When you hear the phrase spring cleaning, what comes to your mind first? Is it scrubbing baseboards and sorting through your closet? That’s what most people probably associate with spring cleaning. Fortunately when we’re looking at what to declutter in your life this spring right now, is totally different.
There are a plethora of other tasks that can be involved with spring cleaning as well. In this post I’m going to suggest some of the lesser known/thought of areas in your life that could benefit from your focus.
10 Things To Declutter In Your Life This Spring (That Aren’t Your Closet)
The following areas are not usually what you think of when you are making a spring cleaning to-do-list. Most of them aren’t even things you can physically clean. I think that after this post though, you’ll see the benefit of adding these areas to your spring cleaning routine this year, and for years to come.
1) Your Phone
What is the likelihood that you have apps on your phone that you never deleted? If I just called you out you could benefit from the spring cleaning treatment.
I’m not just talking about deleting your apps either. Here are the tasks you should focus on to get your phone feeling like new again.
- Go through your photos: Delete any unneeded pictures and maybe organize the others into categories if you’d like. Then make sure you go in your recently deleted folder and delete the pictures again.
- Update your contact list: When I did this I was shocked to find that I still had numbers from coworkers two jobs ago. I definitely have been neglecting updating my phone.
- Delete messages and voicemails: Obviously keep important ones and ones you want to save for sentimental reasons. The rest of them though? It’s time for them to go.
- Update your homescreen: Give it a makeover. Add a new wallpaper and organize your apps in a way that makes sense for you, or keep it simple if you want.
2) Your TBR
In this particular sense I am talking about any digital To Be Read (TBR) lists you may have. Whether it’s Goodreads, StoryGraph, or any other app you use to track your reading, there is always a TBR “shelf.”
This digital shelf can get cluttered by all the books that sound good the moment you see them, but you never intend to actually read, or books you just change your mind about.
I realized the need to do this one day when I was trying to find a particular book and it felt like I was scrolling through my TBR forever before I found what I was looking for. Now I recommend a Spring TBR cleanse to everyone.
3) Your Habits That You Should Declutter This Spring
It’s been a few months since the beginning of the year. Are you on track with the goals you listed at the beginning of January? The Spring is a good time to check in and see if there is anything you need to improve on to get back on track.
Take a look at all your habits, both good and bad, and see what aligns with your goals and what doesn’t. If you find you need to change anything I highly recommend the book The Power of Habit. It will help you make a plan to fix any habits you need to.
4) Your Mental Space
Much like your scalp needs cleansing when it’s buried in product build-up, your brain needs a cleanse when too many voices, opinions, thoughts, etc. are overcrowding it. Because of this, your mental space could benefit from spring cleaning.
“What does that look like?”, you may be wondering. The short version is journaling, thought work, and saying affirmations, among other things. I would start by doing a brain dump of everything on your mind. Then do some research and determine what actions you need to do to start spring cleaning your mind.
5) Your Digital Profiles/Apps
You may be thinking that I mean a social media cleanse here. That certainly is part of this, but something to declutter in your life this spring, I’m thinking bigger here. Think about any digital profile you have that may be cluttered.
When I did this what came to my mind was Spotify, Canva, and Kindle. Which profiles/apps come up for you? Here is my game plan for spring cleaning this area,
- Spotify: delete or remove any playlist that I no longer listen to or want to keep. Create folders to organize the playlists I want to keep.
- Canva: Delete old uploads and designs that I don’t want or need anymore.
- Kindle: Organize books by genres and put all books I’ve read in one folder.
6) Your Finances
This is probably one of the least fun areas for some people, but it is important nonetheless. It’s especially crucial if you aren’t in the habit of reviewing your finances regularly.
When I think of spring cleaning my finances some activities I would do are review any recurring subscriptions you pay for, check in on any debt you have and make a plan to pay it down, and see if there are any bills you can renegotiate lower payments for. There are many other actions you can add to this list. Choose what you need to focus on the most and go from there.
7) Your Car is Something You Need to Declutter in Your Life This Spring
Spring cleaning can extend beyond your house. Your car deserves the deep clean treatment too. Take it for an extensive wash, get it tuned up, and have it looking like new.
Go through all those compartments and get rid of anything you don’t need, then organize the rest. What other cleaning tasks do you think could apply to your car?
8) Saved Posts
I can’t be alone in seeing something online or on a social media app that I want to try, show someone, or read later, but then never go back to it. I decided this Spring I would go through all my saved posts and bookmarks to see what I actually want to save, and what I can read and delete.
This is also a good time to organize those saves. Create a collection of recipes, projects to try, and more. Then, change up your day-to-day by choosing something from that collection to explore.
9) Your Workspace
Another space you should focus your attention on is your workspace. But think of workspace as a more broad term both inside and outside the function of a job.
Think of areas in your home that you spend the most time completing tasks and tackle those. If you have a desk, cubical, or any kind of office space at your work, that could benefit from the spring cleaning energy too. Treat it just like you would any room in your house.
10) Your Relationships
The last area on the list may seem a bit unconventional when you think about spring cleaning. I believe it’s important to take stock of your relationships every once in a while. With so much focus on newness and revitalizing, the Spring is a great time to do this.
Think about what relationships need better boundaries, and maybe which ones need to fizzle out. Or decide which relationships you want to put more effort into.
Final Thoughts on What to Declutter In Your Life This Spring
Now that you have a plan, you can confidently start your spring cleaning. Let me know in the comments if there are any other unconventional areas of your life that you like to focus on during the Spring season.
About the Author
Kelly graduated from Liberty University with a degree in Advertising and Public Relations and a minor in Journalism. Even though it took her a little while to find her career path, she was always meant to be in Communications. She remembers writing poems and songs when she was a little girl and pitching to my parents the reasons why I should have a cell phone when I was a teenager. She currently has a blog (budding-joy.com) where she talks about her weight-loss journey, mental health and personal development. Her hope is to encourage and inspire readers and let them know they are not alone. Reading blog posts like that are what helped her in tough times and she wants to pay it forward. She loves dance fitness, listening to music, and creating layouts in her bullet journal. She's a big fan of planning, especially when cute notebooks and pens are involved. Her dream job has changed so much over the years; right now she'd love to co-own a dance studio.
Website: budding-joy.com