The sun is out, the flowers are blooming, and its time to take a step back and examine all aspects of your life- your relationship to your home to your technology- and consider… are you living as efficiently as possible? 🌻
Its so easy to become bogged down and cluttered with our everyday life that sometimes all we need is a little reset. Spring is all about new life and new beginnings and so what better time to make life improvements than the season of NEW! This spring, I challenge you to make the season all about YOU. Be selfish and take the time that you need to get your life in order and start living your life more efficiently. Not only will you feel refreshed and reenergized to take on new challenges, but you will also positively affect those close to you and inspire them to make necessary changes within their own lives.
Below I have 15 ways to Spring clean every aspect of your life:
Technology
- Delete Delete Delete
Do you have 10k photos, emails, missed calls, and apps on your phone and/or laptop? If you are like 90% of the world then odds are you probably do. Go through them. Delete all duplicate/ blurry/ poor quality photos. Make it a goal to cut the photo count in half. Do the same for emails- delete them all, including sent items and deleted items folder. Clear all recent phone calls and old voicemails. You don’t need them! If you haven’t used an app in 2 weeks- delete it. You don’t need 5 music apps, 4 photo editing apps, 20 games, and other various gimmicks. Not only do these take up SO MUCH ROOM, they clutter your phone and make it difficult for you to find the things you truly need.
2. Unsubscribe!
Unsubscribe to all emails. This will alleviate the copious amounts of emails you are probably getting from every store out there. You will thank me.
3. Place items in carefully titled file folders on your desktop
You shouldn’t have 50 attachments, photos, folders, etc. crowding your main screen every time you turn on your laptop. Instead, opt for a couple files that contain sub-files for all of your important documents. This is also a good time to go through old files and delete the ones you don’t need.
Relationships
4. Focus on friendships that make you a better person
Make the time and effort to get together with your girlfriends for a girls trip. Be goofy, act immature, and get a good laugh. Focusing on the friendships that add happiness to your life will make you a better friend. This spring, ditch the friendships that leave you frustrated and add toxicity to your life. You don’t need them and you will feel relieved.
5. Schedule a date night every single week
Consistency is key here. Its easy to get busy and put your relationship with your significant other on the back burner. Don’t do this! If you don’t take advantage of the time that you have with one another you will regret it later in life when you aren’t able to do the things you were once able to do. Do crazy things- ride a hot air balloon, go skydiving, travel as much as you can… do it all. Most importantly, listen to each other. Put the phones up every date night and really listen to each other.
Home
6. Clothes haul
Its hard to stay organized ALL the time. Now is a good time to go through all your old clothing items- donate or re-sell anything that hasn’t been worn in over a year. I go through my clothes and shoes a couple times a year and re-sell a good amount of it to Plato’s Closet which is a women’s resale shop and it helps me earn a little cash back. I take everything else to the Salvation Army (do your research on donation centers before donating!!!)
7. Declutter everything
Go through all of your cabinets and drawers and start utilizing organizational tools to keep you organized. You can go to target and get these for your drawers to help you better organize small items. All drawers (especially those in the bathroom) should have trays to help you keep your items from getting messy. Use baskets and bins in your closets and pantry’s in order to keep your shoes and your food items in place. These are great pantry storage options and these are perfect for removing cluttered shoes.
8. Cleaaaaan
Now is the perfect time to deep clean. Spring cleaning, duh! Invest in some good non-toxic products, a good vacuum, and a few old rags and clean everything. Actually take the time to deep clean- pick items up and clean underneath them, toss old unnecessary items, and scrub your house from top to bottom! This app is great for comparing cleaning products and determining which products are safest for your family.
9. Organize your workspace
This is where you are required to be the most productive so why not add a little TLC where it’s needed? Organize your files using color-coded file folder and tabs, grab some cute desk supplies that make you want to work, and make sure you have your own secluded space where you can think freely.
10. Show that yard some love
If you handle your own yard, now is a great time to give your lawn a good mow, trim back those tree branches and bushes, and plant a few flowers. Flowers are an instant mood-booster so go crazy and plant some! Another great way to clean up the outdoors is to pressure-wash the porch. If you have one already, great. If not, borrow one from a friend or rent it. It will give your driveway and porch that new-concrete look and all your friends will be jealous.
You!
11. Carve out you-time
Make time for yourself. It can be an hour, 2 hours, even ten minutes. Do something that lets you sit and breathe and relax. Disconnect from social media, read a book, even just sit and enjoy a cup on coffee. You need to give yourself time to just take in the world around you.
12. Work-out and eat better
This is easier said than done. I get it. But make small changes that are actually achievable. If you love soda and candy, don’t completely cut them out. This is not maintainable. Instead, drink one soda a day and allow yourself one piece of candy. The same goes with working out. Set goals you can actually achieve. If you are new to working out, make it a goal to get into the gym or watch an at-home YouTube video 2-3 times a week and slowly increase time spent as you get stronger and build endurance. These small changes will make life so much easier and will make it much easier to achieve the goals you want.
13. It’s ok to splurge
So you might not want to do this all the time, but depending on how much you intend to spend, allow yourself a couple splurges a month. This can be going to a nice dinner with your husband, scheduling a mani/pedi appointment, buy that Louis Vuitton you’ve been eyeing for a year, get yourself a massage once a month, etc. Whatever means something to you, allow yourself to splurge every now and then. Because saving is SO important but taking care of your mental health and allowing yourself to have a little fun is SO important too. My favorite thing to do is allow myself one semi-big (nothing crazy- trust me) purchase a month. I’ll spend $100 on a pair of leggings or something that I’ve been eyeing that I keep putting off because $100 for leggings?! But really- let yourself every now and then.
14. Write it down, schedule it
I am a firm believer in creating lists and utilizing a calendar & schedule. It is so hard to remember things if you have a busy schedule so why not utilize a calendar or journal? Schedule out your day from sun up to sun down to allow yourself to include those breaks and that you-time that you need. Make lists of items that need to be completed for the day and set reminders for yourself in your phone so you will never forget an appointment again. Also, invest in a cute journal/ planner that you can keep all items in. This will make you more willing to keep up with your schedule.
15. Clean up your routine
It never hurts to change things around to make your time more valuable and efficient. Ditch the practices that you don’t love and create new ones that will make your life much easier. Learning a new routine can be hard but it’s worth it in the end.
How are you spring cleaning your life this season? Let me know in the comments! 💕