Our 3 Best Spring Cleaning Hacks

So spring is here, but a lot of us are stuck at home, watching it all unfold outside the window... Why not take the opportunity and do a spot of spring cleaning?

#Bullet Journaling

---

Say the word spring and, for some of us, our brains hear cleaning immediately after. And while cleaning may not be anyone’s favorite thing to do when the sun is shining, the blooms are blooming and the birds are chirping, having clean windows means you can actually SEE all this —from the comfort of your home, for now...

So to make cleaning a little less overwhelming and a lot more manageable, we’re giving you our 3 best hacks to try this spring!

1. ZONE CLEANING

Divide your home into zones, e.g. living room, kitchen, master bedroom, garage. Now write down all the things that need to be done in each zone.



You can make this list as general or as detailed as you like! Perhaps you want to do the big things first, like floors and counters, and save the more particular jobs for another rainy day, like cleaning out the oven or the windows. That takes us to our next hack.

2. 15-MINUTES JOBS

You know that weird place, usually located somewhere between the hallway and the kitchen, where you dump everything that doesn’t really have its own place or fits into any category in the house? It’s the place where you put anything from small change and half-empty chewing gum packets, to batteries for indeterminate lights and keys that don’t match any lock in the house. It’s the Drawer of Random Things That Could One Day Be Useful. And that's what we in the business like to call a perfect 15-minute job.



This hack is so easy to grasp and even easier to do: Find something to clean or tidy, put your phone timer on 15 minutes and get the job done! Get that Random Drawer sorted!

This hack works just as fine for tedious jobs we often put off (the oven, anyone?) as well as for the easy ones we often forget (like wiping down the lights!). Write a list of all 15 minutes jobs you can think of around the house, and next time you have those quick minutes to spare, just pick one off the list!



PRO TIP: Are you a mama? This is a great hack to get the kids to help out with chores! Let them be part of writing the list, put it somewhere visible, and let them choose their own 15-minute job and start the timer! Don’t forget to put a cute sticker next to their completed chore later. :)

Have you seen our Make a List back pages yet? They’re the perfect place to write anything from grocery lists, the day’s to-dos, and incidentally also anything spring cleaning related! :) You’ll find all the back pages in step 4 when creating your Personal Planner.

3. DIGITAL DECLUTTERING

There’s so much to say about this topic, but let’s keep it simple for now. Let’s stick to 3 quick things you can do to declutter your phone and your mind a little.

• Delete apps you haven’t used in the past 3 months


• Delete photos you have 5 different versions of


• Unsubscribe from emails you find spammy

The key action here is to DELETE. Or to minimalize, or maybe even to KonMari your phone! Whichever way you want to go, we’ll promise you that you won’t be sorry for having less clutter on your screen and, as often is the result, in your head too.

Try our spring cleaning hacks this month, and share with our wider organization-loving community under hashtag #itsprettypersonal on Instagram!

Happy springtime!
/Sara at Personal Planner