spring clean/ minimalism+ de-clutter your life
- Carly Morton
- Sep 9, 2017
- 3 min read
Yes! Spring is finally here. And it's time to get life sorted. The best way to do that, a good old fashioned spring clean. My friend Ash, who I also work with at school and I have a running competition of who has the cleanest desk. We look around at all the teachers who have mountains of books, scraps of random paper and boxes of stuff to give back to students littering their desks and our surfaces with barely a scrap of paper stand out like a sore thumb. And yes, perhaps it is because we are both neat freaks but it's also because we know that "Less equals More".
Less papers and crap on our desks at work equals more time to plan and less time wasted on trying to find 'just one thing'. Less clothes in the cupboard means more time in the morning to eat breakfast in peace rather than figuring out what you are going to wear. Less junk in the house means more time sitting on the back deck drinking a cuppa rather than having to move every object, clean under every surface and spend countless hours keeping everything neat.
This year, I have taken spring cleaning to a whole new level by adopting a minimalist philosophy. Some people view minimalism as just having no material objects or a lack of furniture and nick knacks. And while it can mean that, it also means a whole heap more. Minimalism to me is having less of the things that weigh you down: possessions, chores, meaningless jobs at work that someone is pressuring you to do 'right now'. Because that's always how it works right? Everything is right now.
Thankfully, Ash and I have realised this at the same time and she has been the source of much needed inspiration and motivation (who is your 'Ash'?). While I am only dipping my toe in a little, (small steps, right?) the ideas behind the 100 things challenge and project 333 have encouraged me to "Be more with less" and get this life de-cluttering happening. The idea behind the 100 things challenge is to go through your house and aim to get rid of 100 items e.g. rubbish can go in the bin as can out of date beauty products, unwanted clothes can go to Vinnies and old emails into the trash. I did a quick zip of this around my house and quickly rose to the challenge by removing a number of unnecessary items and it felt so good. Check out more info at
Meanwhile, Project 333 challenges you to have a wardrobe of 33 items and live off them for three months. This idea initially freaked me out because I expected that the rest of my stuff would have to be thrown out, but no, it simply goes in a box and at the change of each season, you can change your staple items. Likewise, I have not embraced this wholly, but I have taken close inventory of my closet and donated a number of things. Do I really need seven white, sheer tops to wear to work?
So how have these ideas effected my life? Well now, it is so much easier to get ready for work in the morning. I have designated outfits for each day and it makes my life and my wardrobe so much more simpler. Cleaning is easier too, the amount of things I have to pick up to dust underneath is limited and everything within my house is beautiful and used on a regular basis. My work email no longer says "reaching capacity"as those emails from three years ago aren't sitting around eating up space. Spring time is here, a good time for change. Why not take one of the ideas above and put it into action? Looking for more information on minimalism? Check out the Youtube channels "Pick up Limes" and "Jenny Mustard" (Two of their videos below).
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