When you hear “spring cleaning,” what comes to mind?
For many people, it brings up images of deep cleaning, organizing every drawer, or finally tackling that closet you’ve been avoiding. But it can also feel unclear, impersonal, or disconnected from what you actually need right now. But what if we could find intentional spring cleaning instead?
As an occupational therapist, I often think about how our environments either support or hinder our ability to engage in meaningful daily activities. In occupational therapy, we call these activities “occupations”, the things that fill our time and give our lives structure, purpose, and meaning.
These include areas like:
- Daily self-care
- Home and life management
- Health and wellness routines
- Rest and sleep
- Work and education
- Play and leisure
- Social connection
When our spaces feel cluttered, disorganized, or unsupported, it can become harder to engage in these areas in ways that feel good or sustainable. Sometimes, even small barriers in our environment can create friction in our daily routines, making things feel more difficult than they need to be.
A Different Approach to Spring Cleaning
Spring cleaning is often framed as something we should do, or something that has to look a certain way. But in reality, it isn’t one-size-fits-all, and it doesn’t need to be.
Instead of cleaning everything at once or following a rigid checklist, consider starting with reflection:
- What are my core values right now?
- Which daily activities feel most meaningful to me?
- Where do I want more ease, consistency, or support?
- What in my environment is making that harder?
This shift is what allows spring cleaning to become more intentional. It moves away from pressure and toward alignment, helping your space reflect what actually matters to you.
Where Environment Meets Daily Life
Our environments play a powerful role in shaping how we move through our days. When things feel out of sync, it’s not always about motivation, it may be about support.
Here are a few examples of how small environmental changes can make a meaningful difference:
- Daily Living (ADLs): If your bathroom setup feels uninviting or inconvenient, even small updates, like replacing items or simplifying your space, can make daily routines feel more approachable.
- Home Tasks (IADLs): A cluttered or disorganized kitchen can make cooking feel like a chore. Reorganizing tools so they’re easier to access can bring more ease and even enjoyment to the process.
- Health Management: Keeping medications, supplements, or movement-related items visible and in one place can support consistency and follow-through.
- Rest & Sleep: A busy or cluttered bedroom can make it harder to unwind. Creating a calmer, more open space can support rest and relaxation.
- Work & Education: If your workspace feels overstimulating or chaotic, simplifying and organizing it can help reduce distractions and improve focus.
- Play & Leisure: When hobbies or creative outlets are tucked away, they’re easier to forget. Keeping them visible can make it more likely you’ll engage with them.
- Social Connection: If shared spaces feel disorganized or unusable, it can create distance. Making small adjustments can help those spaces feel more welcoming and functional.
These changes don’t have to be drastic. Often, it’s about removing small barriers that get in the way of how you want to live. Small increments truly count.
How to Get Started
If you’re not sure where to begin, try this simple, values-based approach:
1. Identify your values
sss You might explore a values list, like the one from Brené Brown, to help clarify what feels most important to you right now.
2. Notice where those values show up in your daily life
sss Are there areas that already feel aligned? Are there areas that feel disconnected.
3. Identify environmental or system-level barriers
sss What feels inconvenient, cluttered, or difficult to access?
4. Write them down
sss This becomes your personalized spring cleaning list, focused on supporting your life, not just organizing your space.
From there, you can start small. One drawer, one corner, one system at a time.
Need Extra Support?
You don’t have to figure this out on your own.
Occupational therapy can help you build supportive systems, routines, and environments that align with your goals and values. At Thrive Ahead, we work with individuals to make daily life feel more manageable, functional, and sustainable.
You might also explore additional supports like:
- Mission2Organize
- Trash Friends
- Flow Club (a body-doubling platform for decluttering)
- Sweepy (a home organization app)
Closing Thoughts
Spring cleaning doesn’t have to be about doing everything, or doing it perfectly.
It can be an opportunity to pause, reflect, and gently adjust your environment so it better supports your energy, your values, and your daily life.
When your space works with you, not against you, it becomes easier to engage in the things that matter most.
Reflection Prompts
- What values feel most important to me in this current season of life?
- Which daily activities feel supportive right now, and which feel harder to access?
- What small environmental changes could make those activities feel easier?
- Where might I benefit from adding more structure, support, or visibility in my space?
- What is one small, values-aligned change I can make this week?
Meet the Author
Caitlyn Fraser is a licensed occupational therapist at Thrive Ahead Co., located in the Bucktown neighborhood. Caitlyn serves clients not only in Bucktown, but in the larger city of Chicago and surrounding suburbs.
Caitlyn blends insight with practical, individualized support to help clients build systems, routines, and environments that align with their values. With experience in executive functioning, life transitions, and mental health, she offers flexible, compassionate care focused on sustainable, everyday change.
Her specialities include ADHD and neurodiversity support, life skills development, emotion and sensory regulatory skills, social connection and communication support, and strengths-based support.
Meet the Founder
Jenn Graus is the incredible founder behind Thrive Ahead Co. and a licensed clinical professional counselor. Jenn is an active guide for her clients, is involved, approachable and attentive.
“You can bet that in a tough session, we’ll still find ways to connect with humor as I truly believe when used well it’s one of the most integrating skills we can have, to know and hold this lightness at the same time as the seriousness and even pain that life brings us.”
(Neurodivergence)(Neurodivergence) neurodivergence. Neurodivergence
