The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

There are many reasons why people have trouble keeping their homes tidy. At first glance, it may seem strange to seek advice on tidying. After all, there are no college courses on decluttering your home. However, many people openly admit to struggling with maintaining a tidy home. There are various reasons for this. At the core of the issue is that many of the methods we use to tidy don’t work, such as tidying a little each day, not aiming for perfection, and sorting by location. To become great at tidying, you have to ignore advice that isn’t effective.

What does Marie Kondo’s tidying method look like? First of all, rather than trying to tidy a little bit every day, make it your goal to tidy once and do it thoroughly. Instead of decluttering in a half-hearted way, turn it into an event. When you commit to tidying and do it all in one go, your mindset about tidying changes profoundly.

The first and most important step to decluttering your home is to discard things. As mentioned earlier, doing this sporadically and getting rid of a few items every day won’t be effective. When you decide to tidy your space, visualize how you want your lifestyle and home to look and why you want to make this change. Paint a vivid picture of what your decluttered, organized lifestyle will look like. This step is crucial to avoid slipping back into old habits after decluttering. Once you complete this step, commit to getting rid of as many items as possible and do it all in one go.

How do you know whether to keep an item or discard it? Marie Kondo’s simple method is to ask yourself whether the item sparks joy. If it does, keep it. If it doesn’t, get rid of it. The main reason people want to tidy their homes is that they want to feel happier. Therefore, one of the primary criteria for deciding whether to keep an item or throw it out should be whether it sparks joy.

When it comes to tidying up, you shouldn’t do it by location. For example, don’t start with your bedroom and then move on to the living room and so forth. Instead, Marie Kondo recommends discarding items by category. You should begin with clothing. In this case, you would take out all your clothing in one go and sort through it. For each item, ask yourself if it sparks joy or not. Sorting by category is much more productive. It allows you to focus on one thing at a time while disregarding everything else.

Once you’re done with clothing, continue with books, papers, random items, and belongings with sentimental value. Marie Kondo recommends tidying in this specific order. As you can see, most people fail at tidying because they lack a proper method. When you take a systematic approach, you’ll find it easier to declutter.

In some cases, such as with clothing, it can make sense to further divide your category into subcategories like socks, underwear, shoes, and so forth. There is no need for your family to be present. In fact, tidying with your family is probably not a good idea. And remember: If something doesn’t spark joy in you, your family likely doesn’t depend on it either.

How will you know when you’ve decluttered enough? This varies from person to person. Someone who loves books might decide to keep a large portion of their library but only a few pairs of shoes. On the other hand, a shoe lover might keep a collection of shoes and not a single book. What inspires joy is individual, and every person must find their own sweet spot. You should trust your intuition when tidying. You will know when you are done.

Once you are done with decluttering, it’s time to adopt a new mindset for living your life and storing your belongings. One of the most important things you can do is to make sure each of your items has a designated place. This means you have to decide exactly where to keep every item. You must be specific and do this for every item in your home. The reason this is so important is that without specifying exactly where you’ll keep everything, you’re likely to rebound, and you’ll have a messy home again in no time.

Tidying and storing your belongings in an organized, clutter-free way is about more than just living in a neat-looking home. When decluttering their homes this way, people often undergo a profound shift. Tidying not only removes clutter but also transforms our lives. This includes gaining confidence, pursuing your dreams, and feeling less attached to the past or anxious about the future. It also shows you what is truly valuable and how to let go of things. In many ways, your possessions and how you store them reflect who you are. By changing your belongings and reorganizing your home, you will also change as a person, and this transformation is almost guaranteed to be positive.