Spring Cleaning: The Basics
Whew! The entire month of March, it felt like our home was in organized chaos! We were purging cupboards, reorganizing book shelves…oh and rotating the purpose and contents of three rooms. For a family that hasn’t had that kind of rotation since someone was born five years ago, it’s felt like a wind of change, to say the least.
This upheaval has been a blessing in more ways than one; it’s been an opportunity to be able to do some deeper “spring cleaning” for us!
Do you do any “spring cleaning”? It’s optional in our culture; but I, for one, feel like it’s a great opportunity to open windows to warmer weather, have room to sort and clean, and generally feel like I have a mini-restart on the daily home life.
So, today I’ve got a few useful areas that you can do your spring cleaning in, and perhaps some you’ve not thought often about before!
Spring Cleaning: Declutter Items
Generally, most people define spring cleaning as decluttering, reorganizing, and cleaning the surfaces of your home– the sorts of cleaning activities that aren’t part of the daily routine.
This year, we made three sections clearly labeled in our garage (I have friends that store extra items in a spare room): sell, give, or throw away. Simple, but effective; it helped to think about what category the items were were getting rid of truly might belong in.
I am pretty sentimental about things, so it isn’t easy to depart with things! I find that we often are married to our opposites for good reason; within relationship, we can lend each other’s strengths. I usually have everything you might need (sunscreen, umbrella, extra gloves, first aid kit, change of clothes-for everyone…), whereas my husband is something of a minimalist- and I need to remember that I don’t have to have everything! Together, we get a better, and hopefully healthier, balance.
Sometimes decluttering the entire house-or even that spare room-can seem overwhelming. But if you break it down into do-able action steps, and then do each one, you’ll be surprised at the ground you can cover!
Spring Cleaning: Declutter Kids’ Items
When you have all adults in a home, it is so.much.simpler to keep things, if not organized, at least responsibilities compartmentalized!
But with kids, not only are you keeping track of your own belongings, but you are organizing your kids’ items, as well, as you teach them to take responsibility for their own spaces and items.
One really helpful way to keep the clutter down is to have designated areas for overflow and excess. By which I mean, the next-size-up clothing, the off-season clothing and accessories, and sometimes extra toys.
Some people like to keep toy sets “in rotation”; you take a few sets out, the kids play with them, and then retire those in favor of swapping out another set. This helps the toys feeling fresh–that is, it feels new all over again!
Whatever you choose to do, most households have to deal with some juggling of seasonal items and kid clutter; best to find a method that works for your habits, space, and household style!
Spring Cleaning: Finances
Someone made a comment recently that sparked this idea; what if you “spring cleaned” your finances?
Here in America, we often think about our taxes in the spring; but it’s a great thing to have at least an annual re-evaluation of where you’re spending, saving, and giving. Of course, do that more frequently, but what if in the spring you took a comprehensive, change-making look at them? You might be surprised at what you’re able to do!
What one thing can you do today to begin to make even better financial decisions?
Try adding things up; that extra pair of shoes every month, or the coffees, or snacks that you purchase just out of habit. Can you change something that you usually do, to help your finances run better?
I find that it’s overwhelming to make complete overhauls (I hope you’re not in financial straits to make that necessary!). But if you carefully manage your money per paycheck, per month, or even per day, you’ll find yourself in a stronger position to handle the hurdles and challenges when they rise up.
Spring Cleaning: Paperwork
This….this is my least favorite. You know how for some people it’s laundry, for others it’s maybe floors or toilets…not saying I love that but…I tackle paperwork last. Every. Time.
It takes so long…it’s boring…it’s got details.
When I DO conquer it, though, it’s the most freeing thing! One of the best ways I’ve conquered this mountain is finding a designated time to work through it. When I have a scheduled time to tackle my least-favorite chore, it’s more likely to get done!
How about you? Is it paperwork, or something else? What time can you set aside-per week, perhaps, or per month at least- to tackle the chore that must be done that you normally avoid every. single.time?
Spring Cleaning: Thoughts
Along with items, paperwork, and financial spring cleaning, what are you doing to unclutter your thoughts?
Some people might advocate the right mood, atmosphere, or other external circumstances to help you change your thoughts. That’s nice, but what do you do when the number of thoughts we think are over 6,000 per day*?
That’s too many to just be in the mood for a positive thought all the time!
It takes intentionality. It takes repetition. But in my opinion, it’s doable and worth it.
After all, if you don’t take charge of your thoughts, who will do it for you?
Let’s keep it simple. Instead of attacking all 6,000 thoughts, what one (habitual!) negative (especially a worried one) thought can you toss out this week? Spring clean it, so to speak?
And-this is not true for items or paperwork but it sure is for thoughts- what good (usually opposite!) thought could you replace it with?
Spring Cleaning: Contact List: Re-connect or Close The Season
Have you considered spring cleaning your contact lists?
It can be easy to let them pile up over the years. But what if the many contacts that are part of a past season are cluttering up your ability to see the people in your life currently?
Even better, what if you reach back out to everyone that you’d like to reconnect with, but haven’t gotten around to actually contacting?
It could be really delightful to re-connect with old friends!
So try going through each of your assembled lists, and set aside some time to not only update or clear out contacts, but to reconnect, too.
And give yourself permission to grieve any closed seasons if necessary. Processing the sadness and moving beyond it can be so incredibly healthy and freeing.
Doing both will feel refreshing, and hopefully, you’ll feel more connected with people than ever!
Try going over these lists:
Paper address book (if you still have that! backup, anyone?)
Christmas lists
Email contacts
Phone contacts
Kids’ birthday and playdate lists
Social media connections
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with keeping long contact lists! But if you’ve been around for very long, you may have a lot of “clutter” that is making it hard to maintain the real, safe, meaningful connections that you’ve been gifted with.
Life is short, so enjoy the people you have in your life!
In Conclusion
There are plenty of areas to tackle! Whether it is item clutter, finances, paperwork, your thoughts, or contacts, you’re going to be able to find a way to feel refreshed and reorganized in your home! Why not pick one today, work at it until it’s finished, and then go on to the next one?
I suggest that you set a 20 minute timer and just take one section, concentrating it. You can go longer if you want, but it’s a great place to start! As you progress from area to area and room to room, you’ll find yourself inspired to keep this trend in other areas as well. It is a lot of work-thoughts, for instance, are not a simple 20 minute timer!- but the benefits of each area’s improvement is well worth the effort!