How Keeping Your Room Clean Can Improve Your Grades

This article was published in 2013 and updated in October 2026.

Whether you attend college online or in a traditional classroom setting, your room and your personal space can make a big impact on how you study, concentrate, get your homework done, and even sleep.

Healthy Learning

Keeping your room, home, and surroundings clutter free, neat, and orderly can impact your grades because a clutter free environment means a clutter free mind. This article offers tips and tricks for college students to keep their room and work space clean and clutter free to help improve study habits and promote healthy living.

Reduce Clutter

Have you ever stayed in a hotel and felt so much more relaxed and at ease than usual? Sure part of that is because you were likely on vacation; however, there is a hidden psychological reason that makes hotel rooms more relaxing: they are clutter free zones. You only bring a small suitcase of your things to a hotel room, there is no clutter in the room, there are no extraneous pieces of furniture, and there are not little “knick knacks” covering every surface and available nook and cranny. Plus, on top of all of that, it is cleaned and straightened out daily. If you keep these basic principles in mind for your room, dorm, or living space it will help you stay clutter free. Other steps you can take to reduce the amount of clutter:

Utilize space saving products and techniques such as bags that you can shrink down by vacuuming the air out of them and dual purpose furniture such as loft beds or ottomans that have storage space inside. Closet organization systems are also very helpful.
Put seasonal items in storage so that you do not have to worry about finding space for them.
Clean up a little bit each day. Remove clutter, empty garbage cans, and keep a schedule that does not allow the clutter to build up.
Come up with a written schedule to follow for cleaning and keeping clutter off of the tables and counters.

Organized Study Habits

Besides making sure that your desk is clean and clutter free, you can build good study habits. Building habits simply requires doing the same things over and over again in the same place and at the same times. Once you are “in the habit” of doing something, such as studying or reading, at the same time each day it becomes easier to do it. You may have heard that a new habit takes 21 days to form; research suggests it usually takes longer — on average around two months, depending on the person and the habit — so be patient with yourself. Keeping your desk organized is also important so that everything has a place and can be found right when and where you need it.

Clear Environment, Clear Mind

Many people find that a clean and clutter-free room helps them think more clearly, relax and fall asleep more easily, and studies suggest that a cluttered environment competes for your attention and makes it harder to focus. Reducing clutter removes distractions so you can concentrate on what you are learning. Part of an optimum room for studying in addition to being clutter free and clean is one that smells nice. There is something to be said about aromatherapy, or just having a nice clean scent that you like. This makes for a total package for a nice environment that you can work and relax in.

Don’t Forget Digital Clutter

Today much of our clutter is digital. A messy desktop, hundreds of open browser tabs and constant notifications can distract you just as much as a messy room:

Create one folder per course and name files consistently, for example “BIO101 – Lab report 3”.
Back up your work automatically to cloud storage so nothing gets lost before a deadline.
Close tabs and apps you don’t need while studying, and silence your phone or use a focus mode.
Clear out your downloads folder and inbox once a week.

A tidy room and a tidy computer together make it much easier to get into a productive study routine.

Josh Ferrell is blogger for DipomaDisplay.com. He enjoys sharing college life tips and ideas.