Konmari decluttering – how it worked for me.
I’m sure that by now you have heard the word “Konmari” and maybe you’ve already tried it. Today I’m sharing the first results of my Konmari test and letting you know what I think.
Konmari is a method of decluttering developed by Japanese organizer Marie Kondo and described in the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
— and it’s taking the interwebs by storm. [UPDATE: Watch “Tidying Up” on Netflix.]
Usually when fads take over I try to ignore them as I am not what marketers call an “early adopter”. I like to wait things out and see the results others have before I try something, but as I continued to see testimonies of people who have literally had life-changing experiences using Marie Kondo’s techniques I finally decided to buy the book.
Marie has studied organizing since she was just five years old, started her own organizing business as a teenager and is so successful that she has a three month waiting list for clients in her native Japan. [UPDATE: She is no longer taking clients herself, but has a team that works for her.]
The basic premise of the Konmari method is to put your house in order once and for all by:
- decluttering items by category (rather than location) in a specific order;
- piling every item in the selected category on the floor;
- quickly deciding if you should keep the item by asking the simple question: “Does it spark joy?“
I was intrigued by this question so I decided to do a test to see which method I liked better: Konmari or my usual 10 Minutes a Day Decluttering (read the details here).
I set aside time one morning last week to follow the Konmari method with my clothing (the first category you address when using this method). In her book Marie notes that most people are shocked once they see the totality of their belongings in one pile so I was prepared to be completely embarrassed by the amount of clothing I had and I also expected to take over an hour going through them all.
Instead I was actually pleasantly surprised to find that I had fewer clothes than I thought. I admit that I cheated slightly because I placed my clothes on the bed instead of the floor and I left the hanging clothes on their hangers. If I had actually removed them from the hangers and piled them up, it might have looked like I have more clothing.
I started by picking up each of my hanging items one at a time and noticing the feeling I had when I touched them. If I didn’t feel instantly happy I placed the item in a pile on the floor to discard. It took me only five minutes to work through my hanging clothes in this way and I was excited to see the clothing that I had left were the items that I really love and wear most of the time anyway.
I then moved to my folded clothing using the same method of touching each piece and noting how I felt about it. In 22 minutes I had worked through each non-hanging item for a total of 27 minutes of sorting — MUCH less time than I had anticipated.
I ended up with 30 items to give away and such an amazing feeling of freedom and happiness that I immediately wanted to continue on to every area of my home. In the interest of science and giving you an unbiased report, however, I chose to wait before Konmari-ing my whole house.
What I Like A Lot About the Konmari Method
In the past I have avoided pulling every item out of an area to declutter because I would quickly reach decision fatigue and then leave the items I had pulled out in a pile on the floor to “deal with later”. By piling up only one category of items and asking if an item sparks joy I was able to cut through the usual thoughts I have when decluttering:
- What if I need this later?
- I paid so much for this that I shouldn’t get rid of it.
- But my Grandmother gave me this.
I was therefore able to work quickly and avoid decision fatigue.
I realized once I was done with my clothing that I had felt drained walking into my closet before. Now I feel energized because I have a closet full of clothing I love and I feel happy just walking into the space. It makes it easier to get dressed because I know anything I grab will look good on me and I will feel good wearing it.
I love that one entire category of my belongings is completely done and when I finished I felt a huge sense of relief and freedom. I love seeing the empty space in my closet now.
What I Like Less About the Konmari Method
I am not a huge fan of the Zen philosophy [update: Shintoist-influenced philosophy] that Marie Kondo shares throughout the book. She believes that objects are actually alive and encourages you to thank them for their service to you. As a Christian I would simply change that by thanking God the Father for providing the item. I am still being grateful, but not talking to inanimate objects as if they have spirits.
I do believe that we can feel drained or energized around our belongings and feel negative or positive emotions, but I believe that is because of the experiences we have had surrounding the object not because the objects have the power to act on us as separate live beings. I also believe that the Holy Spirit can help us with everyday decisions such as what to keep and what to get rid of and so saying a little prayer before you start the process can help.
Of course, you are free to believe as you choose, but if you are a Christian it’s good to check what you read with what the Bible says.
Decluttering by focusing on what truly brings you joy will not only bring you more peace and happiness as you eliminate those items that evoke negative thoughts or memories, it will also enable you to discover who you really are. Marie tells stories in her book about clients who have made significant life changes as they rid themselves of the distraction of stuff and discover what truly brings them joy.
In my next post (see Part 2 here) I will share how the 10 Minutes a Day Decluttering Method compares to Konmari and which I will be using going forward.
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What do you think? Have you read the book and tried the Konmari method? Leave a comment.
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I did not buy her book, but used some of her methods from watching “Tidying Up” on Netflix. I found her method of folding clothes very helpful and the series motivated me. If you are a Christian, the book Clutter Free by Kathy Lipp is also helpful. This author helps with the emotional aspect of buying … fear,guilt,shame. I am currently in a bible study with my church and we are using Clutter Free. It also has a workbook that can be purchased as well. Still decluttering my house and using information from both of these great authors.
Thanks for sharing!
Julie P.
Kathi Lipp’s book is an excellent resource! Thanks for sharing this with our readers Julie!
I am definitely going to try this method with my clothing! I am always second guessing myself when it comes to getting rid of stuff and I can see this would be a very helpful method with clothing. I am not so sure how it would help with the rest of the house but I will be checking in here to see if you try it elsewhere and what you think of it in terms of the rest of your decluttering. Thank you for this post!
You are so welcome! Let me know how it goes. 🙂
Thank you for your post. I also modified the New Agey stuff and put it in a Christian perspective (especially the part about making a shrine in your closet, lol!).
I found a lot of Konmari “worksheets” on Pinterest that broke down the four major categories into more reasonable subcategories. That’s helped me a lot. It’s completely changed my life so far, as my master bedroom has stayed completely clutter-free for an entire week so far, and I’ve even got my husband to join in on some things!
That’s awesome Ashley! The key to decluttering is definitely finding a system that works for you and it sounds like the KONMARI method has. I’m so happy that you’ve been able to maintain it too!
Last March I did the Konmari method with all of my items. A year later I discovered that:
-The baskets I have at the bottom and top of my stairs to collect junk and that I had to empty monthly, have stayed empty for a year.
-I have cut down my cleaning time by 1/2 hour a week
-I can go into a store (like the Salvation Army on half price day) and walk out without absolutely nothing because nothing sparks joy.
-I have saved over 6,000 this year not buying junk I don’t need.
-I have been able to work on other areas of my life that need my attention(like life goals) rather than spend so much time managing stuff.
I can honestly say it’s changed my life and I highly recommend following the steps. Like you, I was a little weirded out by the personification of things but I practice gratitude to a higher power instead.
This is SO awesome Ivy! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your success because I am sure that it will be a HUGE motivation for all of us. I’m so happy for you! 🙂
I listened to the audio version of her book. I had done a lot of declutttering already and didn’t think I had much more to get rid of. I was wrong. After listening to her I have gotten rid of about 200 more items. Putting like items together helped me realize that I had duplicates of many things. The idea that an item “has served it’s purpose” and you can part with it whether it was a gift or not was very helpful for me.
Thanks for that insight Karen. I may have to make some time to try the Konmari Method again, but I will have to focus on small categories of items rather than pulling out a lot of stuff all at once. I also like the idea that an item has served its purpose — very helpful.
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
This is the best explanation from the Christian perspective that I’ve read. I found it very helpful because Marie’s take did not Spark Joy.
“Marie’s take did not Spark Joy.” — haha! Thanks for letting me know you found the post helpful Becky. 🙂
Thanks for this great suggestion. I am always looking for new ways to declutter. I fail so many times in my task by thinking I’m decluttering, when in reality all I accomplished was to move it from one area to another.
I too appreciated your Christian perspective as a Christian myself. My issue seems to be that, I am a seller on Ebay, and have been for over 12 years. I sell almost anything, but I have one account dedicated to women’s clothing alone. SO here’s my dilemma. Once I start going through my closet for instance, and pulling clothing I know I’ll never wear again, it never really leaves the house because I believe as a Christian we should be good stewards of our money, I know I paid good money for said item, so it becomes Ebay inventory. Problem is I have 10 times more inventory than I can get listed and sold. But I can never bring myself to get rid of a good sell-able item because I see it as inventory that I can eventually sell to earn money for my family.
Glad you enjoyed the post Pam. That is a dilemma but maybe you could set a limit for yourself like 1 box or a certain number of items to keep to sell and donate the rest. You will be amazed how much better it feels to be rid of the clutter!
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment. 🙂
This article randomly come up on my pintrest home feed and I’m so glade it did! I have to move apartments and possible cross country with in the next year and really wanted to start the huge task of purging so it could be less overwhelming when the time comes. I just don’t understand how I could of accumulated so much stuff! Its a nice perspective that this book seems to take does this object bring your joy vs does it fit or do I need it like I usually do. Thanks for the review!
Glad to help out Mackenzie! Good luck with the decluttering and move. 🙂
I think that the way we think about our objects can be very much dictated by our religious and personal worldviews, and that’s probably an important part of anyone’s journey to declutter and remove unnecessary objects from their life–especially if they are causing us to focus on the things that aren’t most important to us.
For clarity: Marie Kondo is not a Zen Buddhist or any other type of Buddhist. The idea that inanimate objects have individual spirits isn’t a Zen Buddhist or Buddhist belief. The belief system she mentions most in the book is Shintoism, which also doesn’t believe that inanimate objects have spirits. Marie Kondo brings these ideas to her writing because they are her personal worldview–which is quite unique from most people I think!
You make an excellent point that our personal and religious views directly affect our decluttering process, which is one of the reasons I pointed out that aspect of the book. Thank you for clarifying that Marie Kondo mentions Shintoism and not Buddism. I updated the post to reflect that point.
I just saw the book for the first time this week when I was visiting the “big city”. I read through a bit while I stood in line, but was immediately put off by the Zen-ness of it all. Still, I was curious. Your comments are making me re-think it and perhaps I will read it after all. As a Christian, my spiritual framework is solid and in place, but I could use the practical parts.
I completely understand. I am not usually one to read New- Age type books but I did find some helpful tips so maybe you will too. 🙂
Great post! I have just started the Konmari process with some variations and I can’t wait to do more. I am also a Christian and will be relying on the Holy Spirit to guide me throughout the process, and I explained to my kids that we can let stuff go because we trust God to provide for us, not our stuff. Now I need to go read your part two!
That is so true Nicole! We can always trust God to provide what we need.
I’ve just started hearing about the Konmari method. As a Christian, I really appreciate your comments from that perspective because I was concerned about that if I read her book and followed her method. Thank you for your post.
Hi Linda – You are very welcome. So glad to help.
Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
exactly! I didn’t think to say a little prayer, now I will. I am in the midst of using the Konmari method on my kitchen. It feels pretty good! Thanks Peaceful Mom for your help. I have read the book but I appreciate your Christian perspective.
You are so welcome Tracy!
I’ve been wanting to go thru my clothing and discard what I don’t love and wear. You’re about the 4th person in the past month that I’ve read has followed this method. Picking up the book after work today!!!
Let me know how it goes Kim. 🙂
Neat experiment and great post! I appreciate you adding your thoughts about thanking God and not the objects. 🙂 God bless!
Thanks Lisa!
Great article/blog entry! I appreciate the time you take sharing advice and opinions. For instance, this sentence: “I also believe that the Holy Spirit can help us with everyday decisions
such as what to keep and what to get rid of and so saying a little
prayer before you start the process can help.”
We like to pray before we head out to garage sales and so many other little things. I had not really ever thought about praying over our decluttering (our project for the summer), so thank you for this!
My pleasure Tanya! Thanks for following the blog. 🙂
Thanks for the tip Aleighanne!
I can imagine that decluttering with a toddler is challenging. Many years ago my then two year old “helped” me by spreading diaper ointment on my antique rocking chair and pouring liquid soap on the floor which she then tried to wipe up with baby wipes. Haha!
At first I planned on trying the method just from the information I saw online but I decided to purchase the book because I wanted to review it for my readers. I am glad that I read the book so that I completely understood the author’s approach and I always like to support authors’ work.
If you just don’t have room in the budget to purchase the book try to borrow it from the library. If you cannot find a copy to borrow I do think that you can benefit from implementing the method with just the information you find online but it is more than simply asking the question: “Does it spark joy?“
Let me know how it goes. 🙂
Thanks Rachel!
Yes, I have read the book. For me, it makes the process easier to just ask the question about it bringing me joy. As a Christian, I don’t thank the object or talk to it as well. I’m still struggling with items recieved as gifts from loved ones, specially some of my deceased parents stuff. I’m looking forward to your next post.
I know exactly what you mean about sentimental items. That is why she suggests leaving them until last but I am sure it is going to be difficult for me.
Great point Emily (and you may read something about that in my next post. 😉 )
Thanks Caro! 🙂
I think the main idea is that if you do a complete overhaul of everything you own that you will feel so relieved you will never want to go back to the clutter again. She does say that you can choose to work on weekends and take up to 6 months to complete everything and probably after spending that much time you won’t ever want to have to do it again — haha!
It does feel good to pass good items on to other people. 🙂
You won’t have to wait long Karen. 🙂
I am definitely going to try this method with my clothing! I am always second guessing myself when it comes to getting rid of stuff and I can see this would be a very helpful method with clothing. I am not so sure how it would help with the rest of the house but I will be checking in here to see if you try it elsewhere and what you think of it in terms of the rest of your decluttering. Thank you for this post!
My pleasure Marie!