Students at Morton East High School clean their working area for less stress.

In a random survey of 50 Morton East students, 29 students said they had to take care of their house.

According to “CLEAR SPACE, CLEAR MIND: KEEPING YOUR ONLINE CLASS WORKSPACE CLEAN”, by Tierney Smith, “the phrase ‘a clear space is a clear mind’ has been around for a long time, but it seems to be even more true now. As everyone transitions to working from home and practicing social distancing, it is tempting to eat all day and never get out of bed. Prior to this adjustment period, it’s important to tailor your surroundings in order to reduce stress and distractions, and help you succeed in your studies.” It stated that people cleaned their house during the pandemic, but they mostly clean their working area because their area helps students work and have less stress and distractions, and help them succeed more in life. Even I agree to this statement because I also have online class, when I have a messy room I cannot focus during my schoolwork. Therefore, after school, I clean my room, and then I start doing my homework. This makes me feel more fresh, relaxed, and free of stress.

“Yes I care for my house. Cleaning my house is helpful for having a clean work space when it comes to doing homework,” Morton East senior Ruth Nava exclaimed.

Even teachers agree that cleaning makes them more relaxed.

“Yes, I take care of my two crazy kids, Luna and Quetzali, they keep me busy even when I’m teaching class but having my working area clean makes me feel more relaxed when it comes to multitask with teaching during class and with having to take care of my two daughters,” Morton East Spanish teacher Mirella Borjon declared.

Other students have no choice because they are the only child.

“Yeah I do take care of the house because I’m the only person in the house is I got to clean so it could look clean and not a mess. In addition, I do not want to make my parents think I do not help around the house so I do take care of the house during remote classes,” Morton East senior Alex Castro said.

Some teachers decide to go half-and-half with the house duties.

“I work with my wife to make our working spaces look clean, we are able to relax and we don’t worry other than watching the children that they don’t come to interrupt us while we are teaching. I feel more energetic when I have my little desk clean and happier to teach my class,” Morton East Spanish teacher Matthew Russo pointed out.

It looks like being organized keeps stress away from everyone who cleans their working space.

“I have my school work space and a desk at home. And I have to say, I am able to focus more on whatever task is at hand if that area is clean and well-organized. When it’s cluttered and dirty—which is how I used to be both at school and at home – I find that I have a hard time finding items and focusing on the computer or books. Also, I find I’m less comfortable when I’m surrounded by filth,” Morton East Journalism teacher Kent Frankfother expressed.

After conducting this investigation, we were able to find out that if you worked in a clean and organized area, you are more likely to understand and actually put all your effort into what you are working on, rather than having a messy area where you are not able to concentrate and finish the work.