**Post written by Kevin Olega connect with him on twitter facebook g+**

Original title How to never have to clean your room agin.

The reality is, I hate to clean my room. This is the worst thing for me that you can ask me to do at home. I’m so lazy about it, I’m looking for other options. When I started minimal changes these are things that I worked on but didn’t get to write about.

I figure this could help you out if you’re interested in learning about it.

I have a best friend who drives me anywhere. His car is an AUV which is much like a slightly smaller SUV. What I’m trying to say is that it’s a big car. When he helped me move from my Grandmas house to a room I’ll be Renting in the city, we were able to fill his car to the roof with him and myself holding on to a several items in our laps as he drove me to my new place.

When I found a better place to stay in the city (a block away from the previous one). It was crazy. In the end, made me throw out at least ten (plastic and paper) bags of trash. I managed to move my stuff in twenty large bags.

This was my past. Embarrassing as it is to admit. I kept too many things that should have gone to the trash bin. In the Philippines if you’re working people expect someone to establish something ( may naipundar in tagalog) which means that I should have been able to buy a house, a car, have sent my sibling to school etc. Being insecure that I am, I interpreted that as simply buying more stuff. Which was totally wrong. Every time I brought something nice or acquired something nice I kept everything. I kept the box the receipts the wrapper, the paper bag, bus tickets, instruction manuals, piles of paper, collectibles and lots and lots of clutter. I also kept clothes from school. Its so disgusting i want to Its so disgusting you’ll never want to enter my room ever. I feel like I’m shrinking in shame as I type this.

What happened to me was I got to read some minimalist lifestyle blogs. I was reading Leo Babauta of Zen Habits and minimalist. I was reding Colin Wright of Exile Lifestyle and Ev Bogue of Far Beyond the Stars. I also read about Dave Bruno’s 100 things challenge. I digested it and eventually applied it. It wasn’t easy. After realizing how inconvenient it is to hold on to and maintain a lot of stuff you’ll want to give minimalism a change.

I’m a totally different person now and here are some tips to never have to clean your room again.

Don’t be a hoarder. Everything I said above was how you described a hoarder. Don’t be one. Do the opposite if you have to.

Letting go of things. The process was more about letting go of things. Letting go of things and saying goodbye to the things I held on to. So I let go of the paperbags. I let go of the souvenir. I let go of a lot of things. Boxes papers and the like.

Reduce a few things bit by bit. I did things bit by bit. If I had a hundred bits of paper I’d take two I don’t need and toss it into the trash bin. So bit by bit and bit by bit I felt the weight come off. This is the part I soon learned to enjoy.

80/20 rule. I use 20% of my stuff more than 80% of the time. What’s the 20% and how do I eliminate or at the very least remove the 80% of the Items I don’t need.

No you won’t need that later as much as you think. I kept a lot of things. Like a boy scout. Always be prepared. Later on I realized that I don’t have to be. I keep too much stuff. Most of the things that I think I need in the future can easily be brought from the store or (preferably) I could borrow from someone I’d toss it away. Whenever I can, I’ll give it to someone. If I did need it then I’ll see if I could borrow it from them.

Someday pile. Somehow there are items I’m pretty sure I won’t need but hesitated on tossing out. For that I kept a someday pile. The someday pile is a place for me to keep the items I don’t use now so I can evaluate them later.

Leave it out of the room. To build a someday pile. I suggest that you take all your items out of the room and carefully select what you’ll be using (the 20%) and put it back in your room. Which of my trash do I want to put back in my room.

How many do you really need? My answer is one for the most part and not a lot for others (like clothes, socks, underwear maybe 10 to two weeks worth)

Proper place. Everything should be in a proper place. I assigned one for all my items. I’m not allowed to leave my computer inside my room. Phones are away from my bed. Or whatever.

Less things equals less cleanup. The less things I have the less cleanup I need to do. . If I had an empty room with just my bed and my laptop and clothes and my laptop everything is pretty easy to clean. The fewer things I had the fewer things I need to pay attention to. And I won’t loose things.

100 things challenge. I’m a fan of Colin Wright of exile lifestyle and Leo Babauta’s zen habits and minimalist. They participated in the 100 things challenge and eventually I did too. I reduced my stuff bit by bit until one day I realized that I had about 250 items which felt great. I then realized that I can let go of things weighing me down and I proceeded to 230 to 210 to 190 to 180 to 170 till 120. Each time I let go of something I had a hard time doing so. I also learned that I had duplicates like multiple nail cutters (same size), keychains, and things I can go without. Now I own an average of 70-90 items.

Make it super easy to clean. If you do bit by bit any of the above you’ll be able to do it. Take some time to think about how to make things easier for you.

I hole you enjoyed my post. Hit me up for more questions.


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