okaybee

In my effort to become more environmentally friendly, I’ve become increasingly uncomfortable with the amount of crap that piles up in my home.

Even when you try to cut down, you bring your reusable bags, you refuse excess packaging, you don’t go shopping, things just seem to gather in every nook and cranny of a room. At least for me they do. Which is why last week I decided I needed to get serious. I needed Marie Kondo in my life.

If you haven’t watched Marie Kondo’s new series on Netflix, ‘Tidying Up with Marie Kondo’, then you need to get on that right away. Not only is Marie one of the sweetest, loveliest people, it’s also a real motivator to getting your shit together. ASAP.

Below is the proper KonMarie method, as per the website:

1. Commit yourself to tidying up
2. Imagine your ideal life
3. Finish letting go first
4. Tidy by category, not location
5. Follow the right order
6. Ask yourself if it sparks joy

Last week was the final straw for me. With little to no floor space in my room, an avalanche of random crap piling up, and my door close to coming off the hinges with the weight of the stuff hanging off it, I was so ready to commit to the KonMarie method.

Commit Yourself to Tidying Up

Last weekend, I was fed up. I was ready to throw everything out the window and start from scratch. I didn’t because, wasteful. But that shows you where my head was at. I decided I would spend all day Sunday working on it.

Imagine Your Ideal Life

This was a little harder. My ideal life? Way to prompt an existential crisis Marie! When it comes to my ideal life, I know how I want my surroundings to look (one look at my Pinterest will reveal all). Other than that, I hadn’t a clue. I guess I wanted things to be easier, to have sheets freshly washed and ready to go. To be able to put my hand to a hair tie when needed. To know where that really important letter from the bank is and be able to find it when needed. Basically, I wanted to take the “WHERE THE F*$% IS THAT THING” moments out of life.

Finish Letting Go First

Not a problem. Hasta Luego old crap. Ciao random receipts. Buhbye ancient, disintegrating items of clothing.

Tidy By Category, Not Location

Ok, I kind of did this and kind of didn’t. End of the day, I live in rented accommodation. The only “location” that is really mine is my room. Other than that, it’s open season. So I did organise by location, but I prioritised by category, which is outlined below.

Follow The Right Order

In the Netflix series, you will see that Marie divides things into 5 categories:

1. Clothing
2. Books (I had Beauty/Make Up here instead)
3. Papers
4. Komono (miscellaneous items)
5. Mementos (items with sentimental value)

Generally in the show, they start with clothing. I decided to start with papers as this was the thing that was driving me insane. I don’t know why I keep receipts for years. I really don’t. And I only moved into that house in June last year. Yet I somehow found a receipt from two years ago. How does that even happen?!

Following Papers, I went onto Komono, then Beauty (in place of Books), then Clothes, and finally Mementos. I actually really like this way of going through the categories. I have a tendency to bounce from one thing to the next, not fully finishing the first job. But this way of working helped me to focus and get things done more productively.

Ask Yourself If It Sparks Joy

I did struggle with this a little I’ll admit. It feels weird at first, like I’m talking to my clothes. As you go on however, you become more in tune with the whole process, and therefore more ruthless. I was channeling major Emily Gilmore vibes by the end of it.

There were several times throughout the process that I was over it. I was lying on my bed, in a pile of random things. Aimlessly staring at the piles wondering why I started. Getting distracted by texts or tweets. I definitely could have had it done sooner, but I’m easily distracted, so it took much longer. I would recommend looking at what storage solutions you might need before you start too. Going to IKEA in the middle of the day really slowed me down!

If you’re needing a serious revamp, and don’t know where to start, give the Marie Kondo method a go. If you’ve already tried it, let me know how you got on below. Were you like a magpie to a shiny object and distracted as much as I was?!