Five Signs You're a Neat Freak

If you've ever wondered if you might be a neat freak, it's time to evaluate some of your most obsessive habits.
Five Signs You're a Neat Freak

Last update: 19 November, 2020

A well-organized home is a real challenge in everyone’s lives. The important thing is to keep it clean and tidy, but without being too obsessive. Therefore, let’s look at 5 signs you might be a neat freak.

Everyone knows someone who is very meticulous with household tasks, always doing them at the same time and fulfilling the same daily chores. In fact, this type of person usually has no margin for error and has strict control of their home.

This situation can create a kind of psychological stress and mental fatigue, to such an extent that a feeling of guilt develops if you don’t finish these chores. So how do you know if you’ve lost your personal balance?

1. A neat freak seeks empty spaces

A minimalist living room.

Neat freaks have an obsession: seeking empty spaces. By this, we mean not letting the house become a storage space where all the rooms are excessively cluttered with stuff.

There’s no doubt this is a positive thing. However, the concept of space becomes an obsession. That’s to say, the person is always looking for more space. They avoid placing furniture and decor items too close to each other.

Basically, it’s about letting the whole house breathe so you don’t feel the need to keep certain items in the rooms. It’s a way to manage the interiors without saturating the environment.

Minimalism is most likely linked to feeling comfortable in your surroundings.

2. Organization above all

Organization is a principle that’s usually engrained into each person. According to Marie Kondo, some people value this concept in their lives and others don’t care at all. On the other hand, there’s another group of people that take organization to the next level.

  1. The placement of a piece of furniture, an object, or an appliance is done rationally. These people are looking for the perfect location. So, if you feel that changing the location of an object gives you anxiety, you might be a neat freak.
  2. If you feel nervous and uneasy when you see an object that’s not in its place, it’s because you’re becoming obsessive. You’re not flexible and want to turn chaos into organization as soon as possible.
  3. This type of personality is associated with the idea of perfection. That is, the home is always in tip-top shape, organized, and everything in its place.

3. The thin line between tidiness and cleanliness

A neat freak woman proud after cleaning.

Generally, tidy people are also usually very clean. Although it may not seem so, everyone tends to associate these two concepts and link them to emotional health.

Sometimes, the correct maintenance of the house becomes such a worry that, if you don’t do it daily, it makes you feel guilty. Cleaning is, without a doubt, the main task in making the house more comfortable.

However, if you feel you have to constantly clean to be tidy, then you’ll develop a fear of dirt and clutter.

4. A neat freak might become more irritable

The mere fact of someone moving an item from one place to another can irritate anyone. Some people are more tolerant and cope with this differently. However, neat freaks won’t accept, under any circumstances, a drastic change without their consent.

They want each room to always look the same, and if they decide to move an item from its place, it’s their own choice. This can make the person quite irritable.

5. Fussy and tidy

Very tidy people are also fussy, to such an extent they seek formal and structural balances with the room decor and, above all, permanent harmony. Furthermore, they look at the smallest of details to feel better.

The precision that comes with the internal organization of the home is a big obsession. A neat freak needs to do their daily chore routine every day so everything’s always in its place.

 


All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.


  • AA.VV.: Aspectos técnicos de la decoración, Vértice, 2013.
  • Kondo, Marie: La magia del orden, Penguin Random House Group Editorial, 2015.