Have you been feeling suffocated by the number of belongings in your home? Maybe it’s taking you longer and longer to clean your house. It can be an unpleasant experience when you start to feel like rather than owning your belongings; your belongings might be owning you.
Many people have tried to declutter their lives time and time again with no success. Then, the Marie Kondo Method came onto the scene and unlocked the key to sustainable and mindful decluttering.
Let’s dive into this method and how it may be able to help you feel better.
What is the Marie Kondo Method?
The Marie Kondo Method is a decluttering technique developed by a Japanese woman named Marie Kondo. The method works by having you declutter your belongings by category. You start with your clothes, then books, papers, and miscellaneous items, and end with sentimental items.
While decluttering, you hold each item individually and ask yourself whether the object sparks joy. If you find that the object no longer sparks joy for you, you say “thank you” and then get rid of it.
This approach to decluttering focuses on mindfulness and your relationship to objects. Many people find it more effective for reducing clutter than other methods they’ve tried before, which is why it has become popular across the world.
You will likely find that using this decluttering technique can significantly transform your relationship with your belongings.
How can the Marie Kondo Method improve my life?
Reducing the number of items in your house and ensuring that you only have belongings that spark joy can go a long way in making you a happier person.
Here are a variety of benefits you can experience from employing the Marie Kondo Method.
It Changes Your Relationship With Things
One aspect of what sets Marie Kondo’s approach apart is her focus on mindfulness.
Through employing the Marie Kondo Method, you will come to understand that you have a relationship with the objects in your house, and this relationship is what often makes it hard to let go of items.
By taking time to reflect on each individual object in your house, you will be reprogramming your brain to become more aware of your own relationship to tangible things.
You Will Save Time
The average American spends more than one hour a day cleaning their house.
The amount of time you spend cleaning naturally increases with the number of objects in the house you have to manage, as well as the size of your house.
Taking a more minimalistic approach to your belongings can go a long way in saving you time. For many people, the Marie Kondo Method helps them get rid of so many things that the time spent cleaning and organizing their belongings is significantly reduced.
You Will Lose Fewer Things.
Have you ever been late to an appointment because you were frantically searching for your keys and wallet?
Losing things in your own home can be frustrating and stressful. If you have enough belongings, you might even give up on finding what you were searching for and buy a duplicate. This is how many households can end up with “junk drawers” filled to the brim with the kind of tools and knickknacks you only need on an occasional basis.
When you limit the number of objects in your house to things that are truly useful to you, it will be more difficult to misplace or lose those things.
You Will Save Money
When you commit to only having objects that bring you joy in your house, you will naturally find yourself buying fewer objects.
Going through the process of getting rid of (in some cases) hundreds of your belongings will help you understand your own relationship with consumerism. It can be tempting to buy a new appliance that claims it can change your life, but when you get rid of those same objects during your next round of decluttering, you will start to realize just how much money you are spending on collecting excessive and unnecessary things.
You Will Experience Less Stress
Many people report that a minimalistic approach to life can lower stress, and it makes a lot of sense.
This stress reduction actually links back to all of our previous points. Spending less time on cleaning, saving money, and reducing the stress associated with lost objects can all have a positive effect on the stress level in your life.
Furthermore, many people find that having a clutter-free, clean home helps them relax and be more productive. Research finds that clutter can actually raise our stress levels. This, of course, also means that getting rid of that clutter can reduce your stress levels.
It Could Improve Your Health
This is perhaps the most surprising finding about the benefits of tackling clutter. Multiple studies have linked a disorganized environment to poor eating habits. Not only that, but people who sleep in cluttered rooms appear to have lower sleep quality and difficulty falling asleep.
As you can see, the Marie Kondo Method has many more benefits than just making your house look nice!
Get Organized!
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