Why Marie Kondo’s “giving up” on tidying is exactly why you SHOULD hire a professional home organizer.
“rightsizing and organizing your life is the best way to free yourself from your never-ending decluttering to-do list.”
Marie Kondo, creator of the KonMari Method of tidying and bestselling author of several home organizing books, recently admitted after having her third child, she has “kind of given up” on keeping her home perfectly tidy at all times. The internet is going wild. Blogs, publications, and social media accounts targeting women and mothers are all over this announcement with “I told you so” claims. One article even read “if Marie Kondo isn’t even KonMari-ing, maybe that means the rest of us are free to stew in our slop.”
Perhaps you’re looking for a reason to languish in your home’s mess, but in reality, this just strengthens my argument that rightsizing and organizing your life is the best way to free yourself from your never-ending decluttering to-do list.
Let me first say, you do you. If your home is cluttered, messy, and full of piles of stuff, yet you find what you need, feel relaxed and refreshed at home, and completely on top of your household care list, great! You are not my target audience, and clearly you have no need for professional organizer services. Keep living your best life!
If, however, you are one of the 63% of Americans who says they have too much stuff and cannot find where they store things, Ms. Kondo’s admission is not permission to continue feeling anxious and overwhelmed at home. Rather, it is exactly the reason you should move on the opportunity to bring order to your lifestyle.
Ms. Kondo claims "...I did my best to keep my home tidy at all times." The foundation of the KonMari method is to only own items that actually “spark joy.” Based on this, we can assume that the Kondo household has fewer possessions than the average family of five. Additionally, in her books, Ms. Kondo talks through the best ways to store possessions, building home systems that are easy to maintain. I have a feeling that her definition of a messy home is not the same as most peoples.
Like Kondo, I also carefully curate what comes into my home- We have rules on discarding things that are no longer in use and we limit the amount of toys our children receive as gifts. I have organizing systems in place so everything has a designated home. When you have less stuff and home systems in place, you actually spend very little time organizing and tidying.
The point is, once you rightsize your life and establish a system for maintaining the home you want, it’s ok if it gets messy. Things can get left out, scattered around, memories made, and you can take a week off of home chores. It doesn’t matter, because the infrastructure is in place to reset everything with minimal effort. Professional organizing services exist to help you over the hump of home transformation. Once you get your home to a point where you feel proud, relaxed, and enjoy being in your space, you will never have to start at square one again! “Rightsizing” is just that - getting it RIGHT so you can focus on the things that are most important, and that usually isn’t things at all.
Sources:
Staples, Joseph. "Nearly Two-thirds of Americans Want to Become More Organized Post Pandemic." SWNS Digital, 4 Oct. 2021, swnsdigital.com/us/2021/06/nearly-two-thirds-of-americans-want-to-become-more-organized-post-pandemic/#:~:text=Commissioned%20by%20mDesign%20and%20conducted,huge%20de%2Dstressor%20for%20them. Accessed 28 Jan. 2023.
Jones, Alexis. "Marie Kondo Admits She Has 'Kind of Given Up' on Extreme Tidiness, Says Her House 'Is Messy'." People, 27 Jan. 2023, people.com/home/marie-kondo-admits-she-has-kind-of-given-up-on-tidying-up/. Accessed 28 Jan. 2023.
Leffer, Lauren. "Relatable: Marie Kondo Gives Up." Gizmodo, 27 Jan. 2023, gizmodo.com/marie-kondo-minimalist-house-cleaning-sparks-joy-1850041011. Accessed 28 Jan. 2023.