Spring Cleaning for Mental Health and Wellness

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Last Updated on December 8, 2023

A deep spring cleaning can clearly leave you with a fresh, pristine home. But spring cleaning can offer more than a sparkling space—it can boost and protect your mental health. If you or a loved one is experiencing a mental health concern, please reach out for help. Effective, compassionate, personalized treatment is available.

Five Spring Cleaning Tips to Boost Mental Health

1. Take Stock: A sense of control and organization can ease stress. Before you begin spring cleaning, it can be helpful to take stock of what you would like to accomplish. You might try walking around your home and listing tasks. Try not to let it overwhelm you—once you’ve made your list, you can cut back, add, organize, and prioritize. Everything doesn’t have to be done at once.
2. View Physical Cleaning as a Mood Booster: Physical activity boosts endorphins, the feel-good chemicals in the brain. If cleaning seems like a chore, try thinking of it as a positive activity. Not only can you reap the benefits of a clean home when you’re finished, but you can enjoy happy affects along the way. Turning on music or tracking your steps can be energizing and motivating.
3. Break it Up: To avoid feeling overwhelmed or stressed, try breaking cleaning into small increments. For instance, work on organizing one drawer at a time or set a timer and try cleaning in fifteen- or thirty-minute spurts.
4. Prioritize: If you start by cleaning areas that are most visible to you or that are bothering you, you might be more motivated to keep going. Cleaning areas that are visible, such as countertops, can make an immediate impact on feelings of calm and organization. Cleaning areas that are bothering you can help eliminate negative feelings.
5. Declutter: Clutter can create stress and feelings of chaos. Cutting the clutter can offer a sense of control, less stress, a calmer environment, and improved space for focusing. 

Deep Spring Cleaning—Five Mood Boosting Ideas:

Cleaning parts of the home that aren’t in your typical cleaning routine can offer the mental health benefits of a sense of accomplishment and taking responsibility. The results can be a restful space, along with other clear advantages of a thoroughly clean home.

1. Wash windows inside and out. Clean windows can allow more natural light into your home. Natural light is not only a good mood booster, but it also helps regulate healthy sleep and wake patterns, which are important for emotional regulation.
2. Give lights some attention. Replace burned out light bulbs and dust light fixtures. Light helps with mood.
3. Benefit from a clean bed. Wash all bedding, including mattress fiberglass free pads, pillows, sheets, comforters, blankets, and throws, and flip the mattress. A thoroughly clean, fresh bed can promote healthy sleep.
4. Put safety first. Test smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and replace batteries if necessary. Having confidence that your home is safe can reduce anxiety.
5. Mind the blinds and curtains. Dust can collect on window treatments. Once they’re clean, more light can stream through during the day. At night, you can use the clean window treatments to keep the bedroom dark, which can help with healthy sleep.
6. Ease your mind by using natural cleaners. Vinegar, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, borax, and essential oils are all common, effective ingredients for cleaning that you may already have in your home. 

Spring is often considered a time of renewal. Try refreshing your space for renewed mental health. Spring cleaning can help calm the mind, give a sense of achievement, reduce stress, and improve mood. Spring cleaning is a healthy form of self-care that benefits the home, body, and mind.