"Tidy a little every day and you'll be tidying forever, " Marie Kondo couldn't have said it better. When I saw the Minimalist Spring Cleaning Challenge, I found myself tossing stuff from the wardrobe on the bed.
As the rest of the world welcomes spring, we, tropical islanders in the Philippines are sweating under the sweltering heat. The dry season is upon us. All electric fans in full swing, I locked the door and turned on the air-conditioning, and decided that for the first phase of simplifying, I'll start with the bedroom.
De-cluttering the entire home as seen in many shows would most likely take days to several weeks depending on the floor area and amount of items present.
We are currently staying in a 70 sq. meter 2-bedroom bungalow rental inside a resort village. It seems a room per day is a do-able and stress-free task while still being able to handle the other chores.
It was 9 am and I have just downed 2 mugs of freshly brewed coffee. The word Kaizen popped into my head while I stood on top of the wooden step stool.
Kaizen is a Japanese word for "improvements." My first encounter with Kaizen was during a 5-day Course of Basic Occupational Safety and Health Training (BOSH) that I attended 4 years ago. Kaizen is a business philosophy to create seamless processes towards continuous improvement.
In the BOSH Training, we learned the 5S in workplace safety:
- Sort
Segregating items according to their function and evaluating their priority based on how often they're used and which one ranks as the most urgent. - Set in Order
Accordingly arrange and designate specific placements of items for ease of use - Shine
Clean regularly - Standardize
Create proper labels, standards, documentation so anyone can conveniently locate the items - Sustain
Continue to streamline, orient users in maintaining standards, and focus on consistent improvement.
My definition of Kaizen is a series of tiny steps to improve towards a goal that will ultimately lead to an impactful change. I was instantly sold on the concept and had this desire to apply it not only in business but in every aspect of my life (unless procrastination sits on my lap).
Tidying up and kaizen for me go hand in hand at home. It's a daily thing because I find pleasure in putting things back where they belong and relish concocting simple yet effective methods to organize.
That's one aspect I enjoy about designing interiors, it's to help the client sort out the mess by planning and arranging things in their proper order while orchestrating the users' movements to effortlessly flow within a space.
With that said, there might not be many differences between the before and after.
The Bedside Tables
We have mismatched bedside tables in the bedroom. The one I'm using was already there when we moved in. We didn't see the need to purchase a new one. They say you can tell so much about someone by the stuff on their bedside tables.
I tend to keep books. I intentionally place them next to my bed to encourage reading more often.
Some I have finished and enjoy re-reading again, some I could barely make it awake after two pages, while others were there to be read someday.
To sort out books I have adopted or borrowed:
@indayclara was kind to lend me two of her inspiring books before the typhoon; Awakening Intuition and Dreams by Carl Jung.
Transform Your Life was a book I purchased when I just moved to Dubai. It helped me a lot then. I was asked to choose 2 to 3 books from a van full of French novels en route to Alliance Francaise Library.
My sister-in-law left these Bad series to me when she and her family stayed with us during their Philippine vacay. I tried reading them but they're not for me, thank you!
The Wardrobe
Our wardrobe is divided into His & Hers. It has shrunk a lot over the years. I used to have two sets of these only for myself a decade ago. Here's the plan:
Sort & Set in Order
The contents of the wardrobe were tossed on the bed.
All sports shoes were removed from their boxes and were placed in the adjacent shoe rack.
Shine & Standardize - Folding of clothes ensued with regular maintenance of the closet organization makes it easy to find items.
Clockwise Left to Right: Personal Care & Gadgets. Et voila!
Sustain: Having given @iamyohann the information where every item is stored, he knows immediately where to look for them even when I am not there. We intend to review the items we own several times a year and remove the unnecessary as soon as possible.
The Benefits of Kaizen in Decluttering and My Take-away
Including tidying up in one's daily routine simplified into bite-sized tasks eliminates the daunting and overwhelming feeling. By sorting and planning, setting things in order, we use space more efficiently. There's always a reason behind each item placement. The waste of time in searching for items is reduced if not entirely avoided. A well-organized 5S space offers a calm, safe, and clean environment.
I took this opportunity to sort out important documents and created an emergency bag that includes toiletries & first aid kit. That had always been on my To-Do List. Thanks to this challenge, I finally accomplished it.
I am tagging @ifarmgirl and @katrin-lux to join the fun Spring Cleaning and Decluttering Challenge. Thank you for reading and have an excellent week ahead!
"I am an old soul who simply loves coffee, who finds joy and beauty in both tangible and the unseen."
Curiosity and imagination lead to unexpected experiences. Interested in Nature, Places, Roads Less Traveled, Minimalism, Authentic Living, Anything French, and International Cuisine. Feel free to follow her, re-blog, and upvote if you enjoy her content.