By: Marie Kondo

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There is one secret to tidying up your home or workspace for good: Start by discarding. Then organise your space, thoroughly, in one go. Putting your space in order will positively affect all other aspects of your life. A dramatic reorganisation of the home causes corresponding dramatic changes in lifestyle and perspective. It can be life changing.

When you put your house in order, you put your affairs and your past in order too. The KonMari Method is a guide that will help you acquire the right mindset for creating order and becoming a tidy person.

Why can’t I keep my house in order?

You can’t tidy if you’ve never learned how. Schools and instructors teach everything from cooking to yoga to sewing, but we never teach children how to tidy. Thus, few people actually know how to tidy. Now is the time to learn.

Many experts think that the best way to clean things is one small area at a time. However, this often results in an area being messy again quite soon because everything is only half sorted. If you tidy a little each day, you’ll be tidying forever. If you put your entire house in proper order, you won’t suffer a rebound.

In order to change this lifestyle habit, you must first change your way of thinking. If you tidy up in one shot, rather than little by little, you can dramatically change your mindset. If you use the right method and concentrate your efforts on eliminating clutter thoroughly and completely within a short span of time, you’ll see instant results that will empower you to keep your space in order ever after.

The work can be broadly divided into two decisions: deciding whether or not to dispose of something and deciding where to put it. If you can do these two things, you can achieve perfection.

Many people get the urge to clean up when they’re under pressure because it makes them feel like they’re putting something in order. Tidying provides a temporary relief, and when your room is clean and uncluttered, you have no choice but to examine your inner state. From the moment you start tidying, you’ll be compelled to reset your life. Putting your house in order allows you to confront difficult issues. Tidying is the tool, not the final destination. The true goal is to establish the lifestyle you want.

Tidying up by location is a fatal mistake. Instead, sort by category. For example, tidy books or clothes instead of a particular room. This way, you’ll better grasp the overall volume of the things you have.

The best way to approach tidying is to make it a special event. Don’t do it every day. Daily tidying, such as using something and putting it back in its place, will always be part of our lives. Once you put your house in order, this will be the only tidying you need. Put aside some time and do a dramatic cleanup. Then, you will have no difficulty in putting things back where they belong or in deciding where to keep new things.

Finish discarding first

Start by discarding everything at once, intensely and completely. If you don’t, you will rebound and your room will become cluttered again within a few days. When you tidy your space completely, the change is so profound that you feel like you are living in a totally different world. This deeply affects your mind and inspires a strong aversion to reverting to your previously cluttered state. You must always start with the discarding; otherwise, you will never make permanent progress.

Before you start, identify your goal. What motivated you to tidy in the first place? Think in concrete terms so that you can vividly picture what it would be like to live in a clutter-free space. Then, identify why you want to live like that. When you find the answer, you are ready to examine what you own.

Choose what you want to keep, not what you want to get rid of. Take each item in your hand and ask, “does this spark joy?” If it does, keep it. If it doesn’t, discard it. Only keep the things that speak to your heart. Then discard the rest.

Always think in terms of categories, not places. Before choosing what to keep, collect everything that falls within the same category at one time. You may be surprised about how much you actually have. When you focus on one category at a time, your tidying process will go faster.

People have trouble discarding things that they could still use (functional value), that contain helpful information (informational value), and that have sentimental ties (emotional value). When these things are hard to obtain or replace, they become harder to part with. Begin with items that are easier to make decisions about. The best sequence is this: clothes, then books, papers, miscellaneous, and then mementoes.

Don’t let your family see. It can be stressful for parents to see what their children discard. It is considerate to keep your garbage out of site. It can be frustrating when your family doesn’t cooperate with your attempts to achieve the “ideal” home. The best way to deal with a family who doesn’t tidy is to quietly work away at disposing of your own excess. The urge to point out someone else’s failure to tidy is usually a sign that you are neglecting to take care of your own space.

If you don’t need it, your family doesn’t need it either. If you want to give something away, make sure you give it to someone who actually needs it.

Use tidying as a way to engage in some internal dialogue. Cleaning can be very meditative. Create a quiet space in which to evaluate the things in your life. Start early in the morning, and converse with yourself through the medium of your possessions. It may be difficult to let go of some of your possessions, but it will help you truly cherish the things that are important to you. 

Tidying by category works like magic

It’s best to tidy clothing in the following order: tops, bottoms, clothes that should be hung, socks, underwear, bags, accessories, clothes for specific events and then shoes.

Start by placing every item of clothing in the house on the floor. Then, choose the clothes that give you pleasure, and discard the rest. Don’t downgrade clothes to “loungewear.”

When you put your clothes away, fold it correctly. By neatly folding your clothes, you can solve almost every problem related to storage. The key is to store things standing up rather than laid flat. The goal is to fold each piece of clothing into a simple, smooth rectangle. Your clothing should keep its shape when stood on edge.

Fold whatever clothes you can, but hang any clothes such as coats, suits, jackets, skirts and dresses. In the closet, you should hang clothes in the same category side by side. Arrange your clothes so that they rise to the right. Hang heavy items on the left side of the closet and light items on the right.

Treat your socks and stockings with respect. Never tie up your stockings or ball up your socks. Instead, fold them. Don’t store off-season clothes. Instead, keep all of your clothes ready to be used year-round, regardless of the season.

Next, put all of your books on the floor and discard books that don’t give you pleasure. If you think you’ll read it again “someday,” give it away.

As a rule, discard all of the old papers that do not fall into one of the three categories: currently in use, needed for a limited period of time, or must be kept indefinitely. Make sure you keep all such papers in one spot only. Never let them spread to other parts of the house.

For the other miscellaneous items, only keep things that actively make you happy. Get rid of unnecessary things such as cosmetic samples, electronic packages, unidentified cords, and spare buttons. As you reduce your belongings, you will come to a point where you suddenly know how much is just right for you. Follow your intuition. Believe what your heart tells you when you ask, “does this spark joy?”

Storing your things to make your life shine

Designate a specific place for every thing. If your item doesn’t have a home, your space is more likely to become cluttered again. Once you learn to choose your belongings properly, you will be left with only the amount that fits perfectly in the space you currently own. If you start storing before you have eliminated excess, you will rebound.

The secret to maintaining an uncluttered room is to pursue ultimate simplicity in storage so you can tell at a glance how much you have. Store all items of the same type in the same place and don’t scatter storage space. If you live with your family, first clearly define separate storage spaces for each family member.

Clutter is caused by a failure to return things to where they belong. Therefore, storage should reduce the effort needed to put things away, not the effort needed to get them out. If you are aiming for an uncluttered room, it is important to arrange your storage so you can tell at a glance where everything is. When you are choosing what to keep, ask your heart. When you are choosing where to store something, ask your house.

Do not stack things. Instead, store things vertically. Rather than buying something to help you store your things, wait until you have completed the entire process and then take your time looking for storage items that you really like.

The best way to store bags is in another bag. The key is to put the same type of bags together according to material, size and frequency of use. Empty your bag every day to prevent your bag from getting too worn.  Make sure to utilise all parts of your closet.

Keep things out of the bath and the kitchen sink. Dry your shampoos and soaps and sponges after each use and put them away in the cupboard. Don’t store your spices on the counter, either. Transform your home into a sacred place, a power spot filled with pure energy and transform your closet into your own private space, one that gives you a thrill of pleasure. Unpack new clothes as soon as you take them home. Appreciate your possessions and gain strong allies. Try saying, “thank you for keeping me warm all day,” when you hang up your clothes.

The magic of tidying dramatically transforms your life

Putting your house in order is a great way to discover what you really want to do. Look at the books and possessions that remain after you tidy up to see what your true interests and passions are.

Remember that letting go is even more important than adding. Tidying can dramatically change one’s life. One of the best effects of tidying is greater confidence in your decision-making capacity because you go through hundreds of items and decide whether it sparks joy or not. People who lack confidence in their judgment lack confidence in themselves.

When we really delve into the reason we can’t let go of something, it’s either because we have an attachment to the past or a fear of the future. The question of what you want to own is actually the question of how you want to live your life. Attachment to the past and fears of the future represent the criteria by which you make choices in every aspect of your life. When we face the things we own and experience the emotions they evoke, we can confront our feelings and work through them.

Tidying up will make you realise that you can do without many of your possessions. Life becomes far easier once you know that things will still work out even if you are lacking something. Tidying is a celebration, a special send-off for those things that will be departing from the house. Treat it as such. Pour your time into what brings you the most joy and what things bring you the most joy. Life begins after you have put your house in order.