Marie Kondo is famously known as a Japanese organizing consultant, a TV show host, and an author.
The Marie Kondo spell that helps magically transform people’s homes and spread positivity that comes with tidying up has made her capture a lot of attention. Her decluttering and organizing method, the KonMari method, is a global offering that enables her to share unique tidying methods and her joy-centric philosophies. With her abilities, she won a position in Time’s “100 most influential people” in 2015. So what is her method that gained wide popularity? Let us find out.
The KonMari Method
Inspired by the Shinto way of living, she believes cleaning and organizing is a spiritual practice. Shintoism is concerned with Kami (the divine spirit of things), which simply suggests that treating objects as valuables that may or may not have any monetary value and treasuring them is Kannagara (the right way to live).
Marie Kondo thought the goal of tidying up was simply to get rid of things (as many as possible). This one-way approach of discarding items negatively impacted her until she found out the essence of tidying up is focusing on keeping things that spark joy instead of focusing on eliminating stuff in particular.
- Marie Kondo says, “Many people have equated my tidying method with minimalism, but it’s quite different. Minimalism advocates living with less; the KonMari Method encourages living among items you truly cherish.”
KonMari Principles Of Tidying
Follow these principles to avoid organizing mistakes.
Commit To Tidying Up
Dedicating yourself to tidying up and setting the intention to put all your time and effort in cleaning and organizing your space is your foremost step in tidying. When you approach it with a clear vision and a positive attitude, you will find the motivation and energy required to get your work done in one go. Not only will you experience the happiness of surrounding yourself with things that you love, but also find yourself on the path to establish your ideal lifestyle.
Imagine Your Ideal Lifestyle
Take time and describe (to yourself) the ideal lifestyle you want to have. Think mindfully about what you want to include in the space around you. Note down in your writing pad or sketch how you imagine your space to look. When you imagine your ideal space, you get more clarification regarding the purpose of tidying up. It is considered a turning point in your life, so envision your perfect lifestyle and start working on achieving it. You will not want to revert to cluttering your space once you establish your ideal lifestyle.
Start With Discarding Things
Discarding isn’t the ultimate goal of this method, but it is an essential part of the process. It allows you to think deeply about each belonging and grasp how many things need to be stored accurately. Once you feel like you can discard an item, you learn that it has no purpose and effect on your life, so you can instead turn all your attention to the belongings that bring you joy.
Marie Kondo says that a proper send-off should be performed when you let go of things. You should take the time to express gratitude for their teachings and then bid them goodbye.
Tidying By Category
The logical approach is to tackle one closet, shelf, or room at a time. But according to Marie Kondo’s expert advice, tidying your space by dividing the things into categories and working on it category wise proves to be more efficient than tidying up according to location. Usually, people store similar items in different places, and organizing each place separately makes you repeat the same work in different locations. Also, one will fail to grasp each type of their belongings’ volume. Thus eventually, they will get entangled in a tidying loop.
Following Right Order
It is the most crucial thing in the process of tidying up. People often get confused as to which category they should start with and how to proceed. To ease your worry, Marie Kondo has come up with an order that has proven to be effective and efficient. The order is-
- Clothes
- Books
- Papers
- Komono (miscellaneous things)
- Sentimental items
When you start with your clothes, you get tangible proof of your time and effort put into it after completing the work. It motivates you to keep going, and your enthusiasm increases as you move towards the next category.
Ask Yourself Whether It Sparks Joy
The underlying principle of this method is to stay in an environment that makes you happy. This technique relies on personal criteria instead of a strict guideline. Your feelings and sentimental values are standard for decision making and specifically knowing what sparks joy in your life. Joy is personal, and selecting things that spark joy can make you identify what you love and need in your life.
Conclusion
Tidying has psychological effects on you and makes you set a stage for self-transformation. We hope that you embark on a positive life-changing journey with the expert advice and tips from Marie Kondo.
