Kondo Marie is a Japanese organizing consultant and author. She has written four books on organizing including “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up”. The Konmari way is a Japanese art of decluttering and organizing your stuffs. this method consists of gathering together everything you own and then keeping only those things which “sparks joy” and choosing place for everything from then and on. Here are some tips based on the book.
#1: Start by discarding.
We have a lot of stuff that we don’t need. First things first, recognize the things that you have that aren’t serving you anymore. Make it an event to celebrate as if you’re sending your things off with a goodbye party. Hold an item in your hand and ask yourself, ” does this spark joy?”. If it is, keep it. If not, put them in a trash bag.
#2: Tidy by category not location.
Remove all your things and scatter them on the floor. Stuffs are stocked for a long time in your closet and shelves, so when you put them all together on the floor, you’re waking them up and then you can start deciding one by one if it is still needed or not.
#3: Tidy in right order.
Make a checklist. Starting with clothes and lastly the mementos. This explains that clothes is the easiest to dispose and say goodbye to while mementos are those things that is so hard to let go off. Mementos are items that serves to remind of a person, past event or simply the keep sake and souvenirs.
#4: Thank your things.
After you discard your things, thank them and give them farewell. Kondo always talks to almost her things as if they were alive. She believes that each thing you purchase and own in the past has help you, supported you or served a purpose in your life in someway. So thank them and then let them go.
#5: Return and organize.
Organize the stuffs that are still needed and return it where they belong and where they should be kept.
Kondo Marie believes that tidying up your things is life changing. She said that once you tidy your house, you don’t have to tidy them up all over again. Instead of decluttering a little bit of of something everyday, do it in one dramatic shot so that it creates a dramatic change in your environment which will have a dramatic change in your life.
