4 spring cleaning tasks for your mental health

The sun is shining brighter, our days are a little longer, and the pollen is coating things as far as the eye can see. This can only mean one thing: Spring has sprung.

The dawn of spring can mean different things to each of us, but perhaps most characteristically, it symbolizes an opportunity to start fresh.

The idea of spring cleaning, while perhaps a little tedious, gives us a chance to assess what we currently have and to make decisions about whether they still serve a purpose for us, still bring us joy, and still make sense for the life we’re currently living.

When we think of spring cleaning, it’s likely to conjure up images of collecting bags full of toys and clothes as we declutter, but it’s just as useful when we think about our mental health.

In place of sorting through sweaters in the back of your closet, what if you took this opportunity to think about the habits, practices, and beliefs that currently govern how you show up in the world? It sounds like a worthy cause to me. Here are a few tasks to get you started.

1. Spruce up your self-talk

In those moments when you’ve made a mistake or done less than your best, what do you say to yourself? That everyone makes mistakes and that you’ll try harder next time or something like, “I am a complete failure and never get anything right”? If it’s the latter, then some sprucing of your self-talk is definitely in order.

Self-talk refers to the things we say about ourselves to ourselves and is often shaped by how we were spoken to in the early years of our lives. If we were praised when we did things well and encouraged even in mistakes, our self-talk tends to be more positive. If however, we were often criticized and made to feel unimportant, our self-talk may be more negative. Positive self-talk is highly correlated with things like confidence, self-esteem, and feelings of competence.

To help better understand your self-talk, try this: Pick a day in the next few weeks where you’ll keep a log of the things you say to yourself in the moments when you’re proud, when you’re doubtful, and when you’ve messed up. Is it more positive or negative?

If it errs on the negative side, I want you to think about how you would respond to a friend who shared with you the things you’ve written on your log. You’d likely be compassionate, caring and encouraging. Now practice using some of that same gentleness with yourself going forward.

2. Declutter your digital spaces

Our physical spaces are not the only ones that at times need a little tidying. Paying attention to where we dwell digitally also helps as digital clutter can lead to feeling overwhelmed.

Spend some time deleting those old text threads and any contacts that you’re no longer in touch with. Audit your social media accounts to assess who and what you’re following and unfollow any that make you feel less than great about yourself.

Check out the photo albums on your devices and organize the photos into albums. Decide which ones you’d like to have printed or stored in some other way and which can be deleted, especially all those screenshots you told yourself you’d go back to and never did.

3. Clear a path for the things you desire

The monotony of life can sometimes find us sticking to the same routines day in and day out just because it’s easier and familiar. And if you’re a caregiver in any way, the demands and responsibilities of tending to others may often feel paramount to anything you desire for yourself.

But being attuned to our own needs and desires tends to leave us feeling more satisfied and fulfilled and less resentful and angry. The spring season is a great time to consider what goals or desires you may have put on the back burner and take some steps toward achieving them.

Perhaps you told yourself that you’d take a photography class at some point. Get started on the process by seeing whether local artists are offering any workshops or whether there’s a local university hosting a class you can take.

Or maybe you’ve fallen out of touch with a friend you absolutely adore. What would it be like to call them up and plan a little getaway to catch up? Sometimes we don’t realize that the things we desire are not as out of reach as we think, with just a little bit of bandwidth and action.

4. Empty out those emotional bags

If you’re anything like me, there’s a bag of “stuff” tucked away in the furthest corner of your closet that contains random things that you don’t really need but also don’t want to get rid of. Sound familiar?

Our emotional closets sometimes house these bags of “stuff” too. There are the disappointments we haven’t made peace with. The grudges we’re still holding on to from being hurt. The grief related to lost opportunities or relationships.

At times it can feel easier to just keep the door to the closet shut so that you don’t have to deal with these things, but it’s very likely that their impact is showing up in your life in some way. Perhaps through feeling more irritable, more anxious, or wanting to isolate.

One place to begin wading through some of these feelings is through journaling. Get a notebook (if you don’t already have a journal) and complete this exercise: If you pulled this bag of “stuff” out of your closet, what would you find there? How did it get there? What is the significance of continuing to hold on to it, and what support do you need to let it go?

Simply write down everything that comes to you. Don’t judge it or try to make sense of it, just write what comes to mind. Getting your thoughts on paper can help you to process your emotions and think about the “stuff” that is holding you back.

Is the spring season inviting you to try something new in the interest of improving your mental health? I’d love to hear about it. Share your thoughts with me at drjoy@ajc.com.