Spring Cleaning: Your Home, Mind & Body
Spring is officially here and the Spring Equinox on Wednesday, March 20th tells us so! Although spring brings lots of uplifting things like more sun, blossoming flowers, outdoor activities etc., it also brings the sometimes-dreaded spring cleaning.
Rolling your eyes reading those words? Why bother taking energy to spring clean when you can just spend more time outside? Turns out, there are major perks to cleaning, decluttering and organizing!
Mood Boost: There are many things that contribute to negative moods and stress in our lives and clutter are two of them. Research shows that clutter is linked to feelings of depression and a study reported that women’s cortisol levels are higher when describing their home as cluttered, messy or unorganized compared to women who describe their home as relaxing, restful, or peaceful. Fortunately, it can be rectified relatively easily. Cleaning out clutter can reduce these depressive feelings and stress-induced cortisol levels. Who doesn’t want to feel better?!
Saves Time: Anything that can help us spend more time doing what we want rather than what we don’t is a bonus. Taking 15 minutes to look for an item I regularly use is not what I call time well spent. When you declutter and organize you find what you're looking for when you need it. And not 15 minutes after you’ve been searching for it and panicking because you’re now late for _____ (fill in the blank). Let time be on your side!
Saves Money: Have you ever decluttered and realized you have 10 bottles of shampoo, 20 deodorants and a million travel-size lotions? Maybe I’m exaggerating on the numbers a bit, but you get my point. We sometimes buy items that we already have because we don’t realize we have them since they’re buried underneath other stuff. Every dollar adds up and the extra deodorant money could be saved or go towards more enjoyable purchases like a pastry and café au lait. Now that sounds like money (and time) well spent ;).
Energy Flow: Feeling like the energy of your home could be better? Or maybe your energy overall? According to a feng shui expert, clutter can create stuck energy that affects more than our home space, but also has physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual effects. Could this be why we feel so much better and lighter after we declutter? Maybe. Give it a try!
If you’re dreading the seasonal cleaning time, remember all the perks you get afterward. And if you’re still having a tough time getting started, grab your favorite music or podcast and start with one drawer or one room. You can do it. And after you do, you’re likely to save time, save money, and feel so much better!
For some helpful tips on how to declutter read up on the ancient feng shui tips or visit the new queen of tidy, Marie Kondo.
Image source: @amberinteriors
