New Year Resolution - A Tidy Home!
As the second year of pandemic draws to a close, all of us fervently hope we will see the last of the pandemic. The activities we all took for granted prior to 2020 – traveling, dining out in big groups, singing karaoke and going shopping without masks - now seem like distant memories.
As 2022 rolls around, we can all harbour a silver of hope that the pandemic will finally burn itself out. Pandemic or not, we still have to keep going! New Year! New resolutions!
Doesn’t matter if you didn’t stick to any resolutions you made last year because it was Covid year and you get a pass. This year will be different! Some of you may vow to go to the gym at least 3 times a week (hard!) to work off the covid pounds. Some of you resolve to give up refined sugar (even harder!).
How about a resolution that will give you and your family a better home environment? A resolution that will help your children grow up in a healthier and better home environment.
This year, resolve to tidy up your home and let you and your family members live in a home that recharges and invigorates at the end of a long day.
The 6 basic rules of tidying from the Konmari Method of tidying will help you answer the questions “How to start tidying my home?” and can help you jumpstart your resolution to a tidier and neater home!
1) Commit yourself to tidying
A real tidying journey takes time and effort. You need to truly commit yourself to want a tidy and organised home. The process of tidying will make the house look messier than it was. Mark out time in your calendar which you can set aside for tidying and commit to doing it. Yes, that would mean turning down coffees with friends if there's a schedule conflict.
2) Imagine your ideal lifestyle
Your ideal lifestyle is the reason why you are committing all this time and effort into tidying. But ask yourself further, why do you want your ideal lifestyle? Drill down to the most basic feeling that is motivating you to tidy. What is the feeling you will have when you finally achieve it? Very often, the root reason will be, "I want to be happy". Remember your "why" when things get tedious and tough.
3) Finish Discarding First
The Konmari Method of tidying focuses on what we want to keep. Discarding what we do not want to keep is part of the process. We keep things that give us joy in our lives. Giving up things that no longer give us joy teaches us to let go and let us be conscious of what we acquire in the future. We cannot grasp how much we have until we are done discarding, therefore, we should not consider storage options until we are done with the discarding.
4) Tidy by category, not by location
Every article or piece of advice on organising will tell you to organise by location. Start with the bedroom, or start in the living room. Tidying by location will doom you to failure. Oh yes, the space will look neat and organised for a few weeks.. or even a couple of months.. and you feel pretty accomplished looking at the neat and tidy space. Then one day you realise the clutter is back and you have no idea why! "I just tidied this place!" So you give up and think you are untidy by nature and you will never have a tidy home so you don't even try anymore.
The reason why tidying by location will not work is that people seldom store all their things in one place and don't have an accurate grasp of how much of something they own. There will be duplicates, triplicates and quadrupeds of many items. You need to tidy things by category to have an accurate grasp of your belongings.
You have to tidy by category - clothes, books, papers, komono (miscellaneous items) and then sentimental items - for long-term success.
5) Follow the right order
Tidying your belongings in this order – clothes, books, papers, komono and sentimental items – has proven to be the most efficient and effective. By starting with clothes (easiest) and ending with sentimental items (hardest), you hone your decision-making skills along the way. Another reason why we start with clothes is that this category provides the most visible results for your efforts. It is a great motivator to keep going when you see how tidy and organised your wardrobe is!
6) Ask yourself if it sparks joy
Everyone's ideal environment and the things they choose to keep is different. Conventional tidying wisdom would suggest discarding things that have not been used in xx years. But what if the item brings joy to you even when you don't use it? Konmari Method teaches you to make decisions on your items based on your feelings. Recall your ultimate aim in tidying, which is to have an environment that will spark joy in you! If the item in question does not spark joy or does not contribute to an outcome that will spark joy in you, then why are we keeping it?
With these 6 rules on tidying in mind, you can surely start on your tidying journey. Remember your "why" when things get overwhelming and tedious. The thing about tidying is you are dealing with things. They don't multiply organically. Just take it one thing at a time and you will be able to go through them all eventually. You can do it!
Cheers to 2022!