load while feathers just kick up more dust. Use a dry, unscented microfiber cloth for all your dusting needs. Such cloths attract and capture dust as opposed to scattering them.

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Photo Credit: Nikki

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