11 WAYS TO 'SPRING CLEAN' YOUR LIFE (AND NOT JUST YOUR HOME).

Wednesday 21 March 2018

Yesterday officially marked the first day of Spring, although I don't think Mr Weather Man got the MEMO because there has been a sufficient lack of sunflowers and sunshine. I like spring because it means I can wear mom jeans and a t-shirt and not be too hot or too cold, it's a great time for fashion. It's also a great time to get rid of a lot of stuff and make room for new things. When writing this post I thought to myself, why is spring cleaning even a thing? why is it superior to the other seasons? So like I said in my 'learning something new everyday as an adult' blog post, I googled it. Turns out it has a lot to do with biology, and that because we produce less melatonin in the winter we tend to be a bit lazier, so when Spring and the sun rolls around we should be full of energy and ready to get the birds and forest animals in to help clean the house. Now having a clean home is all good, but I think this is something we can apply to different aspects of our lives, not just our homes. Here are 11 ways we can declutter and spring clean our lives.

spring cleaning

1. Your annoying emails.


Don't you hate when you get an incoming email thinking it's something exciting but it's just another subscription email from a health insurance company or someone in India offering you social media services? Make use of your down time to unsubscribe from all those pesky emails, there's even some handy websites that do it for you!

2. Your space.


I admit I suck at throwing things away, I keep train tickets, cinema receipts and a bottle of Irn Bru from my first date - but because all these things have some sort of sentimental value to me. I admit, my Joni jeans with a hole in them do not. Every weekend I say I want to get rid of old Sims games, clothes I'm not going to wear and make-up that has gone out of date but I always put it off. So this shall be the weekend I do it, I will post on Instagram for proof so you guys can hold me accountable.

3. Your diet.


Whether you want to increase your energy levels, lose some fat, build muscle or make your skin glow - there's an eating plan for that. If you've been stuck in a bad eating routine use the new season as a chance to try something new or make small changes to try and reach your goals, and not just because summer is coming up! My friend Zoe went vegan for a month and she found her skin cleared up loads, whereas I'm currently working on a carb-cycling plan to lose fat and gain muscle. I find that if you take things a month at a time your results will be a lot more sustainable.


4. Your spending habits.


If you're like me and your pay check comes in one day and the next half of it has already gone on your subscriptions and booking things, then it might be worth making a monthly budget/expenses tracker to see where you can make some cuts. You could try highlighting all the pointless stuff you bought on your bank statement and try and cut down on them. You don't really need that Starbucks Vanilla Late when you can just have a coffee with some vanilla extract at work.

5. Your relationships.


They say you become the people you surround yourself with, so why would you want to dedicate your time to people who bring you down, spend their time gossiping or add no value to your life? I'm not saying to go drop all your friends who annoy you sometimes, because nobody is perfect. On the other hand, use this time to make time for the people you do care about, and make an effort to see people you haven't seen in a while but would actually like to (and actually do it!!).

6. Your playlists. 


Listening to Havana on a night out or in the car won't cut it anymore, so it's time for some new playlists! I pretty much have a playlist for everything on my Spotify, even songs to cry to. The best thing about music is songs usually remind you of a certain time/point of your life, so make a playlist full of happy songs that will put the spring in your step when walking to work!

7.  Your digital life.


We had no internet the other night, so I resulted to organising my apps on my iPad and giving them cute little emojis on each folder. It was surprisingly therapeutic but then again I am a Virgo who loves organising everything. Whether it's deleting apps you don't use, or removing people from Facebook who you met on a night out in Magaluf 4 years ago - decluttering your social space can also be a nice refresh. You might also want to try Googling your name and deleting all the embarrassing things that come up, I'm looking at you Ask.fm.

8. Your attitude.


It's all well and good changing the things we do and the things around us, but it's always worth reflecting on all the little bad habits we have or things we do or say that might irritate other people. It's always easier to point a finger than admit that you can sometimes be an asshole. Even if it's just telling people to have a good day in the lifts in the morning, having a more positive attitude overall shines through and will do wonders for you.

9. Your hobbies.


Thanks to my blog, when people ask me what I like to do in my spare time I feel like I can say more than just 'I lay in bed eating Pringles and watch Youtube conspiracy theories' which don't get me wrong, is still a great way to spend your time. We're all more motivated when the sun is shining, so this is a great time to explore your interests. Maybe you want to learn French or join a book club, if you start now you'll be ordering pain de chocolat's in Paris before you know it. 

* P.S if you're looking to get back into reading or want to try reading something completely different to what you're used to, I've created a 'spring reading challenge' that I'd love you guys to participate in! I've made this nifty graphic with the challenge so you can print it out or check them off as you go, I'd love to see if you took part! I'll be posting a more elaborate post about it this weekend as I think it would be a great challenge! *

spring reading challenge

10. Your fitness routine.


For the gym go-ers, we all know sticking to the same routine can get monotonous and it might even be a case that doing cardio for 40 minutes 5 times a week has become ineffective. Now might be a good time in to trying something different and see if you get different results. I've been seeing a lot on plyometric training so this is something I'd like to incorporate into my fitness routine this month.

11. Your house.


Once you've done all this, I guess you can crack on with the ball of clothes sitting in the corner in your room or your dirty windows. I'm currently living at home with my parents, and one thing I think needs to go - is the abundance of white plates! I fear for my life every time I open the cupboard as there is unnecessary amount of white plates. Don't even get me started on the glasses, they're legit stacked up because there's no more room, how much water must one consume!

Do you usually take part in Spring cleaning? Which of these do you think you'd benefit from? 

G




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