Today marks the start of Spring Clearing Week; an opportunity to reflect on our lives and ensure that our home (our sanctuary) supports us to live our best life. It’s a chance to remove any physical clutter and create calm, order and space for what’s important.
What is Spring Clearing Week?
You’re probably familiar with Spring Cleaning – the practice of turning everything out and giving the house a deep cleaning. But did you know that 50% of the UK population have abandoned the traditional spring clean due to apathy and a lack of time (MoneyMagpie).
Happily, the Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers (APDO) is keen that we don’t lose this valuable chance to clear our homes of any physical (and associated mental) clutter so have launched Spring Clearing Week.
Isn’t it an outdated tradition anyway?
Spring cleaning is this thought to have many origins (read more here) but regardless of how it came about, Spring Cleaning – the act of turning out the contents of the home to clean, gave our ancestors chance to review their possessions and clear out what they no longer needed.
Arguably there is no longer the need to clean up the mess left from burning wood and whale oil and with modern inventions such as the vacuum cleaner it’s much easier to maintain a clean home. However, whilst our homes may be cleaner than days of old, they are substantially fuller. We have the technological and economic capability to acquire more things, but the lack of time to manage our ‘stuff’. We also know more about mental health and that our full homes are having a negative impact on our stress levels and ability to focus. It’s more important than ever that we maintain a tradition of sorting through our things.
The psychological benefits of creating a calmer more organised environment to live and work are well-known.
A good declutter will:
- create a sense of confidence by practising decision-making skills
- address the disorder that causes feelings of frustration and anxiety
- enable mindfulness whilst engaging in physical activity
- free up physical space for thinking and relaxing
- remove distractions enabling focus and productivity
So Let’s go for it!
Have I convinced you yet? Come on! I want you to have a go – it doesn’t have to be your whole house, but try to tackle one area of your home as we step into Spring!
I’ll be joining you too! Every day this Spring Clearing Week, I’ll be sharing my experience and tips as I declutter our spare room and create space for a much-needed office.
See my progress and read my tips on social media: