Ever feel stressed and overwhelmed by piles of laundry or a sink filled with dishes? Designed to make tidying up easier, the Tody app tracks and prioritizes your cleaning habits.

With clear, instructive visuals and motivating quotes, the app makes tidying up less stressful and more of an everyday routine. Here, we'll teach you how to take advantage of it.

How Tidying Up Affects Your Mental Wellness

Is there a relationship between a tidy living space and your general headspace? For many people, a clean, tidy living space can help them feel a sense of control and peace of mind, as clinical psychologist Dawn Potter, PsyD, explained to Cleveland Clinic. Clutter, meanwhile, can sometimes lead to feelings of distraction.

However, it's easy for many people to feel overwhelmed by all the different tasks that go into maintaining your living space. In those cases, the structure offered by the Tody app (or a similar tool) can help make the process of tidying up a little simpler and more automatic.

In fact, reviews from people with depression, executive function issues, and ADHD mention how the Tody app has helped them keep up with household chores and relieve some of the stress associated with those tasks.

If you're having serious or ongoing issues related to maintaining your living space, consider discussing them with a healthcare provider. But for people who just need a little more help, the Tody app is a handy way to make your home a calming sanctuary instead of a cause for more stress.

Download: Tody for iOS ($6.99) | Android (Free, in-app purchases available)

How to Set Up the Tody App for Cleaning

To start, add different areas around your home, including the kitchen, living room, and dining room. Select a color scheme, then add tasks that suit your area. For each task, you can set the frequency.

You might decide to dust a room every nine days or so. Or, opt for a fixed schedule on certain days of the week. In addition, you can choose to change some tasks based on seasonality.

Following the kitchen example, basic tasks include dusting, vacuuming, mopping, wiping down the counters, and cleaning the sink. Special tasks, meanwhile, include cleaning the microwave, descaling the coffee maker, and changing water filters.

All the tasks are optional, so you can select ones that suit your own setup. Add as many (or as few) as you like. There's also an option to create your own tasks.

You can also select the current state of each task on a scale from Good to Overdue. It's all based on your personal preferences for cleanliness.

On the app's home screen, you also get a little indicator light for each room. A blank circle shows that all the tasks are up-to-date. Orange means one or two tasks are due, and red indicates several tasks are due. It's a helpful way to see which rooms require your attention the most.

You can also go up against Dusty, an animated, cartoony pile of dust, to add a little extra motivation for cleaning. Every month, Dusty works slowly to mess up your virtual space. Defeat him by clearing tasks on your to-do list and earning points.

Once the app is all set up, you get two lists on the home screen: a completed list and a to-do list. The completed list shows all the tasks you have finished over the past month, while the to-do list shows which tasks are due soon.

This feature helps you focus your efforts on areas that need attention so you're making the best use of your time.

What Are Tody's Advanced Features?

Turn on the Effort Manager to account for how much effort a task requires in a given week. You can adjust the numbers as needed.

Meanwhile, the Multiple Participants feature makes it easy to track who took care of which chores within your household. You can also assign tasks to a specific person and opt to rotate assignments. This makes it a great app for people who live with roommates.

This feature also brings the effort numbers into play, making it simpler to ensure everyone is putting in a similar amount of time and energy. It's basically a chore chart with a built-in system to measure everyone's input.

You can also select your general attitude toward cleaning, whether that's relaxed, average, or proactive. This influences the preset frequency selections for each task.

How Well Does Tody Work for Cleaning?

After a few days of real-life use, the Tody app's organized, somewhat gamified approach to cleaning made it a cinch to keep up with daily tasks. It's kind of fun to race for points against the angry little Dusty character as well.

The setup process does take a bit of time. But once you gain a little momentum from knocking out the early tasks, maintaining a baseline level of cleanliness in your home becomes simpler.

By focusing on the assigned tasks for each day, the app also helps you combat the overwhelming feeling that can sometimes accompany tidying up. For instance, there's no need to worry about cleaning out the closets when all you have on hand is a quick dusting session.

Should You Download the Tody App?

For the most part, the Tody app is a helpful tool for keeping your living space clean and orderly. Because it's completely customizable, you can start a daily cleaning routine that works for your own schedule and energy levels.

Tody never shames you for not completing a task at the assigned time. Instead, you just get to it the next time you clean. In addition, the app also cuts down on the feeling that you may be forgetting something. Because the app also covers infrequent tasks, such as deep-cleaning the freezer, you can have a greater peace of mind that it's all getting managed.

Almost anyone who feels stressed or overwhelmed by clutter and general household chores might benefit from the Tody app. It tells you exactly which cleaning tasks deserve priority that day. Over time, it can help your living space become a welcome retreat that you maintain with a few routine chores.

However, it's a paid app on iOS, and not everyone cares to spend on downloads. In addition, many other popular apps for household chores might suit your needs, including OurHome and Sweepy.

You can even get cleaning help from Alexa with schedules, reminders, and shopping lists. Although a totally self-cleaning home is not a reality (yet), there are still plenty of ways to use technology to help with tidying up, whether you're using apps or a virtual assistant.

Remove Stress From Your Cleaning Routine With the Tody App

If you've ever struggled with cleaning, then the Tody app can help turn this source of stress into a game. As you clear off items that are due (and increasingly angry Dusty), the tasks feel much more manageable and less overwhelming. Give it a try if you'd like to streamline a cleaning routine for good.