Marie Condo's cleaning method: an overview of the benefits and features

Probably, any hostess will agree that tidying up the apartment and maintaining order is not an easy task. Consider the special method of Japanese Marie Kondo, which will allow you to succeed in a difficult job without extra effort.

Marie is the author of The Magic Cleaning. The Japanese art of putting things in order at home and in life ”, consisting of 5 chapters. It proposes a whole concept for cleaning the apartment.

Marie Condo

Method Features

Many housewives hate cleaning, considering it their duty - uninteresting, devoid of creativity and dreary. However, Marie Kondo offers to take a different position, consider cleaning the house as a great way to gather your thoughts, think about your life, put “everything on the shelves”.

Therefore, from a boring routine, home cleaning turns into a process of putting things in order in one's own life.

It is interesting that the author of the method was interested in the system of rational cleaning in early youth, but none of her friends could even think that in the future, love of cleanliness would bring Marie millions.

Key Points

Consider the key ideas of the Japanese magic cleaning method, called KonMari.

• Put things in order once and for all. Marie strongly disagrees with those manuals and magazines that offer to clean a little every day in the apartment. She is sure that the whole house should be tidied up in one go. And then - to maintain order. This is how you can change your habits and even your own thinking.
• Work every day is at little risk of stretching to infinity. Daily tidying does not give a person motivation, because he does not see the result of his efforts.
• Marie Kondo advises ruthlessly getting rid of unnecessary things: old clothes, textbooks, soft toys, old collections. This will help to quickly transform the home.

So, in the house should be only the right things. Keeping something in case of a difficult financial situation or other adversities is unacceptable.

Rid of unnecessary

Why, according to the concept of Marie Kondo, to keep the house clean and tidy? This will help to find and maintain energy that is useful in life.

The key principles underlying the method are as follows:

• getting rid of trash;
• placing the necessary things rationally.

Cleaning is a special event that will help to change not only the house, but also life. However, it is very difficult to restore order to housing, where there are many unnecessary things, which is why they should be eliminated.

There is a well-known method of getting rid of trash - throwing away one thing every day. Marie Kondo strongly disagrees with him. Throw away all unnecessary things at a time.

Tip

You should get rid of trash in solitude: family members can involuntarily influence the decision and force them not to throw away the unnecessary thing, which will reduce all efforts to zero.

Secrets of "cluttering"

How does Marie advise getting rid of old things?

• You should adhere to a simple rule: first throw away everything unnecessary, only then arrange the necessary things.
• Set a clear goal. It is better to spend time to formulate and clearly imagine the final result than to act without motivation.
• Try to throw away old things as quickly as possible. Without really thinking.

The selection criterion for things that should be kept and must be disposed of is simple. Ask yourself if they cause joy.If yes - the item remains, if not - ruthlessly thrown away. At the same time, every thing on which the question arises should be picked up. Then an understanding of whether it is necessary will come to mind.

Category breakdown

In order to simply and easily determine which things should be attributed to the trash and put them in the trash, and which ones should be left behind, the Japanese advises to act according to categories, not places.

So, it is wrong to take apart one wardrobe, and then proceed to another. Marie Kondo recommends that you collect all the clothes in the house in the same room and work with her, then take up the books in the same way. This will help to clearly understand how many things are already available.

When cleaning a large house, when it is not possible to parse everything in one fell swoop per day, it is necessary to act according to the categories - to disassemble them one by one. Another important point - this technique will help to avoid shifting objects from one place to another. So, having started cleaning, many housewives can simply move some things that they don’t want to do, from one room to another, then to the kitchen, then to the pantry. And order will never come. Cleaning the entire room at a time or working with categories will not make it possible to postpone the item “for later”.

Right start

One of the secrets of magical cleaning is to start the category definition correctly. Marie Kondo writes that a beginner needs to choose the simplest category. So, a family photo album and other souvenirs are an unfortunate decision, since these items are associated with memory, memories, it is difficult for people to decide whether they are necessary. The following sequence of categories is proposed:

• clothes;
• books
• documentation;
• Other;
• souvenirs and other memorabilia.

This arrangement will make the cleaning process quick and efficient.

Tip

Marie Kondo claims that the temptation to get rid of trash, giving part of the things to his relatives, should not give in. They also do not need old things. Having decided to give something, it is necessary to find out in advance whether the person being gifted feels the need for it.

Difficult cases

What to do if individual things, obviously unnecessary, cannot be thrown away - the hand does not rise. The book contains valuable advice:

• should talk to this thing;
• thank her for the service;
• recognize merit;
• say goodbye;
• throw out.

This is the only way to put things in order. Succumbing to weakness even once is unacceptable.

Category Cleaning

So, the first stage of cleaning according to Marie Kondo is completed, all unnecessary things are thrown away. Now you need to correctly sort those items that are deemed necessary. How to act?

• You need to start with the simplest categories, such as clothing. This will help you learn to make decisions.
• Each category is divided into subcategories (for example, clothing - into sweaters, socks, underwear, and so on).
• Clothing also includes shoes.

When cleaning according to the Kondo method, a specific procedure should be followed.

1. Collect all the clothes in one place.
2. Ask a question - do I want to see this thing again - and answer it.
3. It is forbidden to transfer things designated for emission into home clothes.

With those things that no longer bring joy, you should say goodbye and throw them away.

How to fold?

Consider the rules of folding things from Marie Kondo. First of all, how to put clothes in a closet? Save space does not allow hanging things on hangers, and folding them. In this case, physical contact is made with each thing, which is considered important.

What procedure should be followed?

1. Imagine the end result - what the cabinet will look like.
2. Fold each garment into a rectangle.
   

   Tip

   To get the desired rectangle, you need to do this: lay the sides of the subject to the center, fold the sleeves inward. Combine both sides of the rectangle, and then fold the product two or three times (depending on the height of the box and the size of the product).Correctly folded wardrobe items in appearance will resemble a roll.

3. Folded rectangular items are placed in a cabinet vertically.
4. Hang in a wardrobe should dresses, coats, jackets, skirts. They are not recommended to be folded. The same applies to expensive designer clothes.

Such placement of clothes will help to save space in the closet, and will make it more convenient to remove it.

Gifts and other things

When parsing the “Other Things” category, Marie Kondo recommends following these rules.

• All the little things should be in the wallet.
• The gift has already fulfilled its main function, gave joy at the time of delivery. Therefore, if he does not perform any function and is not particularly valuable to the owner, you can throw it away.
• Boxes from mobile phones, as a rule, are no longer useful, you can part with them without pity. This also applies to wires, laces, the purpose of which has long been forgotten.
• Broken equipment must be disposed of. If earlier there was no time and desire to fix it, in the future it also will not appear.

Tip

Free items that were received for participating in promotions and have never been used, should also follow in the trash. They do not carry any value in themselves, they only litter the home.

Recommendations seem quite feasible and logical, the main thing is just to start getting rid of unnecessary things. Gradually, every housewife will get a taste and will enjoy the fact that her house is becoming more spacious and cozy.

Some more secrets

The Japanese clean-up method offers some more interesting recommendations for beginners.

• All items in the category should be stored together. For example, documents - only in a box specially designated for them and nowhere else.
• Sort things within categories by color and size.
• Books, as well as clothes, are divided into subcategories (fiction, reference books, photo albums and other illustrated publications, magazines). All print media that have not been read for a long time should be eliminated. This also applies to unread books.
• With documents, you should be ruthless, strive to throw as much as possible. Of course, this does not apply to really important papers.
• After attending any training courses, you should immediately try to get rid of handouts. As a rule, in subsequent life they are rarely useful.
• Credit card statements lead to a sense of guilt for the money spent, they do not make anyone happy, so they also need to be ruthlessly thrown away.

The Kondo method seems quite logical, feasible and uncomplicated. The main thing is that it helps to really quickly clean the house from unnecessary things that are stored "just like that", littering the room and creating negative energy.