The Power of Tidying Up Your Home

I will be the first to tell you, I am not a neat or organized person. Yes, I admit it and it is a little bit scary, but it is true. I have always tried to be neat and organized, but have always struggled to manage it. When I was little, I would work so hard to tidy up my room only for it to end up back the way it was in a day or two. This back and forth has been happening to me my whole life and I am sure that there are many others out there that feel the same way. I knew there had to be a secret to this staying organized but just was never able to figure it out. That is until I found out about the KonMari Method, founded by Marie Kondo. I am not exaggerating when I say, my life was forever changed.

Spring Cleaning

As I do every time around this year, I started to get that “spring cleaning” bug again and began to go through things in the house. I had once again been researching ways to clean and how to stay organized. This is what led me to sit on the floor of Barnes and Noble looking at the home care book section. There was a pile of books on the floor around me and felt totally and completely overwhelmed. Every book on the shelf had a different approach to cleaning and organizing. If you try this system or this product, it will change everything. Nothing stood out to me as “the answer to all of my problems”.

Even though all of my problems were not solved right then and there, I did manage to leave the store with a book that has to this day been helpful on my journey to a tidy home. Cassandra Aarssen was the one who helped me begin my organizing campaign. That day at Barnes and Noble, I purchased her book, Real Life Organizing – Clean and Clutter-Free in 15 Minutes a Day.

What drew me to this book was the title, Real Life Organizing. What I needed was a way to organize and clean in REAL LIFE. I can’t tell you how many strategies I have read that just is not practical. Maybe if you spend every day at your home cleaning, it could work, but let’s be honest. We are all busy with everyday life. I can’t count how many times I have come home from work with high hopes of getting my to-do list completed but ended up passed out on the couch. What I was looking for was something that would help me in my real everyday busy teacher life. The strategies that I read in this book helped me to start organizing.

The KonMari method

Now, when I was checking out at Barnes and Noble I was pretty happy with my book choice and was looking forward to diving in when I got home. As I was checking out I was conversing with the clerk when she noticed the book I was buying. We spoke about how we have both always wanted a clean and organized home but never have the time or do not know where to begin. That is when she asked me, “Have you ever heard of Marie Kondo? We have her books here and she has a T.V. show on Netflix as well!” Now, I had no clue what she was referring to. She wrote the name on the back of my receipt and told me to look her up. I thanked her and told myself that I would have to check it out.

A week or so went by and I was going through my receipts when I noticed something written on the back of one. There was the name, Marie Kondo. I looked at the receipt and then back at the name written when I remembered the clerk at the bookstore. How could I have forgotten to look it up? I turned on the TV and started the first episode of the TV show. There was no turning back from there. I knew I had found something truly special and finally felt like I had a game plan.

Now, I won’t tell you it will be easy. Organizing and tidying up your home will take hard work and time. Going into this, I knew that I would need to devote a good chunk of my time off to “tidying up”. At first, it seemed like I was getting nowhere, but then it all started to make sense. Marie Kondo has given the world a true blessing. Her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, lays out a simple plan that makes sense. Marie Kondo’s, KonMari System, is made for real life. You will think about what is important to you and come up with a system that will work for you instead of the other way around. In essence, a place for everything and everything in its place. From this point on, I have been determined to organize and find a place for everything!

Both books, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and Real Life Organizing – Clean and Clutter Free in 15 Minutes a Day have helped me significantly as I have learned about tidying and organizing. Both stress the importance of coming up with systems that work for you rather than the other way around. If you are looking for something to help you on your journey, I highly recommend you look up the KonMari Method. Happy Tidying!