How does your knicker drawer relate to your wellbeing?
Wellbeing: the state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy.
If your wellbeing is not being taken care of there are likely to be signs: Disorganised, physical symptoms, unhappiness, struggles in relationships. These are generally quite big things, noticeable to the outside world.
But there will also be smaller signs that are incredibly important to recognise. A reminder that you might need to do some wellbeing admin and look after yourself.
This is where the tidy knicker drawer comes in.
A tidy knicker drawer? What on earth are we talking about?
One of our team put this on their wellbeing admin list, something they must do to manage their wellbeing. I was so intrigued, and after finding out a little more I immediately understood the concept. I now firmly believe that a tidy knicker drawer can reflect our wellbeing status.
Let’s dig a little deeper…
After asking around I found that how we approach our underwear drawer in the first place varies strongly from person to person – organised chaos, chaos, folded neatly, colour coded. This reflects our personality traits I’m sure, but maintaining how we want it- how we need it is where the importance lies.
Do you pick your underwear in the morning knowing exactly what you want when you open that drawer? Or do you decide based off your outfit? Or your mood?
Whatever the reason is, a messy underwear drawer is not going to cut it when we are looking for something specific and have no idea where to find it.
Is this really all about tidying?
Being tidy and tidying is a great form of self-care, a great tick on your wellbeing admin list.
“It’s hard to focus on important tasks when several things compete for your attention.“
But our knicker drawer is more than that. For most, it is where our day begins. And the best we can do is start our day well.
Experience tells us that everyone’s version of tidy is slightly different. Folded underwear for one person might be normal but for another could be a sign that their wellbeing isn’t in balance.
“My great aunt once told me; ‘life is too short to sort out socks.’ And I’ve very much run with that my entire life! So, I was surprised when my colleagues see a tidy knicker drawer as a sign of wellbeing. I understand that this is organisation and that it’s helpful to be tidy but as long as things are where I expect them, that’s good enough for me. My partner is the polar opposite, his drawers are pristine, all socks tidily joined together, all pants folded. I joke that this is a sign of a serial killer and highly suspicious behaviour! I must be incredibly frustrating for him, but after so long together we’ve got used to differences. I did once however colour code my enormous amounts of books, but it was very pleasing and I read little bits along the way. We are all different and for me, maybe a very tidy drawer would be a sign that I wasn’t being especially authentic or was feeling out of sorts…for all my flaws!” Cherry Williams
So, can we go as far as to say tidy drawer tidy mind? In my case yes, but generally no because tidy might not be where your preference lies, but making sure your underwear drawer is how you like it is important.
How does this affect work?
How we start our day at home has a direct impact on our working day. And so, you could argue that frustration caused by something as simple as your underwear drawer might have a domino effect.
But more than that. We are looking at how the state of your underwear drawer reflects your wellbeing:
“My knicker draw reflects the state of what’s going on in my life!
When my knicker draw is nice and tidy and my favourite knickers, special knickers or comfy knickers are easily accessible usually I am calm happy and content….When it’s a mess, which is at the moment! I’m normally bouncing from one thing to another, I cut corners, which means I don’t set myself up for the day particularly well!
But when I take time to organise my undies, usually I take time for myself and to organise the things around me with more thought and preparation this in turn allows me to achieve the things I need to do on a day-to-day basis, and I feel value in that which makes me feel good.” Clare Turner
If our home life affects our working life, which we know it does, then feeling more organised, completing tasks with more thought and achieving tasks will only reflect positively on not only someone’s mood but also how they go about their work.
A person feeling valued will always have a positive impact.
Knowing that a tidy knicker drawer or other little things are indicators for your wellbeing status can have such a large impact on how you deal with home and work life.
Is paperwork piled high on your desk a sign that you aren’t coping or is that how you work? Do unread emails suggest you’re struggling, or have you prioritised something else and know what is important at a glance?
Let’s look to find ways to identify your wellbeing status and then look after it.
The conversation about knicker drawers has been intriguing. For me it’s a similar idea based on the state of my wardrobe. However, I wouldn’t have known to recognise that as a sign of my wellbeing, and therefore make it a priority, if it weren’t for the conversation and the methodology around wellbeing huunuu has created.
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