Japanese tidiness consultant and Netflix star Marie Kondo walks us through her KonMari Method of cleaning, which aims at transforming homes and hearts through a minimalism that holds on to only those possessions that “spark joy.”

If you’re like most people, your home and workplace are cluttered, and cleaning is a demoralizing prospect because the mess returns within days. And if you’re like most people, you are sick of living in a state of disarray but don’t see how it could be different. Things eventually slip back to a discouraging “normal.” In Japan, it is considered good luck to have clean bedrooms and pristine bathrooms, but clutter will prevent you from enjoying even the most sanitized living space.

There’s hope for those who’d like to live a tidier existence. Contrary to conventional approaches to tidying up, the KonMari Method proposed in this book recommends discarding first, and organizing your space second. It’s a simple but effective method, and it has the power to transform people’s lives.

When people hear words like “magical” and “life-changing,” they are often skeptical. “Life-changing” sounds dramatic and too good to be true. This reaction is understandable, but what’s interesting is this vocabulary did not originate with the author, but with her clients. Those who graduate from the course attest to the transformative power of tidying in their lives and the surprising unlooked-for perks, like the courage to pursue dreams, making peace with the past, new-found confidence about the future, alleviated depression and anxiety, and the joy of discovering, and being surrounded by, the things they value most.

More than a skill set, the KonMari Method is a mindset. In fact, the main transformation that takes place is not a tidy physical space, but a tidy person. This is why a piece-meal, gradual approach to cleaning the living space will fail. Of those who have completed the program, zero have fallen back into their former patterns of clutter and hoarded items. This might seem like a bad business model to have no repeat customers, but its success has led to a growing list of referrals. Not only is there a wait list for a KonMari consultation, but there is a wait list to get on the wait list.  

It seems that putting your house in order is more than a metaphor and that taking it literally can actually lead to the peace and harmony that the metaphor suggests.

What would your tidy space look like? Can you picture it? Be specific. Don’t merely say, “I picture a clean space.” One client’s initial response was very vague, something about wanting a more “feminine lifestyle.”  At the beginning of her consultation, her flat was anything but that. It was so littered with clothing and magazines that you couldn’t see the floor. There was so much junk in her closet that she couldn’t close the door. When pressed to elaborate on her phrase “feminine lifestyle,” she closed her eyes and shared what she envisioned: a home without clutter, a pink bedspread, a white vintage lamp, essential oils, and classical music to accompany an evening yoga session and bath before bed. A degree of concreteness to your desire makes it easier to bring to life.

Beyond visualization, however, give thought to why you want a tidy space. This client discovered that she wanted yoga and essential oils before bed, so that she’d get a better night’s sleep and wake up more refreshed and ready for the day ahead. Underlying all our wants in life is the desire to be happy, and this process of becoming a tidy person will make this possible. Once you’ve determined what makes you happy and the reasons why you want to be tidy, you are ready to take stock of what you currently own.

The key is to make the process so sudden that the contrast is clear. A stark contrast will make the decision between staying tidy and reverting to a cluttered living space (and mental space) clear as well. When you feel like you are living in a totally different world, the idea of returning to the sty is unthinkable. The discarding process typically takes about six months. That might seem like a long time, but what is half a year compared to your whole life? If the result is freedom for the rest of your life, it’s a small price to pay. Efficiency is key because it is easy to be discouraged by tidying up, so the quickest route to a clean home is the best way to avoid discouragement.

The simplest criterion for determining what you want to keep and what you are willing to get rid of is the question, “Does it spark joy?” Make sure you don’t base the judgment on mere appearance: take each item in hand and see how your body responds. This might seem like a strange suggestion, but there is a noticeable bodily response that differs from item to item. You will have a better idea of what sparks joy and what doesn’t by including touch in your assessment.

As you discard items, remember: you are not being wasteful. Thank each item for its existence. If it’s an article of clothing you liked in the store but have never worn since, thank it for teaching you something about who you are and what you value in self-expression. If it’s a treasure that’s been stashed away in a drawer so long that you forgot it was even there (which raises the question of whether or not it’s actually a treasure), thank it for whatever joy it brought you in the past. The simplicity that tidying brings is surprisingly liberating for those who have never tried it.

A common approach to tidying up is tackling one room at a time. Clean the bathroom one day, the kitchen another, and then work your way to the bedroom and living room. The problem with this technique is that categories of items are rarely confined to one or even two rooms. You have clothes in your closet, but you also have jackets draped over the sofa, and hanging by the front door. You have make-up in the bathroom, but there are also some in your bedroom, and maybe some has even found its way into your miscellaneous drawer in the kitchen. When we tidy up by room, we are unable to take stock properly of what we own. We could have items in duplicate and triplicate and risk repeating the same work of organizing things over and over. Many of us have far too much stuff, and the room-by-room technique prevents us from coming to grips with that fact.

The bit-by-bit approach to cleaning is also demoralizing because the work is never finished. What is more, it does not get us any closer to developing a mentality of tidiness. It’s a reactive, damage-control technique that is never-ending.

A major flaw in organization techniques is that they only take people halfway. This perpetuates a negative spiral, with chaotic clutter and helplessness waiting at the bottom.

Instead of room-by-room or bit-by-bit, go category-by-category. This way you know how much of each item you actually own, and you can better evaluate what is essential and what is superfluous. The categories of clothes, books, papers, komono (i.e., miscellaneous), and sentimental covers the range of items pretty well. Not only is it important to tidy up category-by-category, but also to observe the specific order. Here it is again: clothes first, then books, papers, komono, or miscellaneous, and, finally, sentimental items.

Starting with clothes and finishing with sentimental affects is best because clothing is usually the simplest category. Contrary to common wisdom, it is preferable to start simple rather than going straight for the most daunting task, so that the wins will build more readily. By the time you arrive at the more difficult tasks, they will not even seem difficult.  And again, for each item in these categories, the question is, “Does it spark joy?”

When sorting clothes, go through each nook in the house and gather every article of clothing—absolutely every article—and put it in a pile on the floor. The author will usually ask the homeowners if they’re sure they’ve gathered everything because any clothing items found after that point will automatically be discarded. Ruthless? Perhaps. But if you can’t readily recall that item hiding away somewhere, it probably doesn’t spark joy for you.

Once you’ve gathered everything, further divide the clothing into categories: tops, bottoms, clothing to be hung like jackets and suits, socks, underwear, handbags, accessories like belts and hats, clothes from special events like swimsuits and kimonos, and shoes. Again, go through items in the given order. Why? The author is not sure why this is the best order of operations, but extensive experience has revealed it to be so.

Loungewear is to be discarded automatically. Don’t give an inch here or “lounge wear” will pile up and you won’t get far reducing volume. If you get in the habit of wearing sloppy attire, it will impact your self-image.

At the end of the discarding process, most people are left with only a third or a quarter of their original wardrobe. With the remaining clothing articles that spark joy, you can begin the process of storage. There are two ways to store clothes: hanging or folding. Hanging might seem convenient, but folding is by far the superior method. For one, hanging is incredibly space-inefficient. You can fit anywhere from 20 to 40 items in the space needed to hang 10.

Now, folding must be done properly. It gets a bad rep for leaving wrinkles, but wrinkles come not from the folds themselves, but the weight of stacked folded items impacting the creases. With a shirt for example, fold in the sleeve sides toward the center, and then take the bottom of the shirt and bring it up to the back collar, folding it in half. Then fold it again into halves or even thirds, depending on the thickness of the fabric. The goal is to make each article more like a bundle than a piece of paper to be stacked. You want to fold clothes compactly enough that they can “stand up,” so you don’t have to stack your clothes at all. The neatly-folded bundles should be compact enough to be laid side-by-side. By arranging items side-by-side instead of stacking, you can see every item that is available to you in a single glance.

Another blessing of folding is that it requires you to handle each and every piece of fabric you own in a manner you wouldn’t if you merely hung your clothes. You imbue energy into the cloth as your hands touch it. The Japanese word for healing is te-ate, which is literally translated “to apply hands.” There’s a strong connection between touch and healing. Caring for our clothes has a positive effect, both on the person and the clothing. Touch keeps the fabric supple, vivacious, and wrinkle-free.

Books are one of the hardest things for people to discard. As with the clothes, pull all your books off the shelves and tables and nightstands and put them in a pile. This may feel inconvenient and a waste of time and energy, but it is a must. Books on shelves hide in plain sight. They are like the praying mantis in a field, he is there but most people don’t notice him. It is difficult to judge whether or not a book sparks joy for you if you merely look at the spine.

Once again, it is helpful to subdivide books: general, or pleasure reading; practical, or reference or cookbooks; visual, which includes photographs; and magazines.

The criterion is joy and joy can’t be determined without touch. Don’t crack the book and start reading. This will obstruct clear decision-making. You’ll start asking questions of need rather than joy. You want your shelf to be full of only books that you love.

How many of your favorites have you actually read more than once? For most people it’s just a handful. What is more, the internet has made it possible to buy numerous books. Many people now buy a second or third book before even cracking the first. These “someday books,” the ones you’ve told yourself you’ll get around to someday, tend to be the hardest for people to let go. But it will better for you to let them go. Do so with the knowledge and gratitude that the book served the purpose: it taught you that you didn’t need it.

The author keeps a collection of 30 books at one time. Some of these books comprise the Book Hall of Fame, those works that evoke deep pleasure. Others don’t have quite that same effect, but still spark some joy. It’s fine to hang onto these books. Some of the toughest books to dispense of are the ones that give only moderate pleasure. For some people, it’s not the whole book but select passages that spark joy. You could consider tearing out the pages containing memorable passages and getting rid of the rest. The author adopted this “bulk reduction method,” but found that after two years, she had not once referred back at the pages she’d saved. It’d all been to appease her conscience.

Most people assume that it is the office rather than the home where paper tends to accumulate. It is actually in the home where paper clogs up closets and counter space. Every home the author’s consulted has dispensed of at least two large trash bags full of paper. The most impressive dump was fifteen bags worth of paper. Credit card statements, seminar notes that you’ll never refer back to, user manuals, used checkbooks, and pay slips: get rid of them all.

Some organizational gurus develop complex filing systems. This is unnecessary. The office, not the home, is the place for filing. Barring a handful of people with well-developed (and well-kept) filing systems, it isn’t helpful. As a general rule, throw papers away. They are annoying and fail to inspire joy. This obviously doesn’t include love letters and encouraging notes from friends as these items are in a different category altogether—the final section of sentimental items.

Those pieces of paper that you absolutely can’t get rid of will be either papers currently in use, those required for a discrete period of time, and those that must be kept forever. Even though you’ve subdivided, keep all the papers that you have to keep in a central location. Divide them into “save” and “deal with” piles.

Just about everyone has a junk drawer—or three. Those locations where miscellaneous goods accumulate, from coins to make-up samples, to batteries—maybe dead maybe still good—aspirin, pens, hairpins, erasers, and so on. In Japan, these miscellaneous items are referred to as komono, which denotes everything from junk and parts to a small or insignificant person. When you ask people why they keep such an odd assemblage of things that they rarely remember is there, most will say something to the effect of, “just because.” Sorry, but “just because” is not a good enough reason. A spark of joy is the only acceptable reason for keeping something.

Try sorting your komono in this order:

-CDs and DVDs

-Skin care products

-Makeup

-Accessories

-Valuables, like credit cards and passports

-Electrical equipment like random cords and cameras

-Household equipment like stationery and sewing paraphernalia

-Household supplies like medicine and Kleenex

-Culinary tools like pots and spatulas

-Other, coins, key chains, and so on—and on.

Items of sentimental value are the hardest to let go. Early on in the tidiness consultation business, the KonMari Method allowed participants to store their mementos in their parents’ house. The majority of clients were single or stay-at-home moms, and when they’d ask if they could send stuff to their parents’, the author would allow it, viewing the option as an aid to the process of tidying up. The author now views that option as a hindrance to the tidiness mindset.

Experience in the business has revealed that those boxes sent to the parents are never opened again. It is enabling more than empowering.

We are to live in the present, not in the past. Sorting through sentimental items—taking each one in hand and deciding what to keep and what to discard—is a way of revisiting the past without living there.

By hanging on to photos and letters from old boyfriends or clothes that belong to a deceased loved one for too long, you may limit your capacity and opportunities for receiving future joy.

Of all the sentimental items you have, photos should be saved for last. If your ability to detect a spark of joy is still underdeveloped, you will get lost in the world of the past. Getting stuck in the past will arrest the tidying up process. If you’ve followed the suggested order of clothes, books, papers, and komono, sentimental items will be much easier.

Remove all photos from albums and frames. Look at them one by one. You will be surprised how quickly you can tell which ones touch the heart and which ones don’t. Try limiting yourself to five photos per day of a trip. Nondescript photos of scenery have to go. This might sound stringent, but you will be able to fill in the gaps when you see the photos of that time.   

Participants often report tremendous freedom when they relinquish extraneous stuff. If they were true treasures—the kind that spark joy—they wouldn’t be packed up in boxes in another house, never to be looked at again. Our homes should be for the people we are becoming, and the few joy-filled mementos we keep should be an aid in that journey onward.