Do You Get the Urge to do “Spring Cleaning?”

March 20 is the first day of spring. We’ve all heard the phrase "spring cleaning," but I wonder how many people actually do it. I sure don’t — but I think it’s an intriguing idea.

I’m a big fan for using dates as milestones, as prompts for self-reflection or for action. People say Mother’s Day is a Hallmark-driven, consumerist holiday – but still, it’s nice to remember to call your mother. Ditto with Valentine’s Day – it may be annoying to feel like you’re being pushed to buy, decorate, and celebrate – but still, it’s nice to take a moment to celebrate the people you love. Making New Year’s resolutions on January 1st may be arbitrary, but the discussion around that date helps us remember to think, "How might I make the new year better than last year?"

And the first day of spring and the idea of "spring cleaning" can act as a catalyst for cleaning and clearing.

The challenge of clearing clutter is one of my favorite sub-topics within the larger subject of happiness. For some reason, I find it utterly absorbing. It’s interesting – researchers aren’t very interested in exploring the connection between happiness and clutter, but in popular culture, it’s a huge subject of discussion.

I’ve found that for most people – and certainly for me – outer order contributes to inner calm. We’d all agree that in the context of a happy life, something like a crowded closet or an overflowing in-basket is a trivial issue, yet most people find that when they clear clutter, they feel happier, more energetic, and more creative.

Do you find that getting control of the stuff in your life -- making your bed, hanging up your coat, clearing off your desk, cleaning out the fridge -- makes you feel more in control of your life, generally? It may be an illusion, but it’s a helpful illusion. In my new book, Outer Order, Inner Calm I write about how to de-clutter and organize to make more room for happiness.

In Better Than Before, my book about habit change, I write about the "Strategy of First Steps." At least in my part of the world, spring feels like the right time to begin to tackle clutter-clearing, because as nature becomes renewed, fresh, and energized, we want our homes, offices, and cars to feel recharged as well. The outer world is bursting with growth, and it’s a good time to create more space for our own growth in our surroundings.

"Oh! Old rubbish! Old letters, old clothes, old objects that one does not want to throw away. How well nature has understood that, every year, she must change her leaves, her flowers, her fruit and her vegetables, and make manure out of the mementoes of her year!" – The Journal of Jules Renard (a wonderful book by the way)

Of course, there’s no bad time to clear clutter. Once you’re ready to begin, now is always the best time. But when we need a reminder, the first day of spring is as good as any.

Do you plan to do any spring cleaning? Of what?

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Gretchen Rubin is the author of The Four Tendencies, her most recent New York Times bestseller about the groundbreaking analysis that reveals the one simple question that will transform what you do at home, at work, and in life. She has also written three other bestsellers, Better Than Before, The Happiness Project, and Happier at Home. She writes about happiness and habit-formation at gretchenrubin.com. Follow her here on LinkedIn by clicking the yellow FOLLOW button, on Twitter, @gretchenrubin, on Facebook, facebook.com/ GretchenRubin, and listen to her popular podcast, Happier with Gretchen Rubin.