When the seasons begin to change, I always find a natural pull in my life to clean out the old and refresh with the new. While spring cleaning is a common term many of us associate with deep cleaning our homes, many aspects of our lives can use a good deep cleaning during this time.
This year, I challenge you to approach spring cleaning with new eyes. While cleaning the home is a given and definitely encourages, try focusing on cleaning your mind, body, and time, too. What does that mean exactly?
Spring Cleaning Your Life
Spring cleaning (and all seasons for that matter) is the perfect time to focus on three specific areas of your life that may need a refresh:
- Your home, aka the environment where you live.
- Your body and mind, aka your physical and mental being.
- And your calendar, aka where you spend your time.
Whether you consciously realize it or not, each of these areas is very closely connected to one another. If you have strong habits in place to keep your home clean and organized, your mind may feel relaxed and at peace. If you’re always filling your calendar up with activities that stress you out or take away from your priorities, your physical wellness may suffer.
By understanding each of these areas' balance, you can benefit tremendously in multiple aspects of your life through small, sustainable actions. Living intentionally gives you the power to choose the life you want for yourself.
Now, let’s get to deep cleaning.
Have A Mental Check-in
As you begin your cleaning process, start by having a mental check-in with yourself. Reflect on your initial feelings towards the three areas: your home, your physical and mental health, and your calendar. How does each make you feel?
I always encourage people to start by asking themselves what is going really well in each area. What actions or items are worth celebrating? Next, assess what needs to be worked on. Is there an area that’s a big struggle or needs improvement?
Your mental check-in is really to assess how you are living. Be honest with yourself - you have no one to impress or live up to. Understand where your starting point is and visualize where you want to end. Not only can this action of cleaning reduce clutter and anxiety in your life, but it can also be very eye-opening to what may be going wrong that needs to be changed.
The perfect affirmation to use during your check-in: I understand I am the thinker of my thoughts. My perspective is my reality. I take full responsibility for the way I use my mind.
Evaluate Your Physical Wellness
Your physical body is the first place to start your cleaning. It is a great way to work from the inside out, starting with yourself and expanding to your environment and then how you serve others.
Address your physical body and make improvements or changes where needed. Identify what you are consuming, not just food but things including what you read, the conversations you have, the emotions you feel, and what you watch on TV or listen to. Become aware of what’s going into your body and mind.
A great way to refresh is to start with simple choices.
- Drink more water
- Eat lots of fruits and veggies
- Choose basic, healthy foods over processed meals
- Detox from things that add stress to your mind and focus on rounding out your sleep, hydration, and nutritional choices.
The perfect affirmation to use throughout this process: As I upgrade my food choices and increase the physical activity in my life, I experience tons of energy and perfect health.
Assess Your Home
One of my favorite books to dive into during this time of year is Marie Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. This book is the perfect reminder of the importance of living simply, choosing things that really bring you joy, and letting go of the clutter.
If you’re unsure where to start when it comes to tackling your home, evaluate how your space makes you feel first. Does it feel relaxing and welcoming, or does it feel in disarray? Know what feelings you want your home to bring you and seek to bring those to life.
Take time to really organize and clean your space. It doesn’t have to happen all at once and shouldn’t feel overwhelming but try to tackle little areas at a time. Get started little by little or set a time to give yourself 30-60 minutes to focus. Purge things that no longer serve a purpose or donate items that you’ve outgrown - physically or mentally.
You may not even need to get rid of things, but organize your space and make it easy to live in to support your lifestyle. If your home doesn’t support the life you want to live, improvements and changes need to be made.
The perfect affirmation to use throughout this process: I get rid of all that I no longer love, need, or use. I adore space.
Review Your Calendar or Schedule
Where you invest your time, you invest your life. Think about that for a minute and reflect on how your time is spent. Your calendar and your bank account tell a lot about your priorities.
Time is a nonrenewable resource that you can’t get back once it’s gone. It’s essential to have frequent check-ins with yourself to review your calendar or schedule and prioritize the things in your life that you want to put your time towards.
What do you cringe at seeing on your calendar? Is there a way you can fix it, change it, or say no? Priorities that are not represented also need space made for. Our habits need to have a home in our calendar to support the lifestyle we want.
The perfect affirmation to use throughout this process: I have more than enough time to enjoy the life I intentionally create.
Start Cleaning Today
Your mind and body, the space around you, and your calendar are all areas of life that deserve some TLC from you this season. Remember to start small in each area, use the ripple effect of gained momentum to keep pushing forward, and tackle one area at a time. You do not need to start with the most challenging item first. I recommend making little adjustments and celebrating each small win.
Start small but start today. These focus areas are perfect to kickstart your spring cleaning, but they can also be utilized any day of the year. And if you’re looking for additional support, encouragement, or accountability in your journey, you can learn more about Fresh Habits coaching services at freshhabits.net.
Holly Mann
Holly Mann
Personal Success Coach
Founder of Fresh Habits: freshhabits.net
I am on a mission to facilitate meaningful conversations that encourage individuals to upgrade and expand their habits and routines which will ultimately allow them to live life at their fullest potential!
