Organization 101 - Keeping your space clean 🧹
It's been said that our spaces often reflect our mental state and I know that couldn't be more true.
There used to be weeks when I would feel overwhelmed and scattered, and my room often reflected that too. The chair would be piled with clothes that would rotate to the bed when I needed my desk and then back to chair when I needed to sleep.
When I finally moved home after university, I was determined to declutter and make my room a relaxing, calm and clean space.
After reading and rereading Marie Kondo's book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying-Up, I was inspired and went on a mission. As Kondo says in the introduction, her method was truly life-changing and transformative.
Wow, this almost turned into a book review but instead, let me share five ways that you too can have a clean and organized space.
Two minute rule
One day when I was moving items from my desk to my bed, I thought to myself, "Why do I spend this time, every day, moving these clothes back and forth when I could just put them away?"
Laziness. And the notion that it'll take too long.
I started with just two-minutes of cleaning everyday, whether it was folding or hanging some clothes, throwing away the recycling or organizing my pens and papers. I found that I would often spend 5-10 minutes instead trying to clean up as much as possible so that the next day, I would wake up to a tidy room. This doesn't have to be a boring chore, put on your favourite song and bust out some moves too!
Try to do something today that your tomorrow self will thank you for!
Find a home for everything
A big concept Kondo stresses in her book is finding a home for everything. Oftentimes, cleaning and tidying up is so difficult and tiring because we don't have a place for our things - we just shove things into random drawers.
Not only does this make it super difficult to remember where anything is, but it's also not the greatest way of treating your items. I’m not saying every item has to have its own box or tray, but having a central box for all your tech things (i.e. chargers, hard drives, cables) will make things so much easier. You don't have to go out and buy fancy organization bins or trays, start by using what you have
If you're struggling to find a spot for everything, chances are you have too many items, which we'll discuss in the next point.
Does it bring joy?
Decluttering can be such a tiring task because it's going through every item and brutally asking yourself if it brings you joy. Although it sucks to hold up that piece of clothing with the tags still on that you bought impulsively on sale, thinking you would wear it - this is a step that cannot be skipped.
In order to make space for the items we truly love and value, we must remove the items that simply do not serve us anymore. Whether these are your kindergarten report cards, or clothes that you no longer wear - going through everything you own is crucial.
Obviously this can be time consuming, so split it up into chunks and tackle it that way. Although I have gotten rid of almost half of my possessions, I still like to do a quarterly clean out to reduce my belongings even more.
Make sure to donate or sell your items instead of throwing them into the garbage!
Make it look like a store
I used to love going to clothing stores because everything was so organized and beautiful compared to my haphazard drawers and clothing racks at home.
But then the classic problem of "I don't have anything to wear!!! While also staring at a closet full of clothes" would happen and I knew I had to think of a solution.
Kondo provides lots of tips and trips in her book for storing different types of items and I've incorporated a few into my life.
T-shirts: Fold them into thirds and stand them up - I love organizing them by colour 🥰
Socks: I used to fold them at the ankle which just stretched them out too much (no one likes loose ankle socks). Instead I stack one sock over top the over, fold, and display standing up. 100% easier to see which pair you want rather than hunting through all those sock balls.
I've also started thanking my socks every time I put them away by saying "Thank you for protecting my feet!"
Sweaters and skirts: To prevent wrinkling and creasing, I roll these and organize by colour! Rolling is a great way to save space and by laying everything out compared to stacking, you can actually see what you have.
Stationery: I simply organize the type by tray, markers in one, pencils in another, pens in their own tray, etc. While I would like the Muji aryclic containers, these 10-year old, Dollarama ones work fine!
Skincare: If you couldn't tell, I love the Ordinary, but having so many products can make it difficult to remember which ones to use when. From left to right, I have the oils, nightly treatments, daytime A and daytime B. By keeping them in the same order, it makes it second nature for me to apply the correct one.
The most pleasing view after laundry each week!
Have a routine
If we want a behaviour to stick, we have to make it routine.
I knew that I wanted to be more consistent with reading before bed on my Kindle, so I placed it in an easily accessible spot in my bedside table, rather than all the way across the room in the closet. Now when I open my drawer to spray my lavender sleep spray on my pillows, I see my Kindle and think, "Let me read a bit before bed"
Another easy way to start is by just putting one item away before you sleep. Try hanging up that one shirt, and then next week start with two items. This way, we can wake up to a clean room and feel so much more ready to take on the day.
Concluding thoughts
Having a clean space has helped my mental health immensely. If my thoughts are jumbled and all over the place, I usually take that time to clean a space of my room while thinking about what's bothering me. The end result is a tidy space and tidy mind.
Sending you lots of love and light,
-Reina xo