Tidying Your Life (Literally and Figuratively)
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On a random trip to the library I added a book called Spark Joy by Marie Kondo to a large stack of other books. I flipped through it while wanting to distract myself from something on ESPN (and/or my boyfriend yelling at whatever was on ESPN) and was hooked. My boyfriend (let's just refer to him as the BF from now on) just adored my voracious reading and application of this book. (Please note: his house was the first experiment. The experiments yielded vastly different overall results in the separate residences.... because, boys.)
My incredibly simple synopsis: I have too much stuff and most of it does not bring me joy. I should get rid of said stuff and focus on sparking joy for myself and in myself. I should focus on buying, doing, and living with intention. Therefore, I need to organize the happy, joy-sparking stuff in a way that sparks even more joy so the act of tidying leftover stuff brings me joy. My prognosis on experimenting with intention and tidiness? Guarded. My parents know me as a packrat and messy, and many of my friends might use the word "efficient" to describe me, but "tidy" and "organized?" NOPE. After this experiment, however, "tidy" is now an almost completely accurate description, and almost three months after the start I love the changes and maintain them easily. The best part? I find joy in my intention.
In December I started going through my stuff, mostly because my apartment, a giant heap of STUFF, stressed me out. So I tried some of the suggestions: with clothes, I literally picked up each article of clothing, thought about if I wore it or not, or if it held a good memory or sparked joy. If it sparked joy, yay! It stayed. If it didn't, adios amigo. Quickly a large pile took over my floor and then became separated into "donate" "sell" or "throw away." This happened with everything- shoes, make up, books, DVDs, clothes, the cat's toys, jewelry... you get the picture.
I think all of the consignment stores in Lexington and my neighborhood Goodwill knew my face, name, number, and all about my cat after about a month after all of the trips I made. Benefits: I made about $140 between the end of December and beginning of March (hooray for my millennial budget crisis!) and there is significantly less crap in my house. If you don't have easy access to consignment stores or your past experiences left much to be desired, try Swap.com for a different way to do consignment from home. Any New Customer order over $15 take 20% off plus Free Shipping with code NEWSPRING20 at Swap.com!
Once your non-joyful items make it out the door, it's time to make changes with the leftover stuff and with the space and stuff you have. The first change: clothes storage. I went all of my teenage, college, and early twenties (since I'm the ripe old age of 26 now) folding my clothes completely wrong. Now my drawers, closet, cupboards, shelves, whatever look like cute bento boxes and hold 3x as much stuff (the book has the magic details, with an illustrated guide). My projects went well with my own small cupboards and closets once my idea was in place. It also helped that I live in a studio apartment. For those of you with more room (or money) than me, or designing a house or planning a renovation, Get Inspired and Shop EasyClosets Today , which will take specific dimensions and maximize the space through a unique design. I, however, used a bunch of leftover boxes, meal portion lunch boxes, cute baskets, and extra shoe organizers to create easy storage solutions for cleaning solutions, boots, scarves, chargers, and more.
The journey of tidying went much deeper than my closet and drawers for me, though. I feel like I made a change to my lifestyle. It's all well and good to sort through, downsize, and organize everything but what changes will stay if I keep the same habits, the same attitude, and lose sight of the intention in which I want to live my life? Here are 3 of the intentional changes made in my life that have made differences in my budget, my tidiness, and my joy:
1. I do small or simple chores in short bursts
I sweep the bathroom, empty the dishwasher, make the bed, or put clothes away before I leave for work (I seem to have extra time if I actually get up when my alarm goes off). I unpack my lunch box and wash dishes while I cook dinner. I vacuum while I run a hot bath. Basically I multi-task rather than take several hours once or twice a month to attempt to tackle 100 chores when my house is super gross and my parents are supposed to come eat with me the next day.
2. I use what I have
For organizing, cleaning, and cooking. I want a pretty basket to store all of my blankets in? Okay, well, I have 5 laundry baskets in the top of my closet: same outcome. I am out of the super fancy Target brand multi-purpose cleaner? I make my own from distilled vinegar, water, and essential oils. I'm starving after a boxing class and the fridge is almost empty? I make breakfast for dinner or an omelet with eggs and canned veggies. I use all of a product before using a new one (Why hellllooooo, Christmas-scented Bath and Body Works lotion from three Christmases ago) and intentionally consider what I can use in my apartment before running to the store or making an Amazon order.
3. I take a day for myself for alone time
Recently I realized that my thoughts, mood, and social life exist in a scarily untidy state. I feel rushed, stressed, and overwhelmed in regards to just about everything (welcome to Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Stay tuned for posts on how a therapist follows- or doesn't- her own guidance, and advice, and uses coping skills). I want to see my friends and the BF, watch Netflix, read a book, work out 4 times a week, see my nephew, eat healthy, bake muffins for the office, see a movie, spend time with my Little Sister... and get all of my work documentation done and also clean my house. And be in bed by 10 PM. I am realizing that all of this does not all have to happen in the same day or the same week or even the same month. So in March, I plan to choose at least one day a week to come straight home, eat dinner by myself with a book or TV, and do whatever I want for the evening. This sometimes means turning down plans or reminding myself that my work really can wait until tomorrow. I even try to turn my phone on Do Not Disturb for at least an hour and ditch social media altogether for the night... and it's kind of amazing. I highly recommend it.
Think about your joy this week, where it comes from, and what you can tidy in your life to spark it.
What consumes your mind, controls your life.
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