By Kim Sheffield-Chang
As winter’s last shadows recede and the first hints of spring emerge, a time-honored tradition begins to take shape across American homes: spring cleaning. While it may involve scrubbing corners, organizing closets, and clearing the accumulation of winter’s dust and clutter from your home, Blueprint, a therapist-enablement technology platform, explains how research has revealed that your physical environment is deeply connected to your mental state, and that this annual ritual is doing more than just making your home sparkle. What if spring cleaning is actually a powerful tool for emotional renewal, psychological reset, and creating space for personal growth?
The psychology of decluttering
A clean space isn’t just about aesthetics—it’s about creating mental clarity. Modern psychological research reveals a connection between our physical environment and mental well-being. A comprehensive study by the National Stress Institute found that 87% of Americans experience reduced stress levels in organized living spaces.
This isn’t mere coincidence—it’s a deeply ingrained psychological response. To better understand the underlying science, Vivian Chung Easton, a mental health clinician at Blueprint, explains that cleaning triggers a cascade of positive neurochemical reactions. The phenomenon behind this is fascinating. Dopamine—the brain’s feel-good neurotransmitter—increases by 47% during and after cleaning activities. It’s like a natural mood boost, triggered by the simple act of putting things in order. Additionally, levels of cortisol, a hormone associated with stress, are reduced during and after cleaning, and organized spaces are found to correlate with a 55% reduction in anxiety symptoms. The science is clear: Tidying up can physically make you feel better.
Letting go: more than just cleaning
Research demonstrates that decluttering is more than a physical act—it’s a form of emotional processing. By methodically evaluating and releasing physical items, individuals engage in a form of psychological catharsis. For instance, you tend to keep things that have sentimental value. So while that item may not have a role in your life anymore, it evokes an emotion that you want to remember, so you treasure those items. Let’s talk about what that means. Think about that shoebox full of old mementos or a sweatshirt from a relationship long ended. Keeping it might mean holding onto past pain. Letting it go could symbolize your readiness to move forward. Every item you own carries a story, an emotional weight. That stack of unread books, the kitchen gadget purchased during an optimistic New Year’s resolution, baby clothes—each represents more than its physical form. They are repositories of memories, expectations, and sometimes, unresolved emotions.
But this doesn’t mean you should just toss things out. It’s not about erasing memories, but about choosing which ones continue to shape your present. When you systematically declutter, you’re doing more than organizing: You’re processing memories, releasing attachments, and creating psychological and emotional space for growth. The results of groundbreaking longitudinal research by Christina Leclerc and Elizabeth Kensinger offers a strategic approach. Their studies show a 76% success rate in emotional processing through systematic item evaluation, with participants reporting increased psychological flexibility.
The key is intentionality—asking yourself not just “do I need this?” but “what emotional weight does this carry?”
The effects of considering each item goes beyond emotional processing: 62% of individuals reported significant emotional relief after deliberately discarding items with complex emotional associations. In short, this isn’t about ruthless elimination but about mindful selection. Choosing which memories and attachments continue to serve your present self can better make space for future growth.
Practical strategies for emotional (and actual) decluttering
Transforming spring cleaning from a mundane chore into a meaningful psychological intervention requires intentionality. Below, Easton shares some evidence-based strategies.
- Systematic evaluation: When looking for a place to start decluttering, it can feel overwhelming to look at a pile of your things and instantly know what stays and what goes. It’s helpful to break down the task of decluttering into smaller, more manageable components – the first of which is establishing categories to place your items. Create these categories—keep, maybe, donate, discard—with emotional awareness so you can begin sorting through your things. Beyond categories, you don’t have to evaluate all your items at once, you can take things step-by-step and perhaps take on a closet one day, and a junk drawer the next.
- Asking yourself the right questions: Approach each item as a conscious choice. Ask yourself “does this support my current and future self?” rather than “do I need this?” If you can easily think of the ways that an item supports you, then it’s a keep. However, if you’re struggling with that, it can go in the “maybe” category, which you can revisit with the same questions later. When evaluating things for donation, ask yourself whether the item may bring greater value to someone else’s life than your own. When donating, you’re giving the item another chance at helping those around us.
- Mindful processing: Allow yourself to feel the emotions that surface. Acknowledge memories without becoming trapped by them. Recognize that letting go isn’t erasure but evolution. If you truly want to declutter, one thing you can do is keep the items that you consider sentimental, and revisit them in a few months to see if they still hold that value. Chances are that the things that had sentimental value at the time will have faded. However, the items that have true, deep meaning will continue to have value, and you should continue to keep them.
- Create a ritual for closure: As you sort and evaluate your items, there may be some things that you want to let go of, but are unsure how. It can be helpful to take a moment to appreciate and mourn the loss of an item. For example, you can spend some time recalling the fond memories you associate with the item, and maybe take a picture of it with your new memories. Closure can be an important part of letting things go, so take your time.
Beyond clean: long-term mental health benefits
As we inch toward spring, it can be helpful to see your cleaning as more than a seasonal chore. It can be an opportunity for emotional maintenance, a chance to create external order that reflects—and can help create—internal peace. The most encouraging finding? The emotional benefits of a regular ritual of cleaning and organizing aren’t fleeting. Longitudinal studies tracking participants six months post-decluttering revealed sustained psychological improvements for 53% of individuals. What’s more, orderly environments correlated with a 39% increase in overall life satisfaction.
Spring cleaning isn’t just about tidiness: It’s real, lasting change sparked by something as simple as reorganizing your space. It’s an opportunity for emotional maintenance, a ritualistic process of letting go and making space to support your internal growth, resilience, and emotional well-being.
So as you’re sorting through any clutter this spring, take time to consider each item you touch. Honor the memories, but also recognize your capacity for change. Your physical space is a reflection of your inner world—and by consciously curating that space, you’re actively participating in your own psychological renewal. The boxes are waiting. The memories are ready to be processed. Your emotional reset button is within reach.
This story was produced by Blueprint and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.