IN the age of consumerism, we find ourselves trapped in homes that are cluttered with unnecessary items that simply take up space and create mental anguish. Following in the footsteps of Japanese organiser, Marie Kondo, there is a movement towards minimalism – and we’re not just talking about an annual ‘spring clean’ here.
This is about decluttering your life so that, from this point on, you question every purchase you make so that there is no need for spring cleaning again.
Why it’s important to declutter
• It saves you time – clearing out your home saves you time on cleaning and searching for all those missing socks.
• You de-stress – a cluttered home creates stress which means you can’t unwind and relax in that space.
• It saves you money – you won’t keep buying things you already have but can’t find. You also think a lot more carefully about every purchase going forwards.
How to declutter the Marie Kondo (KonMarie) way
On average we use 20% of our household items 80% of the time, which means 80% of the things in our home are only used 20% of the time. You need to determine what you really need.
1. Tidy all at once – rather than tackling this over a few weeks, assign one full weekend to tidying everything. Otherwise the clutter starts up again and you lose the drive.
2. Visualise the destination – envision exactly what type of home you want to enter every day and hold onto that image as you start cleaning.
3. Determine if the item ‘sparks joy’ – pick up and hold every item, asking yourself if it brings joy or not. If it doesn’t, it must go. Your home must be filled with items that bring positive energy.
4. Tidy by category, not location – rather than going room by room, sort items in categories such as ‘books’, ‘clothes’ and ‘toys’.
5. Tidy in order – according to Marie Kondo, the best order is:
• Clothes
• Books
• Papers
• Miscellaneous
• Sentimental
Remember that this is not about throwing everything away recklessly. If something can be re-purposed and bring you joy, then make a plan to have this done. Pinterest is a great resource of revisioning household items. And if you are going to throw out, recycle wherever possible!
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