By Karen Espig
There’s that feel-good sensation when you climb into a bed made with freshly cleaned sheets, or arrive home after vacation, and you remember you did a deep clean before you left. There’s a reason for that.
Having a clean and tidy environment is calming; conversely, looking at that ominous pile of laundry in the corner or a closet full of stuff you never unpacked brings you down. So, let’s look at some strategies to become a tidier person and maintain it long-term.
Declutter First
It is much easier to keep things tidy when there is less to deal with in the first place. There is no point in organising objects you don’t need to keep.
The best starting point, therefore, is to reduce the volume of stuff in your space. Toss, donate, or sell your items. Go all Marie Kondo in your home environment to help release you from a messy space.
How To Declutter
As someone who has reduced a two-bedroom apartment to a few suitcases and a mini-storage unit, I can tell you the process is equally rewarding and challenging. My process began with getting rid of the obvious things I didn’t need and then consistently working on the rest.
If you have multiples of anything or items you have never used, get rid of them. I found kitchen and bathroom items the easiest to reduce as there is less sentimental attachment (compared to books or trinkets, for example).
Clothing, accessories, and shoes can take up a lot of space, and you’ll find items you haven’t worn in ages (possibly decades!). Get rid of clothes that aren’t flattering anymore or are in poor condition. Keep what fits you now, not what you hope will one day fit. Honestly, those items are just bringing you down.
In my journey to minimise and reduce, I set out to fill a minimum of two boxes per week of items to remove from my space; when they were full, off they went!
Another helpful hack I found, particularly with books and clothes, was to do a quick pass through one day and then do a second (or third) pass a week or so later. A psychological thing happens when you minimise; as you have less, you find you need less, and it becomes easier to discard items.
Start Small Or Set A Time Limit
One approach is micro-decluttering, where you pick a small project, like a drawer, a basket, or a shelf and tidy it up. This will not require a huge time commitment, yet it still provides a sense of accomplishment and improvement to your space. Be sure to maintain tidiness going forward.
You could also allot a specific amount of time, say 15 minutes a day or a specific time or day of the week.
Low-Use Versus High Traffic Areas
Cleaning up an area of your home that you see constantly has a significant psychological benefit. However, if you choose to tidy up an area in frequent use, you should also commit to keeping it that way. If this seems too overwhelming or there are other factors in the mix (multiple people in the same space, a busier-than-usual schedule), it might be wiser to pick a low-use area.
A low-use area is easier to keep tidy once you’ve done the work. You might also be able to work on it over a more extended period.
Organising
Once you have minimised the clutter in a particular area, it is time to organise it. Whether it is a drawer or an entire room, decide where items belong, usually based on how they are used and how often. If you are organising clothes, for example, group them according to use: dressy garments, workwear, casual or sports items.
Baskets, bins, and dividers can be very helpful, but keep in mind whether they actually make sense. Putting items you often use in closed bins can be inconvenient, and you might not be inclined to return them to the bin, creating clutter again. Keep closed bins for items that are used infrequently or overstocked.
Find a “home” for everything. If you have a specific spot for keys, books, tools, office supplies, etc, you will always know where to find them.
Keeping Up Appearances
Now that you have a space or your entire home tidy, the next important step is maintaining it. Get into the habit of taking a quick scan of each room at some point during the day, picking up any out-of-place items, and returning them to where they belong.
Becoming a tidier person won’t happen all at once; it’s a process of developing habits supporting this goal. Start small, set reasonable timelines that work in your lifestyle, and take moments to experience how much better a tidy space feels.