DO YOU NEED A mental spring clean?

It's not just our homes that need a declutter at this time of year, writes Yasmina Floyer

- Yasmina Floyer

Before the advent of electricity and modern technology, it was nature that set the pace of the lives of our ancestors. Winter, for example was a season to slow down, conserve energy, and survive.

The seasons no longer dictate the rhythm of our lives in the same way they once did, but there is no denying the influence that each one brings. New life explodes around us at this time of year with every branch bursting into tufts of pink and white, where verdant shoots spear through the soil before trumpet-headed daffodils herald the end of the land’s slumber.

Springtime, therefore, provokes an undeniable impulse to refresh, which is why, a few years ago when the sunlight crept earlier into the mornings and languidly sprawled into the evenings like a stretching cat, I gave in to the urge to completely declutter my house. I cleared out drawers; went through every wardrobe, sorting and folding; organising shelves. Every bag I threw out, gave away and donated made way for a much yearned-for sense of peace and grounding that gently flooded other areas of my life.

And it isn’t just our homes that benefit from decluttering: there are positive impacts to giving our mental health a spring clean, too. Because, like it or not, most of us are carrying a fair bit of clutter inside as well, though now we usually call it ‘mental load’.

‘Too much load can lead to stress, impact on how we feel, and our cognition,’ says psychologist and author of books including A Toolkit for Your Emotions (Quercus Publishing, £14.99), Dr Emma Hepburn. ‘When we are mentally or cognitively overloaded, we can feel overwhelmed, irritable, have a shorter fuse, and physically we can feel more tired,’ she explains. Constant demands without reprieve can put too much stress for too long on our body systems and impact on health and wellbeing, she adds. ‘Longer term, having too much on, or too much cognitive load can lead to chronic stress and burnout.’