WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
I am a big fan and follower of Jordan Peterson. If you don’t know him, Google him. I found this man by accident on YouTube and since then, I have consumed his videos and books with fervent zeal. Listening to him talk, I feel like I’m listening to one of the smartest men since Socrates. So I was surprised when this seemingly intelligent man suggested that the best way any individual can change the world is to first, clean your room.
The world is out of your control, so why not start with something that is easily within your control? Your own four walls. The only place in the world where you and only you determine what happens there.
In this post, we will discuss the benefits of cleaning your room and how to do it effortlessly.
What’s the best way to tidy your house? How do you know when it’s time to throw away that party jacket? What about the Christmas cards from your insurance company? Behind this housework, chores are deeper questions about what’s important in our chaotic modern world. Tidying is not just cleaning your house, but also a way to become a better decision-maker, live more healthily, and reach your dreams. For example, when you buy new clothes, remove the packaging and tags right away and welcome them to your home. Treat them as part of your life, not as a product.
THE FIRST STEP TO ACHIEVING YOUR DREAM LIFESTYLE IS VISUALIZING YOUR DREAM LIFE IN YOUR DREAM SPACE.
Before you can begin to tidy up, you first need a vision for your ideal life and your living space. Before reading further, take a moment to visualize what that would look like. Once you’ve figured out what you want in your life, you’re in a position to start tidying and moving closer to your ideal life.
A tidy environment is one where you can efficiently access the things you need and like, which is why it’s so important to first understand what it is that you want. Your space should be filled with things that you truly love. Don’t, for example, turn the clothes you don’t like into your pajamas. Though it might feel pragmatic, it would be better for you to respect your belongings if they’re going to reflect your vision.
Take your books, for example. By ridding your space of books you don’t read and keeping the ones you are truly passionate about, you become more passionate about reading. Don’t be afraid to discard things. Even if you have to give away a dusty book that you really meant to read but just never found time for, these pangs of regret show you that the book is something you’re truly interested in. Now’s not the right time for the book, but you can always buy it again later.
A TIDY HOME WILL IMPROVE BOTH YOUR BODY AND MIND.
The purpose of tidying isn’t just to keep things clean and organized. Rather, your goal is to create a space that improves your body and mind. To do this, you should organize your living space in a way that feels most natural to you. When you’re sorting through your things, for instance, you’re also evaluating their purpose and usefulness to you. Letting go of something that no longer serves a purpose – and welcoming something new in its place – can be deeply therapeutic.
As you are sorting, focus on what you want to keep, not what you want to throw out. Arrange your belongings by category, closely examining each one with your eyes and hands. Ask yourself: “Does this make me happy? What is its purpose?”
For example, that loud jacket that was thrilling to buy but not to wear has already served its purpose, and now only collects dust. Let it go with gratitude, and move on. In this way, tidying ceases to be a cold, calculated process, and instead, both come from and heightens your awareness of self. This is where the power of tidying lies, much like meditation. Its lasting effects come from doing what feels right for your environment, your belongings, and, ultimately, your well-being.
You can picture tidying your living space as a means of detoxing your body and mind. By discarding and re-organizing your belongings, you will effectively get rid of all the dust that has settled over time, thus bringing fresh air into your house.
Many people have claimed to notice physical reactions that coincided with the process of tidying as if their bodies and homes were expelling toxic materials together. For example, after cleaning her cupboard and shed for the first time in ten years, one woman said she had to rush to the bathroom immediately to expel diarrhea.
PUT YOUR PAST IN ORDER AND GAIN CLARITY ABOUT THE FUTURE YOU WANT.
Have you ever gone through your yearly spring clean only to find something which means the world to you, that you’d forgotten you still had? Tidying is more than just keeping a clean house: in the process of tidying, you can use the stuff from your past to help guide you into the future. Keepsakes from your past should bring you joy when you look at them. It’s worth keeping the ones that capture happy or exciting memories.
When you begin the process of tidying, start with the easiest categories, e.g., clothes, books, documents, miscellaneous items, etc., and end with your sentimental items. Photos are the most difficult because of the sheer volume and emotional value. Be sure to keep the ones you remember taking and relive the excitement of that moment.
But what do you do with sentimental items that you no longer want? Too many people look to their parents’ homes as a place to dump their junk. But it’s wrong not to consider their feelings when getting rid of sentimental trinkets. Only give them things you think they will enjoy, and when discarding childhood keepsakes, ask your family whether they would rather have it.
AS YOU’RE TIDYING, YOU SHOULD ALSO ASK YOURSELF WHETHER A PARTICULAR ITEM CORRESPONDS TO YOUR CURRENT WANTS AND NEEDS OR YOUR VISION FOR YOUR IDEAL FUTURE.
Documents, for instance, rarely succeed in doing this. Realistically assess their purpose according to your current needs. Warranties and manuals, for example, have a short-term purpose, and can, therefore, be discarded once they’ve outlived that use. Old course materials have likewise outlived their usefulness. After all, you didn’t take the course for the materials, but the experience and the knowledge.
Going through your things, you may rediscover old passions that bring you closer to your ideal life. After cleaning her bookshelf, another woman realized that the books that remained were mostly on social welfare. So she went back to school, quit her job in IT, and started a successful babysitting company.
More practically, tidying makes your decisions around the house straightforward, and thus improves your decisiveness.
Efficient and intuitive storage eliminates the stress of having to search through the clutter for the things that you need. It allows you to make decisions instead of being stuck searching helplessly for hours.
YOU ONLY HAVE TO TIDY ONCE TO MAKE A LASTING CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE.
Many people find the idea of maintaining a tidy home daunting. After all, doesn’t it seem like a lifetime of effort? But they’re simply thinking about it the wrong way. Rather, if you organize your space so that it embodies your dream lifestyle, then you only ever have to do a comprehensive tidying once in your life.
You can make this seemingly daunting task easier by turning it into a special event. This breakthrough tidying will serve as a crucial and sudden change in your life – a fresh start on the path to your ideal life.
The process of tidying is exhaustive, and you should expect to spend a good deal of time on this endeavor. It takes the author an average of six months to tidy a client’s house. And as you are carrying out this project, you must approach your space and your belongings with the respect that they deserve. Communicate with your house and your possessions; if you show them that you care, they will respond.
While you’re tidying, communicate with your possessions and your space. In doing so, you can clarify your relationship to your belongings, thereby gaining a more intuitive feeling of what is of use to you and what is ready to be discarded. It makes the project smoother and more natural.
THOUGH IT MAY BE HARD, YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO LET SOME OF YOUR BELONGINGS GO.
It’s now time to approach the most difficult part of the tidying process: throwing things out. It can be difficult to part with your belongings, even the ones for which you have no need. Luckily, there are some tricks you can use to make it easier. Start by determining the purpose of the object and decide whether that purpose has yet been fulfilled. If you hesitate in your answer, ask yourself: Why did I get this thing? When? And how?
Miscellaneous belongings that you keep “just because” are common causes of clutter and chaos. For these items, it’s best to start with personal, clearly defined categories, such as CDs and DVDs, skincare products, accessories, etc., and work your way to more general things, like household equipment and supplies, kitchen goods, and the like.
Be clear about the purpose of each item, and be willing to get rid of things that have outlived that purpose. For instance, the purpose of a novel you only half-read was not to finish it, but rather to experience the story. If you haven’t finished it, you probably won’t. Be grateful for it and let it go.
SOMETIMES INTUITION AND REASON WILL BE AT ODDS WITH ONE ANOTHER, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE EMOTIONALLY ATTACHED TO CERTAIN ITEMS.
In these cases, consider carefully how this item contributes to your life. Does it make you happy when you see it? Do you even see it at all? If it has been stored away for a long time, chances are that it’s less important to you than you think.
Gifts and greeting cards also have a purpose: they are gestures from friends and loved ones to show you they care. But once this message has been conveyed, isn’t it time to let them go? By cutting away the unnecessary, you’ll be that much closer to creating your ideal space.
Decluttering your life should be extremely simple: all you have to do is decide what you want to keep and discard what you don’t –i.e., everything that doesn’t make you happy. Accomplishing this, however, requires you to dig deep to figure out what kind of life you want to live. It’s up to you to develop the kind of space that reflects your ideal future.
Please leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments box provided below.
Have a fruitful day!
Olusola Bodunrin is a social commentator with a passion for gathering facts on social issues. He is writer, businessman, blogger, and wardrobe consultant. He is a graduate of Philosophy from the University of Ado-Ekiti. He anchors – ‘What You Should Know’ on SHEFFA.
‘What You Should Know’ is a column that offers to educate and enlighten the public on general falsehood and myths.