Category: Spring

Spring brings brighter days, longer day-time hours and increased energy, so embrace the chance to Spring clean your home.

As the weather starts to improve, we have longer daylight hours and see growth and renewal all around us in the natural world. It’s a wonderful time to embrace our increasing energy levels to clear our clutter and bring positivity to our home. 

If you are struggling to take action, to freshen up those rooms, brighten up your space and clear out the dust and clutter accumulated over the winter months, I’ve got you. In this blog I share why we Spring Clean, remind you why you should tackle your home, and share 6 ideas to help you harness your energy for a good clear out!

Why do we traditionally Spring Clean?

The origins of Spring Cleaning are unclear; a number of religious traditions involve cleaning the home, the alter or church.

But you know I’m all about the practical, so let’s consider Spring Cleaning from that perspective! Here in the UK, though we still have cooler spells, the weather becomes warmer in Spring. Historically this was a good time to open up the home and clean off the soot, dust and dirt accumulated over the winter months. Home fires, oil lamps, candles and other methods of heating and lighting the home would leave the house dirty, dull and in need of a good clean. 

Biologically Spring is great time to make changes as the weather has a positive affects on our bodies. Over winter the days are shorter, we may go out less and we are exposed to less sunlight which affects melatonin production and makes us more sleepy. During Spring increased natural light causes less melatonin production which gives us more energy. 

And don’t forget the Clutter

Over Autumn and Winter we acquire possessions, and after spending more time indoors, may have stopped noticing the things that we no longer use or love. Spring is a great time to take a fresh look.

Clutter can make it difficult to process information, affects our ability to focus and affects our memory. It can negatively affect our mood, stress levels and can even affect our physical health, including our eating habits. Read more in Psychology Today.

Aside from the traditions and the practical reasons to Spring Clean, it’s a great time to tackle the clutter that has a negative impact on our body and mind. 

When you declutter your home, you get intentional about your environment. You make conscious choices about what you want to keep, how you want to feel and what you want to be able to do in your home. And you remove the things that you no longer need or love, to create space to live and enjoy. You also make it so much easier to freshen up your home, keep it clean and to decorate.

What better time to embrace clearing out your clutter!

‘Clean home, clear mind’.

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6 ways to harness your energy for that Spring clean:

1. Define your goal

Do you want your home to feel fresh, open, cleaner, and lighter as we head towards to brighter months? Are you expecting guests, activities, birthday parties? Do you want to make things more manageable as you head into a busy period at work. Or perhaps you have teens at home who are facing exams. A clearer, cleaner home gives them a great environment to focus.

Whatever is coming up for you, use this goal to help you focus, so that you get started and stay on track with your decluttering tasks.

2. Get super focused

We all only have so many hours each week and so much energy to work on tasks; so we need to focus our efforts on what matters most. It can help to focus energy on the priorities and get help, or spread out work on the other areas over time.

It can be overwhelming to think about everything that needs to be done so it’s helpful to write them down. You can then prioritise and cross off as you complete items. You can also schedule any tasks that don’t help you achieve your goal for later.

Some of my clients find it really useful to talk through their tasks, areas to focus on and how to achieve them. If you’d like some support feel, free to contact me for a chat.

3. Make it fun

I know decluttering can sometimes feel like hard work, so make it fun with some of these ideas:

• Stimulate your senses – play your favourite playlist, podcast or audio book while you get decluttering
• Make it competitive! Race a timer, another member of the household or appliances (such as declutter a drawer while the kettle boils)
• Chat to a friend or family member while you work through some possessions

4. Don’t try to do it all on your own

Working alone can be satisfying but it can also take time and energy. If you can, getting some help can help you go much faster. Consider asking a friend or family member for support reviewing your clothes, or decluttering the garage or shed.

Outside help can also be useful if you are pushed for time, energy or need a boost. You might hire a cleaner to deep clean, an oven cleaning company to bring back the sparkle or gardener to help you refresh the outside space. And a Professional Organiser can help you declutter and organise any area of your home.

5. Re-imagine each room

A lick of paint can do wonders to freshen up a space. But it’s also a great opportunity to evaluate and get intentional about what you keep in each room. (And I’ll tell you a secret; you don’t even really have to decorate to make a difference).

Imagine (or do this) if you were to empty the room and redecorate, what furniture and possessions would you want to return to this refreshed room? This exercise can really help you to work out what’s important and what you can release.

6. Schedule your Spring Clean

We are more likely to do something if we set an intention; deciding when and where we are going to do a task (Achieve Your Goals: The Simple Trick That Doubles Your Odds of Success).

We also have the opportunity to consider our needs or anticipate barriers, and can ensure that we support ourselves to achieve our goals.

Consider what time you have available, when you feel most energetic and how long you can work on it. Then commit time in your diary for the task you want to accomplish.

Make sure you include time for rest, hydration and other demands you have on your energy – you may need to take longer or take more breaks to achieve your goals.

If it’s a bigger task, you’ll need to engage other household members or ask for support with other tasks. 

Ready to make a start?

You may also be interested in my blog Spring clearing!

If you’d like help getting started, keeping going or dealing with tricky challenges, contact me for practical advice and support.

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).

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:

Hear my interview with Andy Whittaker and Sarah Julian on BBC Radio Nottingham here. Fast forward to 1hr 21mins if you don’t want to listen to the whole show.

BBC iplayer