The KonMari method is a system of simplifying and organizing your home by getting rid of physical items that do not bring joy into your life. It was created by organizing consultant Marie Kondo and described in detail in her best-selling book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. KonMari teaches you to ask a simple question when you go about tidying up your house. Of each item in your home ask, does it spark joy? If not, get rid of it.

The appeal of Marie Kondo’s KonMari method is that it can be applied to all of parts of your life. From using KonMari when folding your clothes to changing your perspective when it comes to your relationships!

How to Start Using the KonMari Method
The first step in KonMari instructs you to physically hold or touch the items in your house as you attempt to clean up clutter and get more organized. Then ask yourself the following question: does it spark joy? Items that spark true joy won’t always be rational.

For example, the method’s creator Marie Kondo uses an example of the first time she applied KonMari to her life. As she tells it, Kondo had an old t-shirt she got from an expo (known as the Kiccori shirt) she attended many years ago. The shirt was old and ragged. She decided to keep it as it brought back good memories from a time long gone. Many of her friends scoffed at her decision to keep the worn, old shirt.

Of these less than rational “keep” items, Kondo writes: “If you can say without a doubt, ‘I really like this!’ no matter what anyone else says, and if you like yourself for having it, then ignore what other people think.”

Keeping personal possessions that only bring you joy (and getting rid of those that don’t) requires you to confront each of your tangible possessions earnestly and then forces you to make a judgment on what kinds of things you do want to surround yourself with.

5 Tips for Using KonMari
There are several tips you’ll need to undertake to successfully apply KonMari to your home. Follow these tips to get started!

1. Tidy all at once
2. Visualize the destination
3. Determine if the item “sparks joy”
4. Tidy by category, not location
5. Tidy In Order

Remember: your only real concern should be discovering which possessions of yours bring actual joy into your life.

1. Tidy All at Once
Instead of cleaning one room a day, devote an entire day (or weekend) to tidying up. If you only tidy one room at a time over an extended period of time, it will wind up getting messy again in a matter of a few weeks or months.

This might sound a bit daunting. Not all of us have the time or the will to tackle our homes all in one go. Fret not! The lovely Marie Kondo counsels doing what you can if you can’t do it all in one day.

2. Visualize the destination
Before you throw things out, visualize what your ideal lifestyle would be life. Having concrete goals such as “I want to live like a Goddess, surrounded by beauty and harmony” is much better than “I want to live in a clean house”.

KonMari teaches that by thinking in such concrete terms, you can more accurately visualize the home and lifestyle you wish to have.

3. Determine if the item “sparks joy”
Marie Kondo’s lessons show that in focusing on what does not make you happy, you’re only inviting unhappiness into your life. If you look around your home and dwell on those items you can’t stand, you’re just generating more negativity.

Instead, teaches KonMari, you should focus on what you love. By highlighting the items that bring you joy, the unenjoyed merely fall to wayside. At the same time, by focusing your energy so positively on such joyful items, you are creating more happiness in your life. Sounds pretty great, right?

Pick up an item, touch it and ask yourself it is “sparks joy” in your life. If not, set it aside.

KonMari states that you must touch every single item before you get rid of it. There’s no need to bring any “rational thinking” into the mix at this stage. You need to feel the item. Use your emotions and feelings to make a determination as to whether or not you’re going to keep something.

4. Tidy by Category, Not location
Most people store items that fall into the same “category” in various locations. For example, you probably have clothes in your closet, under your bed and in your dresser. So instead of tackling a closet or a dresser, tackle your clothes first.

Locate every single piece of clothing you have and lay it out on your living room floor. When you have selected the items you wish to keep, try folding them so that you can view what you have in your dresser at a glance. 

5. Tidy In Order
Kondo has come up with the ideal order in which you should tidy up:

You can then separate everything out from each category into sub-categories which will make the process even easier. For example the category “Clothes” could be sub-divided seasonally. Creating your own sub-categories makes it easier to visualize what you have, what you need, and what does or doesn’t bring you joy.

Marie Kondo on Netflix
For those who are interested in seeing Marie Kondo do her thing in real live houses, Netflix just launched the first season of a new show called “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.” In the episodes, Marie, with the help of a Japanese translator, visits houses of families and others who have been overwhelmed by their belongings and need a reasonable way out of the clutter. You can also find some videos online on her YouTube Channel

Content borrowed from livible.com