Tidy and relax with Marie Kondo
Marie Kondo is widely known thanks to her best-selling book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Published in 2014, she already was famous as a Japanese cleaning consultant with a revolutionary idea: organizing category-by-category instead of room-by-room. Thanks to her, a track record of clients who never relapsed back into their old hoarding ways. Today, she is still making people dream with her popular Netflix show Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.
Many people are now interested by the incredible KonMari Method. Less Saves The Planet gives out all the details to her success!
What is the KonMari Method?
The KonMari Method is Marie Kondo’s minimalism-inspired approach to tackling your stuff category-by-category rather than room-by-room. There are six basic rules to get started on:
1. Commit yourself to tidying up.
2. Imagine your ideal lifestyle.
3. Finish discarding first. Before getting rid of items, sincerely thank each item for serving its purpose.
4. Tidy by category, not location.
5. Follow the right order.
6. Ask yourself if it sparks joy.
And five categories to tackle:
1. Clothes
2. Books
3. Papers
4. Komono (aka diverse article)
5. Sentimental items
How do you do it?
While many people associate her method with tidying, it’s really about discarding items that lack value. To determine what makes the cut, Marie Kondo has you start by removing everything out of your closets and drawers (category 1), all the books off your shelves (category 2), all the paperwork out of your desk.
Once you have a big pile, you’re to go item-by-item and consider if it sparks joy. She admits that this can feel awkward or unnatural at first, but Marie Kondo assures readers that you will get better at recognizing what sparks joy.
Once you have tossed items in every category, you should have a much smaller set of remaining items that you can return to various closets, drawers, shelves, and boxes. Note that you are to finish one category before moving onto the next one!
Long farewell to clutter!
Because you are actively choosing items that spark joy, and discarding what does not, the intention of the KonMari Method is to end up with a clutter-free home that is better able to bring more joy and prosperity to your life.
While tidying, she encourages you to visualize the life you want to live — to be less stressed, for example. According to Marie Kondo, “anything that will not help on that journey is not deserving of your space or you”.
If you follow the Low & Slow principles then you should make room in your head and free yourself from inner distractions.
