A fresh Start
Do you know that feeling? The new year is only a few days old, the Christmas gluttony has only just been digested and the New Year's hangover is mostly over, and your fingers are itching to clean up, get in order, cut off old habits. Now it's finally time to go through the boxes that have been sitting in the basement for years, sort out the wardrobe and get through the mountain of paper on the desk.
Unfortunately, for most of us it remains a pious wish and I have to admit that it was the same for me for many years. So how do I overcome my inner laziness and how do I use the fresh energy of the first days of the year to really create order?
Don't start everywhere at once
Most of us know this. You are full of energy and motivated, and you fill up your to-do list more and more. Suddenly you don't want to get everything done: rearrange the kitchen, clear out the wardrobe, tidy up the garage and clear out the basement. Often you end up sitting in front of a list that's so long and you don't get anything done. So if you really want to get something done, the first tip is: concentrate on one thing, finish it and if you still have time, start the next one. Because the most important thing is that you make progress at all.
Don't rearrange, but clean out
Have you successfully completed the first point and got started? Then you'll probably be faced with a huge pile of assorted stuff in no time. But here the next trap is lurking: What should I do with it? And we all know the thoughts that come to mind. Couldn't I still use this or that at some point? Shouldn't I at least keep some of it. Maybe just put it in the basement or the attic? Here, too, it helps to be honest with yourself. Attics and basements are actually just the antechamber of bulky waste, where we store things until they are so musty and out of fashion that nobody wants them anymore. So it's better to get rid of them straight away. Otherwise, just take a moment and think about why it's so hard for you to part with them. Did you like wearing that shirt so much on your vacation in Italy five years ago? Believe me, the memories of that vacation will remain even without the shirt in question.
Where to put all the junk
And here, too, the next time-waster lurks. Because all the nice things you have but no longer need could find a new owner. Maybe you'll even get a few euros for them. In no time at all, you'll be busy for the next four weeks taking photos, putting them online, answering inquiries, sending things, etc.
It is better to separate what you are sorting out into two piles: sell and dispose of. Go through in your mind's eye how much effort it takes to sell and ask yourself for each item: will I get enough for it? If so, sell; if not, dispose of.
Now you've gotten rid of what you no longer need. The only thing missing is the second step: storing what's left. Ideally in such a way that it stays tidy in the future. Luckily, we have a few tips for that:
Everything has its place
It sounds easier than it is. If I want to keep things tidy, there has to be a place for everything. Anything that I can only move from left to right because it doesn't belong anywhere is inevitably in the way. But it's not just important that there is a place, it's also important that it is accessible. If I have to climb a ladder and fish five boxes out of the cupboard to put something away, that might not be the right place. That might be a reasonable solution for Christmas tree decorations, which I need once a year, but not for most other things.
Little helpers with a big impact
Nevertheless, there are always a few things that fly around all day and make even the most beautiful apartment look like it's inhabited by a hoarder. I want to introduce you to three classics and three wonderful solutions for them:
The absolute classic is piles of paper. For a long time I was one of those people who thought that if you have a tidy desk you obviously don't have any work to do. In reality I simply never had a proper system and so in the past my desk was full of piles of paper. Documents that I still have to file but just don't have the time for, letters that remind me to take care of this or that soon and a lot of other stuff usually turned my desk into a battlefield. But recently things have been brought back in order. There are now various boxes where the paper used to be piled up. One for things that need to be filed, one for things that need to be done, one for tax receipts, etc. So my desk is actually still as messy as it was before. The piles have just been given pretty covers. But the effect is huge. The organiser boxes from MOEBE work best for me. Not only do they look good but they can also be stacked sensibly.
The next classic is the hallway. This is also where chaos reigns. But it's not just jackets and shoes that pile up there; everything that has accumulated in your pockets over the day is usually dumped in the hallway. Here, too, the solution for more order is as simple as it is easy: give the whole thing a simple cover and it looks nice again. Keys, change and everything else that is flying around in your pockets goes on a tray . That way, you have it quickly to hand when you leave, and it still looks tidy.
The final boss for order-loving people are, of course, children. It is unbelievable how quickly toys can be scattered all over the house. When you then stand there in the evening facing chaos, you would prefer to just leave everything where it is and crawl onto the sofa with a glass of wine. But here too, the principle helps: pretty packaging. We have a large box wherever the toy chaos breaks out. Within a few minutes, everything that is lying across the room has disappeared into the box and the whole thing only looks half as dramatic. We are huge fans of the MOEBE stacking boxes because they really can hold everything, they look good everywhere and they can even be stacked. For smaller things we use the HAY boxes . They can also be stacked, come in tons of different colors and you can even attach wheels underneath them.
