How Tidying My Room Changed My Life

Marie Kondo’s Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up.

This book has was released a few years ago, and it has hit the West in full force in 2018, with the release of her Netflix Documentary in early 2019. This book has also changed my life, and many others, for the better.

I’ve spoken about the importance of tidying up on radio show a lot (you can check it out here).

I finally put my foot down, and decided I had to fully practice what I preached, so I asked the most organised person I know, and a fellow Marie Kondo fan: my sister. My 19th birthday is coming up soon and instead of a material present, I asked if she would give me some time and energy to help me Marie Kondo my room once and for all!

To summarise her method: clear out EVERYTHING according to different categories: clothing, books, papers, miscellaneous and only keep items which spark joy. I’d cleared out my clothes on about 3 separate occasions by the time I decided to Marie Kondo my room once and for all. I am so grateful my sister spent 5 hours in a row helping me clean out my room and organise it. I’m grateful for her patience, encouragement and perseverance - even when I belted out the chorus to Rihanna’s ‘Unfaithful’ and the top of my lungs (I don’t wanna do this anymore, I don’t wanna be the reason why) .

I wholeheartedly agree with Marie Kondo, that it’s better to get it over and done with and once you do it the first time, you won’t have to do it anymore! During my first few attempts at Marie Kondo-ing my room I mistook her decree for meaning I would never have to put things back in their place, but no book is going to give me Mary Poppins click-of-the-fingers tidying up magic.

Here are the 3 main ways tidying my room (once and for all) has changed my life:

1. My mind is clear! The saying ‘tidy room, tidy mind’ is actually really true. And clearing out my room gave me mental clarity that praying, mindfulness and even meditation couldn’t achieve.

2. I fell asleep easier and rested deeper. My mind was not aggravated at the papers, clothes hangers and other items I would step on from the short journey between the light switch and my bed. I fell asleep much easier (though I could also attribute this to my evening meditation practice) and found myself even more excited to jump out of bed and do my morning dry brushing and exercise.

3. It gave me my life back. I know this sounds like an exaggeration, and in no way was my life terrible before I tidied my room. However, now I know every item has a home, I don’t have to waste time looking for an item. For example, if I spent 30 seconds everyday looking for my hairbrush, this would amount to 76,650 seconds in a year. Considering a day is made up of 86,400 seconds in a day, I would save almost a whole day of my life by organising a spot for my hairbrush. With the amount of time I spend looking for other items, I wouldn’t be surprised if by the end of this year I’ve gained back a whole week of my life!

All that’s left for me to say is another massive thank you to Marie Kondo for writing the book that has transformed so many people’s lives!