Last week I came across a channel on YouTube, that I can say, is changing my life. Or better yet, I am changing my own life, after watching a few videos.
Before you jump to conclusions and label me as a useful idiot who's doing everything influencers are teaching people to do, I am not. This is a rare occasion as I usually am trying to avoid these videos, for the obvious reasons, but this is different.
Photo by Daniel Chen on Unsplash
The channel is called The Japanese Method, it has AI generated videos (most likely the guy presenting is also AI generated) but the topics he discusses are really interesting and useful (to me).
US based readers are going to hate me for this, that's fine though, as it's neither my opinion, nor my invention, I'm just being objective here. So the narrator guy is comparing the American lifestyle to the Japanese and each and every video is discussing what Americans do wrong and how Japanese do it.
Before I start, I've never visited either of the countries, my knowledge of American lifestyle comes from watching movies, documentaries, and reading online articles. Japan is less known to me, but what I know about their lifestyle is really attractive.
Photo by Thierry Lemaitre on Unsplash
11 Japanese Organisation Rules Americans Break - That Make Your House Messy, this was the first video I came across of last week, by chance and while watching it, knew right away that I'm going to adopt a few of these recommendations as it would make my home and life more organized. Then I thought of my dear friend @mers, who I discussed organizing with not long ago. I'm sure she could use a few tips herself :)
There's no way to know for sure, but there's a high chance most of the readers' first reaction will be "my home is not that messy". I can understand that as my home is not that messy either, but that's not the point here and if this is all you can think of, then you're never going to evolve in anything. This is a self protection mechanism, that has more disadvantages than benefits.
Photo by Kouji Tsuru on Unsplash
Anyway, let's get back to the topic. There are a lot of very important lessons to learn here, in my opinion of course, one of which is that you're not making order periodically, you are creating a system and maintaining that system alive all the time. It is easier to spend 10 minutes each day on putting everything back to where they belong and enjoy a clean, organized home, then spending every weekend with organizing the mess. It's a mindset and a routine to learn and adopt for life, not just an occasional activity you do because there's no space in your home anymore.
What makes me like the Japanese lifestyle a lot is that it resembles the life I want to live, to some extent. Obviously I can't adopt it 100% as living in Europe in a flat restrains me in so many ways, but there are still so many good habits I can learn.
Photo by Yosuke Ota on Unsplash
One of the things I started with is my pantry. This is a topic that divides people as many don't have a pantry at all. I lived in Germany for 2 months in an apartment that had only kitchen cupboards, no pantry. Then I lived in The Netherlands for 3 weeks in the same conditions. Different cultures, different habits and customs, but when you come to Eastern Europe, you will get a pantry with every apartment or house. These pantries used to be full with goodies as communism teaches you to stock up on what you can get as times are tough. Those times are long gone, life is easier, but so many got used to home canned products, especially if you have a garden and grow the ingredients yourself.
My dad does it for me and even though my pantry is not as messy as in the video 😆, yesterday I organized everything pasta related and a few other shelves that needed my attention. Next on my list are the drawers that could be organized better.
Photo by Fidel Fernando on Unsplash
I could go on with this, but am going to stop here. What I think is the most important lesson in these videos is the mindset change, learning to decide if you need the items, or just keeping them for different reasons. Next step is to decide the reason, which could be emotional attachment, lack of opportunity to get rid of them and so on and find a solution.
But the biggest lesson starts in the store. Buying based on need, rather than want is a huge step forward in reducing the amount of items you pile up each year, to end up less and less living space each year. Renting storage spaces is not so popular here, there are none in my area by the way, but I would go crazy to know I'm paying for storing items I don't use anymore, because I don't need them. That is a huge waste of funds and carelessness as well, to some extent. I can understand such decision if you're moving and you need a temporary space, till things get sorted, but to store unnecessary things ... that's a different matter.
Photo by EMANUELE Ricciardi on Unsplash
Life is not easy, we get busy days and can find a million excuses, but it all comes down to how you want to live your life. It's a question of mindset and willpower, and the Japanese have a very good solution to it. I'm drawn to this minimalist lifestyle, if you can call it that, rather than have a huge space crowded with things you don't even use. I think I needed this channel and these videos to continue the decluttering I've been doing for the past two years.
Photo by Sergio Mena Ferreira on Unsplash
It's amazing how many good habits you can pick up, that can change your life in better. I remember I listened to Tom Dante's podcast once. He's a legend in trading, if you don't know him. He said, he is starting his trading week with cleaning his desk on Sunday, as there's no need for distraction and we all know, distraction and mistakes in this industry are expensive. You have no idea how good it feels to have only what you use for your work, on your desk. Try it out.
Change is not a single act, it's a process, but small changes can lead to big results.
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