Ready for Spring Cleaning?

The spring season of renewal has long been marked with the traditional deep cleaning of hearth and home. But a good clean should mean more than bleaching grout and a donation-trip to Oxfam.

It’s not just the physical stuff we have; it’s the attachments we have to it and what it represents. So, if we stop and reflect on who we are and the direction in which we want our lives to go, then the ritual cleaning process can be more powerful. Not only will a good household purge give you more physical space, but also more mental space.

“So, how do I get the most out of my spring cleaning?” you ask. Follow my 5-step guide. It requires a bit of introspection, but will enable you to better tackle your belongings and make decisions easier. By the end you should feel refreshed, motivated and ready for spring.

1) Plan mentally: This is the introspective part. Don’t just dive in and shuffle things about. Identify your big picture goal(s) and where you are now. Starting a new chapter? Changing career? Wanting to simplify? Whatever your goal, identifying it and keeping it at the front of your mind will help you decide what items are still important to you, and help spotlight the obsolete.

2) Prepare physically: A few minutes of preparation will make it much easier to get started and work solidly.

• Block out some uninterrupted time. Use your energy cycles and concentration levels as your guide. For example, if you can only concentrate a couple of hours at a time, avoid scheduling a 6-hour block. Instead, break it down into 2-hour time-slots with tea-time in between.

• Gather materials in advance: bin liners or boxes, sticky notes and Sharpie markers. Label the bin liners or boxes for easy sorting. Examples: rubbish, recycling, gifting, charity shop, eBay, to-be-mended, etc.

• Designate a box for items that stay but need returning to another room where they belong. Make one round at the end to return those items to their respective locations. This will save time while you work and avoid you getting distracted.

3) Execute: Start with a commonly used room or area where clutter tends to accumulate, then follow suit room by room.

• Begin sorting by putting like items together, as it will be much easier to edit. You might discover 6 pairs of similar black trousers or shoes – but you only really wear 3. Your kitchen cabinets may be holding 23 coffee mugs – but you regularly use the same 4. Make a mental note of any item that seems to multiply.

• Then edit the categories using your goal as your beacon. With every item ask yourself: Do I use this regularly? Do I love it? Will this help me progress towards my goal? Pay attention to how you feel when you look at each object. Other questions to consider: When was the last time you used it? Are you likely to use it in the next 6 months? Just be honest. If it is something that served you once, but not now, let it go. It’s time to create room for new things and experiences.

4) Carry through to completion: Now that the hard part is over, don’t let all that good work go to waste by not finishing the job.

• Review what is left. The important part here is that your remaining items have a consistent place where they will be returned after every use. You may have freed up ample space to store what you are keeping. If you need additional containers, take measurements so that your purchases will fit the physical space as well as hold the items.

• Remove the unwanted items off your premises immediately. Schedule a time in your diary when you will deliver items to family/friends, charity shops, recycling, etc. Check for organisations in your area that collect larger items, such as furniture and appliances, and schedule a pickup time.

5) Seal the deal: Congratulations, getting to this point was no easy feat and I strongly urge you to treat yourself. Unless you have one already, hire a professional cleaner to give your home a thorough deep clean. Or get everyone under your roof involved for a team clean. Introduce some vibrant new plants and/or fresh cut flowers – this will infuse your new environment with vitality and remind you that spring is here.