The Japanese art of tidying up: 10 effective ways to keep things tidy forever!

The girl from Japan Marie Kondo became famous when she published her book “Magic Cleaning. The Japanese art of tidying up your home and life." Her cleaning techniques are unique and so simple that they are amazing. The book quickly became a bestseller and was translated into many languages. Let's look at the 10 main methods of putting things in order in Japanese: quickly and effectively.

1. Do everything now

Some people follow the advice that you can clean for just 15 minutes. in a day. For example, getting rid of one thing a day is a fallacy.

You need to start cleaning as quickly as possible and do everything at once.

2. Throw away everything unnecessary, sort the rest and put it on the shelves

You can’t put off throwing away something unnecessary. As soon as you start wondering whether an item will fit on a certain shelf or not, your cleaning will come to a standstill.

You need to think right away where to put things when you get rid of everything unnecessary.

3. Start with the easiest one

It is very difficult to throw away old letters and albums with photographs; they are dear to every heart. If you are not a fashion professional and clothing is not your passion, start with your wardrobe.

Later you can move on to papers, books, then to kitchen utensils. And only at the end you can move on to those things that are of great value - albums, letters from loved ones etc.

4. Organize things by category, not by room.

The main rule of “Japanese cleaning” is to disassemble straightaway All things one category. Otherwise, the clutter will never end and things will simply move from one room to another.

For example, when If you decide to sort out your clothes, look for all the items of clothing in all rooms of the house (apartment).

When working with clients, Marie Kondo always warns: if something is not taken, it should be thrown into the trash bin.

If you tell yourself this at the beginning of cleaning, you will immediately find everything that is dear and valuable to you. The rest may not be really necessary?.. Think about it.

5. You should throw away everything you don’t love.

For perfect order and cleanliness, you should think about what to throw away. You cannot approach this thoughtlessly. Take the item in your hands and decide whether it is of great importance to you personally or not.

If a thing makes you happy and puts a smile on your face, then leave it. If you treat it calmly, feel free to throw it away, it’s time to part ways.

6. Get rid of old bills and papers

It is advisable that all documents (papers) and invoices are in one place. Better divide them into two categories:

• documents, accounts that need to be stored;
• papers that you use frequently.

If you need to find out anything, you can turn to the Internet. And here It’s better to get rid of bills (at least from previous years).

There are important documents without which our life is impossible. These are personal documents, medical policies, property policies, etc. These It is more convenient to store documents for permanent storage in a vertical stand, so it does not become too bulky.

7. Learn to let go of your favorite gifts (souvenirs)

The author of the book suggests taking a toy or gift in your hands, mentally thanking the person who gave it, and then giving it back. Charity is a good deed.

As for love letters, they lie around for years, just taking up space. You should ask yourself why we keep them, whether they bring joy. Maybe we try to hold on to empty dreams. If they are so expensive that you are simply not ready to part with them now, then leave them. Learn to lovingly let go of the things you love. It is better to burn the letters.

8. Avoid purchasing expensive and complex storage systems.

Marie Kondo has gone through many storage systems. She believes that the best and most useful item is a shoebox.

We need wardrobes and other bulky furniture to store too many shoes and clothes. If we put something in such a closet, we quickly forget about it and buy a new thing.

Shoe boxes work well with drawers. For example, it is convenient to carefully fold new tights in bags. It is more convenient to store frying pans in the kitchen cabinet uprightthan dumped in one box.

9. Learn to fold things right away, create vertical shelves

It is recommended to store clothes, except coats, jackets, suits (trousers), and dresses folded. This way they will occupy a much smaller volume, which will save space by more than a third.

Another nuance: Folded items should not be compressed too much; they must “breathe”. Be sure to separate the boxes by contents so you can easily find what you need.

10. Treat things like people

Marie suggests learning to communicate with things as if they were people. This attitude will make it easier for you to part with them if necessary.

If we take care of things, they will serve us for a long time.