The five things rule: how to quickly clean up the mess at home

The Five Things Method is an approach to household chores invented by KC Davis, a licensed psychotherapist, author of "I Hate Cleaning. A Gentle System of Tidying Up for Those Who Don't Have the Will or the Energy to Do It" and the owner of 1.5 million subscribers.

Read also: How to remove dust so that it does not settle on furniture for a long time

When the clutter in your home seems disorganized and overwhelming, KC suggests focusing on just five categories:

1. Trash.
2. Clothes that need to be washed.
3. Dirty dishes.
4. Things that have their place.
5. Things that don't have a place.

KC believes that this approach will help you deal with any mess. When you start sorting things into these categories as you move around your home and focus on just one category, you will feel relieved no matter how many rooms you have or how much you have to do.

Algorithm of actions:

1. Start by going through the entire apartment and removing the trash;
2. Go through the apartment again and collect only dirty clothes and shoes in the laundry basket, ignoring the rest of the stuff;
3. Then concentrate on the dishes. Load dirty plates and cups into the sink or dishwasher without trying to wash everything at once;
4. In the next step, go through the rest of the things and put away the ones that have their designated place, placing them where they belong;
5. Finally, tackle the things that don't have a set place in the house. Once you have cleared the space, you can decide what to do with these things.

According to the author of the method, you don't have to do all the steps at once. If you feel tired, you can spread the steps out over the course of a day or even split the process over several days.

A messy house is not an indicator of moral decline. Keeping rooms tidy can be difficult for a variety of reasons: stress, difficulty with household chores, or combining tidiness with raising children. The simple and effective "five things" method will help make your space more livable. Once you have dealt with each category, a more thorough cleaning will be much easier.

Earlier, we wrote about another interesting Chinese life hack that will help you easily get rid of dust in your apartment.

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