Almost five years have passed since I originally posted this and I’m more of a Marie Kondo fan than ever! This summer my goal is to tackle the final category: personal memorabilia. In the meantime, here’s the post about what it was like for us. Here are the
unexpected benefits of doing the Konmari method
that I’ve discovered and wanted to share with you.
1. Cleaning up is so much faster.
A few weekends ago, we told our boys (ages 9 and 6) that they needed to clean up their bedroom and playroom before they could have friends over. They groaned and complained about it taking all day so I agreed to help them. Once we tossed a few toys into the proper bins, picked up some trash and errant items (how do flip flops end up scattered all over the house??), replaced the pillows and plush toys and straightened the rugs, we were done–in about ten minutes.
“Wow, we’re done!” they commented, marveling at their accomplishment.
“Thank you, Konmari,” I said.
The same goes for the other areas we’ve done including the family room and master bedroom. There’s just less STUFF to deal with and we’re more careful to take care of what’s left because they’re the items that bring us joy!
Which brings me to…
2. We get rid of more.
Knowing how freeing it is to live with less, we don’t hesitate to get rid of items we know we’re not using or enjoying.
Letting go was hard at first. Now we know we won’t miss it. I’ve yet to get rid of anything then wish I hadn’t.
3. We know what we have so we buy less.
We know we have things like travel-size toothpaste, four beach towels, a pack of AA batteries and several blank notebooks because we’ve decluttered and organized everything…so we’re not running out to buy them just to realize, “Oops, we already had that.”
I grew to hate the feeling of wasting money on buying things that were duplicates. I haven’t had that feeling in a while now.
All of these unexpected benefits of doing the Konmari method have been truly life-changing. Tidying up makes decluttering sustainable. We’ll never go back to our old ways.
There is one benefit that really took me by surprise, though…
4. I’m not constantly feeling like I NEED something.
Before, I’d wander the aisles of Target knowing I’d likely spot something I was just sure we needed (like AA batteries or a beach towel–see above). I know you’re not surprised to learn that I usually found “something I needed.”
The truth is, I was really going through life with a constant nagging feeling that I was missing something. Because I was.
I didn’t know what we had. I couldn’t put my hands on what I needed.
I always had a list of misplaced items in the back of my mind. I call that mental clutter! It seemed like I was always searching for something. That gets tiresome.
Now I rarely go shopping without a very specific list. I know what we need and I buy only what we need.
Of course finding a sweet little item that brings me joy is still fun and I’ll never stop enjoying treasure hunting BUT it’s not fueled by this feeling that I’m lacking something.
I feel more settled now. THAT is a big benefit of the Konmari method!
If you haven’t tried it, I can’t recommend it enough. Purchase your copy of “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” here:
If you’ve already done the method, what benefits have YOU seen? Comment or share on the Facebook page.
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