Why Take Part in Spring Cleaning and How to Make It Fun

Spring cleaning is a great way to free up space in your house by removing old things you no longer need. A thorough cleaning makes room for new items you may need or projects you may want to work on. Below is a list of reasons to embrace spring cleaning and how it can benefit your life.

Declutter your environment

Keeping your environment organized can help improve your productivity by making it easier to find things you need. Removing items that are not serving a purpose in your life and are instead just taking up space can help free up room for things that you can actually use to your benefit. Taking items you no longer need and giving them away to charity enables you to find a new use for things you can no longer use while helping others.

Making room for things you need

By cleaning out your house of non-essentials, you can increase the amount of space you have to store any new items that may be useful. Cleaning also offers an opportunity to clear any household items from the previous season that are no longer appropriate so that items in season can replace them. For example, if you have put temporary fencing on your plants to protect them from animals during winter, you can remove this to make room for any new plants you may want to grow in spring.

How to make spring cleaning fun

Spring cleaning doesn’t need to be stressful; if you plan it accordingly, it can be fun. Cleaning in sections and taking your time rather than doing everything at once can help you get through the workload efficiently. If you live with others, you can work together to organize everything; if you live alone, you can ask a friend for help. Rewarding yourself for a job well done helps to keep you incentivized. To reward yourself after finishing your spring cleaning, you can go out and treat yourself to your favorite dessert or a fun hobby that you enjoy. You can also take a picture of the before and after as a reminder of your progress. The satisfaction of achieving your goal can also serve as a reward in and of itself since you will have something to be proud of accomplishing.

Dr. Barbara Edwards, a Princeton MD, is the Academic Director for the Ambulatory Residency Program at Penn Medicine Princeton Health, providing quality care to uninsured and under-insured New Jersey residents in Mercer and Middlesex counties.