This is probably the shortest post you?ll find on the KonMari Method. It?s meant to be a quick reference guide or cheat sheet that you can bookmark and come back to without having to get lost in the details in other posts.
If you are looking for more info on Marie Kondo or her book, you can find it here: 9 Top Themes from ?The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up? by Marie Kondo (Book Summary)
And, if you?re ready to declutter, get started here: Decluttering 101: How to Declutter Your Home Crash Course
The KonMari Method in 5 Steps
1) Discarding by category comes first.
- Categories (in order): Clothes first, then books, papers, komono (miscellany), and lastly, mementos.
2) Break a category into subcategories as necessary.
- For instance, put all your clothing in piles on the floor in subcategories:
- Tops (shirts, sweaters, etc)
- Bottoms (pants, skirts, etc)
- Clothes that should be hung (jackets, coats, suits, etc)
- Socks
- Underwear
- Bags (handbags, messenger bags, etc)
- Accessories (scarves, belts, hats, etc)
- Clothes for specific events (swimsuits, uniforms, etc)
- Shoes
3) Keep only those things that spark joy.
- If ?spark joy? doesn?t do it for you, Marie Kondo also uses these words to describe what you should keep: ?inspire joy,? ?thrill of pleasure,? ?speak to your heart,? ?moves you,? and ?love.?
- Pick things up one by one and decide if it stays. ?Japanese word for healing is te-ate, which literally means ?to apply hands.??
4) After you?ve finished discarding, organize your space thoroughly and completely.
- In this step, you are just deciding where to put something or where to store it.
- ?I have only two rules: store all items of the same type in the same place and don?t scatter storage space.?
5) Do it all in one go.
- ?In Japanese, the term is ikki ni, or ?in one go.??
- ?Ultimate secret of success is this: If you tidy up in one shot, rather than little by little, you can dramatically change your mindset.?
That?s it! Sounds easy enough on paper, right? Have you tried the KonMari Method? Please share your experience in the comments.
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Originally published at Sloww.
