Mental Health Spring Cleaning

There’s something about spring that has always felt rejuvenating to me - the warmer weather, increased daylight, and even more time outside. Spring has always felt like a time of new beginnings and regrowth to me, and I love to take advantage of that energy. Like a lot of people, I do a deep clean of my house in the spring -  I love the way that my house looks and feels once spring cleaning is complete, it seems to always create a feeling of being back on track and like I have the capacity to handle whatever comes up. 

Over the last few years, I’ve applied that same idea to my mental health can call it a mental health spring cleaning. There’s no “one size fit all” approach to do mental health spring cleaning, and by no means do I think my way of doing it is the best way, or the only way. That being said, I think that it sometimes can be hard to put ideas into action, so here’s a look at how I do my mental health spring cleaning.

I break the spring cleaning into three categories, I look at what I consider the foundations, what is going well, and what doesn’t feel like it’s going well.  Sometimes, if I’m feeling extra motivated, I’ll even add some goal setting on to the spring cleaning list.

The Foundation: 

There are a few thing that I consider foundational to my wellness. In particular, getting consistent and quality sleep, moving my body regularly, and eating nutritious food that gives me energy for my day.  When I check in on the foundations, I generally start with how I’ve been feeling overall over the past few weeks, looking at things like how much sleep have I been getting, how has my energy been, what’s my movement been like.  

If there’s anything that needs to be shifted or worked on in the foundation, that’s where I focus my attention.  One thing I’ve found helpful about starting with these foundational pieces is that small changes can have big impact. Prioritizing my bedtime routine isn’t a huge amount of effort, it’s something I’ve already established, but when I stick to it, it has big impacts. Taking care of the foundation often creates a ripple effect that positive impacts in other areas of your life.

What’s Going Well:

If the foundation is feeling solid, I move on to what I think is going well. This could include any number of things that have felt beneficial to my wellness and quality of life.  I like to take some time to contemplate the last few months, and reflect on what has felt effective, what has helped me through difficult or stressful moments, and what has felt enjoyable.  I want to highlight enjoyment here, because I really believe it’s important to have things in our life that we do not out of responsibility or necessity, but for the joy of it. There’s so much that we have to do, but it’s also important to have things that we want to do.  If there are things that have felt helpful and that I want to continue to implement, I make plans for that in this stage.  One thing I’ve been working on this spring has been spending more time reading books for fun, so this stage of my mental health spring cleaning included figuring out how I can prioritize having time to read throughout the week without interrupting some of the foundational factors.

What’s Not Working?

The final step of mental health spring cleaning for me is thinking about what isn’t working. Are there habits that feeling draining instead of helpful? Things I haven’t felt good doing? Things I’ve been interested in historically that aren’t holding my interest in the same ways?  

This isn’t necessarily an indication of anything being wrong, but I like to take stock of what doesn’t feel the same anymore before making a decision if I keep doing that thing, change how I do that thing, or switch that thing out with something new.  The goal here isn’t to fall into self-critical patterns, but to create clarity and understanding of all the different components of your life.

Other Spring Cleaning Ideas:

While I look at a mental health spring cleaning this way, there’s so many different spring cleaning type activities that you could look at.  Perhaps spring clean up involves reviewing your boundaries. Are there new boundaries that should be set, or old boundaries that should be reinforced? Are your boundaries still serving their intended purpose?

Or maybe, it’s taking stock of your calendar and commitments and seeing if there are things that need to (and can) be taken off your plate. We live in a time where there can be a lot of social pressure to say yes to things, so perhaps spring cleaning is figuring out if you actually do want to say yes to all these things, and if not, trying to determine what you can let go. 

There’s no right or wrong way to take time to reflect on your wellness, but I do think it can be hugely beneficial to intentionally take the time to check in on how you’re doing and review what helps you feel best.  When you slow down and take stock of how you’re doing and what you need, you’re reminding yourself of your worth, and of the importance of your health and wellness.