Marie Kondo is one quirky personality. Unlike most people, piles of junk and mess make her happy. And that’s not because she’s an untidy person, it’s actually the opposite. Kondo is a Japanese organizing consultant whose books have sold millions of copies worldwide. Her books have inspired the hit Netflix show, “Tidying up with Marie Kondo” where she visits random houses and helps residents sort things out.

Marie’s methods are highly practical – some of the things she points out are pretty obvious but these are things we need to be reminded of every now and then. Life, she believes, becomes more joyful once you live in a de-cluttered space. Her techniques are called the “Konmari Method”. Here we bring to you some helpful tips from that magic trick of tidying up. 

Finish discarding first
Before you begin de-cluttering, you need to make a mess of all of your possessions. If it is clothes you want to begin with, bring out all the pieces of clothing you own and pile them together, every single piece. You will find yourself with a mountain of clothes in no time and sorting through that may seem like a monstrous task but you will do it sooner than you realize. Now go through the pile. You’ll find many pieces of clothing that you haven’t worn for years or clothing that you are certain you will never wear. You will also find clothes that have gone past their wear and need to be discarded. Now group these clothes into two categories, one that you need and the other you could do without. Give away all that you don’t need. You will find yourself with a much smaller and manageable wardrobe. Do the same with your kitchenware and everything else in your home. 

Fold it
Marie has a unique method for folding things. From pants, blazers, socks to even plastic packets she has a way for everything. The basic of Konmari is for items to take as little space as possible. So even a monstrously large blanket should be folded in a way that it takes the least possible (for its size) space when storing. Rather than hanging too many clothes on your wardrobe, folding them in drawers will make them more accessible and manageable. Fold all your scarves and arrange them in a grid-like formation in drawers rather than leaving them hanging on a chair. Pants, t-shirts, underwear – do the same for everything. When arranging items in drawers, make sure that you arrange your things vertically. For instance, if you’re arranging your socks place them one against the other (how you would arrange books) rather them piling one above the other. This allows you to easily access your socks without toppling the whole arrangement.

Sparking joy
Marie’s methods are in some ways inspired by the Shinto religion that compares cleaning and organizing things to spiritual practices. Shintoism is all about living the right way and deriving positives from natural energy. So even if this tip may seem a little far-fetched, this is fundamental to the Konmari method. Hold your possessions in one hand and see for yourself whether they have any positive use for you, if not discard them. Marie often quizzes her clients whether the items “spark joy” in them. Often we hold onto things we don’t need or things that evoke negative memories. Do yourself a favor and throw them away. Now this is not to say that you throw away all of your bills – bills are responsibilities and necessary. Store bills in a separate box and tackle them one by one. With items you treasure, store them in nicer boxes. This tip is all about making you feel good about your possessions. Remember this isn’t minimalism – you don’t need to empty your house. Just keep things you really require.

Tidy up all at once
This may sound taxing but it’s actually quite doable. Rather than going from one room to the other and separating days for each room, Marie recommends tidying all at once. You may need to devote an entire weekend but some things are just worth it. By tidying one room at a time over an extended period, you may just end up messing the previously tidied room as you move to the other. It’s all back to square one then. To make the task a little easier, start with the smaller things first. Once they are managed the bigger objects will not seem daunting anymore. Also start with objects that you most frequently use, that way even if you don’t finish tidying in a day you will still be able to function the next day. 

Tidy by categories not location
By this Marie simply means to tidy up by categorizing the stuff and not going from one room to another. Often we tend to start with one room – from the drawing room to the kitchen then to the bathroom and finally to the bedroom. The order varies depending on people’s priorities but this is pretty much how we tend to clean up. With the Konmari method, you group your possessions in similarities of their utility and size. Arranging by size not only helps when sorting but also helps in the aesthetics of your display racks. Keep smaller items with other smaller items – this helps you keep track of where you have kept a certain thing. Plus chances of you losing them will be very slim. Also, for smaller items always use drawers.

Life saving hacks
Store items depending on the frequency of their use. Store items in transparent containers so that you know where things are.
Don’t repurpose clothes to loungewear. Don’t justify keeping an old and torn t-shirt just because you think you can repurpose it as a pajama top.
Don’t feel obliged to hold on to gifts that you don’t like or use. You can pass it on to someone who you think will have a better use for it. 
Learn to recycle your papers. Scan important documents and keep the hard copy safe. But for everything else, reuse what you can and recycle what you can’t.

 
• Tidying
 
• location
 
• discarding
 
• books