We have heard of stories where the hero and heroine fell in love and their life changes forever. We have heard of accidents that changed people’s life forever. But have you heard of learning the secrets of tidying up which can change your life forever? Well, listen to Marie Kondo, author of the bestseller, “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up”, and you will be doing just that…changing your life forever, she promises.
The charming Japanese author of a world bestseller, says she grew up reading the magazines her mother subscribed to and found most of them dealt with better organisation of the house. By 19, she had turned herself into an organization consultant and she shows you a messy room, which after consultation with her, is transformed into an enviably clean one.
What are her secrets? She calls it the Konmarie method. The first rule is to tidy up in one shot, as quickly, as completely as possible. Kondo likens cleaning to celebrating a festival. “Don’t think of tidying up like a daily activity, it is a special event. You may decide to do it everyday for five days or every weekend for three months, but there has to be a planned end date, a deadline,” says Kondo
The second rule is to sort by category, not by location. “It is very common to clean location-wise. It never ends if you try to tidy up just one portion of the living room or closet. The right way to do it is to organize by category. If you decide to organise your clothes for instance, make a big pile of all the clothes you have in the house. In the same way if you decide to organise your books, take out all the books from the different book cases and pile them up together in one place. It looks hard and messy but I will tell you why you need to do this. If you bring out all your clothes/books in one location you visually realize how many of them you have. In our daily life we do not understand how much stuff we have around us.”
At this point the major step is to separate that which you want to keep and that which you want to get rid of. This brings Kondo to the third point, “ Touch each object and see if it sparks joy. If you look at one thing ask one question, does it make you happy…does your being rise in joy when you hold it? Many people begin by asking themselves what they would like to get rid of. It is much more important to ask what to keep. What you would like to live with from now. If your body reacts with joy when you touch an item you possess, then you should keep it. If it bears you down, get rid of it. I know you are sceptical, but if you try it you will see it really works.”
(If you were to ask her about your alarm clock which spreads only alarm and no joy, she says for such things which serve a purpose, one has to talk to them and then they will start giving joy)
Kondo also gives you an order of tidying up. “Begin with clothing, followed by books, documents, miscellaneous items and then the mementos. Be sure to follow this order.”
Kondo is not against owning or collecting more and more things, it is all about organization. In terms of clothes, for instance, Kondo, in another video, teaches you how to fold them. “When a piece of clothing is folded well, it can stand on its own,” says Kondo and if you stand the clothing, you get more space in the closet. Kondo says children should be initiated into organising by making them organise their clothes, not toys.
Ask not about the newspaper and coffee mugs lying all around the house, for Kondo says she does not believe people who say the kids mess up or the husband messes up the place. “That means it is not organised properly.” Touche’.
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Web link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1-HMMX_NR8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lpc5_1896ro
