The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Your Life
If you feel like you can’t keep up with the demands of work, family and social life, it might be time to do some spring cleaning. Not on your home, but on your life. While lockdown has inspired everyone to deep clean their homes à la Marie Kondo, I explored how to apply her tidying techniques to my life.
The Netflix show, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo is about this adorably immaculate Japanese woman who brings order into hoarders’ homes. It’s adapted from her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up where she encourages us to only keep the things that “spark joy”.
If the simple act of tidying their homes could impact people so much, why don’t we ever bother to tidy our lives? Let’s face it, we accumulate so much guilt, responsibilities and unhelpful beliefs in life. It’s time we throw those away to make room for what “sparks joy”. Here’s exactly how to do it.
VISUALISE YOUR IDEAL LIFE
What do you want your life to look like? It’s not enough to just say, “I want to be happier”. Be specific. Write down what your ideal day is like, from when you wake up, to when you go to bed.
Write about the activities you’ll be doing, what times you will do them, who you’d surround yourself with and the locations for each. Forget about the hurdles you’d need to overcome at this stage - this is an imaginary perfect day to find out what’s really important to you!
BLESS THE HOUSE
Marie Kondo blesses each house she tidies. I must admit, I thought it seemed a bit too ‘woo-woo’ for my liking, but I’ve grown to understand its necessity. These people are trying to turn their houses into dream homes, and you can’t do this with the belief your house is a disgusting tip!
The same goes for tidying your life. If you hate your body, mind or your life in general, there’s little chance of turning it around. You need to have respect for all that you are and know that it’s possible to transform your life.
Photo by Marcos Paulo Prado on Unsplash
Here are a few of my favourite ways to do this:
Write a list of things you’re grateful for and what people have thanked you for doing
Meditate for 10 minutes on all the positive things in your life
Touch each part of your body from head to toe and thank them one by one
TIDY BY CATEGORY
Like objects in your house, aspects of your life can be separated into categories. We would usually call them priorities. These are different for everyone so decide what your top 6 are. Mine are:
Family and love
Social life
Career and finance
Contribution
Health
Fun
LAY IT ALL OUT
If you’ve ever watched Marie Kondo’s Netflix show, you’ll know that the homeowners take everything out of their wardrobes and dump it into one big mess. The aim is to visualise exactly how much stuff they’ve accumulated.
To see what you’ve accumulated in your life, you’ll have to do the same. Get that notebook out and label your page with one of your priorities. Then write whatever comes into your mind about it.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
When I did this exercise, I realised that I had plenty of fun (my priority) with other people, but I lacked a creative hobby. I had prioritised spending time with friends and neglected my creative needs. This form of free-writing slowed my thoughts down so I could process them effectively.
FEEL EACH ITEM AND ASK IF IT “SPARKS JOY”
Go through your brain dump for the priorities and ask if each item “sparks joy” for you. Close your eyes and really think about how each thing makes you feel. If it doesn’t spark joy, thank it for being in your life and all it’s done for you, then say goodbye by crossing it out.
An example of something I said goodbye to was working after 6:00pm. I had just started running my own business and frankly, I enjoyed working! But when I thought about whether it actually sparked joy for me, it didn’t. I was missing out on valuable time with my family, plus when I worked late, I wasn’t on my A-game the next day.
Be careful not to get rid of things that are necessary, even if you don’t like them. I hate cleaning the bathroom but I didn’t cross this off because the result of having a squeaky clean bathroom does spark joy.
You might find yourself needing to remove a friendship, money earning activity or something that has an emotional impact. While this won’t be easy, remember that this is short term pain for long term gain. Being clear on why you are doing it will give you the motivation to get through it.
KEEP IT TIDY
Discarding things from your life and doing a big tidy up is hard. You won’t want to do it again any time soon. Just like cleaning your house is made easier by maintaining a neat home, the same goes for keeping your life tidy.
When new opportunities or demands come your way, ask yourself three questions:
Does this align with my priorities?
What would I get out of it?
Would this spark joy?
If you feel uncomfortable choosing to only do things that benefit you, I encourage you to think about the bigger picture. When you don’t reserve energy for your own priorities, you become resentful towards others and end up putting your relationships at risk.
Saying “no” is good for you and for others. It allows you to be your best self for the ones you love.
NOW IT’S YOUR TURN
My hope is that you’re inspired to tidy up your own life and learn what I did - that setting clear boundaries is an incredibly freeing experience. This whole exercise has taught me to be more intentional with my time, energy and resources. Go forth and find what sparks joy for you!
Written by Tiffany Dawson
Disclaimer: This article includes an Amazon Affiliate link for Marie Kondo’s book. This means that Amazon will give us a tiny bit of money if you buy the book.
