You may already have read Marie Kondo's first book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and the second book Spark Joy. True followers also have gone for the third which released on June, a novel called The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up: A Magical Story By Marie Kondo. It is about a woman whose life brought her a drastic change by drawing on the power of organization of KonMari. Or maybe, you have not read any of the books, but you are keen to know about the Marie Kondo method and take some tips. We all are busy in our lives, and we go for shortcuts. We all look for a shorter version of Marie Kondo Tips which does not add three books to it. We requested the woman herself to describe her theory and she delivered her theory, the lessons & tips from Marie Kondo.
Organisation Tips from Marie Kondo:
- Discard before Storing: This means first reclaim your already available storage space. Individual always commit this common mistake that we spend so much of our time and effort storing materials we may not need or want. She tells us that we all often complain about our closet space, though in reality, we wear only 10 out of hundreds in rotations. She asks to get all of them out from their current place, hold one by one and ask yourself “Do I truly need this?” or “Does it spark Joy for me?” Yes, it is time-consuming, taking each of them and sorting them but in the end, you will be getting rid of a lot of unnecessary objects. It will be worth it for you to spend your time in this.
- Categorize while storing: It means never lose anything again. This is pretty self-explanatory. We will keep shirts with shirts, books with books, stationery with stationeries. This is the way to never look for things when you need them. Everything will be kept organized. But when it is about the mixed wildly things in your drawer, which Kondo refers as “Komono”. She recommended sticking to the category. For example, if you need something to write a letter, those items can go in a stationary location. She advises starting with arranging clothes. This is the least emotionally attached things, books come next, and old photographs come at the last. Do these works on a free afternoon to get it done with a calm mind.
- Nostalgia is not a friend: As you start with arranging the closet, you might find out old photographs or things attached with memories. This is a serious mistake. Kondo encourages focusing only on the staffs and categories to be arranged and get emotionally detached. If you start with just seeing the photos or staffs, you will end up being nostalgic and waste a lot of your time. We know what things are going on in your mind but find ways to consolidate them. It is better to place your old birthday cards to the newly organized shelf than to fill them in an old box.
- Purge: Saying goodbye is not an easy task, but in the end, we are left with things which need to be discarded. When you are about to get organizationally awakened, Kondo requests to ask yourself about the reason. She tells us that we categorize each item in three categories: attachment to the past, fear of the future or mixing of both. We need to have a better understanding of the category of the item and the reason why we do not want to part our ways with those items. It will be easier to win the obstacle and become burden free. In the end, we will gain cleaned and space free storage. Though it is difficult at the beginning, purging feels so good at the end.
- Fold: Once you are done with sorting the items to discard, you can start deciding the spaces where the remaining things should be placed. Kondo thinks our most of the clothing would be better to be folded in a dresser than to fold in a closer or hanging in a closer. Start folding using Kondo's methods. Also, Kondo's vertical folding technique makes it easy to find and difficult to mess it up. If you keep your clothes folded this way, these are ready neatly to be lined in your drawers. Also, Kondo suggests using drawer dividers. You can use smaller shoeboxes. This way will make your folded clothes ready for attention.
Marie Kondo also mentioned some other methods like "respect your belongings" that is to consider the feelings of the clothes and to be able to see the importance of them. "Keep only what brings you joy" that is to discard the things which you no longer need and make a place for the things you need and the things which bring you joy. "Get rid of the paperwork" that is to get rid of the papers or documents which you already have copies in the office or home desktops. Keep the important documents like a birth certificate. Marie Kondo advises to whittle down the paperwork in two piles as "papers to save" and "papers to deal with." "Ditch the fancy storage systems" that is detoxing your home. Donate the things you don’t need and ask yourself the reason why you need something before wasting money on buying that. You will feel incredibly better as you follow this mantra.