No. 60. How I'm spring cleaning my life

Three ways to create margin in your life, schedule and home

Spring is unfolding in Indiana, with more and more days filled with warmth and sunshine, even as the cold winter wind keeps reminding us that this is likely a false spring and another snowstorm could still entirely happen in April (it did last year!). Nonetheless, we’re soaking in the sunshine and spending time outdoors on these nice days. Levi thrives being outside and honestly, us adults need the fresh air, the whimsy of outdoor play, the slowness, and vitamin D too. 

This time of year is often known for spring cleaning, and I’ve caught that bug already. I spent last weekend going through our storage boxes of baby clothes - sorting little onesies by size, packing away what our son has outgrown and then putting together a parcel of borrowed clothes to return. 

The stuffed boxes of disorganized baby clothes was one of those things on my list that bothered me every time I saw it, but I never quite could find the time to get to it. In my opinion, that’s what spring cleaning is about: getting to those nooks and crannies of your home and life that have piled up with stuff and are usually out of sight until we need something. It’s the junk drawers, the storage areas, our closets, and even our schedules. 

So, with spring on my mind, and nesting mode activated in our home to start decluttering, cleaning and organizing, here is my approach and recommendations: 

Visualize “margin” in your life 

As women living portfolio lives, our lives are full. Sometimes, too full. Little by little, tasks, responsibilities, events, appointments, stuff - it all adds up until we’re operating beyond our capacity, and the littlest detour or interruption feels like a house of cards about to come down. 

Spring is as good a time as any to  take stock of what’s filling up our days and lives and evaluate what it’s time to let go of - for a season or permanently. To purposefully leave mental room to relax, enjoy an unexpected opportunity, spend more time with our loved ones or tackle daily life dilemmas gracefully (because we all know that when we’re operating at or beyond our capacity, even the littlest things get us annoyed or make us snap!). 

Let’s create white space in our lives for unexpected joy and opportunity - we miss so much when we’re always busy and filled to the brim, and time really does fly by! 

Prune, unsubscribe, unfollow and declutter

Spring cleaning our homes is a great annual rhythm, but what if while we’re washing those windows and airing the house out, we also took a deep clean to other areas of our lives, especially our digital and online presence? 

• Next time you’re scrolling through social media, start unfollowing accounts. Do you really need to be following that many people? Is that influencer, brand, friend or family member’s account adding or taking away from you?

• Check out Unroll Me - you link your inbox to the site and then you can mass unsubscribe from email lists. As much as I love getting sale emails from my favorite brands, it’s better for our budget and my brain, if there are less emails in my inbox, especially promotional ones!

• Go through the same exercise with your closet - purge the clothes that no longer fit (no matter how much you paid for it!) or don’t fit with your current season of life. For example, since becoming a mom and nursing, my lifestyle and body have changed, and as much as I love my pre-pregnancy clothes, it is likely time to part with many of them. 

Inventory each area of your life, little by little, in the small pockets of time, and decide: What truly belongs and matters most in this season? Is this worthwhile to dedicate my time and space in my mind to right now? 

Dust off the systems and make a plan

Personally, I function best when things are off my mind and written down somewhere or put into a system. For example, I’ve recently come up with a system allocating what household chores and cleaning I do on which days, and it’s helped so much. It’s not fancy (I use a whiteboard on our fridge), but it works - things get done around the house and my mind is freed up since I don’t have to try to rack my brain remembering when I washed the fridge last. 

Take the time to set up systems and rhythms for your household: a list of go-to meals, putting bills on autopay, a cleaning schedule or checklist, a specific time each week to do a recurring task - anything that frees up your time and mind while helping things run more efficiently!

This time of year is also a good time to plan ahead - put down the important things on your calendar now - regular commitments, celebrations, trips, major events, appointments, etc. This goes back to #1 above: nothing like writing everything down to see how full life is and then determining what stays and what goes in order to create margin in your life going forward. 

What does spring cleaning look like in your life?