The great new year clean: achieving peace with a tidy house
Almost every world culture has the tradition of a new year clean in some form or another. Some start as soon as the new year begins, welcoming January with a clean, fresh start. Others save their cleaning ritual for the coming of spring. However, there’s a common dominator in all these cultural traditions. The movement into a new year and period of time by refreshing, cleaning and tidying your space.
After all, a tidy house equals a tidy (and calm) mind. After a thorough cleaning, it can be surprising to find that the interior of your house feels almost new. Plus, because you’ve sorted and organised all your possessions, you can easily find everything you need. To achieve this inner peace and start the year in the right way, it is well worth taking the time to put aside a specific day for a spring clean. To help you make the most out of your time, this blog shares some tips for employees and employers for proactively making their workspaces clean and tidy.
Part 1 – Planning
As the saying goes, ‘fail to prepare, prepare to fail’. With this in mind, before you attack your big clean-up, it’s important to prepare for success. First, you should be sure to set aside enough time. A major clean-up takes a lot of time (that’s why it’s called a “great spring cleaning!”). This may not sound very motivating, but after a truly thorough clean-up, you will be happy that you did it all. Once you get into the groove of a through clean, you may also find that you find extra tasks previously overlooked, so make sure you have the time free to deal with them!
All this means that the starting point is making room in your agenda, maybe during the weekend. A rainy Sunday or otherwise slow day makes for a great day to dedicate to cleaning tasks. Make a point of booking the whole day and ask for help from family or friends if you need it. Then, make a list of everything you want to clean. That way, you can cross out completed tasks, keep track of your progress, and see immediate results.
Part 2 – Getting started
Before you start cleaning, it is important to get all your cleaning supplies and equipment together. Whether scrubbing, polishing, or dusting, it saves you time if the products are on hand as you go! With such a focus on sustainability and a greener future, you shouldn’t just look for classic cleaning products but also natural alternatives, such as green soap, baking soda and vinegar. These, alongside sustainable and biological cleaning products can lessen your impact on our environment. Cleaning supplies such as microfibre cloths and feather dusters also come in handy. For larger spaces, it is often better to choose an all-purpose cleaner instead of a separate product for each room. Using an all-purpose cleaner is more efficient and saves space in your closet or cupboard. On this page, you can find a complete overview of cleaning products – handy for stocking up your cleaning cupboard.
One rule to follow is to clean from top to bottom. This applies to your entire house as well as to every room you clean. If you clean your floor before dusting your desk or shelves, you’ll be brushing dust and dirt back onto a clean floor! You should also complete each room fully as you go – avoid cleaning all your floors and then going back to individual rooms for different jobs. Ticking off each room is a great way to mentally complete your spring clean!
Hello, Marie Kondo!
During the cleaning process, it is wise to take stock of what you have. Do you really need every one of those coffee cups? As Marie Kondo asks, “Do they actually make you happy?” Or, alternatively, can you make someone else happy by selling or donating the cups? Working through each room one at a time allows you to easily make an inventory of items as you go. As you move through the house, sort any extra items into one central place. This makes it easier to take it away or sell it after you are finished.
The icing on the cake
Everyone loves the result of hard work! After you have crossed out all the to-dos on your list, you can enjoy your tidy, clean home. With everything cleaned, your new year starts fresh and organised, and you’ll experience all the mental peace of mind from your space. Belongings will be easier to find, and all unnecessary or old items will have been either sold, recycled or given away. Despite this being a great position to start the year in, you can go the extra mile during your big spring cleaning to achieve the ultimate icing on the cake.
You can make your home space even neater and more efficient by categorising your storage. This can be especially useful in rooms such as a home office or one you use for crafts or design work. Categorising and storing products is easy. For example, place all cleaning products or all kitchen utensils in a transparent container. By doing this, you can immediately see what is in the bin! Alternately, you can label storage boxes and bins. It’s also useful to store similar products together, such as for the kitchen, kids’ room or bedrooms. You can also create more storage space by using stackable storage bins.
After reading this, are you eager to start planning your own major spring clean? You can get everything you need for even the most in depth clean by visiting this page!
