The Kon Mari Method
I was gifted the book – The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up – Marie Kondo, by a friend who said it changed her way of organizing/de-cluttering for ever. My chosen method of both cleaning, de-cluttering(can’t call it organizing) is to tidy up one cupboard a time or one room at a time. Well, I start with gusto but mid-way energy dries and well the last few things just go.
The KonMari Method: Go through your entire house, category by category and purge. Kondo recommends doing this in the following order: clothes, books, papers, komono (miscellaneous things ranging from cleaning products to cooking spices), and then sentimental items. (source: the internet) – Marie KONDO
When I started reading the book, my first take-away was the difference between cleaning and organizing. Cleaning is about hygiene and cleanliness. Organizing is where you decide to store/put something. Somewhere my definitions overlapped and I had added words like de-cluttering, minimalism to this mix.
With that clarity, I embarked on my mission: Organization – putting things in designated spaces.
Before I did this though, came the process of locating these things and this led to the second take-away, find things!
Kondo says do things by category instead of room/cupboard. This helps see/know what you already have in the category and consolidate some of the things that find home in many places across the house eg. books, cardigans, towels, pens, stapler pins or nails, buttons, loose change etc . This makes sense especially with de-cluttering, easy to give away duplicates, triplicates of the same thing.
“Out of sight, out of mind” – what you don’t see, you don’t remember after sometime, think basement storage for example. So, find all things that belong to a category.
Now that everything in a category is in one place, you can decide what to keep and what to give away, de-cluttering. [Here Kondo talks about holding an article and see if it sparks joy, else to thank it and give it away. This works for some and might not for some. My rule was to see how frequently I used something, if I haven’t used it in 5 years or so, it went to the give-away pile. ]
Before you decide to put things back though, you can start assigning spaces where they can go.
The last take away – this is a long drawn process, think months not days, not hours. The common instinct is to do it quickly and get it over with instead of taking time.
Before you embark on this process, though take some time to mull over your own personal definition of being organized. This is the one people have the most resistance to, I don’t have time, it is silly whatever! My friend insisted I do this, however silly it might be. And it proved to be the game changer!
Personal definition of being organized: My first thought about being organized is my home looking like a museum or store, neat n clean n shiny like in the Good Housekeeping Guide or the images on Pinterest, that’s the image that came through! The one though that I actually scribbled in an old note pad after a few tries read: 1. Not searching for things, being able to find them right away 2. Able to see everything I already have 3. Reduce re-work (re-doing).
I started in summer and by Dec, could say with some confidence, yes, this works. I took my time, worked slowly. I started by collecting things around the house as a first step. I went through cupboards leisurely and started collecting things and putting them into piles, I started with the easy ones stationery and moved on to more tiresome ones. When doing the kitchen, I realized the main culprit was – Out of sight, out of mind, what was in the pantry/storage/basement, I promptly forgot! So, it was about being able to see.
I now know with some certainty where the things are. I have taken my time to go through duplicates, triplicates and am giving it away be it buttons to the local sewing store or pencils at the library. I have enjoyed the process as I took it slow, small steps a day. My 10 year old joined me enthusiastically on Treasure Hunts as I called them, collecting plastic spoons, coins, pencils etc. And we said with gusto – Less Is More!
If I had not written my definition, I would have said – a clean home meant like a museum or a brochure. But thinking it through changed what I really needed vs wanted. That was the real game changer along with taking my time to go it slow!
[ There are other take-aways but these are the ones that have stuck in mind. And this is my personal interpretation.]
Marie Kondo has many books on the subject and the books are available in Orell Fussli stores and online on Amazon.de or BookDepository.com. Know more about Marie Kondo on her website: https://konmari.com/