Healthy + Well writer: Shruti Sathish
If you’ve read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up or have seen the Netflix show “Tidying Up With Marie Kondo,” you know that following a few simple steps can help you turn a cluttered room into a space that is neat, organized, and still has items that are meaningful to them. Using Kondo’s “KonMari” method of decluttering, you can create a tidy environment, which is shown to have many health benefits, including reduced stress levels, better mood, and greater feelings of satisfaction with life. The “KonMari” method is centered around removing items that do not bring joy into one’s life. Although this technique is often used to declutter homes, it can definitely be applied for tidying up dorm rooms. Using the following tips, any college student can declutter their room and make it a space that is more conducive to their mental well-being.
Start with your clothes. Locate all the areas in which you keep your clothes. Check closets, chest of drawers, shelves, storage boxes, suitcases, and even under your bed. Look through these clothes, and ask yourself the question, “Does this item bring me joy?” as you hold up each item. If the answer to a particular item is no, remove it respectfully, with a positive mindset. You can discard this article of clothing or perhaps donate it for others to use—it is up to you. If you come in contact with clothes that you have forgotten about but still think that you might wear someday, chances are that you will never actually wear them. These clothes are likely not sparking joy in your life, and they should therefore be removed from the space. After you are only left with the clothes that bring you joy, neatly fold them and place them where they belong. Consider using Marie Kondo’s folding technique (shown in this video) to help you neatly arrange your clothes.
Move on to books and papers. As a college student, you will definitely have books and papers in your room that do not seem to “spark joy” in your life. Although these items may not be associated with the best memories, especially if they are for classes you are particularly struggling in, they probably still have high value in your life. If you are having second thoughts about discarding particular books/papers and know that you will likely need them to achieve a future goal you have for yourself, this means that they are meaningful to you and should be kept. Items you could consider recycling or donating include: notebooks and papers from previous semesters that you know you will never need again, old textbooks, and other books that you brought to read in your spare time and have never touched. To help with organization, consider using filing folders for papers and shelves or boxes for nearly lining up books. Try your best to use old boxes for storage, but if you feel that you may need to purchase some additional organizational supplies, do so only after you have decided what to keep and what to get rid of.
Now address miscellaneous items. From multiple tubes of moisturizer to untouched plastic cutlery, we all have some very random items in our rooms that don’t seem to be on the program for use in the near future. Ask yourself the same question, “Does this item bring me joy?”, when going about decluttering this category of items. Get rid of any items that you are keeping “just because.”
Finally, declutter sentimental items. This category of items is usually the hardest for individuals to declutter, so that is why it should be done last. Although many students have sentimental items from home, most don’t have too many since it is difficult to pack a lot when moving into a dorm room. Most of you will likely want to keep everything you’ve brought, which is totally acceptable, but for those that seem to have too many things, it may be helpful to consider storing some of it away before you can bring them back home. Keeping items that are taking up a lot of your living space (such as those that are on/in a desk, shelves, drawers, etc.) in a box that can be accessed later when necessary is a good way to ensure that sentimental items are not contributing to the cluttering of a dorm room.
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