"Spring Cleaning" We Actually Need
Every time April rolls around, I start seeing the same ads for industrial-strength vacuum cleaners and complicated organizational bins. The narrative is loud: it’s time to freshen up, get productive, and finally tackle that closet you’ve been ignoring since October.
But for a lot of us, especially those of us navigating trauma or moving through the world with a neurodivergent brain… Spring doesn’t always feel like a "fresh start."
Sometimes, it just feels like more noise.
If you’ve been feeling a bit "cluttered" lately, I want you to know it’s probably not because you haven’t scrubbed your baseboards. It’s likely because your nervous system is still carrying the heavy winter coat of the months prior.
The "Internal Junk Drawer"
We all have one. It’s that drawer in the kitchen filled with mysterious keys, dead batteries, and rubber bands. Our nervous systems work the same way. Throughout the winter, we collect "clutter": small stresses, sensory icks, "shoulds" we haven’t met, and the lingering signs of survival mode.
For my neurodivergent clients, the transition into Spring can actually be a sensory nightmare. The light is changing and becoming more intense, the pollen is making your skin or eyes itchy, and suddenly, the "social pressure" dial gets turned way up. For those working through trauma, the body often remembers "anniversaries" of hard things that happened in seasons past, leaving you feeling heavy, tearful, or on edge for "no reason."
When your internal junk drawer is overflowing, of course you don't have the energy to organize your pantry. You're busy just trying to regulate.
1. Close Your "Mental Tabs"
My neurodivergent clients often describe their brains as a browser with 50 tabs open at once. Some are playing music, some are frozen, and one is definitely an ad you can't find. This leads to "Executive Dysfunction" … that feeling where you have so much to do that you end up staring at a wall for two hours instead.
Try this: Do a "low-demand brain dump." Grab a piece of paper and write down every single thing that is "open" in your brain. Don’t make a to-do list—that just adds pressure. Just get the noise out. Once it’s on the paper, your brain doesn’t have to burn energy trying to remember it. You can literally say to yourself, "It’s on the paper now, I can let it go."
2. Discharge the "Survival Energy"
Trauma and chronic stress leave a physical residue in the body. It’s like a car engine that’s been revving in park, the energy has nowhere to go. If you’re feeling that "buzzy," anxious spring energy, try a physical discharge.
I often suggest "The Shake-Off" to the families and individuals I work with. I know it sounds silly but literally shaking your hands, arms, and legs for a minute helps your body realize it doesn't need to be in "fight or flight" mode anymore. It’s a biological reset. It tells your nervous system: The threat is over. You can come back to the present.
3. The EMDR "File Cabinet"
If you’re doing EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) with me, you’ve heard me talk about "processing." Think of our work as the ultimate decluttering. We aren't deleting your memories or your past; we’re just finally filing them away.
Trauma stays "cluttered" because the brain hasn’t finished processing it and it feels like it’s still happening now. EMDR helps move those experiences into the "past" filing cabinet. When those files are closed and put away, you suddenly have so much more "shelf space" in your mind for things like joy, hobbies, and rest.
4. Give Yourself a Sensory Audit
Spring is loud. Between lawnmowers, birds, and more people being outside, your sensory threshold might be lower than usual.
Be kind to your senses. If the "perfect" spring sun feels like an assault on your eyes, wear the sunglasses. If the transition from a structured school year to a loose summer schedule is panicking your kids (or you), create a "bridge schedule." We don’t have to force ourselves to love the "fresh air" if the fresh air feels overstimulating today.
Go easy on yourself
If your house is a mess but your nervous system feels safe, you’re winning.
Your capacity isn’t infinite, and that’s okay. This season, let’s stop trying to "power through" and start trying to listen. Let’s focus on making sure you feel regulated and "at home" in your own body first.
The baseboards will still be there tomorrow. You, however, deserve to feel clear today.
