Approaching Everyday Hygiene Differently

Everyday we follow the same routines that we've either gleaned from our parents or formed from our own habits. But have you ever wondered what it's like to approach your living style differently?

Well, here is a guide offering four largely different lifestyle practices we all perform, but done differently. They may sound anal-retentive, mysophobic and even a little obsessive-compulsive, but hopefully this guide will offer reasonable concerns to why maintaining good habits at home is extremely important. You don't have to agree with the practices offered in this guide, but do consider them as an alternative method to your everyday routine.

Showering
We all wash our bodies at one point or another during the day - or at least we try - because washing is the basic requirement for good human hygiene. Most people wash only during the day, mainly in the morning before they go to school or work.

Consider washing at night, after you've come home from a long day of work or school or before you go to bed. Think about it. If you wash as soon as you arrive home, you'll be washing away a day's worth of accumulated filth, germs, dead skin cells, left over residue in your private areas, etc. Even better, is if you wash in the morning and at night. That way, when you go to bed, you won't be carrying all the day's filth into your bed, and when you wake up and wash, you'll be refreshed for the day.

Which leads to sex.

Sex
Washing before you go to bed is not only a good thing for your body's hygiene, but if you have a partner, it'll keep them clean. Imagine having sex with a partner whose private areas are encrusted with a day's worth of bacteria left from urination and feces. It's not conducive to healthy sex or clean sex. Think about showering all that away before you climb into bed with the person you love, for the sake of both your bodies.

Now that you've washed your body from a day's worth of grime and sweat, think of your house. Just how clean is your house? Obviously, we can't rid the world of every bacteria and germ that exists, but we can make our lives a lot easier when it comes to cleaning our house.

Shoes
Your home should be a place you want to go home to a beautiful clean carpet. One of the easiest way to save yourself from a lot of cleaning work, is having separate designated shoes. Keep the shoes you wear outdoors in your garage or in your front parlor. Never wear outdoor shoes indoors. You're only making your life harder than necessary and creating more work for yourself when it comes time to clean house.

Think about it, when you're wearing the same shoes you wore at work, walking on pavement, those shoes have gone through every single disgusting thing possible that's been coated on the ground. Gum, people's spit, trash, mud, goodness knows what you're dragging into your clean carpet and hardwood floors when you wear your outdoor shoes, indoors.

When you're indoors, consider having a set of comfortable slippers (or ballet flats) you reserve to wear solely for indoors and never outdoors. That way, when you come home, you can immediately slip into these slippers and your floor will be clean from any potential gunk. And remember, respect your bed, don't wear your dirty shoes from the day into your bed, or even your indoor clean slippers for that matter. If you want to be warm and cozy in bed, wear snug, thick woolen socks reserved solely for bed, just don't bring in anything you've worn outside or even on the carpet at home.

If you have guests over, its always perfect to keep a small collection of cute slippers reserved solely for your guests to wear. Just store them in a small shoe cabinet or line them along the front parlor.

Clothing
Clothing is very important when it comes to maintaining hygiene. If you can consider having a separate collection of indoor shoes and outdoor shoes, then you definitely can consider having a separate wardrobe for indoor clothes, outdoor clothes, and pajamas.

First, the indoor clothing. This sounds exactly as it should: clothes reserved solely for indoor wear. When you come home from work or school or from a night of partying, you want a set of comfortable clothes you can wear at home. Applying the same consideration of showering or taking a bath when you do come home from work, you want to be clean when you wear your indoor clothes. If you don't shower before wearing your indoor clothing, then you lose the whole point of having indoor clothing. Indoor clothing is perfect for when you get out of bed and just don't want to change into your work clothes. Assuming you did take a bath before you showered, when you wake up, you should be still relatively clean and you want your indoor clothing to be clean. Indoor clothing can as simple as sweatshirts, sweatpants and t-shirts.

For outside clothing, go all out with your favorite ensembles for work, school, partying, etc. Outside clothing are clothes you wear outside and as minimally as possible indoors. Keep the day or night's grime of partying, lab work, in the laundry basket, not on your couch and certainly not on your bed.

And finally, your beloved and comfortable PJs. Pajamas are sacred, just like your bed and should be reserved solely for bed wear. Never wear the same pajamas you wore to sleep to school and back in your bed. That's just wrong and completely inviting of unnecessary germs and goodness knows what else your classmates left behind. Pajamas should stay in your bed and never be worn around the house. If it's just too cold for you to bear parting from your pajamas, but you just have to get that cup of coffee, then toss a robe (that's long enough to cover your feet) over your pajamas and then feel free to sit at your kitchen table. And remember, the robe you toss on, shouldn't be the same bathrobe you tossed on after you've showered.

Your Bed
I've already emphasized the importance of keeping your bed clean. A clean bed, is a happy bed. And your bed should consist of clean pajamas, clean bed sheets, etc.

When you invite a friend over to your house for studying, a movie marathon, a slumber party, or just to hang out, let your friend know that your bed isn't meant to be sat on. It isn't rude to inform your friend that you prefer your bed not to be sat on by outside clothing. Instead, before your friend arrives, set up two beanbag chairs on the ground so you and your friend can studying or talk together. And if you rather just avoid the whole awkward experience of explaining why your bed is off-limits, then just close your bedroom door and let your friend know you'll be hanging out in the living room.

In summary, the suggestions in this guide are for you to consider and keep in mind. You don't need to necessarily follow each and every suggestion made, but these are valid suggestions in keeping a healthy and alternative lifestyle. You'll find yourself avoiding those annoying colds more often and reducing that mountain pile of housework.