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With the seasons changing and winter having drawn to a close, spring is in full bloom, bringing with it warmer weather, floral dresses, and let’s face it, a fast-approaching summer (yay!).
For many of us, the springtime is merely a bridge between the winter and summer seasons. And if you’re a summer lover like me, spring can’t be over soon enough!
However, spring can also be an ideal opportunity not just for wearing pastel colors or for saying goodbye to heavy winter sweaters, but for spring cleaning.
No, not the kind of spring cleaning that involves cleaning the air ducts or the gutters.
The kind of spring cleaning where you clean, well, your life.
If you’re looking for easy ways to refresh and spring clean your life this season, look no further than these 14 simple ideas.
14 Easy Ideas to Spring Clean Your Life
1. Do a negativity detox. A pessimistic outlook often results when we allow negativity to go unchecked for long enough in our lives. Whether it’s negative friends, negative self-talk, or negative self-comparisons, spring clean the negativity in your life by doing a negativity detox. Break up with your toxic, negative friends, and replace the negative self-talk with positive self-affirmations. You’ll find that once you remove the negativity from your life, you can easily fill it back up with warm spring vibes and positivity.
2. Reassess your relationship. It’s only natural that we change and grow as time goes on, and the same goes for our relationships. Take a look at your relationship. How far have you and your partner come in the past year, and where are you going this year? Take the time to evaluate whether this relationship is still healthy and making you happy, or whether it’s time to move on and start a new chapter.
3. Declutter your home. Decluttering your living space presents a host of benefits not only for your mental health, but also for your productivity and efficiency. While you don’t need to go into deep cleaning mode (e.g., cleaning the gutters), clearing away the clutter, organizing your desk, or your closet are all great places to start in spring cleaning your life.
4. Delete old contacts and conversations on your phone. There’s no better time than now to delete all the random, obsolete numbers you’ve collected on your phone over the years. Old exes from high school and maybe even college, acquaintances from previous jobs or over-friendly/talkative people on flights are all great places to start. And the same goes for old text conversations.
5. Reevaluate your job/career goals. Think about your job now. Where is it taking you? Have you been able to reach your previously set goals? Is your job still making you happy? Is there a strategic move you can make into another related field? Take the time to consider these questions. Your happiness shouldn’t have to wait, and it could very well be that your talents are better utilized elsewhere.
6. Go through your clothes. One of the best feelings that come with spring cleaning is getting rid of what you don’t use or wear. Take a look at your closet. What have you not worn for the last year? Get rid of it, or better yet, donate it! And for the other clothes that are ripped, worn out, or just simply don’t make you feel amazing, toss them out, too.
7. Toss out all memorabilia from past exes. Spring clean your memories and get rid of all your ex’s stuff that you’ve saved over the years. Unless your ex is Chris Hemsworth or some distant cousin of his, there’s no reason to hold on to things that remind you of your ex.
8. Freshen up your hairstyle. Make an appointment to freshen up your look. Get a trim, try bangs, or add some new layers to your haircut.
9. Try a new fitness routine. It’s easy enough to fall into a fitness routine rut. Change it up this spring and try a new way of working out. Sign up for a class with friends, walk a few times a week, or try hiking this weekend!
10. Switch up your winter hot tea routine to cool, summery teas and fruit-infused water. As much as you love hot teas in the cold winter months, now’s the time to make the switch to cool, summery teas and fruit-infused water. Try a peach iced tea, or add fresh fruit to your water.
11. Go through/reorganize your makeup and cosmetics. Spring clean your makeup and cosmetics, and organize them while you’re at it, too. Toss broken or empty compacts, outdated lip glosses and nail polish, clean your sponges, and reorganize your medicine cabinet. What I like to do is keep my winter and spring/summer cosmetics separate. This way when spring rolls around, it feels like I have a bunch of new colors and products to play with.
12. Toss out the unhealthiest foods in your kitchen. While it’s not a bad idea to go through your fridge and toss out anything that’s outdated, now’s the perfect time to also go through your favorite wintry, comfort foods and snacks. For me, it’s cookies, crackers, pretzels, and chips, which are loaded with carbs and tend to sap me of any energy. Toss out foods like these and replace them with fresh fruits and veggies for snacking.
13. Go through your emails. Spring clean your inbox and empty your spam, and trash folders, and delete all old or unnecessary emails. When you open up your laptop tomorrow and see just a handful of emails, you’ll feel like your digital space is squeaky-clean.
14. Create a fun “Summer is Coming” playlist. When you’re decluttering your desk, working out, or just hanging out at home, use this as a time to listen to your favorite summery songs. “Soak Up the Sun” by Sheryl Crow, “Summertime” by Ella Fitzgerald, the Beach Boys, or Don Henley’s “The Boys of Summer” are all playlist musts.
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