It’s tempting to think of spring cleaning as a chore.

And to be fair, there are aspects of it that are very chore like.

However, spring cleaning doesn’t have to be a burden, nor does it have to loom over you.

There are many benefits to spring cleaning, most of which have the power to improve your mood and disposition over the long term.

And with proper planning and execution, even the cleaning itself can be fun.

How can you use spring cleaning to boost your mood?

The 6 Natural Mood Boosting Benefits of Spring Cleaning

Spring cleaning usually involves some combination of decluttering and actual cleaning.

You might focus on a particular problematic room, or you might try to clean the entire house.

Either way, you’ll get rid of things you no longer need, you’ll organize things you want to keep, and you’ll spend time cleaning and sanitizing all those nooks and crannies you regularly neglect throughout the year.

There are several mood boosting benefits of these practices:

1. Hygiene and overall wellness.

Cleaning is a way to kill germs, clear out the dust, and generally make your environment more hygienic.

Once your environment is cleaner and fresher, you’ll be able to breathe more comfortably, and you’ll enjoy the benefits of higher indoor air quality.

Even if you don’t consciously realize that the air you’re breathing is cleaner, you’ll likely experience the effects on a physical level.

Plus, you can help reduce the spread of infectious diseases, which means you’ll be more resilient and generally healthier.

2. Decluttering and clarity of mind.

Decluttering is an excellent process for gaining clarity of mind.

This is an opportunity for you to critically think about all your possessions, and an opportunity for you to sort out what your true needs are.

It’s almost a meditative exercise, forcing you to confront your own thoughts and feelings as you evaluate and reorganize your possessions.

By the end of the exercise, you’ll have a far less cluttered house as well as a far less cluttered mind.

3. Goals and accomplishments.

Many people experience a better mood and more confidence when they set and achieve ambitious goals.

While cleaning the house isn’t exactly on the same level of accomplishment as winning an Olympic gold medal, it does follow the same reward circuitry in the brain.

Establishing the goal of decluttering and cleaning the house and achieving that goal can make you feel great.

4. Letting go of the past.

In some ways, spring cleaning is a way of compartmentalizing and letting go of the past.

You can get rid of items that you no longer want or need.

You can switch out decorations that no longer speak to you.

You can take more control over your home environment overall, and set a course for a different kind of future, if desired.

5. A novel environment.

Humans need some novelty to feel happy.

It’s why routines feel oppressive when we follow them for too long.

Spring cleaning is a chance to get rid of and reorganize things, so your entire house can feel relatively new.

6. New opportunities.

Similarly, spring cleaning sets the stage for new opportunities.

Are you interested in organizing your possessions in new ways, with new types of furniture?

Are you ready to rearrange your living room furniture?

Do you want to totally change the dynamics of your house with newcomer bright paint colors?

This is your chance to do it.

The Right Approach

The benefits of spring cleaning are excellent, but what about the cleaning itself? It’s such a pain by default.

These strategies can help you enjoy even the “cleaning” part of spring cleaning:

Break it up.

Many people treat spring cleaning as a one time mission.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s counterproductive for people who are easily overwhelmed or particularly resistant to physical activity.

A better strategy may be breaking it up, doing just 15 minutes of work at a time, across several weeks if necessary.

Make it a game.

Gamification is a concept that has worked its way into countless organizations, because it works.

The idea is to motivate people to achieve specific goals by turning the process of goal achievement into a type of game.

With spring cleaning, you could develop a point system to incentivize yourself to achieve certain goals, or you could invite another family member to participate and race them.

Use audio entertainment.

You can also make cleaning more enjoyable by entertaining yourself with some form of audio.

Depending on your personal preferences, that could mean listening to a podcast, blasting your favorite music, or even talking to a friend on the phone.

Reward yourself.

When you achieve significant milestones in your spring cleaning endeavor, reward yourself.

Take a break, take a long, warm bath, treat yourself to a nice dinner, or buy yourself something that you’ve wanted for a while.

It’s something to look forward to during the cleaning, and something to reinforce the “positive” side of spring cleaning when you’re done.

You may never love spring cleaning the way you love your genuine favorite activities, but with these strategies, you can bring more joy to spring cleaning and end up happier as a result.

Whether your efforts are grandiose or more modest, you’ll be glad you spent time decluttering and freshening up your house.