The Importance of a Mental Spring Cleaning

Happy Sunday and thank you for opening this week’s #TheLifeofJLOWE newsletter!

Last week I talked a bit about consistency, and this week I’m happy to report that I made it the full week once again going to the gym everyday! 🥳 

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Do you do Spring Cleaning?

This past week at work, I started doing a bit of spring cleaning and threw away a bunch of old items that had been hoarded over the past couple years at our business place. Like cleaning your room, it feels great to throw away old things that are creating clutter, and it’s a whole new breath of fresh air when you realize how much space you really had that’s been under-utilized.

There’s this idea of “spring cleaning” that floats around every year around this time of the year, and I think it’s such a great thing to practice every year, starting first with your immediate physical space.

Do you do that every year?

I can’t say for sure whether I do at Spring time every year, but I definitely almost always have a moment where I’m like “yup, time to de-clutter” and go on an insane throwing-things-away bout.

The Mental Resistance to Spring Cleaning

A lot of people have built up clutter because they’ve hoarded things over time for one reason or another, and so practicing something like a “spring cleaning” is incredibly difficult for them.

There’s this emotional connection to physical things that exists - whether it’s the memories that you hold with them, how they remind you of a certain person or place, or maybe just the imaginary idea that you’ll one day use them again even though they’re covered in a layer of 10-year-old dust.

I think it’s perfectly human to become attached to things, and to hold onto things that remind you of happy moments in your life, or that you might find useful later on.

However, at the same time, there’s a threshold.

There’s a thin line between recognising sentimental value and hoarding, and it’s a line that we often need a push ourselves to get across. That’s why having an “event” like a spring cleaning allows us to create the time and space to actually push across that line of procrastination, illogical thinking and subsequent hoarding.

You can apply those same thoughts to your mind

In that same vein, a few months ago, I started back my consistent routine of mindfulness and yoga in the mornings, as a way to begin my very own mental spring cleaning.

In the same way that you can hoard physical things, it’s also really easy to subconsciously hoard intangible things like tasks, emotional baggage or even relationships.

For me, I think it’s equally as important to conduct a mental spring cleaning as it is to do a physical one. You should certainly start with your physical space to create an environment of peace, but the next step to take is to clear your mind of the things that you’ve been hoarding for one reason or the other.

How do I conduct a mental spring cleaning?

To get this done, it’s a similar challenge to pushing past the thin line between hoarding and sentimental value, except in this case you’re pushing past your mind’s tendency to procrastinate.

What do I mean by that?

I bet there’s something that you’ve been meaning to do for a really long time that you just haven’t gotten around to doing. Maybe it’s even something so simple that you could do it in 30 minutes. Maybe it’s as simple as sending someone a text to check in on them. Or maybe it’s something as difficult as starting to get back into the gym.

Start with the small, easy tasks that you’ve been thinking about for a long time first, then start to tackle the more time-consuming ones after.

What you’ll realize is that the mental space that those thoughts took up will become vacant, and you can begin then to start thinking new thoughts.

Seems kinda obvious, and also kinda cliche too right? Like just do the damn thing then you can do something else!

That’s the whole point of spring cleaning

The truth is - it is obvious! But so is throwing away that toy truck from when you were 6 years old that’s missing 3 wheels and has been sitting in the corner for a decade.

It’s the simple concept of just being intentional about clearing your mind that allows you to have more mental capacity to take on new challenges, projects or set new goals.

Spring cleaning isn’t a scientific marvel like SpaceX catching rocket ships. It’s literally just reminding yourself to take care of yourself and the space that you live in. And news flash - you live in your own head 100% of the time. 🗞️ 

Conclusion

If you feel like you’re burnt out, on your absolute last straw or maybe just tired all the time on a day to day basis, maybe it’s time to do a mental spring cleaning.

It’s time to prioritise your mental space in the same way that you should your physical space and to take care of it too. Clean that space by getting things done, then build wellness routines in like reading, going to the gym or meditation to keep that space clean.

So this week - send that friend a text to say you want to catch up. Throw away that old sauce jar in your fridge. Write down your goals for the year (yes, it’s March but maybe you procrastinated that task this far).

Whatever little thing you’ve been putting off, get it done this week, and watch how all of a sudden you begin to think about the possibilities of new things and can finally start to progress in the direction that you want your life to go.

Until next Sunday,

JLOWE