Health Advocate Blog

Making spring cleaning manageable

It’s finally spring! Time to open the windows, break out the gardening gear, and embark on spring cleaning. While cleaning can be stress-relieving (and for some people, even enjoyable), the idea of deep cleaning our homes each spring can be overwhelming. Being elbow-deep in grout cleaner isn’t many people’s idea of fun, and tackling so many cleaning tasks at once can be time-consuming. If a one-weekend cleaning fest doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, here are a few suggestions to make this annual chore more manageable.

Make it a team effort. Get your whole family involved to make spring cleaning more fun and spread the work among everyone. Break into teams so you have someone to chat with you as you wash windows or mop floors. You can even make it a competition to see who finishes their room faster!

Spread it out. Instead of trying to clean your entire house in one weekend, break up the tasks over the course of the month. You can aim to clean one big area of the house each weekend or do a little bit each day. For example, tackle the kitchen this weekend and the bedroom next weekend. Or vacuum the couches tonight and scrub the showers tomorrow. Either way, it may feel more manageable when you don’t have to do it all at once.

Prioritize. There is no one coming over to inspect whether or not you cleaned every corner of your house. Pick the areas or projects that are most important to you (or that bother you the most when they’re not clean!). Your home will feel clean and comfortable to you, and that is what matters most.

Do it another time! While spring may feel like a natural time of year to refresh your home, there is no hard and fast rule that you must do this, too. Perhaps you tackle one big cleaning project a month and maintain your home the rest of the year. Or maybe you prefer to clean when the weather is less pleasant so you can take advantage of the warm weather outdoors as soon as possible.

Find the routine or plan that works best for you, and that will become the most manageable way to keep your home clean and organized. And if helpful, check out these tips for natural cleaning and decluttering. Happy spring!