When it comes to getting organised at home, there’s no approach more famous than the Marie Kondo method – but what exactly is it, and how does it work?
Medical experts believe that getting rid of excess stuff and doing a ‘cull’ can benefit your mental health, by making you feel calmer, happier, and more in control. The idea is that a tidier living or working space can make for a more relaxed mind – which more often than not, also means a happier mind.
Considering the fact that most of us have spent the better portion of two years being stuck at home, the rapid rise of Marie Kondo and her ‘life changing magic of tidying up’ philosophy should come as no surprise.
While Kondo is now universally known as a professional organiser, the Japanese icon is also an author and television host. In fact, you’re probably familiar with her thanks to her Netflix series, “Tidying Up With Marie Kondo”. Throughout these platforms, Kondo has introduced the KonMari Method – now often known as the Marie Kondo Method – to an entire generation.
How The Marie Kondo Method Is Changing Lives
Much of Marie Kondo’s approach to organisation is tied back to the KonMari Method, a new age practice with old roots. The concept is to encourage people to get rid of items that no longer have a purpose, but to still retain items that are purposeful and meaningful.
While it’s considered to be a rather rigid declutter method to deploy and may not be suitable for everyone, there are still plenty of pearls of wisdom that can be extracted and embraced accordingly. Fans of the show will be familiar with Kondo’s signature phrase ‘does this spark joy’ when helping guests to declutter their homes, and in turn, their lives.
Fundamentally, the Marie Kondo Method believes that tidying up is a marathon, and not a sprint. Intermittent decluttering, such as donating old clothes every once in a while or cleaning out storage bins before a move, may result in brief moments of tranquillity – but the clutter will always come back. Instead of short term solutions, Kondo encourages people to approach decluttering as a long game, and uses techniques designed to banish the build up for good.
What makes KonMari different from other decluttering strategies is that Kondo encourages people to tidy by category, as opposed to location. According to Kondo, going from room to room makes it hard to get a true grasp on what and how much you own, and that this approach will inevitably lead to a clutter based relapse.
Instead, the order in which to tidy has been deemed to be the reason behind Kondo’s success. It’s her belief that by starting with the easiest category, people are able to sharpen up their decision making skills, avoid becoming overwhelmed, and are empowered to be clear with which items truly spark joy.
If you’re ready to give the Marie Kondo Method a try, the decluttering process should be approached in the following order –
- Clothes
- Books
- Paperwork
- Komono (miscellaneous items)
- Sentimental items
As a starting point, gather all of the items in the category into one huge pile – that means going through every hallway, wardrobe, closet and even storage tubs that might be stashed away in the shed or garage. It can be overwhelming to see all of the items in what can often look like a small mountain, but that’s the entire point – you simply don’t use or need all of these items, and the visual size makes it easier to determine what to cull and what to keep.
Given that many Australian households are about to embark on their annual spring clean as a means to channel true domestic bliss, there’s no better time to apply the Marie Kondo Method to your home and life. Once you conquer the world of decluttering, the next step is keeping it that way.
Ultimately, it’s important to keep in mind that busy mums and dads still need to find the balance between making the most of their time, and having a clean house. To get the best of both worlds, investing in a reliable house cleaner to take care of the bigger tasks or regular day to day stuff can be worth their weight in gold – but where do you find one?
Ditch The Chemicals And Stay Clean With Goodwings
We all know that good help can be hard to find, particularly when it comes to finding a reliable housekeeper that you can trust. Offering four to six hour cleaning packages, just a handful of the services on offer with the Cleaning Angels at Goodwings include bed linen changes, washing, and topping up everyday household goods like washing powder, shampoos, toilet paper and much more.
Given the fact that eco-friendly cleaning agents have been demonstrated to be just as effective at tackling various chores as traditional cleaning products, the weekly or fortnightly packages on offer through Goodwings enable Queenslanders to continue on with a healthy lifestyle without sacrificing the cleanliness of their homes.
To find out more about the services on offer with us at Goodwings, get in touch to discuss how we can provide your household with world class cleaning solutions.
