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Housing expert reveals her 5 super hacks for hassle-free spring decluttering

In a sea of decluttering hacks, these stand out.

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Spring cleaning really can be a fun refresh. Here's how.

If you’re itching to declutter around this time of year, you’re not alone. According to the American Cleaning Institute, 80% of Americans plan to spring clean this year, which is a more than a 10% increase from just 3 years ago. Guess all that working from home will do that to ya.

However, just because many of us are participating in spring cleaning, that doesn't mean we’ll be maximizing it. With the constant decision making, plus the emotional toll at letting go, it’s a daunting task that can leave folks feeling drained, rather than refreshed.

But with a few small tweaks, spring cleaning really can be the cathartic, freeing activity we long for it to be.

Sofia Vyshnevska, a housing expert and co-founder at NewHomesMate, shared her 5 ultimate life hacks for easy and hassle-free spring decluttering. Try one—or all—of these super simple strategies for a clean home and a clear mind.

The Reverse Hanger Trick

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This is such a cool way of honing a personal style too.

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In a sea of wardrobe decluttering hacks, this one stands out for how it “effortlessly streamlines your wardrobe,” says Sofia.

Here’s how it works: turn all your closet hangers backwards at the start of spring and only turn back those you wear throughout the season. Once summer nears, go through your clothing and donate or sell any items that are still facing backwards. You can even rinse and repeat this throughout the year.

Considering that so many of us have way too many clothes that we don’t actually use, this trick could really come in handy for gleaning the pieces that actually suit our taste and lifestyle.

“If you’ve gone months without picking it out, chances are you never will.”

The Four-Box Method

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Because our brains can't do all the compartmentalizing.

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Ever gotten halfway through an organizing frenzy when that adrenaline suddenly wears off and you’re sitting in a pile of random stuff with no idea what to do? This is a great way to keep that compartmentalizing going even when the motivation disappears.

Sort everything you own into four boxes: keep, donate/sell, trash, and relocate.

Much like Marie Kondo, Sofia advises to “make quick decisions and don’t let sentimental value cloud your judgment” and you’ll have a clutter-free home in no time.

And if sentimentality is clouding your judgment and making parting with things difficult, read on…

The Rehoming Hack

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“You’ll likely realize that you didn’t miss these items and letting them go isn’t so hard after all.”

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This is a great way to discover what really should be taking up space in your heart, and your home.

“Whenever you find an item you no longer love, but feel you should hold on to, place it in an empty box and, once full, put it away out of sight. Give it a few weeks, then go back and sort through them again,” Sofia suggests. “You’ll likely realize that you didn’t miss these items and letting them go isn’t so hard after all.”

And if there’s still some hesitation, you could also take a photo of these items and create an album which takes up a lot less space while still giving you all the joy the actual item previously did.

Tactical Tidying

spring cleaning, decluttering, cleaning tips

Instant gratification can be a great tool.

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It can be tempting to start our spring cleaning by delving into the messy pantry or tucked away storage areas, but with “tactical tidying,” you go for the most visible areas first. That way you’re “constantly reminded of the difference it makes, which will provide the motivation you need to get the job done,” instead of tired and deflated in a couple of hours.

Zone-Based Decluttering

spring cleaning, decluttering, cleaning tips

Don't try to do it all at once.

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Zone-based decluttering also helps us avoid the all-too-common “decluttering fatigue,” explains Sofia. Rather that trying to cram all the cleaning into a single weekend, spread out each room, or zone, throughout a couple of days.

Here’s an example of what zone-based decluttering might look like.

“Start by removing debris and organizing your patio furniture to get your outside space ready for the warmer weather. Tomorrow, get to work on the kitchen—clear the countertops, tidy your cabinets and clean out the refrigerator. Next week? Tackle the storage spaces, organize your electronics, and scrub your upholstery. Then on to your bedrooms, where you need to declutter your nightstand, change your bedding, and switch out your winter wardrobe.”

It’s easy to see how this helps us actually go through the clutter without subjecting ourselves to burnout. Cause at the end of the day, spring cleaning should be energizing, right?

As a bonus, Sofia added some thoughts on the four main types of clutter and how to remove them in a way that good for us and for the planet:

  • Clothing: You might not want it, but there’s likely someone who does. Don’t toss it in the trash until you’ve checked whether local charities, shelters, or thrift stores will take it off your hands.
  • Electronics: Don’t make your clutter the planet’s problem. Recycle any unwanted electronics through a certified e-waste recycling center to avoid causing environmental harm.
  • Furniture: if it’s in usable condition, sell it online or donate it to a charity, shelter, or community center. Otherwise, contact local waste management to find out how to dispose of or, better yet, recycle it.
  • Non-perishable food: Don’t do the easiest thing; do the right thing. Rather than throwing it away, food banks, shelters, and community organizations will happily take any food you don’t want.

Lastly, but very important in today's world—let’s talk about the importance of digital decluttering.

spring cleaning, decluttering, cleaning tips

"Once you’re done spring cleaning your home, it’s time to clear your inbox and clean your desktop.”

Representative Image from Canva

Walter Gjergja, Shaolin Temple secular monk, mindfulness and well-being expert, and co-founder of the personal trainer app Zing Coach, wisely notes:

"Clutter doesn’t just invade our space; it invades our minds too.…those with cluttered lives tend to procrastinate on important tasks — and digital clutter is no exception. Once you’re done spring cleaning your home, it’s time to clear your inbox and clean your desktop.”

To do this, Gjergja suggests deleting unimportant emails, organizing your files and uploading any you don’t frequently need to cloud storage, plus deleting any unused apps from your home screen.

“You’ll be surprised just how much decluttering your digital space can free up the mind."

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Too young to be a Boomer, too old to be Gen X: Meet the microgeneration 'Generation Jones'

Generation Jones is made up of people born from 1954 to 1965.

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Image via Wikimedia Commons

Generation Jones is the microgeneration of people born from 1954 to 1965.

Generational labels have become cultural identifiers. These include Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z and Gen Alpha. And each of these generations is defined by its unique characteristics, personalities and experiences that set them apart from other generations.

But in-between these generational categories are "microgenerations", who straddle the generation before and after them. For example, "Xennial" is the microgeneration name for those who fall on the cusp of Gen X and Millennials.

And there is also a microgeneration between Baby Boomers and Gen X called Generation Jones, which is made up of people born from 1954 to 1965. But what exactly differentiates Gen Jones from the Boomers and Gen Xers that flank it?

- YouTube www.youtube.com

What is Generation Jones?

"Generation Jones" was coined by writer, television producer and social commentator Jonathan Pontell to describe the decade of Americans who grew up in the '60s and '70s. As Pontell wrote of Gen Jonesers in Politico:

"We fill the space between Woodstock and Lollapalooza, between the Paris student riots and the anti-globalisation protests, and between Dylan going electric and Nirvana going unplugged. Jonesers have a unique identity separate from Boomers and GenXers. An avalanche of attitudinal and behavioural data corroborates this distinction."

Pontell describes Jonesers as "practical idealists" who were "forged in the fires of social upheaval while too young to play a part." They are the younger siblings of the boomer civil rights and anti-war activists who grew up witnessing and being moved by the passion of those movements but were met with a fatigued culture by the time they themselves came of age. Sometimes, they're described as the cool older siblings of Gen X. Unlike their older boomer counterparts, most Jonesers were not raised by WWII veteran fathers and were too young to be drafted into Vietnam, leaving them in between on military experience.

How did Generation Jones get its name?

generation jones, gen jones, gen jones teen, generation jones teenager, what is generation jones A Generation Jones teenager poses in her room.Image via Wikmedia Commons

Gen Jones gets its name from the competitive "keeping up with the Joneses" spirit that spawned during their populous birth years, but also from the term "jonesin'," meaning an intense craving, that they coined—a drug reference but also a reflection of the yearning to make a difference that their "unrequited idealism" left them with. According to Pontell, their competitiveness and identity as a "generation aching to act" may make Jonesers particularly effective leaders:

"What makes us Jonesers also makes us uniquely positioned to bring about a new era in international affairs. Our practical idealism was created by witnessing the often unrealistic idealism of the 1960s. And we weren’t engaged in that era’s ideological battles; we were children playing with toys while boomers argued over issues. Our non-ideological pragmatism allows us to resolve intra-boomer skirmishes and to bridge that volatile Boomer-GenXer divide. We can lead."

@grownupdish

Are you Generation Jones? Definitive Guide to Generation Jones https://grownupdish.com/the-definitive-guide-to-generation-jones/ #greenscreen #generationjones #babyboomer #generationx #GenX #over50 #over60 #1970s #midlife #middleage #midlifewomen #grownupdish #over50tiktok #over60women #over60tiktok #over60club

However, generations aren't just calculated by birth year but by a person's cultural reality. Some on the cusp may find themselves identifying more with one generation than the other, such as being culturally more Gen X than boomer. And, of course, not everyone fits into whatever generality they happened to be born into, so stereotyping someone based on their birth year isn't a wise practice. Knowing about these microgenerational differences, however, can help us understand certain sociological realities better as well as help people feel like they have a "home" in the generational discourse.

As many Gen Jonesers have commented, it's nice to "find your people" when you haven't felt like you've fit into the generation you fall into by age. Perhaps in our fast-paced, ever-shifting, interconnected world where culture shifts so swiftly, we need to break generations into 10 year increments instead of 20 to 30 to give everyone a generation that better suits their sensibilities.

This article originally appeared two years ago. It has been updated.

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Employee's 'power-tripping' boss kept scheduling lunch meetings. The payback was brilliant.

"Well, we all have to make sacrifices sometimes."

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via Canva/Photos and Heather/Flickr

A boss is fed up with his employee's antics.

One of the most frequently debated topics in professional etiquette is which foods are appropriate to eat in the office. People often take offense when others cook smelly foods, such as fish or broccoli, in a shared microwave. It can also be rude to bring a bag of snacks into a meeting as a lot of folks don't want to hear chewing while they're trying to think.

When it comes to remote workers, people are even less sure about proper eating etiquette. Is it okay to eat a large meal during an all-hands meeting? One remote worker recently claimed they pushed those boundaries to the limit when their boss allegedly did something most employees would find rude: He scheduled meetings during lunchtime and showed zero interest in apologizing for it.

office, office kitchen, office fridge, workers, employees An office kitchen.via Canva/Photos

"I used to take my lunch break at the same time every day - 12 to 1. I don't eat breakfast (just coffee and lots of water), so my lunch is essential, and I can't just skip it," a Redditor wrote. "My calendar was blocked, but my boss (newly promoted, power-tripping) started scheduling meetings right in the middle of it."

At first, it wasn't a problem, but it became a habit. "The first couple of times, I let it slide," the employee continued. "Figured maybe it was urgent. But then it became a pattern. I pushed back and reminded him that it was during my break, and he said, 'Well, we all have to make sacrifices sometimes.'"

spaghetti, mean spaghetti, pasta, italian food, lunch An angry man eating spaghetti.via Canva/Photos

Sometimes? That would make sense if the boss only occasionally scheduled lunchtime meetings, but this was becoming a regular thing. So, the employee decided they wouldn't skip lunch and would make the meeting as uncomfortable as possible.

"Next meeting, I showed up with a full plate of spaghetti and meatballs. Had my camera on and mic unmuted, slurping and chewing, occasionally gave thumbs up while mid-bite," they wrote. "A few days later, it repeated, so I brought sticky wings. Last week on Thursday, it happened again, glad I still had my pizza."

"We all have to make sacrifices sometimes"

After the boss started noticing a trend, he spoke up: "Do you have to eat during the meeting?" The employee had the perfect response: "I smiled and said, 'We all have to make sacrifices sometimes.'" During the following week, the boss didn't schedule any lunch meetings.

The post went viral. After receiving countless awards from readers, the poster joked about new and inventive ways they could get back at their boss, including dressing up as a Benihana chef and performing an onion volcano, heating cheese mid-meeting with a fondue pot, and carving a massive tomahawk steak on camera.

The Redditor also claimed they purposely behaved obnoxiously during the meeting to further drive home their point. But where do people draw the line when it comes to eating during a remote meeting?

Kate Noel, head of People Ops at Morning Brew, said it's important to read the room:

"All Zoom meetings are not created equal," Noel wrote. "If it's with your closest teammates, it's probably nbd. But if you feel nervous about eating your sushi on camera, then you might want to wait until after the awkward goodbye waves at the end of your meeting. Not for nothing, you could probably get away with keeping your video off during a larger group meeting to eat food. But at your own risk, so choose your own adventure."

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Mom stepped away from the bath for 3 seconds. Then her toddler said 5 words that made her sprint right back.

She was gone for three seconds, but in the world of toddlers, that is apparently enough time to hold a full religious ceremony.

Beth Moore Instagram, toddler baptize bathtub, funny parenting moments, bath time toddler viral, mom bath time scare, toddler funny kids viral video, parenting Instagram 2026, bath safety toddlers, close call parenting, funny toddler stories
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Young siblings taking a bath

Every parent has a moment where they think: this is the one. This is how it ends. For Beth Moore, a mom of young children who shares her parenting life on Instagram as @bethgracemoore, that moment came during an otherwise ordinary bath time.

She was bathing two of her kids together when she realized, mid-bath, that she had forgotten the towels. The linen closet was maybe five feet away. She made the call. "Before you come after me, I know that you were never supposed to step away from young children in the bathtub," she said in the video, which she posted on January 6, 2026. "But at this point in time, I was home alone, I needed to walk the five feet for literally three seconds."

Those three seconds were all her three-year-old needed.

From the hallway, she heard her son's voice, clear and confident: "I'm going to baptize her in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." Moore dropped everything. "You can imagine my horror," she said.

She ran back to find... her son solemnly dunking his doll underwater, over and over, presiding over a perfectly reverent tub baptism. Her younger child, sitting nearby, was watching the whole ceremony play out with complete calm. "She is just sitting there and she's just watching the whole thing happen," Moore said.

Beth Moore Instagram, toddler baptize bathtub, funny parenting moments, bath time toddler viral, mom bath time scare, toddler funny kids viral video, parenting Instagram 2026, bath safety toddlers, close call parenting, funny toddler stories Gif of baby being baptizedgiphy

"So moral of the story is don't forget the towels," she concluded.

The video has pulled in over 45,800 views on Instagram, and the comment section is full of parents who felt this in their bones. "Mine got on the bed and fell down doing a flip, it was so scary! She was fine, but it happened in seconds!" wrote @byandreahusic. "This is hilarious but also so sweet," added @lauras.lifejoy. "Why couldn't God have made children move slower, because my goodness, do they do those things so fast?" said @laura.hagerbaumer.

Beth Moore Instagram, toddler baptize bathtub, funny parenting moments, bath time toddler viral, mom bath time scare, toddler funny kids viral video, parenting Instagram 2026, bath safety toddlers, close call parenting, funny toddler stories Woman gives toddler a bath Canva

Worth noting: Moore's fear, while it turned out to be beautifully misplaced, is rooted in something real. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises that children under 6 should never be left unattended in the bathtub, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission has noted that bathtub drownings can happen quickly and silently, even in just a couple of inches of water. The CPSC's specific guidance states that if you must leave, you should take the child with you. As Moore herself acknowledged, she knew the rule. She made a judgment call, and this time it worked out in the most wholesome way possible.

But the reason this video keeps getting shared isn't really about bath safety, or even about the perfectly executed toddler baptism. It's about that specific kind of parenting terror that arrives before your brain has had a chance to work out what's actually happening. The lurch in the stomach. The sprint down the hall. The absolutely unexpected relief.

"There is nothing that can prepare you for the heart attacks that you will experience while raising toddlers," Moore said at the top of the video.

Forty-five thousand parents nodded.

You can follow @bethgracemoore on Instagram for more parenting content.


@doctor.bing

Lesser known risk factors of drowning that everyone needs to know #brain #neurology #brainhealth #neurologist #drowning #water #safety #pool

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An Irish woman went to the doctor for a routine eye exam. She left with bright neon green eyes.

It's not easy seeing green.

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Photo credit: @margoinireland on Instagram

Did she get superpowers?

Going to the eye doctor can be a hassle and a pain. It's not just the routine issues and inconveniences that come along when making a doctor appointment, but sometimes the various devices being used to check your eyes' health feel invasive and uncomfortable. But at least at the end of the appointment, most of us don't look like we're turning into The Incredible Hulk. That wasn't the case for one Irish woman.

Photographer Margerita B. Wargola was just going in for a routine eye exam at the hospital but ended up leaving with her eyes a shocking, bright neon green.

At the doctor's office, the nurse practitioner was prepping Wargola for a test with a machine that Wargola had experienced before. Before the test started, Wargola presumed the nurse had dropped some saline into her eyes, as they were feeling dry. After she blinked, everything went yellow.

Wargola and the nurse initially panicked. Neither knew what was going on as Wargola suddenly had yellow vision and radioactive-looking green eyes. After the initial shock, both realized the issue: the nurse forgot to ask Wargola to remove her contact lenses before putting contrast drops in her eyes for the exam. Wargola and the nurse quickly removed the lenses from her eyes and washed them thoroughly with saline. Fortunately, Wargola's eyes were unharmed. Unfortunately, her contacts were permanently stained and she didn't bring a spare pair.

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Since she has poor vision, Wargola was forced to drive herself home after the eye exam wearing the neon-green contact lenses that make her look like a member of the Green Lantern Corps. She couldn't help but laugh at her predicament and recorded a video explaining it all on social media. Since then, her video has sparked a couple Reddit threads and collected a bunch of comments on Instagram:

“But the REAL question is: do you now have X-Ray vision?”

“You can just say you're a superhero.”

“I would make a few stops on the way home just to freak some people out!”

“I would have lived it up! Grab a coffee, do grocery shopping, walk around a shopping center.”

“This one would pair well with that girl who ate something with turmeric with her invisalign on and walked around Paris smiling at people with seemingly BRIGHT YELLOW TEETH.”

“I would save those for fancy special occasions! WOW!”

“Every time I'd stop I'd turn slowly and stare at the person in the car next to me.”

“Keep them. Tell people what to do. They’ll do your bidding.”

In a follow-up Instagram video, Wargola showed her followers that she was safe at home with normal eyes, showing that the damaged contact lenses were so stained that they turned the saline solution in her contacts case into a bright Gatorade yellow. She wasn't mad at the nurse and, in fact, plans on keeping the lenses to wear on St. Patrick's Day or some other special occasion.

While no harm was done and a good laugh was had, it's still best for doctors, nurses, and patients alike to double-check and ask or tell if contact lenses are being worn before each eye test. If not, there might be more than ultra-green eyes to worry about.

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Teacher shares her surprisingly wholesome story of learning what ‘Netflix and chill’ means

She chalked this up to being an “oblivious Millennial.”

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An image of an embarrassed woman interlaid with a picture of two people cuddling while watching Netflix.

For many, if not most of us, when someone uses the term “Netflix and chill,” we know it to be a euphemism for, well, not much TV watching.

And yet, not everyone knows that this phrase has sexual connotations, apparently. At least one 34-year-old female college professor recently admitted to not knowing. Too bad she had been using the phrase as one of her go-to “icebreakers” in class.

A teacher learns she’s been using “Netflix and chill” wrong

As she shared on Reddit, she would often list “Netflix and chill” as one of her favorite hobbies. Not only that, but whenever students mentioned how stressed they were, she would reiterate: “While it's important to study, it's also important to take time to relax and recharge, so I hope they are able to do something for themselves soon, like ‘Netflix and chill.’”

It wasn’t until she visited her husband for lunch at his work and struck up a conversation with two of his co-workers that she discovered her hefty misunderstanding.

“I'm currently on maternity leave and mentioned to his co-workers that I can't wait for my infant to be older so I can ‘Netflix and chill’ again instead of having to feed and change diapers,” she wrote.

When one of the coworkers had a “shocked look on his face,” the OP was “confused.” She couldn’t believe it when this person explained that it’s a “euphemism for hooking up.” And yet, when the other coworker, a 50-year-old female, said, "Oh he's right, even I know what that means!" there was really no denying it.

Photo credit: Canva


Well, understandably, this woman was “mortified” at having learned the truth and was “now terrified I'm going to be reported for sexual harassment because I guess I've been inadvertently telling my students I love to hook up and have been encouraging them to hook up, too??”

In her defense, it's true that “Netflix and chill” used to mean relaxing while streaming, but that was about 17 years ago. The context we are all familiar with has been around since 2015.


She also noted that she and her husband married young and therefore never spent much time on dating apps, which could help explain why she remained unaware. Plus, she lived at home and worked two jobs during her college years, which meant "Netflix and chill” was literally “Netflixing and chilling,” she quipped.

All in all, she chalked this up to being an “oblivious Millennial.” And by that, she meant a “Millennial who is clearly oblivious” to something “invented by Millennials and has been around for at least 10-15 years.”

Reddit's reactions

Down in the comments, people tried to ease her worries about the whole accidental harassment thing.

"They either thought you were adorably clueless, or just a very cool teacher. Don't sweat it."

“Either people figured she didn’t know and thought it was funny or just assumed they’re very open and sex positive. NBD either way.”

“Rate my professor: 10/10. She told me I can come over and netflix and chill anytime 🥵”

Others didn’t let her off so easily, especially when she surmised that her older coworkers also likely didn’t know what it meant.

“I was shocked when I opened the post and saw OP was 34. I expected her to be 64.”

“I am 38 and have known what it means since it’s been around. This definitely isn’t an age thing, this is a living under a rock thing lol”

“I’m an out of touch millennial but that’s been a saying for like a decade now. lol. You might be under a rock.”

Photo credit: Canva


Regardless, the OP has had a good sense of humor despite being mortified. She concluded her post by saying, “Anyone who has lived the past decade+ under a rock like me is welcome to come over to my place and literally chill and watch Netflix with me anytime! I'll supply the popcorn 🤣”

Listen, it’s bonkers when things like this happen, but they do happen. Is it embarrassing? Sure. But does it remind us that life is about laughing at ourselves? Also yes.

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