5 Tips for Making Tidying a Part of Your Life from Marie Kondo’s New Book “Kurashi at Home”

Home guru Marie Kondo has been redefining the way organize our homes for way over a decade. From motivational books to TV series that are jam-packed with handy hints, Kondo’s methods have proved to be a Her first book, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up,” was published in the U.S. in 2014 and has been translated in more than 30 countries. In 2019, she released the Netflix reality series “Tidying Up With Marie Kondo“, showing viewers how to live a clutter-free life.

Her latest book release “Marie Kondo’s Kurashi at Home” is inspired by the Japanese concept of kurashi — which translates to “way of life”— and features over 100 photographs, prompts, and reflections to help readers organize with ease and live their ideal lives.

Here, check out five tips from the new read that are sure to spark joy and change the way you organize your life.

Before you begin to tidy, Kondo suggests that you have a conversation with yourself. Include questions such as “were you good at tidying as a child?”, “what kind of work do you do?” and “how do you spend your days off?”

While these questions may seem irrelevant, there is a method to the self Q&A. Kondo says that a block in tidying can correspond with a block in someone’s personal life, whether it be work or relationships. Our day-to-day can impact the tidying process, so it’s important to identify if you’re a naturally good organizer and how much time you spend at home.

If you’re the type of person that can’t work effectively without set deadlines, make sure you’re factoring this in to your home organization. Giving yourself a time frame for your tidying up can stop any excessive procrastination. Additionally, if you find it hard to stay motivated, be sure to tell a friend or family member and keep yourself accountable.

What does your ideal home look like? Kondo suggests visualizing your perfect space, one room at a time. Doing this will help you become ruthless with giving your belongings a dedicated spot and getting rid of items that no longer spark joy.

Develop good habits in little ones and incorporate chores and tidying up as part of their play time. Make it routine to tidy away after playing with toys or each activity before moving onto the next.

Kondo notes that it takes just ten days to begin to develop a new habit. It may seem like a long time, but after less than two weeks you can develop a steady rhythm of cleaning and organizing — whether that be a full room or a smaller area. A great place to start is wiping down countertops every morning or organizing your fridge after the last meal of the day, making sure everything is in its dedicated place.

“First, it’s far easier to motivate yourself and stick with something if you set an initial goal of just ten days instead of telling yourself to do something daily forever from now on,” she writes. “Second, if you start by developing a habit of doing something every three days, you’ll then have to exert more energy to start doing it daily. Dividing the process into two stages is simply a waste of effort.”

For more helpful tidying tips, pick up a copy of “Kurashi at Home.”