It means digging through the closet in search of old clothes to give away and taking on the clutter that has built up over the year.

But what if it didn’t have to be such a monumental, challenging task?

That’s what Jennifer Lifford decided to find out.

Her first book, The Home Decluttering Diet: Organize Your Way to a Clean and Lean House, is written in a style similar to a weight-loss or detox diet, providing homeowners with an easy-to-follow guide that helps “put your house on a diet.”

“It’s basically designed to take that feeling of being overwhelmed in getting your home decluttered and organized,” Lifford said.

She’s even broken it into room-by-room and monthly progressions, which she hopes will make it easier to develop habits to create better long-term results.

“It’s a different way of thinking about it, the goal is to make it less overwhelming and make it a less frustrating process,” she said.

The book, which is currently available online on websites like Amazon, will be in stores soon.

It starts with a 30-day “detox” which is designed to get rid of what she calls surface clutter, providing tips and tricks so people can take on specific rooms, developing useful habits.

“It’s like when you first start a diet, you go on a detox because the weight is just sitting there ready to come off,” she said. “It then really goes room-by-room in terms of really going through it properly, even if it does take a little longer, because it’s helping you build those habits.”

If you’re looking for some quick spring cleaning tips, Lifford recommends not going overboard and setting goals to accomplish over time.

However, she says things like prioritizing what immediately needs to go will actually be more beneficial.

“Those things that are filling up your space and taking your time and energy that you don’t really need [can go first],” she said.

“Then you may not need to do a full spring cleaning; develop a monthly plan and do a deep clean on a regular basis.”

By Owen Munro, contributer