Interview/ Marie Kondo, Japanese organising consultant, TV presenter and author of four best-selling books
Q/ How did it strike you that people needed professional help to declutter/tidy up?
A/ It was indeed a surprise for me... because I have loved tidying ever since the age of five. When I was a child, I was truly fascinated by tidying, reading books and magazines, and collecting tidying tips.... Then I started to apply the tips... to tidy up my room and the entire house. When I was a university student at 19, my hobby was to help my friends tidy their homes. For me, it was nothing special. At some point, one person offered to pay me for tidying her home and that was when I realised that my hobby could become a business. People require professional help because they don’t know how to tidy their homes methodically.
Q/ One constant in the KonMari Method is the concept of sparking joy. Please elaborate.
A/ The concept of spark joy is the core of my method. When you tidy with the KonMari Method, you choose only things that spark joy. It means you don’t think whether you should keep something or not―you feel it... touch each item one by one and feel how your body reacts. When you touch the item that sparks joy for you, you can feel your body tingle and all of your cells get uplifted. Listening to your body is most important. The KonMari Method is about not just tidying your home, but also honing your sensitivity to joy. When you finish your tidying... you will be able to choose only the things that spark joy―not only in your belongings but also in your mind, your relationships, your work and all other aspects of life.
Q/ From your experience, please illustrate how decluttering improves mental health and creates better relationships?
A/ I once had a client who wanted to change the direction of her life. She was working in sales for an IT company, but was losing motivation. She was confused and didn’t know what she wanted. That was when she came to me to help her tidy her home. When we were tidying her books, she touched each book one by one and asked herself, “Does this spark joy for me?”After she chose books... the only books she had left were about supporting society, especially mothers. That was how she realised that her true joy was to help mothers raise their children. It was what she did as her part-time job and also what she had done as an intern when she was younger. She was babysitting for a female entrepreneur, supporting her business and personal life. She realised what she wanted was to start her own business for babysitting, which she did! She found her true joy and passion through tidying with the KonMari Method.
Q/ What are your top five tips for living a life free of clutter?
A/ 1. First, envision your ideal way of life that you want to achieve by tidying up. It’s important to imagine how you would spend your time in a tidy house so concretely that you can feel the excitement you would feel.
2. Let go of things that don't spark joy or have fulfilled their role with gratitude for what they have done for you. By feeling deep gratitude for what you have, you will feel more inclined to take good care of what you have, and you will have less trouble putting things back after use.
3. Designate a fixed location for everything as this makes tidying easier and simpler―you can put things back after use without thinking. If you find something in your house that does not have a designated place, decide on a place for it immediately.
4. Store things standing. Store folded clothes standing in drawers. When putting small items such as stationery in a drawer, use small boxes as dividers and store them standing as much as possible. This way, you can see what you have at a glance. It also makes it easier to put things back after use.
5. Fold clothes with care and affection. Folding is not just about making clothes smaller. It’s a valuable opportunity to convey your gratitude to your clothes that support you every day and communicate with them. Try folding your clothes with care, intending to convey affection toward them through your palms.