Why Spring Cleaning Is the Secret Ingredient to Happiness

Did you know that in the UK we have an actual National Spring Cleaning week? It takes place during the fourth week of March to inspire people for their annual cleaning.

Spring cleaning creates quite the fuss each year. All kinds of checklists, tips and even books flood the web. But doesn’t it look like we are talking about it more than actually doing it? Why is it a mission impossible for some people? And why do we need spring cleaning in the first place? Isn’t the regular cleaning enough to keep our homes in a good condition?

Cleaning and decluttering the house are huge and hefty tasks. You need to plan them and you need to make them happen. And here’s the core problem with spring cleaning — it looks so hard and time-consuming that we just procrastinate on it. Or skip it because we prefer to spend our free time resting from all responsibility, not creating a new and a big one.

When considering all that time and effort one has to invest, it is normal that we rather say “What you can’t see won’t hurt you” and sweep our spring cleaning plans under the rug.

That’s understandable.

After all, it’s only so much we can do for 24 hours. Just imagine being a mother of two, having a pet and running your own small business, for example. I’m pretty sure that having a child and a dog creates plenty of tasks on one’s plate and speaking from my experience — looking after the cat is the limit. For these reasons we don’t need to feel guilty for not joining the cleaning hype, right?

Well, kinda. The thing is, that spring cleaning is much more than vacuuming the floors behind the furniture and getting rid of the piles of garbage. Spring cleaning is to our homes what a cleansing diet is to our bodies. Here are just a few of the things that will make you fall in love with spring cleaning:

• It’s a powerful psychological booster — spring cleaning is like the Colossus of all cleaning tasks and getting it done will make you feel like you can do anything else.
• It’s quite satisfying to know that all the hidden from your everyday sight grime and dust are already gone.
• Amongst the dirt and fluff, you’ll find some treasures like dropped change and stuff that you had lost and already forgot about.
• You’ll get that bright, clean and uncluttered home you’ve always wanted
• And you will be able to decorate your home the way you want to and try out the DIY ideas you’ve been pinning for years
• Spring cleaning decreases stress levels, improves your mood and boosts creativity, according to psychologists
• Your refreshed surroundings will encourage you to stay organized, will charge you with energy and will motivate you to live a good life.

And no, maintaining the house’s clean state isn’t enough. You do tackle the ordinary day-to-day tasks such as vacuuming the floors and dusting the shelves alright, but you leave the smaller (but still noticeable) things undone. Stuff like limescale on the kitchen sink tap, grime on the light switches, dust on the tops of the door frames are always forgotten. And those are the little things. What about all the old books, clothes and toys, and other piles of rubbish that clutter the space? Can you imagine all those gone? What will you do with all the free space that you’ll have? Make your home cosy again? Get functional furniture and space savers?

Spring cleaning is cathartic. It’s only daunting if you haven’t planned it well. And the thing that stands in your way is this one weekend you wonder whether to spend on it.