The KonMari method is taking over the world. I’m guessing by now you have watched an episode or two of the new Netflix series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.
If you haven’t, it is a system for decluttering your home and bringing peace to it.
It is well worth while to complete her KonMari method, but it is a lot of work. It’s weeks worth of work and honestly, the thought of starting it is daunting.
Maybe you’re not ready to go all in. Maybe you just want to dip your toe in the water because it just seems too overwhelming. I get it.
I created a simple KonMari Method Challenge to get you started. See what you think…
5 Day KonMari Method Challenge
1. Marie’s first order of business is your clothes. She has you completely go through all of your clothing items for every person in the house. This takes quite a bit of time, and although super important, we’re starting small.
To start this challenge, let’s do a miniature Konmari task, and look at your shoes. Marie has you hold each item in your hand to determine if it sparks joy. Go through your shoes (just yours, not everyone in the family) and only keep the ones you need.
2. Books are next on day 2. I always think people that don’t have books are so lucky, they get to skip a whole category! Hahaha.
3. Day 3 is paper. If you’re like me, you have several paper piles. Kids school papers, mail, random receipts and who knows what else. For this day, pick one pile or place to declutter. It could be the mail pile on your counter, it could be the art papers on your desk. Pick one and focus on it today.
4. Komono is the biggest category of all. It means, essentially, everything else. ‘Everything else’ is a lot of things. For this challenge, we’re going to pick our kitchen utensil drawer. Dump out your messiest utensil drawer and only put back what you need. Toss the rest.
There were so many things in my utensil drawer shoved in the back that I didn’t even know I had! And of course many things I didn’t need.
5. For Marie Kondo, the fifth step is sentimental items. For this challenge though, we aren’t deep diving into those tough choices. The goal here is to simply tidy a few small areas. So for our day five, I’m tasking you to pinpoint an area that brings you stress.
Some ideas could be the junk drawer, your kitchen table (why do they always have so much stuff on them?), the clutter on your bathroom vanity… If it’s bringing you stress, we need to declutter it.
Remember not to task yourself with something too big, like the entire pantry or your garage. Just a small area.
Now that you’re done…
How does it feel? My guess is you probably really motivated to take on more projects, and dive deeper into decluttering. The way you feel in those tidy spaces is inspiring and you want that for your entire house.
I encourage you to take a little break, congratulate yourself on your accomplishments so far, and keep going.
You can do it!
Liz is a just a mom trying to keep it real about how little she sleeps, how often she gets puked on and how much she loves them. You can find her here every day writing about real-mom moments.
Vibeke says
It’s clear you haven’t read the book Because step number one is writing your vision for your future and how your house and things will support you. So that you can refer to it when things get hard.