Spring Clearing A B Cs
Yes, you read it correctly, spring clearing, not spring cleaning. I first heard about it at an organizing conference in London, England. The idea made so much sense to me. We no longer have to do seasonal cleaning. Our homes are much cleaner because of high-efficiency furnaces, paved roads, washing machines, vacuum cleaners. Long gone are days of mud floors, dirt roads, open fires to heat your home and brooms for sweeping. Organizing and clearing your life on a seasonal basis will help you to maintain your home and lifestyle.
Activities
Clearing is a process that involves clearing out things you no longer need, use or want. It is also more than that. Clearing is about examining schedules, activities and commitments Activities change with the seasons and that affects your schedule. Some of those activities you may not be interested in anymore. Clear them from your life and try something new. Revise your schedule to suit your new interests.
Commitments
There might be a lot of commitments in your life. You might be volunteering, doing things out of guilt, involved in things that are no longer a priority in your life. Look at all the commitments and clear the ones that no longer interest you, you have outgrown or can be shared or delegated to someone else. Use your time in a way that allows you to you feel, fulfilled, passionate about the cause and excited to contribute.
Spring clearing involves clearing out things you no longer need, use or want. Also clear out schedules, activities and commitments that no longer suit your life. Click To TweetPossessions
Clear items that you no longer need, use or want. When you’re decluttering decide how much is enough and start to let go of the excess. Make contributions to charities, sell items, donate them to worthy causes. Don’t pass things on to other people unless they want them. Check first before you drop something off. Recycle broken, damaged or very old items. Keep as much as you can out of the landfill.
Download your Spring Clearing Guide
Here is a sheet to help you with your Spring or Fall Clearing, download it and use it as your guide.
Spring Clearing Tips
Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, in person and virtually. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situation. She uses her love of physical activity to reduce clutter, in your home, office, mind and time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.
Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca
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I think there is a natural inclination when the weather warms to lighten up, both our calendars and our spaces. This year has been whacky, so I’m not sure what to be doing, but having a clear space is always comforting, so definitely worth the effort!
I lighten up my work schedule in the summer and leave special projects for the cooler weather. When you have a short summer it is important to grab all the sun and warmth you can.
I love this! It’s not all about just things that need to be cleared!
I agree it is good to stop and take a look at commitments and activities that we might not have time to do right now.
I love the phrase “Spring Clearing”. I do find that “spring clearing” can be a precursor to “spring cleaning”. Since we clear out the clutter, we usually kick up dust and debris that now needs cleaning.
I agree. The important fact is that they are 2 different things and both need to be done more than once a year.
Ahhh. Just the words “clearing” make me feel lighter. And frankly, you can’t organize until your edit, declutter, and clear. So it’s a great step to make at any point. But there’s something about spring that begs us to lighten up. We recently let go of a few things, but I’m looking forward to saying goodbye to a lot more. If it’s just taking up space and not being used, why keep it?
Clearing is a “lightening” word that only has positive feelings attached to it. Not all words used in the decluttering and letting go phase of organizing have that feeling. I went into a cupboard that has things for teaching gymnastics. It was fun to see what was in the draw, now was the time to put some in the garbage and for other items to find a new gymnastics coach to use them.
Love the post and the printable. What a great concept.
I am hoping the A B C approach will make it easier to think of all the things that need to be cleared in a person’s home. Making a structure to think about a task can make it easier not to miss anything. I am glad you enjoyed the post.
I love that you focused on clearing activities and obligations and merely stuff! This time of year, I think we want to be free of so much that weighs us down, especially emotional and cognitive “dead weight” like activities that don’t give us joy or commitments that keep us from doing so much else. Your ABCs of activities, commitments and possessions really helps clear our space, clear the air, and clear our mental cobwebs!
I agree. I think we sometimes let “dead weight” activities stay in our lives until they cause us too much frustration. If we look at them every year and decide what is important then we can avoid those feelings of frustration and always be working and donating time to our passions.
I love that monthly clear-out calendar! Even though seasonal cleaning may not be as important as it once was, it’s still crucial to keep to some kind of schedule.
I agree with you that having some kind of schedule helps to get all the areas of the home inspected for clutter, dirt and things that should be repaired.
As someone who works well from a list and often thinks of things alphabetically, I love your checklist!
It works well for people who want to make a mundane task fun, like a game. Thinking of things alphabetically helps you to not miss anything and helps you to remember where you left off in your task.
You know I love a good chart! I’m with you, Julie, that clutter clearing is important for so many more aspects of life than just stuff. In my “Go With the Flow!” workbook, I wrote: “Clutter weighs us down. Everyone deserves to feel lighter! Less clutter. More life.” And clutter clearing paves the way for cleaning surfaces that need it!