The Japanese art of cleaning: 10 effective ways to clean things up forever: sort things out by category, not by room.

Girl from Japan Marie Kondo became famous when she published her the book “Magical cleaning. The Japanese art of putting order in the house and in life. ” Her cleaning techniques are unique and so simple that they amaze. The book quickly became a bestseller and translated into many languages. Let’s take a look at 10 main methods of putting order in Japanese: quickly and efficiently.

1. Do it now

Some follow the advice that you can clean only 15 minutes. in a day. For example, getting rid of one thing per day is a delusion.

Cleaning is necessary as soon as possible and for everything at once.

2. Throw away all unnecessary, sort the rest and put away on shelves

You can’t put off something unnecessary in the “long box”. As soon as you start to think about whether or not a thing will fit on a particular shelf, your cleaning will come to a standstill.

You need to immediately think about where to put things when you get rid of everything unnecessary.

3. Start with the lightest

It is very difficult to throw out old letters and photo albums, they are dear to every heart. If you are not a professional in fashion, and clothing is not your passion, start with a wardrobe.

Later, you can go to papers, books, then - to kitchen utensils. And only in the end, you can go to those things that are of great value - albums, letters from loved ones etc.

4. Sort things by category, not by room

The main rule of "Japanese cleaning" is to disassemble right away  everything things  one category. Otherwise, the mess will never end, and things will simply move from one room to another.

For example, when decided to make out clothes, look for all elements of clothes in all rooms of the house (apartment).

When working with clients, Marie Kondo always warns: if something is not taken, this thing must be sent to the dumpster.

If you say this to yourself at the beginning of cleaning, you will immediately find everything that is valuable and valuable to you. The remaining, perhaps, is not very necessary... Think about it.

5. Throw away everything you do not like

For perfect order and cleanliness, you should consider what to throw away. You can’t think about it thoughtlessly. Pick up the item and decide if it matters to you personally or not.

If the little thing pleases you, causes a smile on your face, then leave it. If you take it calmly - feel free to throw it away, it's time to part.

6. Get rid of old bills and papers

It is desirable that all documents (papers) and invoices be in one place. It is betterdivide them into two categories:

• Documents, invoices to be stored;
• often used paper.

If necessary, you can find out something on the Internet. But it’s better to get rid of accounts (at least in past years).

There are important documents without which our life is impossible. These are personal documents, medical policies, property, etc. These permanent documents are more convenient to store in a vertical stand, so it will not become too voluminous.

7. Learn to release your favorite gifts (souvenirs)

The author of the book suggests taking a toy or a gift in his hands, mentally thanking the person who gave it, then giving it back. Charity is a good deed.

As for love letters, they lie for years, only taking up space. We should ask ourselves why we keep them, whether they bring joy. Maybe we try to hold on to empty dreams. If they are so expensive that you are simply not ready to part with them now, then leave it. Learn to lovefully release your favorite things. Letters are better to burn.

8. Do not purchase expensive and complex storage systems

Marie Kondo went through a lot of storage systems. She believes that the best and most useful item is a shoe box.

Cabinets and other bulky furniture are needed for us to store too many shoes and clothes. If you put something in such a cabinet, then we quickly forget about it, and buy a new thing.

Shoe boxes are good for drawers. For example, it is convenient to neatly fold new tights in bags. In the kitchen cabinet, pans are more convenient to store uprightthan piled up in one box.

9. Learn to fold immediately, create vertical shelves

Clothing, in addition to coats, jackets, suits (trousers), as well as dresses, is recommended to be stored folded. So it will occupy a much smaller volume, which will save space by more than a third.

Another nuance: it is not necessary to compress the folded things strongly, they must "breathe". Be sure to separate the boxes by content so that you can easily find what you need.

10. Treat things like people

Marie suggests learning to communicate with things as if they were people. This attitude will help you to part with them more easily if necessary.

If we take care of things, they will serve us for a long time.