Saturday, April 13, 2013

Put a SPRING into your step...


In the hope that spring ever shows its face, I thought I would do a post on spring cleaning your life. Apart from New Year’s resolutions, this seems to be the time of year where everyone decides to make big changes to their lives, out with the old and in with the new. Now, from my limited experience, these sudden and massive changes rarely last. In April I am cleaning everything out and starting over, and by the summer I feel as if it’s all back to square one. Perhaps it is our thinking and attitudes which need spring cleaning rather than our wardrobes (although this never hurts!)

So here are my top 5 tips for making lasting changes which will make your life feel spring cleaned all year round:
1.       Make a plan for maintaining your spring cleaning-
It is all very well doing a massive spring clean, but what is to stop it going straight back to how it was? I find that setting aside certain times for certain tasks makes me much more likely to keep it up. I like to set aside a day a week to clean and sort different rooms so that I know they will all get done. This can be for anything, if you are lucky enough to not have all the cleaning to do, why not use this idea for keeping on top of your school work?
2.       Spring clean your attitude-
It becomes easy to focus on all the stress and negativity in our lives, every time we fail to keep up with the tasks or goals we have set ourselves. This is when we often give up and let things go back to how they were before. Instead, why not focus on the positives. I like to live by the quote “There’s something good in everyday.” Think about what you have achieved or what you’ve enjoyed about each day, and maybe even write it down.
3.       Storage solutions-
I often find myself tidying things in such a way that they look absolutely lovely for about 5 minutes, until I actually need to get something out! Storage always seems to be an issue, no matter how much you throw out every spring. To get around this, I like to separate things into different boxes or storage solutions. This also makes it easier to tidy if you do slip up and let things fall back into a mess; it is much easier to take out a box at a time to tidy than have a whole cupboard of chaos to address.
4.       Brighten up your living space-
I find that my living environment has a big impact on how I feel and how motivated I am. Waking up to a clean, tidy space, which is decorated in such a way that it makes you feel happy and at home makes it much easier to get up and face the day. Add some bright springy colours, fresh flowers and nice smelling candles to make your life feel cheerful and put together. It is easy to forget how much of an impact your living space has on your day to day mood.
5.       Make it a positive experience-
I know that many people can think of nothing worse than spring cleaning, however much it appeals to my OCD attitude! However, I do think it depends on how you approach it. See it as an opportunity to put on your favourite music and look through all of the things you had forgotten even existed! This is the time to really take care of all the possessions you have spent your hard earned money on and perhaps re-live old memories. If at the end of the day this still seems like a terrible task, just think of the end result and soldier through! I find bribing myself with tea and a biscuit always helps the job along.

So there we go, my tips for spring cleaning that will last. Perhaps this does not appeal to you, or perhaps it seems very obvious, but they are tips which have helped me lead a happier clutter free life! I hope this helps someone get into the spring cleaning mood, despite the huge lack of spring weather!

Meg xxx

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