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22203270_lOne of the best things about retirement community life is simplifying your life. When you downsize and reduce how many things you’re responsible for maintaining you’re freed up to do other things. Senior living centers also handle a lot of daily chores for residents, letting them focus on the best parts of retirement.

In a lot of ways, enjoying a retirement community is similar to spring cleaning. It’s an opportunity to reduce your life to the things you love most and use most often, so you can spend more time on loving life. Like Einstein once said, “out of clutter, find simplicity.” Here are our top tips for reducing clutter in your life and enjoying that spring cleaning feeling in, well, spring time.

Get freshly organized. Whether you’re new to your senior care community or are a happy long-term resident, you can always find a new way to simplify your life. Perhaps you’d like a better way to pack up bulky winter sweaters and store them out of the way, or wish you had a different container to keep your hobbies straight, with enough pockets and drawers for all your knitting needles, yarn, fishing lures, etc.

Maybe you’ve been thinking you need some office supplies to better arrange your mail on your desk or keep track of items like stamps and tape and pens. Or it’s possible you’ve realized you need a better system for keeping track of your daily medications. Identifying where your life could run more smoothly is the first step to spring cleaning.

One you decide where you could be more organized, you can take the next steps. You could, say, clear out your e-mail inbox or update your paper address book. Take a quick shopping trip to get a new closet organizer or office supplies. Sort through your closet and remove any clothes that no longer fit or that you haven’t worn in the past year. If you have sentimental items that you don’t need for daily use, you can pack them away in vacuum bags or plastic storage containers to keep them fresh and clean. Go through old papers, magazines, and crossword puzzles to see what should be saved and what you can recycle. Anything you want to hang on to can be set aside in a box or basket out of the way, or become your next scrap booking package.

An especially beneficial thing you can do is find the best way to keep track of your daily medications. Different methods work best for different people. You might try color-coding the tops of your prescription bottles with stickers or a marker to make it easier to remember which one’s you’ve taken and at what time of day. Or you might use a pill schedule box with sections for each day of the week. Clearing out your medicine cabinet of unfinished prescriptions you no longer take and expired can also help you avoid mistakes or confusion with staying on track with your daily regimen.

Last but certainly not least, remember that spring cleaning can also mean treating yourself to something extra special. In fact, it can be just as important to spring clean body and mind asit is to keep your surroundings organized. Considering making an appointment for a massage, facial, manicure, or pedicure— and those aren’t just for the ladies. Spa treatments can improve circulation, address dry skin, and help you loosen up hard-to-reach spots, and ease the discomfort caused by mobility issues. There are so many reasons to practice self-care, so you can enjoy even more of the best parts of life, not just during spring, but throughout the year.