Spring Cleaning is Good for You!

There’s something about spring that makes even the most committed “I’ll deal with it later” types suddenly notice that drawer, that closet or that room.

Next thing you know, you've set to work like Mole in The Wind in the Willows: "The Mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring- cleaning his little home. First with brooms, then with dusters; then on ladders and steps and chairs, with a brush and a pail of whitewash; till he had dust in his throat and eyes, and splashes of whitewash all over his black fur, and an aching back and weary arms. Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing."

Although if you overdo it -- like Mole -- you may find yourself abandoning your ambitious plan: "...he suddenly flung down his brush on the floor, said 'Bother!' and 'O blow!' and also 'Hang spring-cleaning!' and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat...The sunshine struck hot on his fur, soft breezes caressed his heated brow, and after the seclusion of the cellarage he had lived in so long the carol of happy birds fell on his dulled hearing almost like a shout. Jumping off all his four legs at once, in the joy of living and the delight of spring without its cleaning, he pursued his way across the meadow till he reached the hedge on the further side."

Getting outside in nature makes us feel better. But so does tidying up. Every little bit of decluttering you do now is a gift to your future self. Whether you’re not going anywhere, or thinking about selling in a year or ten, or making a move across town, or — way down the road — sparing your heirs from having to sort through 47 mystery cords and a lifetime of “I might need this someday,” it all counts.

This smart piece from the Washington Post gets into why tidying up actually makes us feel better (not just look better), and how to do it without turning it into an overwhelming, all-weekend affair. A little stress-free spring cleaning. A lot of relaxed spring-renewal time.

The goal isn’t perfection. It’s simply to make things simpler -- today and someday.

III.