Don’t expect me to post tips about how to make Spring Cleaning fun. As someone with a bad back, Spring Cleaning is not exactly my idea of having fun as it involves quite a bit of risk and effort from my part! Having said that, there is one part of the Spring cleaning process that I do enjoy tremendously and that is Spring Decluttering!
Spring Decluttering is an inherent part of Spring Cleaning, as one goes hand in hand with the other. Spring is perhaps the best time of the year to get into the decluttering process full blast! You are tired of the Winter blues, Spring is smiling at you, and your energy levels are rising again. So here you go! Best time to tackle that mountain of clutter as ruthlessly or as joyfully as you wish! It is all a matter of perception after all…
Spring Decluttering is perhaps the best motivation to achieve a thorough Spring Cleaning and to make it an exceptionally satisfying process too. Getting rid of the old ‘stuff’ both literally and virtually and replacing it with something new that will elevate your spirit to new levels is definitely worthwhile in my book!
Get to know your ‘why’
To achieve your goal, you need to first be crystal clear about why you want to do this and what you want to achieve. To make the whole process productive and enjoyable you need to start from a solid starting point which relates to your wants and needs and the values behind them.
Why do you want to declutter your space? What do you want to achieve with that? What will the result offer you that will bring a change that in turn will bring you closer to satisfying and fulfilling deep seated and/or long held wants and needs? What will you be able to afford, enjoy, take pleasure in by undertaking this task? What will replace –or not- the clutter and how that will make you happier and/or improve your quality of life?
If you do it only ‘just because’ you have to do it, it will most likely be experienced like one more chore and not something to enjoy and find satisfaction in. If you declutter and Spring clean your space with a very clear goal in mind, one that has heart and meaning for you, chances are that it will be an enjoyable process you will want to repeat.
Decluttering begins before clutter accumulates
The process of decluttering is not just about getting rid of old ‘junk’, but about changing one’s attitude and values towards consumerism. About moving from mindless buying, to conscious and eclectic purchasing. About picking only what is meaningful, useful and necessary, beautiful, satisfying and high quality.
About getting away from short term buying habits and thinking more long term, as for example instead of buying three cheap, poor quality t-shirts, buying one, good quality, more expensive one. It is about honoring and valuing who you are and what you deserve.
About putting attention and intention where it is due. About creating a space for yourself and your family that will support your goals and wishes, your well-being and happiness. A space that will be enjoyable to live and function in, effectively and effortlessly. A space that serves you and not the other way around.
Taking your power back from ‘stuff’
Think about it for a moment, so many of us spend so much of our time trying to ‘tame’ our ‘stuff’. The usual reasons being:
- a) Too much ‘stuff’
- b) Not the right or enough storage for that ‘stuff’
- c) Not knowing what to do with all that ‘stuff’
- d) Not being aware of how we came to accumulate all that ‘stuff’.
‘Stuff’ rules our lives, takes up our time, our space and we end up being enslaved to it. Crazy stuff right? Isn’t it time to reverse that trend? To take over and get our power back? Time to set out the rules about what we allow into our space and be clear about the why, the purpose? Time to cut down on the superfluous and excuses and building up on real wants and needs and take action?
Focus on quality, meaning, beauty and utility
The best way to go about it is to take things up a notch. Move away from quantity and towards quality. Away from mindless buying and towards more conscious consumerism. Away from instant gratification and towards more substantial and long term goal achievement and satisfaction.
Living clutter free is a state of mind, an attitude and philosophy towards life in general. It is not about minimalism, Zen or living in a clinical environment. It is not about starving ourselves from sensual pleasures, depriving ourselves from the fun and color of joyful living.
It is all about knowing exactly what has heart and meaning for us, what brings us joy, what makes us happy, what we love and enjoy from an aesthetic point of view and knowing what are our deeper wants and needs and the goals we want to achieve.
Spring cleaning is what you make of it. It can be anything from a simple story of brooms, wash cloths and detergents to a whole different experience that can change your way of looking at life, yourself, your space and what you want out of it.
So, what do you want?
Emmanuelle Stathopoulos is the soul behind Inner Dream To Outer Form – Life & Space Redesign. Using Environmental and Design Psychology as well as Coaching principles and techniques, she helps her clients create the space that best answers their wants and needs.
Services:
- LIFE REDESIGN – Personal Coaching
- SPACE REDESIGN – Space Coaching:
- Private or Business Space Evaluation & Consulting
- De-cluttering
- Moving – Downsizing
- Functional – Ergonomic Space Assessment
- Home Staging
- Design Briefs
- Client/Realtor – Client/Designer Mediation
www.innerdreamtoouterform.com
