Spring Spring Clean Your Schedule: Reclaim Your Life

I recently learned that spring cleaning has been a long-standing tradition throughout the world for thousands of years, with roots in many cross-cultural and religious practices. It is symbolic of spiritual renewal: sweeping out the old and replacing it with purity and freshness. In the United States, the warmer weather of spring was once a practical time to open doors and to sweep out chimney soot and wash it from the walls. Even today, about 80 percent of Americans participate in some kind of spring transformation, whether it’s deep cleaning or decluttering their homes.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about how the spring season can also symbolize personal renewal from the inside out. We often think of spring cleaning as something we do for the physical spaces we occupy, but it doesn’t need to stop there. Spring is considered a fresh start, a new beginning. And it’s the perfect time to rediscover purpose, meaning, and joy that may have gotten lost beneath the daily chaos of living.

We can become so busy keeping up with routines built around who we were yesterday that we forget to rediscover who we are today. What may have brought joy in the past might not fit who you are now. I suggest combing through your daily schedule and routines to decide which activities to sweep away and which to keep.

Make a List of What Occupies Your Time
Get a clear picture of what currently fills your days. Write down daily and weekly tasks, upcoming events, agendas, work schedules, and commute times. Laying everything out helps you see the big picture.

Select What to Keep
Find a quiet space to meditate as you assess each activity on your list. Pray for guidance, then visualize yourself completing each task. Overwhelm from an overextended schedule can easily be confused with lack of desire, so visualize the activity all the way through. Does it create happiness or satisfaction, or does it leave you feeling heavy or unfulfilled?

Circle or highlight the “feel-goods.” This becomes your keep list. The rest is your discard pile.

Sweep Through Your Discard Pile with Care
Go through each activity one by one and acknowledge what it brought to your life. What did you learn or discover from it? How did it serve its purpose? Offer gratitude for the experience.

Now, visualize sweeping the activity from your life. If immediate termination isn’t possible, imagine a process of healthy closure, and commit to taking the steps necessary to make room for what’s fresh and new. No matter how much debris your past experiences may have left behind, hold onto hope and cherish the blessing of choice and opportunity moving forward.

Incorporate the Fresh and New
Be creative. Look at your keep pile with a fresh perspective and through the lens of who you are today. Allow new, inspired, light-filled ideas to flow in. Take note of the ideas that feel good and right; decide which ones align with your purpose and values.

As you reschedule your days, focus on what matters most. Implement best before good or better. Leave room for flexibility and rejuvenation so your new plan doesn’t become a chore. Reevaluate your new routine often and make adjustments as needed.

As you spring-clean your life, prepare to feel lighter, freer, and happier as you transform into the renewed version of yourself.