10 Tips that Help with De-cluttering

Marie Kondo is a Japanese-born tidying expert. Beginning her tidying journey at just 19 years old, she was a fan of organization since a young age. As she gained experience with her clients, she soon developed the ‘KonMari’ method, her personal method designed to help you never clutter again. Her first book, ‘The  Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up’ was a success selling over 13 million copies worldwide. Since then, she’s released several other books including a children’s book, and partnered with Netflix for her hit show ‘Tidying up with Marie Kondo’ to further spread her expertise and knowledge, being named one of Time’s Magazine’s top 100 influential people. So, what exactly are some things we have learned from Marie Kondo?:

• Spark joy: I keep repeating the term ‘spark joy’, and you may be wondering what that is. Something Marie makes very clear in her methods is that you should keep things around you that spark joy. Whether it be how it looks, how it feels, or the memories behind it, keeping things that are nothing but good vibes and energy will keep you in a positive headspace and keep the organization in the long run.
• Letting go: Letting go of things can be hard because of the emotional connections with them, but are the emotions positive? Letting go is a key concept in Marie Kondo’s KonMari method, as it’s crucial to take part in it to get the full experience. When discarding things from the past, you are creating more space for new, happier memories!
• Home is a happy place: If your humble abode isn’t organized, tidied up, and cleaned, it can often lead to stressful days. When you come home from work or a busy day of errands, you want to come home to a serene, tidied area without the thought in the back of your head reminding you and stressing you of all the cleaning that needs to be done. Once a home is decluttered using her method, you are only reminded of the things that spark joy around you.
• It really is life changing: Within the book, there are tons of real life testimonials on how the KonMari method changed their lives for the better. One that really stands out is the testimonial where a woman states she got a divorce because she realized her husband no longer sparked joy in her and the course taught her to learn to keep what was serving her a purpose and unfortunately, her husband was not. Now, not everyone’s Marie Kondoing has to take such drastic measures, but it really goes to show how you can take control of your life!

• Spirituality: Marie Kondo pushes the boundaries of tidying up, letting the readers understand that although you may not see it as this yet, tidying up can become a spiritual journey. By making you do things that you may never have thought of doing before- like thanking each article of clothing for everything it’s done for you before sending it off to be donated- can make you feel just that much more appreciative for things in your life. By doing this, you get a better sense of what is still serving you a purpose in life.

• It’s easy: Tidying up your home should be easy. If you don’t have a lot of clutter of possessions that aren’t serving you any purpose, you should probably get rid of them. When taking on a day of cleaning, it shouldn’t take hours. If you find yourself unsure of where to start or worried you’ll never see the end of it, it’s time to start your KonMari journey to be able to tidy up easily in a timely manner. 
• Ease into it: Once you start your journey, don’t feel rushed to finish it all at once. It takes time to sift through your belongings and decide whether or not things are serving you a purpose in life or not. If you rush through the process, Marie Kondo actually states that this can lead you to cluttering your life again after the process. If you don’t take the time to decide whether or not you are getting joy from belongings, you may keep things you don’t need or discard things that do spark joy.
• Accomplishment: One thing Marie Kondo wants us to know is that everyone can change their life around through the KonMari method. It doesn’t have to be done by Marie herself for you to feel a sense of accomplishment. When going through your personal KonMari journey and seeing your progress and final result can lead to a sense of accomplishment, good job on taking control of your life!
• Keeping, not discarding: One thing that Marie emphasizes throughout her methods is that instead of deciding what to toss out, you should just focus on what to keep. This is due to the fact that when deciding what to throw out can be connected to negative thoughts and emotions. So, she advises to keep your thoughts and area positive, focus on what makes you happy.
• Gratitude: All in all, the main idea Marie Kondo wants to spread is joy. Whether that be getting rid of an old vase that has been sitting in the same spot of your house collecting dust or getting rid of a friend that was no longer bringing you joy, being only surrounded by things and people that serve you a purpose will let you get a better understanding of gratitude for everything you have. Enjoy the process, and enjoy the end results. Happy decluttering!