10 Areas To Focus On When It Comes To Spring Cleaning
Spring cleaning isn’t just some term your mother uses to get you to do your chores. It’s a real phenomenon, and if you’re looking to improve your mental health and your overall well-being, you need to take part in it. Any chance you can get at reviving or hitting the refresh button on your life is a chance you should be willing to take. Start 2021 off the right way.
Here are 10 areas to focus on when it comes to spring cleaning.
1. Rugs And Carpets
You have vacuumed all year, but your rugs and carpets are still disgusting, believe it or not. For spring cleaning, you need to shampoo everything you walk on. It’s not enough to just remove the lingering dust. There’s embedded dirt within and even some beverage stains from those crazy nights you had with friends. This is the perfect time to do some steam-cleaning, whether it’s a service you hire or if you do it yourself. Your floors are dirty, and the truth hurts. Cleaning them doesn’t have to.
2. Garage
For some reason, this part of your home always ends up being the junk room. Your bike is in there, those gifts you hated from your birthday party are in there, all of those embarrassing graphic t-shirts are in a pile in the far corner. If you’re looking for a new workspace, adding this as a part of your spring cleaning can benefit you. You can use this time to organize everything so that you can see the floor again. Pretty soon, you’ll be adding a desk or a bench, you can even make your own craft space.
3. Closets
With all the clothes you have, you could open up your own boutique. During spring cleaning, get rid of the stuff you don’t wear anymore. You’re not going to wear those jeans you swear you can fit into if you lose a few more pounds. Trust me, I’ve been there. Get rid of them. Make some more space in your closet so that it’s presentable. You can even organize your accessories into drawers and containers so that it’s easier on you when putting together your outfits. Make some space in there.
4. Phone Storage
Spring cleaning isn’t just about your house, contrary to popular belief. Take the time to create some more phone storage. Delete those apps you never use. Unsubscribe from payments you’re making for services you don’t use so that you can save some money.
If you’ve got a million photos, consider backing them up on a drive so that you have enough storage for new photos. You never want to get to a point where you miss out on a new photographic moment because your phone contains too many memories.
5. Car
Now is the time to take everything out of your trunk–and throw it away. You know it. I know it. 90% of what’s currently in there isn’t essential. There are probably old water bottles back there with broken umbrellas or random receipts you’ve kept from fast-food joints. It’s full of clutter and you don’t need that in your life. Also, during this spring cleaning, consider treating yourself to a wax finish on your car. Don’t you miss that new car look and smell? It’s never too late to get it back.
6. Social Media
The time has come to cleanse your social media. Spring cleaning means starting the year off without toxic posts and “friends” that pop up on your feed. Go through your followers and those you follow. If you need to take a break from them, then do it.
You don’t need negative energy in your life and 2021 should be all about good vibes after the horrors of 2020. If they don’t enrich your life, you don’t need them to be a part of it, even on social media. In exchange, consider following or “friending” more positive accounts. Anything uplifting and encouraging is a necessity for your mental health.
7. Mattress
Your sleep is important to you. Spring cleaning is the perfect time to make modifications to what’s not working in your favor when it comes to your nightly slumber. This could mean rotating your mattress or even buying a new mattress if necessary. Think about it. If you don’t do something about this, you’ll be spending another year on that lumpy mattress, tossing and turning. Start the year off right with something firm and fluffy. Don’t waste another sleepless night when you deserve peace.
8. Seasonal Decor
As much as you’d love to celebrate Christmas year-round, you know deep down that you are just using that as an excuse not to put your holiday decorations away. Look at your living room. There are pumpkins, fall leaves, stockings, a giant tree, and confetti from ringing in the new year.
It’s time to accept 2021 with open arms and use spring cleaning as a time to redecorate. Place the old decor in organized boxes. You can even do it in a way where it’s less of a hassle to find things for the next set of holidays. Organize in a way that works for you, but either way, find some motivation to do it.
9. Whatever Belongs To Your Exes
If 2020 involved a serious breakup for you, spring cleaning is the time to officially say goodbye to the relationship. All those old t-shirts, photos, tokens of memories need to be returned to your ex or burned to the ground. Regardless of the option, this kind of cleaning is good for your emotional health. You can’t hold on to things of the past when you’re trying to move forward. This sort of mentality also works with old friendships. Whoever you are breaking up with, make it final this way.
10. Dust
I’m not just talking about the light dust on the surfaces you can see in your home. I’m also talking about the dust at the top of your refrigerator or the dust behind your headboard on your bed. There is dust in so many hard-to-reach areas of your living quarters, so spring cleaning is the time to move furniture around and get rid of it all.
Did I miss anything? What do you plan to do with your spring cleaning? Leave a comment and let me know!
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Scott Hill is a former middle school educator and current poet with multiple self-published collections. He has a degree in English Literature and Psychology from the University of Houston and resides nearby where he can be seen tending to plants at his job, snuggling with his dog on the sofa, or spending time with loved ones. He enjoys whiskey and wine nights and loves writing about other poets, personal life experiences, mental health, food, and sometimes Taylor Swift. Feel free to follow him on Instagram @scotthillpoetry!