How to declutter and get organised with the KonMari Method!

Are you surrounded by clutter and not sure what to do?  You are not on your own!  In a study of Australian residents close to half of respondents described their homes as reasonably cluttered and a quarter of the respondents’ said clutter was creating stress or anxiety in their lives.  If we boxed up the clutter Australians have in their own home and placed it along every inch of the coastline in Australia, we will go around Australia about 6 times or 210,112 kilometres!  That is a lot of clutter!

 Did we all miss the tidying lessons?  Well, it seems there were no tidying lessons growing up!  As a child, I was taught how to tie my shoelaces, clean my teeth, and then as I got older, how to cook, sew and knit, and then even how to change a tyre on my car.  As an adult, I took lessons in yoga and painting.  But at no point did I get a lesson in how to tidy.  Now I was lucky.  I was a naturally tidy person.  

However, whilst my tidy gene served me well over the years, as time went on, I started earning more money and buying myself lots (and lots) of stuff.   Whilst I maintained an image of tidiness, the clutter behind my cupboard doors revealed a very different story.   When I ran out of room at home, I even started storing some items in my office at work.    

I was overwhelmed with the ‘stuff’ I had collected.   I had become a contributor to the clutter statistics!

Then I happened upon Marie Kondo's book "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up'.  Marie Kondo is a Japanese organising expert renowned for inventing the KonMari Method® which emphasises the need for decluttering and keeping only those things that ‘spark joy.’   I applied the KonMari Method® of tidying up to my home, completing my tidying festival.  Bingo!   I realised how simple it is to learn how to tidy and change one’s mindset about collecting stuff.  

So, if you are struggling with tidying and organising your home, and clutter is getting in the way, follow these KonMari Method® principles.

 Step 1.  Visualise your ideal space and commit time to achieve this.

How will your space feel and function?  What will you be doing in your ideal space? Then plan to commit time to achieving this ideal lifestyle.  You won't get rid of that clutter without a plan and prioritising the time.  Schedule tidying time in the calendar.

Step 2.  Tidy by category, not by location.

Don’t declutter and organise room by room, instead declutter andorganise one category at a time. In the KonMari method, the first category is clothing, followed by books, papers, komono (the Japanese word for miscellaneous, so think laundry, makeup, kitchen etc), and lastly sentimental items.  Make sure you follow the correct order! Trust me, this step is a game-changer!

 Step 3.  Does it ‘spark joy’?

Check EACH item in your home and ask does it 'spark joy' (or does it serve a purpose)?  If the answer is no, let it go with thanks and gratitude.  It is time for that item to bring joy to someone else.

 Step 4. Declutter first, and then organise.

It is very tempting to jump ahead to storage (and buy all those pretty containers), but you need to focus on decluttering. It is highly likely you will end up with much less than you started with, so don’t waste energy (and money) on storage until you have decluttered.

Step 5.  Make sure every single item has a home.

Each item must have its own home.  This makes ongoing maintenance easy and is critical to ensure you don’t rebound.

Give it a go, and good luck! I’d love to hear how you go!

Mel x

PS: Need more help and motivation? Here are a few options:

‘Declutter Your Home and Life’ - 12 week online group coaching program: This program is designed to help you take action to declutter and sort using mindset coaching, principles from the KonMari Method of decluttering and organising and psychological insights, so you can live a calmer, simpler and more joyful life. FInd out more here!

If you would like to book a free 30-minute consultation to start your spark joy journey visit my website for more details  www.livelifeorganised.com.au. 

You can also follow me on https://www.instagram.com/live_life_organised/  and  Live Life Organised | Facebook for more tidying tips and motivation.

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