Spring Cleaning: A Guide

A mental, digital and physical declutter

A spring clean gives me Martha Stewart vibes— white pillow cases on the line, the smell of windex and clean cotton. It’s a messy bun, oversized t-shirt and maybe a pair of rubber gloves. It’s tough work but it’s satisfying. Right?

Cleaning for me is first and foremost avoidance. It smells of sweat and perhaps a bit of eau de garbage. It’s surfaces covered and cleared and then covered again. It’s scream-singing to my hyperfixation spotify playlist through actual tears a lot of the time. If that sounds more familiar than the clean-girl clean-tok aesthetic, this spring cleaning guide is for you.

Now full transparency, my spring cleaning goal is to declutter and find a home for EVERYTHING in my entire house, a task (well, project really) that I will inevitably fail and then beat myself up over. So for the purposes of this guide, (and giving myself GRACE) I have given myself three tasks or principles that I can apply to each area so that hopefully I can give myself some level of success in this endeavour.

Mental Spring Clean 🧠

Not emptying, but rather, replacing.

1. Read a fiction book

   1. Long form, non-screen stories takes up valuable real estate in your brain, better this than the usual tiktok brain rot.

2. Get outside

   1. Thee moment that things start feeling overwhelming/overstimulating step outside. Instead of spiralling, change the environment. Nature helps.

3. Pause

   1. As a person forever in motion, take a moment. When giving kiddo a hug, when taking a bite of food, when glancing in the mirror. Pause. And notice the moment. Even if only for a second.

Physical Spring Clean 🏡

A little bit more order, a little less overwhelm.

1. One thing at a time

   1. One room, one surface, one item. Break it down into the smallest singular step.

2. Progress not perfection

   1. Instead of the perfect solution, start with a solution and then refine from there.

3. One way door policy

   1. This is not the season for accumulation, we are trying to subtract. If I think it’s a NEED, it is added to a list.

Digital Spring Clean 📱

1. Phone declutter

   1. I saw a tiktok that suggested searching by date to go through and clear phone photo archives. It’s super helpful. Nap-trapped? Keep using this down time to clear space in my devices.

2. Unsubscribe on sight

   1. Yes, even that newsletter/substack that you LOVE but haven’t actually read in six months.

3. No new projects

   1. Similar to the one way door policy. I am already working on several projects, anything new can get added to a list.

Spiritual 🔮

1. Make time for magic

   1. Touch the tree. Smell the flower. Say “wow” daily. Let the spring time (and little kiddo) lead me to awe.

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I’m embracing working with my chaos this spring, instead of trying to rid myself of it. Tackling it small steps at time, which will guarantee at least a small win will work on building that trust muscle inside of me. It will remind that I am capable and the space I create will give me a touch more ease, clarity and hopefully a little magic and joy.

Take what you need from this guide, leave the rest and remember (me to me) grace over grind, every day.