Is it time for a spring clean?
Image: Leonardo Wong/Unsplash
Spring is here and the trees are unfolding their colors. The weather is warmer. Windows are opening to catch the warm breeze. Life feels full of creation, and with creating comes clearing space. For me, that has involved a full-on clean sweep through my office, digital files, inputs, routines and habits.
A new season is one motivation for paring down, and so is preparing for changes in our home. But there has been an equally thorough sifting of ideas, projects, situations, and ways of being to find what is and what is not evolving with my life right now. There’s a clearing that’s necessary to pare down what’s unnecessary or distracting or outdated to make more room for growth and focus and flow.
It's hard to create sustainable change when we don't make room for it.
Evolution, reinvention, adapting to changes that are coming at us requires taking a pause every now and again to become present to where we’re standing, so that we can intentionally respond and consciously create what’s next.
All of this requires clearing out space — stripping down to essentials and being willing to let some things go or redesign them— allows us to build on a solid and healthy foundation. It requires getting clear within ourselves, discerning what is important and relevant, and drawing on the best that you can bring to the situation. This is where the Reconnecting piece of my Sustainable Success framework can offer support and grounding by bringing you back to your values, your strengths, your priorities and resources.
Clearing space allows us to commit to new possibilities, more "rightness," more of what matters.
It also unleashes clarity around what is a YES, what is a NO and what we actually want to create for ourselves now and in the future. It’s easy to lose track of this in the fullness of daily life and especially during seasons of uncertainty or reinvention.
Are you bumping up against situations, ideas, possessions and outdated ways of doing things that just don’t seem to match where you want to go? Are you in that itchy place of transition where nothing seems to quite fit and everything is up for questioning?
If so, it might be time for a spring clean. A few places to begin:
Physical clutter.
What are you holding onto that you don’t need, don’t want or don’t use? How are these things weighing you down or keeping you in physical, mental, emotional and energetic spaces that you’re outgrowing?
Electronic clutter.
Consider all of those links, tabs, downloadable resources, articles, videos, books you keep meaning to get to. Evaluate what’s in your various social feeds and lingering in your inbox. What recurring needs and priorities are they pointing you to? How can you meet them effectively and fully? Which ones are pointing you to your desires and your future growth?
Projects languishing on the to-do list.
These are the ones you carry over from week to week and month to month, maybe even from year to year. There’s likely a reason that they haven’t been completed. Take an honest look, prioritize, commit and let the rest go for now. Reserve your energy for those that you want and need to move forward right now.
Complaints about your job, manager, career or business.
We all have bad days and the occasional disagreement or complaint about experiences related to our work. When it starts to feel like a pattern, there’s room to declutter your thinking and to look at your circumstances with clear eyes. What adjustments need to be made to help you truly enjoy your work and to feel more agency and fulfillment? Where might you find the support to make these changes?
That itchy feeling between your outer world and what truly matters to you.
When there’s a conflict between your values and what’s happening in your circles and your daily experience, there’s a message here for you. Gift yourself a few moments of quiet so that you can hear it, and begin to act on realigning the two.
Negativity.
It's hard to create and sustain anything positive with a negative outlook, yours or others. Dig into what is triggering those negative emotions. When you can acknowledge them and welcome the information they’re offering, the door opens to move into a more positive response. How can you turn what feels negative into something that feels better? Find the gift, the constructive response, or start to leave it behind with intentional mindset practices.
Old thinking.
What you think has an undeniable impact on how you're feeling and what you're doing (as well as what you’re not doing). If the thoughts, narratives and stories that you’re bringing to your experience aren’t helping you get where you want to go — or worse, are keeping you running in circles — perhaps it's time for a fresh perspective.
Habits.
When we create habits, we often forget that they shift and evolve over time. Sometimes the way you've always done it just isn't working anymore. Sometimes habits no longer fit the container of our lives at the moment. Clearing out old habits offers wide open space for new, more supportive ones to be created.
Downtime.
Do you feel a desire for more mental space and a little little less doing all the time? That's a necessity on the path of change and growth. It’s also increasingly in short supply unless we make a concerted effort to put boundaries around where our time and energy is going. Give yourself this gift, whether in small doses or larger ones.
A spring clean reminds us that nature's continual reinvention is happening right now. But yours has its own season. Pay attention and clear the space and your ability and capacity to evolve with the changes you're making (or want to make) will grow wildly.
