TIDY UP YOUR LIFE
WITH STACEY SOLOMON
THE key to tidying, I’ve found, is to have a clear plan — and to start small: one cupboard or messy corner at a time.
If you have a whole room that you look at and it overwhelms you, don’t worry. We’ve all got one of those.
Mine’s the shed in the garden that we’ve split into two: one side is a snug for the kids, while the other, smaller one is piled up to the brim with decorations — Christmas, Easter — because we don’t have a loft.
When I tackle the shed, I will give myself a few days to do it. Because it’s outside, I can take everything out and lay it across the garden.
But if it’s a room inside the house or the space under the stairs, for example — which is often a place where people end up getting overwhelmed, because you just shove everything you don’t know what to do with in there — the best thing to do is to break it down into smaller sections. Say to yourself: ‘Right, I’m going to start on this corner.’ And don’t even think about the whole room.
What if you can’t even get into the room? Then start at the doorway — that’s absolutely fine. Just take out what’s stopping you from getting in there and then take a look at the mess.
Facing up to the task in hand is the first step of my Tap To Tidy method. Next, remove everything from the area you are going to sort through and then spread it across the floor. Step three is when you ask yourself lots of questions about the things you’re looking at — where does this go, what do I use that for, could someone else make better use of this than me? Step four is all about getting things into piles. These are the piles I usually make when I’m having a clear-out:
■ Bin It.
■ Recycle.
■ Definitely Keeping.
■ Maybes (the stuff I still can’t work out if I want to keep or not).
■ Give It Away.
Try not to stress over the Maybes too much. I promise you, once you’ve tidied and organised your space, your Maybes pile will become much clearer. You’ll know what you’re missing, what you have too much of and what you really want in that space, so the decisions become obvious.
Step five, you clean the empty space; step six, you put your Definitely Keeping pile away. Finally, step seven, deal with the Maybes. And you’re done!
The job you thought was too daunting to tackle can finally be ticked off your to-do list — and this method can be applied to everything.
All you have to do is remember these seven simple steps.