5 Simple Ways to Spring Clean Your Life

My life is a mess, she sighed as she buried her face into her hands. I’m overwhelmed, I don’t know WHY I said yes to that project, and everything just sucks right now. I’m drowning and don’t know where to start.

It does suck to feel stuck and not know how to lighten the load! Girl, I have realistic help for you today—I’ve been there!

Let’s tackle this together, as we implement the spring clean your life theory into practical steps. Are you ready for a life refresh?

Spring has become synonymous with cleaning.

Historically, people needed to refresh their homes after long winter closures. Dust, soot, and smells needed to be let out, and the sunshine let in.

During the Victorian era (1838 to 1901), people largely burned coal for warmth and used oil or gas lamps for light. By winter’s end, windows and furnishings were covered in coal dust and oily grime. The pioneering English journalist Isabella Beeton canonized spring cleaning in her popular Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management, where she states that “spring is the usual period set apart for house-cleaning.”- Bob Vila

While it is a great thing to rejuvenate the house with a good spring clean, this is a great time to also spring clean your life!

What does spring clean your life mean?

Our life needs a good spring clean out as well as our homes.

Stagnancy tends to creep in and we can become too comfortable with the status quo. The dust bunnies of negativity, boredom, and being too busy are not the environment for an orderly life.

Unhealthy mental clutter needs to go as we revive our intellectual abode!

How satisfied are you with your life? Would you like to make changes to bring more joy to your ordinary days?

Don’t beat yourself up if your plans have gotten derailed. If negative emotions have overcome your peace. Being overwhelmed happens to ALL of us. I get you, there is a regular need to reset and be more intentional.

Extend tons of grace to yourself, and I will too!

Today is a great day to have a fresh start. I have 5 ideas to help refresh your life (click here if you want to spring clean your house too!)

How do I start cleaning up my life?

Let the light in and turn off the news- Bad news sells. Consider the source, and the constant replay of doom thematic wording What is the benefit? Fear-mongering keeps you watching. They don’t empower action, just outrage. The APA confirms that “media overload is hurting our mental health” Are there hard things happening? Yes. Important news WILL find you. There is also a big world of beauty and kindness that will seldom make a headline because it isn’t profitable. Look for that and see how your joy-meter starts ticking upwards!

Engage your mind and dust out the cobwebs- Whenever anything addictive is removed from a person’s life, experts counsel to replace it with helpful behavior. Don’t leave a void! It is easy to fall back into the mire. Give your mind something fresh to focus on. A crossword puzzle, writing, drawing. Anything that gives YOU joy to focus on with concentration.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2)

Enjoy the fresh air of activity– Go outside and let spring air engage your senses. Science backs up this common sense. “Studies show that levels of anxiety, stress, and others are reduced by being outdoors. When you are outside, the fresh air can help raise oxygen levels in your brain, which increases serotonin levels. Serotonin is the neurotransmitter that alters your mood. Getting some fresh air is a simple way to improve your mood!”- Firelands Health

Give a good shake to your welcome mat- Part of spring cleaning your life means choosing what you invite into it. Consider the front door. We have a choice about who we invite over the threshold, right? Just as we lay out the welcome mat to people who bring us life, set boundaries about what (and who) you invite in after a good cleaning. This might mean making hard decisions about letting go. Remember, that God sees you and will help you!

Rearrange the furniture of commitments- Being busy is often considered a warped badge of honor in today’s world. A sort of one-upmanship. Go against the flow and position your life to offer you refuge. Let your home become a sanctuary to refresh your life and be free of the fast lane. Slow living is a contemplative decision. Remove the pieces of life that are crowding out the peaceful flow of your days.

The best way to spring clean your life is by starting small

The best way to NOT spring clean your life is by trying to implement every new choice all at once. Aim for success by choosing one thing. Practice it. Enjoy the process.

Start small and you will find refreshment in a slower pace of life. Purposeful choices, instead of getting swept up in the tide of societal pressures.

We don’t stick our heads in the sand when we embrace simple living. We ground ourselves in the things that matter most, to give us strength when the ground beneath our feet shakes with the unexpected.

“A lot of people, when they are faced with other problems that maybe they can’t address at the time, or they’re just kind of overwhelmed, they find that cleaning helps them restore a sense of control.”- Dr. Dawn Potter

We can apply this not just to our homes, but by cleaning up our life. There is a deep satisfaction when we reduce overwhelm.

A peaceful invitation to embrace our imperfect lives by decluttering the unnecessary. The gloom. The time sucks like social media and bad news.

May I pray for you? Intentional Grace has a beautiful post you can check out here, about spring cleaning prayers over your home!

A spring cleaning prayer for your life

Lord, thank you for the opportunity for fresh starts and new beginnings. In the places where the world has brought me fear, help me to trust you.

Where apathy has overtaken opportunity, please guide me in the steps to refresh my life.

Where anxiety has become a stronghold in building community, and healthy relationships? Provide me invitations to jump in. Let my home be a place of hospitality and welcome, as I ask others to come.

I pray that you give me the grace to not let my own defeating words be a soundtrack, and that hope guides me as I embrace my one and only life. Accepting imperfection as a glorious gift, and putting my trust in YOU, and the clean sweep you offer today.

For those who don’t yet know the peace of Jesus, I ask you draw them close to you today.

In Jesus’ name, thank you for this day.

Amen.

If it would be helpful, you can download a free printable of this prayer here.

Need suggestions on spring cleaning your home? You can find that here. Also, have you heard of Swedish Death Cleaning? What it is might surprise you, it sure changed me! You can read more here.

Have a wonderful day!