132: Spring Cleaning with ADHD – Let’s Be Realistic

Do You Actually Need to Spring Clean?

Spring showed up, and with it, that familiar pull to think about spring cleaning. But where does that expectation actually come from, and does it still make sense for how we live now?

Where spring cleaning actually came from

Historically, homes were heated all winter with wood or coal fires, kept sealed up tight against the cold. By the time it was warm enough to fling open the windows, walls, ceilings, and windows were genuinely coated in soot and grime from months of smoke. Scrubbing top to bottom wasn’t symbolic, it was necessary, and it must have felt incredible to finally clear it all out and know it wouldn’t build back up again until the following winter. That context made a full ceiling-to-floor scrub both practical and deeply satisfying.

Why the tradition doesn’t map cleanly onto today

Our homes don’t accumulate a winter’s worth of soot anymore. If you’re in the north, you’re often still dealing with cold and slush well into spring. If you’re in the south, like me, flinging open the windows just invites in a thick coat of yellow pollen, which for allergy households means Kleenex, Zyrtec, and Flonase instead of fresh air. On top of that, spring now comes loaded with spring break, sports, concerts, end-of-year school crunch, Easter or other spring holidays. The idea of a full-home overhaul landing in the middle of all that can feel far more like obligation than renewal.

The real question to ask yourself

Am I feeling pulled to do this because my home genuinely needs it right now, or because everyone around me is talking about spring cleaning? If a deep clean is genuinely overdue, go for it, right now might be exactly the right time. But if a different season, summer once the kids are at camp, or fall once school routines settle, would actually give you a better window, there’s no rule requiring you to follow a tradition rooted in wood-burning fireplaces that no longer applies to your home.

If spring genuinely does spark some motivation in you

Scale it down instead of overhauling everything at once. Pick one closet and swap winter clothes for spring ones, purging what didn’t get worn along the way. Swap out heavy winter bedding for lighter sheets. Pick one single project that genuinely needs doing, and let that be your entire spring cleaning, rather than an all-or-nothing ceiling-to-floor event that leaves you defeated within days when the house inevitably looks lived-in again.

Your practical, actionable step

Before committing to a big spring cleanup, ask honestly whether right now is actually your best window, or whether you’re just following the calendar. If you do want to lean into the seasonal motivation, pick one small, contained project, one closet, one linen swap, and let that be enough.

Until next time, continue to choose joy.