The Pursuit of Ultimate Simplicity

I am definitely not thought of as a messy person by my friends or disorganized by any means and this thought is the complete opposite to people in my immediate family. That's why I decided to read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up in the first place. Though Kondo states in her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, to simply throw away things that don't bring you joy or to store things vertically, it's simply a recommendation and things don't have to be that way. She even goes as far to state explicitly, to not keep things that do not bring you joy, including this book, and says she'd rather you discard it if it doesn't bring you any joy (Kondo 90). Different methods of storage and organization work for different people with different motivations to keep their house or workspace neat and tidy. For me personally, only a few methods have really worked for me and have even spread through my house. My mom, for instance, has started to fold and store her shirts the same way that I did without me noticing it and my sister has started to empty her bag every day like I've been doing. 

Some of the methods that didn't work at all. The books got out of order when my sister and dad were trying to read some of them since we are a family that reads books out of nostalgia once in a while and we've only gotten more books in the few months that I've tried to organize things. There are still also tons of papers in my laptop case and a few aimlessly floating around my desk. This book has definitely changed my opinion of organization and not in the way I expected. I expected to be neater and more organized with my own life by the end of this trial but that is not how things ended. I found that I've come to a realization of which parts of my life are untidy and a new found urge to improve things in different areas of my life, not only in my organization of items but in my health and social life as well. Kondo tells us, "Pour your time and passion into what brings you the most joy, your mission in life. I am convinced that putting your house in order will help you find the mission that speaks to your heart. Life truly begins after you have put your house in order.” (Kondo 204). This definitely applied to me and I've felt more relaxed and not as cluttered in my head all the time with the list of things I've had to do.

I've kept every space I've been organizing as simple as bunched in categories for now and it definitely makes putting things back much easier. I'm sure my space will change within time.

This book really encouraged me to try out different methods of organization. I was never someone that was able to keep up and use a planner but I've gotten one and I've written in it quite a lot. When I was younger, I never thought anyone would ever need a file cabinet at their house but now I've been thinking of trying to find a file box to keep stray papers in and saving up for a new desk. Kondo was correct when she explained how ultimate storage solutions simply lead us to hoard more and become more cluttered in our house. This lead to that same feeling about life (Kondo 149). Reading this book made me think more about how I want my work space to look and what type of life I want to live. I've realized that my desk area effects a lot on how well I do my school work. For instance, I'm sometimes too distracted to successfully accomplish anything in a timely manner because I'd be too busy trying to think of a way my desk can look better or reorganizing my pens. Kondo advises me, "Rather than buying something to make do for now, wait until you have completed the entire process and then take your time looking for storage items you really like" (Kondo 150). To be a person who is able to get work done and to feel comfortable and refreshed constantly is the type of person I want to be and this book helped me realize that I am generally wanting more out of myself and things that have happened.

From these past few months of adjusting to a mindset that is adhering to decluttering and trying to find a way for everything to be simpler and more minimalist in every aspect, my results are a life that is able to make more bold purchases of things I love and make a lot of use of such as an agenda which I've invested in or a new set of pens to use because I have nothing that is 'emotionless excess' which makes what I have become everything I would ever need. The surplus of things I had and my mom that loves to watch HGTV and their organization methods changed when I understood Kondo's ending message, "Tidying is just a tool, not the final destination. The true goal should be to establish the lifestyle you want most once your house has been put in order” (Kondo 21). I finished reading the book and I really enjoy and treat organization and tidying as a special event and a mini 'fresh start' to try different methods and essentially different views on what type I want to live.

Will you test out Marie Kondo's methods of decluttering and how well do you think it'll work for you?

Kondō, Marie. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. Trans. Cathy Hirano. N.p.: Ten Speed, 2014. Print.

Emptying Your Backpack

I am definitely the type of person that has an extremely messy workspace and I've come to a realization that it is because I empty my backpack every day. Marie Kondo in her book, The Life-Changing Magic of  Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing alludes that I am on the right track with how I take out my notebooks and binders on a daily. Kondo states, "Many people see no point in taking [items in your bag] out when they come home because they will use them again the next day, but this is a mistake. The purpose of a purse or a messenger bag is to carry your things for you when you're away from home." (Kondo 153). Many disagree with this idea initially because it seems like it will take too much time or too much work to put things back in. The reason I've actually been taking things out of my backpack for the past few years is because it's actually easier for me to think when everything that I could possibly work on is laid out in front of me but it also helps the backpack not become as worn out as fast.

My desk quickly gets incredibly messy and cluttered even though my desk is quite large. It's probably because I have two monitors and a laptop.

This is actually how my desk looks at the end of the night. Definitely not exaggerating or enjoyable to clean up. 

The part I definitely don't like the most about emptying my bag is trying to find everything I need for the next day and then repacking. Kondo, however, gives us an extremely easy solution for this and states that I simply just need to, "Make a place for the things inside it. Find a box and place your train pass, company ID, and other important items [inside]...Or you can make a space in one corner of a drawer without using a box at all." (Kondo 154). I found that this was a great solution to my problem of digging around for things and I tested it out for a week or so and it has worked really well for me. I have a box for my pencil cases and graphing calculator and I frequently leave reminders on top of the box for myself. For larger items that don't fit the box such as the two binders and three to four notebooks I carry, I've designated a space for them next to the box and it definitely reduces my searching and packing time by a lot so I don't have to rush to get to the bus stop on time.

By following this method, I definitely feel more relaxed and along with the mood is more time to plan the following week in my planner in the morning instead of trying to dig through my desk and try to find a worksheet that I know I completed the night before.

Do you think unpacking and repacking your backpack is too much work? Or do you like the idea of this method and if so, will you try this out?

Kondō, Marie. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. Trans. Cathy Hirano. N.p.: Ten Speed, 2014. Print.

Small Changes To Where You Put Spare Change

I'm the type of person who doesn't hang onto their spare change and I either give it to my mom (who is quite the penny pincher by the way with her routine coupon cutting) or I just leave it somewhere and when I decide to clean my room once in a while I'll feel amazed and wonder how I found random money that I've hidden some time in the past. The fourth category of organizing in Marie Kondo's book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, is about こもの (romanized as 'komono,' meaning small articles). "The king of the komono category, coins can be found in the entrance hall, the kitchen, the living room, the washroom, on top of furniture, and inside drawers. Despite the fact that coins are perfectly good cash, they are treated with far less respect than paper money. It seems strange that they should be left lying around the house where they are of no use at all." (Kondo 113). She makes an extremely good point and it gave me motivation to go around and dig for the cash I left around. Kondo mentions that every time she helps people reorganize and declutter their house, they tend to find coins not only in their wallet, but also in couches and other places around their home and it totals up to a good bag full of forgotten change (Kondo 113).

Kondo explains that "If you put them [coins] in a piggybank, you are simply transferring the place where they will be ignored, People who have lived in the same house for a long time are particularly prone to forgetting their little cache of coins....I beg you to rescue those forgotten coins wasting away in your home by adopting the motto 'into my wallet!'" (Kondo 113-114). I definitely went scavenging for my childhood piggy banks and random containers where I stored money in when I was younger and I definitely found a bunch of coins that I could have been spending (though the total doesn't add up to that much unfortunately). 

I think the only con with this method however, is that coins definitely bulk up your wallet and it makes it more heavy. I'm not really the type of person that cares about those things because my wallet in particular has a specific pocket meant to store coins but that is something to mention if you're a type of person that doesn't want to carry around that weight. The obvious pro is that you have some more money to spend, no matter how small and if you don't want to carry around coins, just simply use them when you buy things.

What do you guys do with your spare change and will you try this method out now?

Kondō, Marie. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. Trans. Cathy Hirano. N.p.: Ten Speed, 2014. Print.

The New Dewey Decimal System (For Me At Least)

I was a pretty avid reader before school started and I got swamped by things to do and this is pretty evident in my book collection. I actually don't have any books in my room and rather have a lot of them in my sister's room and about a shelf the computer room. I'd rather not knock on my sister's door to grab a book so I've decided to move a select few back to my own room if I get bored in the middle of the night and decide to read. Again, using Marie Kondo's advice from The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, we discard things that don't bring us joy first, then rearrange. Kondo like before when organizing clothes, put them into categories then subcategories, which she does the same with for books:

The bookcase in my sister's room with half my books on it.

"If there are too many books to arrange on the floor all at one time, I ask my clients to divide them into four broad categories:
General (books you read for pleasure)
Practical (references, cookbooks, etc.)
Visual (photograph collections, etc.)
Magazines" (Kondo 88).

It took me a while to gather up all the books I own in the house but thankfully, the only books I own are general books and I own one practical book which is a game guide. After dragging them all in my room, I judged the pile on whether I wanted to throw them out or not by the same criteria I had with my clothes, 'does this bring me joy?'. In the end, most of the books we own, we are never going to read again so Kondo recommends to throw out those unread books because 'maybe' essentially means never (Kondo 89). Kondo even goes as far to boldly state for us to "Keep only those books that will make you happy just to see them on your shelves, the ones that you really love. That includes this book, too. If you don't feel any joy when you hold it in your hand, I would rather you discard it." (Kondo 90).

It was actually pretty hard picking which books I wanted to keep because on the bookshelf in the computer room, my dad and I actually store two layers of books in it like so:

I'm very happy with the few books I did decide to place in my room though and my sister and I decided to get rid of a lot of picture books that we were never going to read again. Though my book collection is really small compared to a few other people I know, I do expect it will change though because as I grow older, books will be exchanged for new ones and some more will be added. My sister and dad decided to keep most of the chapter books we own still and donate the picture books though. Here's a picture of the books I have in my room as of now:

Which books are really memorable for you and have really made an impact on you guys?

Kondō, Marie. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. Trans. Cathy Hirano. N.p.: Ten Speed, 2014. Print.

First Folds

At this point of my life, my mother (who loves, and I mean loves, cleaning) isn't even bothering to tidy up after me because everything ends up messy again in five minutes. So I decided to get my life back together and because I'm taking Japanese as well, I decided to read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art Of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo. Kondo teaches the same method for all her clients, no matter their personality and she doesn't worry about creating complex categories for each one, she simply states, "Effective tidying involves only two essential actions: discarding and deciding where to store things. Of the two, discarding must come first." (Kondo 28) And though I'm the type of person that can't throw away and can't put back things, I'm willing to give this method a shot and see if it works for me!

Kondo has a way of organizing clothing which sounds like a great method for a person like me who is too lazy to put things away but wants things extremely organized. She recommends creating subcategories when you are tackling the challenge of throwing out clothes and storing them:

"Tops (shirts, sweaters, blouses, etc.)

Bottoms (pants, shorts, skirts, etc.)

Clothes that should be hung (jackets, coats, suits, etc.)

Socks

Underwear

Bags (handbags, messenger bags, backpacks, etc.)

Accessories (scarves, belts, hats, etc.)

Clothes for specific events (swim suits, kimonos, uniforms, etc.)

Shoes (sandals, sneakers, heels, etc.)" (Kondo 65)

I've organized my clothes already into piles and have discarded a good chunk of them that don't fit me anymore or aren't my style. Now we get into folding different types of clothes and storing them in specific ways. My closet consists of a hanging rack, and nine drawers which I store things in. Though I do laundry once in a while, Kondo teaches us a specific way to fold in her book. The end goal is to have all your clothes in the same shape, a simple rectangle. She instructs, "First, fold each lengthwise side of the garment towards the center....Next pick up one short end of the rectangle and fold it toward the other short end. Then fold again in the same manner, in halves or thirds." (Kondo 76) 

Kondo also recommends to store things standing up rather than laid flat like how they are displayed in stores because what creates wrinkles are the pressure that is applied to the clothes. Because clothes are stored in a pile, the weight of clothing on top of one another acts like a press which creates those wrinkles. These are pictures of my drawers before and after.

For a person who loves cute socks and receives a lot of cute socks as gifts, I end up balling my socks which is the wrong way. It's stated in bold to "Never, ever ball up your socks." Kondo explains that they take a brutal beating in their daily life with you walking everywhere with them being trapped between your foot and your shoes and being in your closet is their only time to relax. You simple fold them the same way as you did with clothing and she specifies, "For low-cut socks that just cover the feet, folding twice is enough; for ankle socks, three times; for knee socks and over-knee socks, four to six times." (Kondo 82).

I found that I could close my drawers much easier and I didn't have to push the socks down when I shut my drawers! I can also store even more clothing articles than before. 

Will you change anything about the way you fold clothes now? If you try drawer storage, how many wrinkles do you have in your clothes now compared to before? Can you store more clothes now than before?

Kondō, Marie. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. Trans. Cathy Hirano. N.p.: Ten Speed, 2014. Print.