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This has really been a breakthrough for me. I have previously never in my life been able to do any sustained organizing that did not involve some favorite hobby. Marie Kondo's show, at least, is basically about being a therapist for people's relationship with their possessions and their living space; once I realized that and started considering mine in those terms, all of a sudden tidying became my own personal therapy and thus an enjoyable and doable task, rather than something I inevitably got bored or frustrated with, wandered off having accomplished not very much, and then procrastinated on trying again for weeks/months/years.
Also, she has some good practical tips. My big discovery is that putting stuff in transparent boxes makes it a million times easier to find things - I'm very "out of sight, out of mind" for a lot of stuff, so it will essentially not exist for me unless I can literally see it. I have been hitting the Daiso (Japanese dollar store) for boxes. I realize that this is one of those things that's easy and tempting to shame people with: "How did you get this old before learning something any normal person figures out at age five?" But in fact I did not figure it out until age 45, due to watching that show.
I am currently working on the kitchen. Alas, I AGAIN forgot to take proper "before" photos. You can extrapolate what it probably looked like by the fact that yesterday I unearthed a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese that expired in 2011, which is probably also the last time I ate it.
Alex and Erin help me sort stuff from a drawer I had forgotten existed for literally years.
Erin helps me sort packaged food. I did not notice the Hello Kitty crackers till after I took the photo.
My kitchen has two of these cabinets/counters, one on each side. Here's what they both looked like "before:"
And after:
Erin approves my progress! (I feel like I need to note that I do eat stuff other than packaged snacks. It's just that the healthy stuff is mostly in the refrigerator.)
I put things I use daily or near-daily, plus non-refrigerated perishables on the counter, so I will see and eat them rather than having them go bad because I forgot they existed.
Please no negativity in comments. If you don't like this topic, please scroll or blacklist the decluttering tag.
Also, she has some good practical tips. My big discovery is that putting stuff in transparent boxes makes it a million times easier to find things - I'm very "out of sight, out of mind" for a lot of stuff, so it will essentially not exist for me unless I can literally see it. I have been hitting the Daiso (Japanese dollar store) for boxes. I realize that this is one of those things that's easy and tempting to shame people with: "How did you get this old before learning something any normal person figures out at age five?" But in fact I did not figure it out until age 45, due to watching that show.
I am currently working on the kitchen. Alas, I AGAIN forgot to take proper "before" photos. You can extrapolate what it probably looked like by the fact that yesterday I unearthed a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese that expired in 2011, which is probably also the last time I ate it.
Alex and Erin help me sort stuff from a drawer I had forgotten existed for literally years.
Erin helps me sort packaged food. I did not notice the Hello Kitty crackers till after I took the photo.
My kitchen has two of these cabinets/counters, one on each side. Here's what they both looked like "before:"
And after:
Erin approves my progress! (I feel like I need to note that I do eat stuff other than packaged snacks. It's just that the healthy stuff is mostly in the refrigerator.)
I put things I use daily or near-daily, plus non-refrigerated perishables on the counter, so I will see and eat them rather than having them go bad because I forgot they existed.
Please no negativity in comments. If you don't like this topic, please scroll or blacklist the decluttering tag.
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