Spring Cleaning While Lazy: A How-To.

By Lev Novak

So it’s spring.

Time to clean.

I know, I know. You don’t want to, it isn’t fun, it isn’t easy, you’ll do it later, you’re just starting to enjoy yourself, there’s Netflix, cleaning is had and annoying and all the other excuses you used to avoid cleaning in the past come about just as powerfully now. But cleaning in the spring isn’t just a good idea. It’s easier. Cleaning is not nearly as bad in the Spring, which is why people do it.

Here is how to be lazy and successful.

1. Open Windows

Air out your apartment. Open your balcony door. Let in the fresh air and really get that spring feel going and see, what instinctually feels less clean than the air around you. Did you air out your damp towel smell? Wash them. Dirty clothes? Done. A few beers that are empty but their residue just wafted in on the air? Clean them and toss them in to recycle.

Fresh air makes your apartment smell better and it also points you in the direction of what smells worse in your apartment. Follow the air flow and the cleaning will follow way easier.

2. Clean Out Your Fridge

…Because you’re going to be making guacamole! And eating ice cream! And having all sorts of fun, spring-time treats that you don’t want to host in a stinky fridge.

Cleaning a fridge is always way harder than it sounds. It’s gross and I hate it. But in the spring, you don’t do it because you have to: you do it because you want to, and because the spring-time treats can tempt you into progress.

3. Trips!

Spring is a great time for trips and adventures. Camping, road-trips, or just simply being outside is much nicer when you aren’t fending off a blizzard. So if you have an adventure, pack. While you’re packing clean. Make your bed; think how much nicer it would be to come back to a clean apartment and you’re already packing and viola! You cleaned your apartment, and it was easy because you had a reason.

The longer you stay in one place the easier it is to get complacent. But when you’re taking trips you can really compare your apartment with other places and get a more accurate feel for what can and should be changed. Change them. You’ll be glad you did.

4. Throw Out Garbage

Just throw out all the garbage you have lying around. Old receipts, shoeboxes, shirts you’ll never wear, old MTV Raps! Playing cards you bought at the Brooklyn Flea Market on a misplaced ironic instinct but have since cluttered up your table- whatever it is, just throw it out.

No sweeping, no mopping, no ikea assembly. Just throw junk in a bag and then throw the bag out. Think you can handle it?

5. Have Your Roomie Do The Rest

You just aired out the apartment, cleaned the fridge, cleaned up your personal room, and threw out the garbage! They can repay you by doing all the actually difficult tasks, like the bathroom.

Fair is fair, right? Do the lazy tasks first. Your apartment will be clean and you’ll get one-up on your roomie.

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