Tidying Up Using The KonMari Method

In the summer before I went back to university I had this massive clear out prompted by the KonMari Method. I started with my cupboard since I’d not cleared it out since secondary school then I moved onto my bookshelf and then under my bed. I did it by area and managed to clear out so many things it was unreal.

And now I’ve found myself wanting to clean and declutter again. I finished my first semester of my MA and realised that my desk is a dumping ground again, my cupboard just has a lot of fabric shoved into it now instead of toys from when I was younger and we’re not even going to think about the clothes situation. What’s been motivating me to actually do something about this instead of just putting it down as a goal? Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.

Even before the Netflix series I’d heard of Marie Kondo and the KonMari method; I came from being a studyblr, so it’s hard to not find out about things like this with the aesthetic focus and help with ‘adulting’. So, below features little tips that I’ve learned from the series and why I would highly recommend watching it.

Folding Clothes

I’m starting with this one since it’s something I’ve struggled with. I kind of just vaguely fold them so they won’t be too creased and follow the way that my mam and everyone in my family seems to fold clothes. I’d tried before to do something like this but didn’t make it work.

This website has a folding guide for clothes based on Kondo’s methods and is a great guide for when you want to look up how to fold one specific piece of clothing. It has step by step text instructions and videos as well to follow.

This is also a great place to start if you’re not too sure about starting to declutter. Do something small and simple like fold your clothes and you’ve made progress!

Getting started with the KonMari method

I said earlier in this post that I sorted by place (since I was only doing my room) instead of category-by-category, this isn’t the case in the KonMari method. In this method you have 5 categories:

1. Clothes

2. Books

3. Papers

4. Komono (Miscellaneous)

5. Sentimental Items

These 5 categories make it so much simpler to start decluttering and organising. Instead of having books on your desk and bookshelf and cupboard and not really getting a good idea of how much you have, you take everything out and see it all. Then you start with the discarding; if something does not spark joy then you’ll be getting rid of it but remember to thank it for serving it’s purpose before you do. This makes it so much easier for me to let go of things, I’d read those books and wasn’t going to again so they’ve served their purpose and can go to another home where they’ll be used.

There’s six rules with this method; commit to tidying up, imagine the ideal lifestyle, finish discarding first, tidy by category, follow the right order and remember to ask if it sparks joy. This means you take each category one by one rather than mixing clothes and papers or books and papers. Tackle it one by one and you’ll be surprised how quickly you’ve managed to declutter!

But I don’t want to get rid of everything!

Then don’t!

Nobody is forcing you to get rid of everything. Say you have a shirt that you got from school and it holds massive sentimental value to you? Keep it. That isn’t the point. You’ll have maybe 10 shirts that are next to that one you love that you don’t wear or don’t like, those are the ones you should be thinking about thanking.

Check out Marie Kondo

There’s a Netflix series and you can find the book “Spark Joy: An illustrated guide to the Japanese art of tidying” for just $2.57 on kindle (£1.99) as well as Marie Kondo’s other books.

I bought “Spark Joy” not too long ago and read it, making notes as I went, thinking about how I would sort out my room. When I went upstairs I found that I automatically went straight to the clothes, when I packed my suitcase to go away I automatically did it the way she suggested, not referring to those notes I made and that’s when I started recommending her method to people.

Her way of tidying makes sense, it allows you to keep everything you want and even find joy with those practical items that you need to keep but not just this – I’ve found happiness in the little things! Opening my drawers to pick out a T-shirt in the morning isn’t a hassle, it’s great to see all the clothes there looking nice. I wasn’t panicked about picking out shirts to take with me, because they’re all there and will fit nicely into my bag without worrying that I’ll have lots of creases and wrinkles.

---

Hey! Tara here and thanks for checking out my blog. I update every Tuesday with posts about studying tips, advice and talk about productivity and organisation too. If you want to keep up to date with my latest blog posts I’d love it if you subscribed to this blog.

#organisation #konmari #tidying #clothes #mariekondo #cleaning