It’s that time of the year again. Press play on Marie Kondo’s TV show and settle in for a few things to add to your spring cleaning routine that require no scrub brush or vacuums.
I love cleaning so much. I know, I’m weird, but I’m like Rory Gilmore in that one episode where all she wants to do is three loads of laundry on her night off.
But something so many people forget about when they get into spring cleaning is the non-physical aspect of their lives. This spring, it’s time to clean out everything from your photos to your digital friends. I made a promise to myself to only follow certain pages on Instagram in the new year, and it has really changed my life. So let’s start the purge!
Your Photos
Declutter your life tip #1 (and one of the easiest): your photos! I just checked and I have approximately two thousand photos on my phone. That’s not talking about the other apps that I have for the photos I deleted off my other phone (Google Photos). But two thousand? That’s a lot. And I can promise you about half of them are screenshots that were taken by accident. There are some amazing apps that delete duplicate photos for you, like Cleaner and Remo Duplicate, but if you want to do it yourself, we completely understand. I like to go through all of my photos about once every three months, just so I know what I have on there and I can avoid any storage overloads.
Your Contacts
I still have girls from summer camp in my contacts, and I haven’t been to camp in over ten years! Those friendships just did not last as long as the braided bracelets. It’s really cathartic to clean out your contacts because it’s a small form of letting go of the past and people who are no longer big parts of your life.
Text Messages
This might be a personal thing, but I delete a negative text the second it comes in. I try to purge my messages app of anything that isn’t edifying or, in the words of Marie Kondo, doesn’t bring me joy. I also go through and delete texts from some people if they just aren’t important or really old. This is another way to just let go of the past and the things that didn’t serve you before — not to mention, it will clear up so much space on your phone!
Apps
This is huge for me. When I got my new phone, I had more storage on it than I ever had before, so I got a bunch of apps that just take up space and time. If I’m being harsh on myself, I shouldn’t have any games on my phone because I just mindlessly play them and they don’t challenge me. If I’m being cruel — TikTok also has to go, but I certainly don’t have the strength for that. Go through all of your apps and try to see what you use daily, weekly, and monthly. If there are some apps that you haven’t used in the past month, or if you’ve used them too much, maybe think about deleting them.
Social Media
I think this is the biggest one for me. I didn’t like to unfollow people because I used to think it was the biggest deal, and sure — some people you just follow out of courtesy. But if they’re being negative online or posting things that you aren’t particularly drawn to, consider unfollowing them. Your social media shouldn’t be draining. It should be a positive place where you go to feel refreshed and get inspired.
All Those Emails
I felt dread writing this because I am so guilty of having an overflowing email. And I get it. I have unsubscribed to Pinterest’s emails about once a month, but somehow they still show up. It’s exhausting to have to do that so often and they really do pile up, but make it a habit to delete any junk mail immediately and take a quick look at everything else in your inbox. Then, take some time to look through your email subscriptions and “spring clean” by unsubscribing to the ones you really don’t care about (yes, you know exactly which ones I’m talking about!).
Your Computer
I know, somehow the phone things are so much easier to delete. Cleaning up the files on your computer seems so much more arduous than anything else. It’s super important to keep cleaning those files and deleting things you aren’t using, especially if you work from your personal computer. One of my worst fears is my computer just giving up because I have downloaded too much to it. You can use software like the Wise Duplicate Finder and CCleaner for this task too!
People
This is probably the hardest (but one of the best) way to declutter your life. You’ve cleaned all the digital aspects of your life that aren’t bringing you joy, and now it’s time to reflect on who in your life is giving you life back and who is taking it. I know that sometimes it’s almost impossible to take people out of your life, but maybe this spring take a good look at the people in your life. Best case scenario, everyone is adding to it in a positive and uplifting way. Worst case scenario, you may have a few more contacts to erase. Either way, if you think it’s going to bring you peace to take some people out of your life, then do it. You’re allowed to be selfish with the things that bring you joy.
Your Purse
Want to really declutter your life? Time to take a good, hard look at your handbag. I swear, I’m like Mary Poppins with my purse. I have everything from gift cards to Ashwagandha in my bag! But this is so important to clean out too, especially because you carry it around with you everywhere. Marie Kondo’s book mentions her routine when it comes to cleaning her purse. Every day when she gets home, she takes everything out of her purse and thanks it for its use. Now, I’m not saying you have to do this, but maybe have a section of your purse for the temporary things and another where you keep your purse staples.
Your Mattress!
Last but not least, can you really get a good night’s sleep on a dirty mattress? I don’t want to tell you how gross your mattress can become. To avoid that description, let me just get into how to clean it. According to The Well and Good –– pour ½ cup of baking soda and twenty drops of lavender essential oil into a small bowl and sprinkle it on your mattress. Let that sit for about thirty minutes then vacuum it up.
We hope this article gave you some ideas for how to really declutter your life! What are you going to start with first? Comment below!
Want More Spring Cleaning Tips? You’ll Love:
TikTok Showed Me How To Clean Things I Didn’t Even Know Were Dirty
These Fridge Organization Hacks Honestly Made My Life Way Better
