Spring cleaning has roots in multiple cultures including the Persian new year, Passover and Lent. It involves a thorough cleaning of your home from top to bottom in the springtime.
Your mind is no less important than your surroundings and spring can also mark a time of renewal for yourself mentally. You’ve probably accumulated a ton of “grime” from the previous year (and before), so here are some tips for clearing it out with the ultimate mental spring cleaning.
Watch less TV
This tip extends to other bad habits like playing video games, watching hours of silly videos and scrolling through social media. You don’t have to quit cold turkey (you can if you need to), but spending less time consuming useless content will give your brain space to recover from the overwhelm out there. Set aside time to be still and reconnect.
Ration the news
As with other content, reducing (not necessarily eliminating) the news you consume will go a long way to clear out the noise in your life. You don’t have to hide in a hole or ignore the world but instead of reading news every hour (or ten minutes), consider once a day, at the end after you’ve already done your own work. It’s easy to get distracted with the overwhelm in the world and forget what’s right in front of you, in need of your attention and energy.
Let go of old goals
While it’s great to aim for the stars, sometimes you have to sit back and ask yourself why you have the goals you do. Are they really yours? Will they bring light into your life or just set you on a path of “never enough”? If any of your goals are based on fear or what the world expects, consider letting them go. Focus on the goals that mean something, not just to you but to those you love.
Shorten your to-do list
This is counter intuitive. For any success in life it seems you have to work long hours, pile on the tasks and get it all done. If humans were meant to live that way, you probably wouldn’t feel as stressed as you are after a week of working overtime (or month, or year). It’s time to purge you endless to-dos and start saying no. Take a critical look at your activities and purge the time-wasters and less important tasks.
Spring clean your surroundings
Spring cleaning your home also helps you mentally. Cleaning your home may temporarily add to your workload but once it’s done, your uncluttered surroundings will do wonders for your mental health and clarity.
Here’s hoping you have a fruitful spring cleaning, both outside and inside.
