Marie Kondo and her magic cleaning secrets: 5 life hacks you'll need

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Read min

11.11.2019

Do you want to change your life for the better? Start with cleaning! This advice is given by most mindfulness coaches and mentors. But what to do for those for whom the restoration of cleanliness in the house is nothing but a heavy duty? Don’t worry! Marie Kondo’s method will help you for sure!

Marie Kondo is a consultant and expert in tidying up, the author of several best-selling books that teach how to properly organize the space in the house. The book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing made her famous all over the world. What is Marie's magic method and why does it change lives for the better?

Clean the whole house at once

"Cleaning is a once-in-a-lifetime special event" - Marie Kondo.

Clean the entire house at one time-this is one of the key principles of the magical method. Gradual daily cleaning, according to the consultant, stretches for a lifetime. Therefore, select a few days in a row to disassemble all unnecessary things in the apartment. Only such a thoughtful and complete cleaning will help to change habits and foundations of life, because you’ll immediately see the result and no longer want to go back to a past life in which there was a mess.

Sort things by categories, observing a certain order

We used to clean up from one room to another-cleaning the kitchen, we start cleaning the bedroom. The expert says, that this is fundamentally wrong. Cleaning is better carried out by category. At the very beginning, disassemble all the clothes that are in the house – not only the one that you’re wearing at the moment, but also clothes for the winter or, conversely, the summer season. After that, go to the shoes. Then do books, documents. At the very end, deal with souvenirs and things memories are associated with.

It takes courage to throw away books and gifts. But that's the magic effect of cleaning by Marie Kondo: you throw away old items and memories to make room for new emotions and purchases.

Put things in one pile

Expert advises to put all the things of one category in a pile. Don’t be afraid to mash them: we’ve to follow the principle - first we sort and throw away the excess, and only then we think over the storage issues. As for storage, Kondo recommends to follow a certain scheme when hanging clothes: from dark warm clothes to light. Things that don’t hang on a hanger can be folded in the origami technique. Here's how Marie Kondo folds her clothes.

Don't leave things for later

During cleaning we often leave unnecessary items because we think that they can be useful to us. The counselor encourages us to be honest with ourselves and get rid of such things immediately. Notes from the time of studying at the University, a jacket that went out of fashion 20 years ago, a cord-charging from a camera from the 2000’s –you’ll never need all this again.

What's interesting: Marie Kondo recommends throwing out the documents as well. Of course, not all of them: insurance, employment contracts, documents for real estate and movable property should be remained. While old bills, statements and expired guarantees can be thrown away without any regret.

Leave only happy things

The main criterion by which you need to sort things is a sense of joy. The expert advises to hold the thing in your hand to understand whether it causes pleasant emotions. If not, it should be thrown away. And Marie Kondo doesn’t care what it’s expensive, new, rare or memorable: if the thing doesn’t cause you a sense of happiness, it has no place in your home and even more so in your life.

This is the most important principle of cleaning according to the Marie Kondo’s concept – you should be surrounded only by your favorite things.

 

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