KonMari: What I learned

I’ll admit that I’m really glad this whole KonMari thing is done. It is a lot of work and very time consuming. Do I still have to tidy and clean everyday? Yes. But that’s to be expected when you have kids and other people in the house. But I have noticed that our house is cleaner for longer and not as many things are ending up on desks and counters. Our closets and drawers have more space and everything is much easier to find. It was tough, but it was absolutely worth it.

Here are some afterthoughts and things I learned over the past few weeks:

Don’t wait until….

Don’t wait until you move. Or the baby’s born. Or summer break. Or whatever is you are waiting for. My husband used to say that he would go through his things when we moved, while he was packing or unpacking. But moving is stressful enough and most often we would just throw stuff into boxes without much thought as to whether or not we actually wanted to keep it. But you know what makes moving easier? Having less stuff.
Also, things and life happen, so it’s really better just to get this over with as soon as you can. It doesn’t happen all in one day anyway, and as long as you keep up momentum and continue with everything step by step, it will get done.

We have too. much. stuff.
I was astonished with the amount of stuff we had. Drawers full of pens, closets full of electronic equipment. Think about what you use on a day to day or even weekly basis. Can you think of any drawers or closets that are full of stuff that goes pretty much unused? I could, for sure. By getting rid of all of this unnecessary stuff, we see and find what we have and truly need.

Being surrounded by things that bring joy, creates joy
By only keeping what I really loved, I noticed that I feel happy just having it around. When I get dressed in the morning, I am happier about my appearance because I am wearing things that bring me joy. I carry a purse that sparks happiness, dust books that inspire my soul, wear shoes that put a bounce in my step, eat off of plates that make me smile, and admire photos on the wall that create joy. I’m just happier in general. I’m sure it’s also the fact that I am surrounded by less stress-causing mess, but I really do think being surrounded by items that inspire joy is a genius idea.

Cleaning with a toddler is hard
I know that, realistically, I am supposed to do this tidying alone, all in one sweep. But with a toddler, this is not possible or realistic. It took longer this way and I often had to pause what I was doing, but it got done eventually. And now that things are neater? Everyday tidying takes less time, which means more time with Dominik.

I’ll also mention that cleaning with a husband is hard as well. I was hoping that he would be inspired to go through his things as well, but he remained uninterested. Which brings me to the last item:

Living life means mess will happen, often
Everyday life, especially with kids and a spouse results in a messy house. It’s a part of life and it’s okay if things aren’t always tidy. And now that we have a bit less stuff? The messes suddenly don’t seem as stressful.If you haven’t read the book, I highly recommend The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. Did it change my life? I think that it did.