Let’s take a moment to talk about the extraordinary Marie Kondo. The world famous, Japanese organising consultant and author with her own hit Netflix show that released early 2019, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo rose to fame transforming lives and bringing joy to people’s homes with the art of decluttering. Globally known as the KonMari method, her revolutionary idea of organizing ‘category-by-category instead of room-by-room’, Kondo holds an impressive track record of clients that credit her techniques to have positively impacted their mental wellbeing and wanting to live a better life with the help of her life-changing organizing principles (more on this below)
In her words, ‘Place your hands on everything that you own. If it gives you joy, keep it. If it does not give you any joy, you need to get rid of it.’ Now, while we can’t possibly expect Kondo to magically show up at our doorstep to help streamline our house (and our lives), what we can do is take notes from her New York Times bestselling book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. Ahead, five lessons from Kondo’s book.
1. Hey, Your Clothes Have Feelings Too
Kondo highly suggests that you consider the feelings of your clothes. Hold on, I know it sounds a little crazy, but this principle has proven to have worked for a lot of people. In her book she mentions, ‘Keep it or chuck it. And if you’re going to keep it, make sure to take care of it. It might come in handy is TABOO.’ You need to tell yourself that you can always manage without it. Read that again. If you look at your belongings with an empathetic eye, it could help you declutter faster, and you’ll find yourself folding and arranging everything as neatly as you possibly can.
2. Target Categories And Not Rooms
The traditional way to clean your house is by moving from room to the next. Avoid this. Kondo recommends you adopt a category-by-category approach. A great start would be by targeting your clothes, your books and then your stack of old photographs and letters. The magic lies in this specific order. If you, do it the other way around (which most of us do), you’ll find yourself cleaning till the cows come home.
3. Don’t Look Back
When you get to cleaning out your boxes, you will undoubtedly come across extremely nostalgic items from work, family or past relationships. There’s a high possibility of you slipping down the rabbit hole if you begin to go through the old letters or the photos during this process. The next thing you know, you’re amidst a pile of mess looking back at something that has already passed. Moved forward. Keep only what’s important and that brings you joy now. Now being the key. Throw the rest.
4. The Vertical Fold
Basically, place your folded clothes vertically instead of horizontally. All you need to do is make a long rectangle with your outfit, then fold them from the bottom and roll it into small package. This instantly helps you to view all your belongings in one single glance. This will also help your closet remain neat and save you from last minute panic attacks on days you have limited time to get ready.
5. The True Joy In Purging
Hoarding is a problem. In true Marie Kondo fashion, light a scented candle, say a little prayer and begin the process of letting go. Have a couple of empty boxes ready and fling all the clothes that are collecting dust into those boxes (don’t forget to play your favorite song on blast). In other words, outfits you don’t wear or are not your style anymore. Give them away to donation centres so that they live on. At the end of this, you’re left with a beautiful sense of relief, making way for new clothes (and energies) to enter your life.
