Benefits of habit “Return items to their proper places”

✓ Improves mood
✓ Order promotes reduces stress
✓ No longer lose things
✓ Improves tidiness

First step:

Once a week

Progress:

1. Set yourself a weekly timeslot for general housecleaning. Part of it should be also be returning things where they belong
2. Next month, set aside another day to put things away
3. Add more and more time over the next few months until you get used to the order you so wish to have

Helpful tips to make it a habit:

✓ Same time of the day. Mentally accommodate a set time of day you reserve for this activity
✓ Set a mental trigger. Don’t walk away from things that are where they do not belong. The best trigger is the objects themselves
✓ Set a reminder. Use the reminder function of this app to remind yourself to tidy-up
✓ Make it a challenge. Use the app to openly challenge your friends to develop same habit OR make your own goal public with consequences in case of failure. Make up your own consequences, something that you wouldn’t want to do no matter what
✓ Reward yourself. In short term, after every time you consciously chose this habit, pat yourself on the back and tell yourself how awesome you just did. In long term, after you are done putting things away, take 5 minutes and enjoy how orderly everything is
✓ Find a routine. Think of your daily routine and chose a habit you already have that putting things back where they belong can follow naturally. For example, if you’re already developing a habit of getting rid unwanted things, follow that up by judging if the item is necessary and then put it in its proper place if it’s necessary

Tips for beginners:

✓ Reduce the clutter. A lot of times, we hang onto objects we no longer use. A good starting point is to also unclutter the drawers
✓ Take your time and double-check. Don’t be sloppy and make sure you do a job well done
✓ For extra motivation, take note how you feel when you see your living space tidy