Marie Kondo and The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Reading Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up completely changed my view on tidying up. I had always seen the process as “something you just do”, without putting too much thought or science in it. Marie Kondo, however, not only brings out the science, she also brings out the personality and emotion of tidying up.

Reading Marie Kondo’s book caused a revolution in my house. Before I had even finished it, I scheduled a day to tidy up my place. The results were truly transforming: spiritually and physically. Marie says that tidying up your place has to be done in one go. This way you really feel the transformation. She is right. After throwing out my clutter and organizing all my drawers, I don’t think I can ever go back.

Here are some of Marie’s tips I used in my tidying-up transformation, which I found invaluable.

Start by Discarding

This may be a no-brainer for some but I have always seen tidying up as an exercise of putting away what you have. Marie says tidying up is a one-two punch process: first you discard and then you organize. She explains that there is no point organizing stuff you don’t really use or need.

The major cause of clutter is that we keep stuff we don’t really use. Getting a bigger place or putting things in storage is not a solution. We just grow into the bigger place and fill up the storage.

Marie also advises that the process of discarding should really be just that: discarding. She says many people start discarding stuff and at the same time try to organize stuff they won’t discard. This is wrong, she says. When you discard you really should do just that.

Tidy Up by Category Not Location

This was an eye-opener for me. I have always tidied up by location. I would say “today, I’ll organize my closet” and would focus on that space. Marie says this is inefficient. People tend to store the same type of stuff (e.g. clothes, books, etc.) in different places in their homes. Tidying up your closet won’t be much help if later you’ll have to go through the same process of discarding and organizing your clothes in the living room.

Organizing by category allows you to discard and organize the same type of items all at once. Once you are through with a category, let’s say clothes, you don’t have to deal with it again.

Clothes Go First, Mementos Go Last

Tidying up can be an emotional process for many of us. It involves throwing out items we own and we hold dear. To make the process more emotionally easy, Marie suggests to start with the category of items that we are the least likely to be emotionally attached to. Such items, she says, are usually clothes. Most clothes are usually easily replaceable, so the sense of loss is even lower.

Once done with clothes we proceed to books, general clutter and mementos. The idea of following this order is that by the time we get to discarding items we hold dear, we will be in tune with the process of throwing out and it will make it easier.

It’s Time to Kiss and Say Goodbye

In case you didn’t know Marie Kondo is Japanese and the Shinto tradition of the Japanese culture shines through her book. In the Shinto tradition, non-animate items are believed to have a soul and, therefore, are treated like living creatures. Marie suggests that we individually touch each item we are about to discard and say goodbye. It may sound kind of cookie but it does make the process of letting go easier.

Whether we like to admit it or not, we are attached to our stuff. Acknowledging that an item has served us well and now is time to dispose of it made it easier for me to discard some of my favourite (but ripped) shirts.

The life-changing magic of tidying up, however, doesn’t have much to do with all the tips and tricks how to fold your panties. The magic is that once we put our house in order, many other things in our lives get in order. Marie Kondo says that many of her clients get more fit or change jobs after going through a tidying-up transformation.

How we organize our living space and how we treat our possessions is a reflection of how we deal with many other things in life. Holding on to old shoes, for example, may be a sign of deeper psychological issues associated with our past. Marie Kondo suggests that we ask ourselves why we want to hold on certain things. This exploration into our habits can reveal many truths about our psyche.

The process of discarding is also a process of letting go. Only when we let go of the past, can we live in the present. Only when we surround ourselves with order and things we love, can we focus on putting other parts of our lives in order.

Originally published at vicslist.org.