Spring cleaning feels good

One of the best things you can do is spend a few hours cleaning, organizing and getting rid of crap. You may not think it’s there but it is. I found four grocery bags worth of stuff yesterday and I couldn’t be happier…

Have you ever looked at something and said: “yeah, I might use that sometime…”? I said that a few times yesterday. I found myself keeping a lot of junk so I switched up the game: I took everything in my room on shelves, in drawers and under beds and put it out in the open.

Organized Bookshelf Landing Strip
Tackling the mega-surface: the bookshelf

Why spend the time?

My room looked messy and stuff was everywhere but it was like working with a blank slate.

  • I could group stuff together. I didn’t really realize I had cables and gadgets in one drawer and other similar electronics in another. Similar stuff should go together!
  • I could see what I really didn’t want. If I had to physically put it back on a shelf it forced me to think twice about it. Do I really need to hang onto that Pez dispenser? Do I need to save this old iPod box?
  • I thought about last time I cleaned. When I looked at each item I thought, ‘wow, I guess I didn’t use this since last time I cleaned’. That’s a good indicator that it’s not worth hanging onto that lanyard collection. I will never need to simultaneously carry 10 sets of keys on a long piece of fabric. Who knew?
  • I found stuff I missed. Pulling things out of boxes meant I could either a) empty that box and use it for something useful, or b) find cool stuff I forgot I had. I found all my Hawaii pictures yesterday. Good stuff!

Was it worth it?

I sometimes think about all the “stuff” we have in our lives. Just like in Fight Club: “The things you own end up owning you”. The simpler the better. An uncluttered room is less frustrating to look at and easier to live in. Now I have less junk to sift through when looking for something of value–that’s time saved.

Plus, what if I had to move soon? What if I were hit by a bus. Do I (or anyone else) need to deal with sifting through a bunch of useless stuff?

You’ll be surprised how much stuff you have around that you don’t really need. Spend a weekend… it’s fun!

May is still considered Spring right?

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About Devin Reams

My name is Devin Reams and I founded this site to provide a useful news and review resource for Colorado skiers and snowboarders (and mountain enthusiasts). I've been skiing since I was a little kid (we moved out here when I was five years old) and I plan to ski for years beyond that. Although cosnow is not my full-time job it is my full-time winter hobby. I've been an "Epic Local" passholder since 2006 (when it was called a "Colorado Pass" or "Five Mountain Pass"). My favorite resorts are Beaver Creek and Breckenridge.

3 thoughts on “Spring cleaning feels good

  1. Vince Williams

    Devin, there’s spring cleaning, and then there’s spring CLEANING.

    The last time I did a real spring CLEANING I was on a manic high, and took everything I owned and piled it up the alley, and loudly announced to one and all that it was free for the taking.

    Oh, they came, and took, alright.

    A few days later, I said, “WTF did I do?”

    I’ve done that a few times.

    I gotta tell ya, though, it’s very liberating to shed it all, and start all over.

    I know it’s crazy, but this how I’ve lived my life.

    If I do it again, I won’t put my computer in the pile– it’s too much trouble to recreate this.

    Frankly, though, spring cleaning doesn’t feel as good as a manic high.;-)

    Reply
  2. Devin

    Haha so we have to move stuff out of our basement for construction. I was on a some sort of high last night, I assure you.

    Oh, and I did put an old office chair outside. It was definitely gone within an hour. I had no idea people liked free stuff that much.

    Reply
  3. Anonymous

    #1 If I would have realized how often Fight Club would come up in conversation, I might have picked a diff…just kidding, great movie. But seriously, no more Robert Paulson chanting, okay?
    #2 Poor lanyards.
    #3 Don’t worry about buses. You don’t have to go to Boulder anymore. :)

    Reply

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