How to spring clean (AKA how to procrastinate)

Ah yes, Spring is on its way.

Students are cracking out the sandals, showing some leg in shorts and skirts and spending more time outside soaking in the sun.

The change in season also tends to motivate people to refresh themselves – enter spring cleaning. Perhaps it only applies to me, but I find cleaning therapeutic. It and restores order to my life. It’s also a fantastic way to feel productive yet not achieve anything remotely useful.

I’ve got the lowdown on the best tips and tricks to spruce up your rooms and hopefully it’ll inspire you to waste a few hours (took me 3 with extended breaks).

Assess the mess

Take a look at your room and figure out where everything is and where it should be. As I live in halls, I don’t have a huge space, but shit can travel far (all of my clothes have ended up on my chair). Once you’ve looked at the situation, decide where you want to start. I’ve chosen to start with my bed and chair space, because I need somewhere to lie down when I regret starting.

Bed

Change your sheets! Just do it. It will take 5-10 minutes depending on the size your bed/duvet/however many pillows you have, and you will get to sleep in a deliciously comfortable and clean bed. Nothing sounds unappealing about that (except the fact it takes effort…).

I never realised how comfortable my bed could look. Or that it was even there. Same with the chair.

Chair(s)

I’m guilty of this, but don’t let your chair turn into dumping grounds. It’s so easy to start piling up the tops and jumpers and say, “I’ll put it away later”, because you never will. Seriously, that is going to stay there until you realise your closet is basically empty.

Closet

See above. Fold your jeans and jumpers and hang up your blouses and jackets. Start piling your lighter clothing on top of your winter things for easier access, and you are going to thank yourself when you don’t have to wear some weird outdated (or ugly) things to your 9am lectures because you couldn’t find anything decent.

I got bored of folding clothes so this took me literally an hour.

Desk

I’m also guilty of making my desk a dumping ground of all the crap I’ve ever owned. Piles of books I should be reading stare back neglected, heaps of notes I should be going over are hidden under empty tissue boxes and dirty bowls, and the whole things just looks pretty miserable.

Keep the surface empty and clean, and organise the things you do need on there so you can actually sit (with ample elbow room) and do some work (for once).

This went from “hostile study location” to “you could actually concentrate for a couple hours here”.

TOP TIP: Since it’s Spring, get your green thumb going and invest in a small pot plant. They produce oxygen and look sick. I’ve gone for a cactus and a succlent because they’re low maintenance and are adorable.

This is Spikey Dave and Mr. Pleb.

Shelves/Drawers

If you think you can randomly put something up/in there and remember what it’s for/where it is in a couple weeks, good luck with that! Keep your books in order, and make sure you drawers are neat every few weeks. You won’t regret it when you’re trying to find that important piece of paper or that cable for the thing you rarely use, or fucking eyedrops (I can never find these tiny ass bottles).

It definitely looks more full after, but thats because all my shit is where it should be.

Bathroom

For the love of God, don’t let the mould and mildew build up to impressive shapes. Clean it weekly, because frankly it’s disgusting if you don’t.

Downsize your products (ha), keep them in order (ha ha) and invest in some decent cleaning products to keep your shit smelling like roses (or lemons).

I always forget to buy toilet roll. Every fucking time.

Throw out empty bottles and spend more money on new ones!

If the packaging is blue, it probably works.

Rubbish

If you’ve done the job properly, you should have a considerable amount of rubbish to throw away right now. If you don’t, either you don’t hoard crap or you’re lying to yourself. Get rid of old bits of paper and clothes you forgot you owned and useless things that take up room (like my ambulance/Ami-bulance costume I made for a night out and wore once – it’s hilarious and a great memory but so so useless).

I don’t need a giant Marlboro pack. No one does.

TOP TIP: Put plastic bags at the bottom of your bin, so next time you take out the rubbish, you’ve conveniently got another bag in there to replace it. Better than having to open the drawer in your kitchen that is so full of plastic bags you can’t even open it (does anyone else have this?).

Anything that’ll make my life easier.

So there you have it. My room is lovely and clean and smells like a mixture of bleach, that hoover smell (you know what I’m talking about) and coconut room spray. I’m more clear-headed and I feel productive. I’m ready for Spring. It’s also 9pm and I haven’t eaten dinner or started any of the shit I’m supposed to have done. At least I know where I’ve put my work.