Marie Kondo is like a tiny, adorable organized Fairy Godmother. These Marie Kondo organizing tips will change the way you see not only your home but yourself and your life as well. When she says tidying is life-changing, she’s not joking.
The Best Marie Kondo Organizing Tips
Tip #1: Keep Only What Sparks Joy
This idea seemed like common sense until you realize that quite a few things you own don’t spark joy.
With the Konmarie method, you only keep the things that spark joy in your life. This is a beautiful idea which means your space will no longer be bogged down with items that you bought only because they were on clearance or were a gift that you don’t enjoy.
If you took a true look at your home and each room in it, how many things actually stand out as bringing you joy?
Tip #2: Write down your ideal life
This is one of my favorites. One of my favorite Marie Kondo organizing tips comes from something that has a scientific backing.
In the Konmarie method, Marie has you write down what your ideal life looks like. By gaining this kind of clarity on the life you want to live and the person you want to be, it makes it easier to identify the items in your home that belong to the “old self.”
There have been numerous scientific studies to show the power of intention, visualization, and goal setting. When you write down what your ideal life looks like, you are changing the nearul pathways in your brain. When you feel excited and bring up elevated emotions, you are truly changing your physiology.
So, by writing down your ideal life, you are actually changing your brain and body to look like they are living in the new future instead of the old past.
This is one of the most essential steps to the Konmarie Method, in my opinion.
Tip #3: Treat Your Items Like Someone You Love
In the Konmarie Method, she makes a point to treat your items with respect. Fold them properly, thank them, and have appreciation towards them. She treats each item like it has its own little personality and feelings.
I think this is a wonderful way to stay conscious throughout our day and in our spaces. Our items, whether that be clothing, plates, or chairs work hard for us. We should show them the gratitude and respect that they deserve.
And if something is no longer sparking joy for you, then thank that item for its service and lovingly let it go.
The way she treats her items reminds me of the way we treat people that we love. We appreciate, respect, and show them gratitude.
This is one of my favorite things in her book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.
Tip #4: Organize By Category, Not Room
This idea was revolutionary.
Instead of doing the traditional decluttering method of going room by room, Marie Kondo organizing is a little different.
Or rather, a lot different.
Marie Kondo has you take each category, whether things like clothing or papers and sort them into groups.
She believes this helps you see how many things you actually own in that category.
This was huge for me because I truly didn’t know how much I had of each category until they were in a giant pile in front of me.
This made decluttering a lot easier because I was willing to get rid of a lot more.
Tip #5: Discard All At Once (Not Little By Little)
The Konmarie Method is into a big, clean sweep. She prefers not to do the method of “getting rid of one item a day.”
Instead, you will plan a day (or a few days) and go through your clutter like a tiny tornado.
This is one of the best decluttering methods I have tried.
The reason?
Your space will (most likely) never get truly organized if you are going piece by piece, day by day. Nothing changes.
You are far better off doing a big, clean sweep.
Tip #6: Visualize Your End
When you visualize an ideal future, you are doing a few things:
- Changing your brain’s neural pathways. You are truly changing your brain to make it look like an event happened. There were studies done with people who played the piano. The people who visualized playing the piano had nearly the same brain changes as the people who physically played the piano.This means that when we rehearse something in our minds, we change our brains.
- Changing emotions. When we visualize our ideal future with positive emotions, we are helping our bodies. When you feel elevated emotions, you are lowering the stress chemicals in your body.This is helpful because not only will you get up feeling happier, but your body will have changed for the better.
- Clarity. When you get clear on what you want your future to look like, it helps you get clear on where you are and where you want to go. This helps you decide what to declutter and what to keep because you begin to think as the future you.
Tip #7: Hold Each Piece
In the Marie Kondo organizing method, she has you hold each item you own.
If the item sparks a feeling of joy, you keep it.
If you hold an item and feel something negative, like an obligation to keep it, guilt, or bland, you should probably let it go.
There are a few items she speaks of that might not spark joy, like snowboots, but maybe you need them because you live in a cold climate. In that case, you should thank the boots for keeping your feet warm and appreciate what they provide.
This is a really essential step to the Konmarie Method because it’s easy to believe we can look at an item and determine if it sparks joy.
But the truth is, it really does make a difference one you are holding that item.
Try it out for yourself, and you will feel the difference.
Tip #8: “Some Time” Means “Never”
Do you have a book or books in your home that you have told yourself you will “some time” but never actually do?
I think we all do.
If you gather up all of your reading material and truly look at it, you will see that there are books that you will never actually read.
A favorite tip of mine from Marie Kondo is to lovingly let the books go.
Books hold a lot of energy. The author put so much time and attention into that work. That is valuable mental space that you can open up by letting go of books you will never read.
Tip #9: Give Everything A Home
If you give each item that you own their own “home,” it makes cleaning up and organizing a breeze!
Marie Kondo organizing involves giving each item its own place so that when you decide to tidy, you don’t have to think as much about it.
It’s also a sign of respect for those items. When each item has its own home, then it’s easier to keep your home clean.
Tip #10: Greet Your House
Marie Kondo talks a lot about greeting your home.
When you speak to your home, welcome it, greet it, and thank it, then energy totally shifts. It radiates out an energy of gratitude that attracts more good into your life.
Gratitude is felt when we receive something favorable. The more gratitude we feel for ourselves, our lives, and our homes will magnify the energy of happiness in our lives.
Tip #11: Your Real Life Begins
Decluttering is not meant to be the only thing in your life. It’s not meant to be the end-all-be-all. It’s meant to free you up so that you can live a truly extraordinary life.
When you declutter the old, visualize the new, and begin to take action, you open up yourself and your lives for wonderful synchronicities, serendipities, and new opportunities to occur.
This is why this process is so powerful.
You are meant to live an extraordinary life.
Begin today.
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