Today marks the first day of spring – the start of sunnier days and lighter nights.
It might also be the day you decide to start thinking about doing a spring clean to de-clutter your home.
Did you know spring cleaning can boost our mental health and make us feel more positive?
Whilst the spring clean is celebrated in many countries all over the world, some people believe that the scientific reason for this dates back to ancient cavemen. With the lack of light in winter, our ancestors’ bodies would have been producing melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep, and dirt would have gathered in their huts and caves.
In spring, the increased exposure to light would have caused melatonin levels to drop, increasing energy, and this would be the time where they would clear out their homes to prevent infection and disease.
Clutter is known to increase stress levels, with items piling up and mess all around us, we can begin to feel overwhelmed, especially when we decide to try and tackle the clutter and find ourselves not knowing where to start. By having too many items around us, we can often be distracted from what makes us happy in life, instead, associating happiness with materialistic possessions.
And, for some of us, we can end up developing an unhealthy attachment to items where the thought of getting rid of them leads to anxiety.
Most of us have items in our homes we’ve collected over the years, which we never use. That blender that’s collecting dust after being used once? Yes, it’s time to get rid of it.
By asking yourself, ‘do I really need this?’ you will probably find that you could live without many of your possessions. By living with only the things we feel we need, we learn to focus on what we value most in life.
Follow the below tips to get your spring clean started:
One step at a time
The thought of starting can be daunting, but break it up into sections, for example, start one day with one cupboard, or one room, and take it step-by-step.
Sell, sell, sell
Don’t like the idea of just throwing your well-earned possessions in the bin? Why not sell them? It’s really quick and easy to sell old items on eBay, Gumtree and Facebook, plus it’s also an easy way to make some extra cash. After all, what is one person’s trash is another person’s treasure!
Give to charity
Donate old clothes, toys and books to charity and help someone in need. Giving to charity has shown to release endorphins, the body’s feel-good chemical, boosting your health and wellbeing and even reducing stress.
One in, one out
Addicted to buying clothes? Sick of looking in your wardrobe to an overwhelming amount to choose from? Set yourself a rule that when buying something new, you have to remove something old from your wardrobe, and either throw it away, sell it or donate it to charity. This helps to prevent an unnecessary build-up of clothes you never wear whilst keeping your wardrobe neat and tidy.
Boost productivity
De-cluttering doesn’t need to be confined to your home. Is your desk at work covered with scrap pieces of paper, empty folders or dirty mugs? Having a disorganised desk can contribute to feeling ‘snowed under’ at work which can then lead to, amongst other things, excessive snacking.
Tidying your desk will not only boost your productivity and make it easier to find documents and complete work tasks, but it could also stop you from reaching for that mid-afternoon chocolate bar.
