Spring cleaning is a common practice because priorities must shift for new growth to take place, and in today’s modern world this tradition takes on new meaning! Make added space in your life with these accessible, minimalist tips to give your spring clean a modern update:
- Take a trip! Travel has the added benefit of showing us what we truly need and use. Travel-size beauty items, for example, allow us to gauge how much we love a product faster (and with less waste) than full-size. Upon your return, take note of which little bottles are out or nearing empty. Stock up on those and forget the rest! To further clean up your trip, travel by train wherever possible. Trains are the most environmentally friendly way to travel, and also the most comfortable.
- Detox your cyborg habits. Use screen time tracking on your smartphone to determine how much time you spend on which apps, and delete those that suck too much of your time or no longer deliver value. Experiment with using a blue light filter or grayscale mode to reduce a device’s addictive lures. Stop looking at screens in the evening as soon as dinner is served, and don’t take them with you to bed. Invest in a chic analog alarm clock and crack open an interesting book each evening for better sleep and a happier, smarter brain.
- Embrace Marie Kondo’s genius. Her folding tips alone are worth reading her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, or breezing through her Netflix series over a weekend. You’ll be stacking the trunk of your car with Goodwill-destined items in no time!
- Speaking of your car, if you have one, start there. Tidying your car first will feel gratifying amidst overwhelm. Do as Marie suggests: take everything out and put it in a big pile. Then, select those things that spark joy from the pile and put them back in your car in an accessible way (along with your registration documents and emergency kit, of course).
- Trim subscriptions. Monthly boxes, streaming services, less-visited media sites, and basically anything that’s devouring your cash on a regular basis deserves an honest reassessment at seasonal intervals. Cut what no longer serves and watch your spring (skincare) budget expand like magic!
- Cultivate a “special spot” in a natural setting. Is there a particular park, tree, hike, etc. that you feel a particular affinity for? Make a habit of regularly trekking to this spot. Let it be your go-to home-away-from-home. Being outdoors and close to Earth reminds us to reconnect with what’s important by temporarily disconnecting us from the grind of the marketplace. Natural settings (especially those void of cell service) make it easier to fit in deep conversations, meditation sessions, contemplation, reading, etc.
- Prioritize and simplify. Pick a maximum of three weekly priorities for each of these three categories: career, relationships, and self. Calendar those things into the following week on a Friday afternoon, letting the rest of your to-do list float over to future calendar weeks. Time management theorists have found that successful people honor their highest priorities at all costs and don’t try to squeeze everything in, so get real, and get focused. Happy spring!