by Olivia Emisar

Created on: March 05, 2011   Last Updated: March 29, 2011

Spring cleaning is a lot more than throwing out accumulated old clothing and objects that are no longer functional.  Spring cleaning is an opportunity to restore order in people’s lives and remove hurdles that get in the way of productivity and personal satisfaction.

A successful spring cleaning will keep everything that is useful and will donate everything that could be of use to someone else. 

Only the people involved can decide what is worth keeping and what needs to go to charity.  A successful spring cleaning will conquer the hurdles of uncertainty, fear, organization and appropriate decision-making before getting started.  

Some hurdles to spring cleaning are both physical and emotional.  Something as simple as old clothing, furniture, or a kid’s art project may lack financial value but can be rich in memories.  These items are the hardest to put into perspective during spring cleaning.  

Since the emotional involvement is what keeps these items around year after year, it would be a good idea to separate the memory from the item and keep the memory instead.  To gain valuable real estate, one of the best options is to take a picture of the item, either by itself or with those who value it, and place the picture in the family’s photo album.  With sentimental memories preserved, it might be easier to let go of the item.

If the item’s financial or historical value is in question, a professional appraisal could easily dictate if the item should be sold, saved for future generations, or donated to a museum.  Removing uncertainty clears the path for objective decision-making.

The best way to start spring cleaning is by taking one room at a time and dividing the room into quadrants.  Starting in a room’s closet and creating three piles marked as ‘Donation’, ‘Trash’ and ‘Keep’ is one of the simplest ways to clean, organize and get rid of clutter.  Once this has been achieved, the rest of the room should undergo the same process.

Seeing positive results in a finalized area brings energy and momentum to realize the same results throughout the home.  Continuing to divide subsequent rooms into quadrants will make the task less daunting.

Items that need to be thrown away may include: Old paint, expired medications and old make-up that can harbor harmful bacteria. 

Seldom used items that are in working order should be treated like seasonal décor and stored away from items used daily. Properly packing them up in clearly marked boxes in a garage or attic will keep these items available when needed and out of the way the rest of the time.

Perhaps the best thing to remember is that anything that enhances our quality of life, is an item worth keeping.  Setting criteria that meets standards will make it easy to remember that the stuff we own, should not own us.

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