Tips to get you excited to organise your space
You’ve heard of Spring Cleaning, now get ready for… late summer cleaning! Okay, so maybe ‘late summer cleaning’ isn’t quite a thing just yet but I reckon it should be. The truth is, is that there is no perfect time to organise your space. You just have to do it. Besides, you don’t really want to wait for September to roll around before you start tidying, right?
Don’t fret – we’ve got some tips on how to make organising your space a lot less daunting!
Make time for it – that’s right, schedule your cleaning session the same way you would with any other appointments like a gym class or a trip to the dentist. When it’s scheduled in your diary, you have no choice but to see it through. There’s nothing worse than half your clutter just sitting there to be dealt with “tomorrow”.
Tackle it room by room – it’s easy to get overwhelmed especially if you’ve got heaps of items to get through, so tackling things room by room eases the pressure off a bit. Instead of thinking about the big picture (i.e. a clean, organised house), start small by having a clean, organised closet first then move on to the rest of your space.
Marie Kondo it – have you heard of Marie Kondo? She’s the reason why the ‘spark joy’ method has been trending for the past couple of years. A professional organiser, Marie Kondo’s method is a bit different than usual. She advises clients to hold every single item they own, look at it, and ask themselves ‘does this spark joy’? And if they don’t, discard it. It’s that simple but also complicated. I tried it a few years ago with my wardrobe and every time I held up an item, it was so hard to decide whether it truly brought me joy or not. By the end of the exercise, though, I found myself with a wardrobe full of clothes I actually love and will use. There’s a reason why the Marie Kondo method is so popular, and there’s no harm in giving it a go to see if it will work for you!
Be ruthless – it should go without saying, but be extremely ruthless when decluttering. That dress you haven’t worn in a year that’s missing a few buttons? Get rid of it. Chances are, you’re never going to get around to sewing them back. Those pants that have holes in them but are sooooo comfy? Keep them. Or not. Be ruthless with things that you don’t actually use. If you find things with sentimental value or items that you just absolutely can’t give up, it’s also good to strike that balance. My general rule is (and this is when Marie Kondo’s method comes in handy) – if I haven’t worn it in 6 months then there’s probably a reason why so it’s time to chuck it out.
Make it fun – believe it or not, but having a playlist can do wonders for your productivity during an organising sesh. With the right soundtrack, mundane tasks become more exciting and in turn, you’re more motivated to complete it. My friend Amelia has a ‘vacuum song’ that she always plays when vacuuming and it really gets her in the mood. I’ve got my own cleaning playlist myself that’s literally called ‘cleaning’ on Spotify and whenever I hear the opening chords to the first song in that playlist, I switch on and get down to business.
Have a place for everything – when deciding whether to keep something or not, it helps if you can envision where you want the item to sit. That way, you know exactly where the item will be and it’s less likely to become clutter you need to find space for.
There you have it! Some handy tips that will hopefully inspire you to make this weekend a cleaning weekend. And what should you do with the items you’re discarding, you may ask? Donate the good, useable items to a charity of your choice or your local opshop. You know what they say… one person’s trash is another one’s treasure.