As the days get lighter and the temperatures start to warm, we often get motivated by the shift to organize, declutter, and clean.
I remember growing up and doing all the extra types of cleaning like the windows, going through our clothes, and storage bins.
Spring is a good time to look forward, reset, and make a change. When you think of doing a spring clean, I want you to consider ways to clean your entire life up.
What do you no longer love that needs a change? What can you purge, remove, or organize.
Here are some principals to consider.
1. Be still. In order to understand what is of value, we need to pause long enough to tune into ourselves and ask these questions.
It is easy to be impulsive and just get rid of things but doing this act with intention takes a much greater effort.
Each morning for the first week of April take 2 minutes to be still and breathe. Don’t do anything else. Pause and let yourself be. Clarity will come.
2. Revisit your goals and make adjustments. Spring is a wonderful time to update your goals from where you started at the new year.
How realistic are your goals? Are they broken down into bite size pieces to successfully accomplish? Are you trying to do too many things at once? Do you have support? Are you taking missteps and realizing that these goals aren’t that important?
Whatever the obstacles are towards your accomplishments, take the time to evaluate, reset, and make adjustments.
3. If you don’t love it, throw it out (people too). This may sound a little harsh but what I’m referring to is boundaries. Focus on self-love first, then get clear on what really matters to you.
If your relationships are not reciprocal or you aren’t asserting yourself, it’s time to give that a try or reorganize your relationships. Spend time with the people who get you, fill you up, and make you feel like your true self.
All relationships take maintenance and work but it should never be incredibly hard.
4. Make 3 piles for stuff. Keep, maybe and give. This strategy takes some of the thinking out of purging our things.
Once you weed through all of your clothes, for example, in this way you can go back through the maybe pile and make solid decisions.
Sometimes the permission to not know or make every decision perfectly in the moment helps with organizing because you give yourself time to be intentional about even the small decisions.
5. Throw out plans that don’t work. Are you finding yourself going through the motions with a certain aspect of your week or maybe you can’t nail down a day and time?
If this is your experience, stop pushing. These plans or this idea right now is not working.
Take a step back, ask yourself if it is still important, ask yourself your why, and decide if you need to make an adjustment or throw it out entirely.
In summary, it is perfectly healthy and normal to make changes, not know everything, say no, create space, and give yourself the time you’ve been needing.
Maybe the biggest gift you can give yourself this spring is simply the time to stop, reflect, and reorganize how you are relating to yourself.
Happy spring cleaning!
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