Tidy Up for PCS with the KonMari Method
If you’ve paid any attention to social media over the last few months, then you’ve probably seen numerous references to the Netflix show Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. And with good reason. The KonMari Method, developed by Marie Kondo when she was a 19-year-old college student, is a helpful way to get a room or your entire house in order.
Perfect for those who want to have an organized home, but doubly useful for those of us who find themselves moving every two or three years. Because seriously, how do we accumulate so much stuff?
I’m currently on the PCS track, and as expected, I’m elbow deep in house-wide organization. With so many things to sort through, it’s hard to know where to start. No one wants to be overwhelmed. I needed a solid direction rather than attempting to sort and store everything I own. Due to the popularity of KonMari, I wanted to give it a try.
What is the KonMari Method?
Marie Kondo focuses her organization on types of things rather than based on rooms in your home. She suggests starting with clothes, then moving on to books, followed by papers, miscellaneous items, and finally sentimental items. The key part of the process is keeping what “sparks joy.” She recommends thanking the items you no longer wish to keep, recognizing the role they played in your life before letting them go.
At the same time, it’s about treating your belongings with care. If something in your home means a lot to you, then it shouldn’t be scattered or left forlorn in a dark corner of a closet. It should be displayed with care.
In Shinto culture, kami are present everywhere and in everything. Humans, animals, nature, and inanimate objects all possess kami. When it comes to the KonMari Method, this is why every item should be appreciated before it’s discarded. Say thank you and continue on.
Sounds pretty mellow and zen. I like that in the lead up to the insanity of when the packers come.
Why it works for military families
I truly believe this method can work for everyone, but it’s extremely beneficial for military families. We don’t need to tote around extra weight. We have weight limits we must meet with each move. If it isn’t something we need or makes us happy to look at or touch, it’s just another thing you have to pack, ship, and unpack.
I recall many a PCS where I would open boxes and immediately dump the contents into a vacant box, claiming it the “donate” box in a bout of frustration with all the stuff. Many times this involved uber amounts of tupperware, children’s toys that were rarely played with, decorations I never put out, or boxes that hadn’t been opened at previous duty stations (one of which moved three places with layers of box inventory stickers on it). Once it was even clothes. I don’t know what was in that one, but I also haven’t missed it either.
While some professional organizers may not approve of the massive collection of magnets on the fridge representing all the places we’ve visited, the treasures we’ve collected from living all around the country or world, or the children’s artwork we can’t bear to part with, KonMari doesn’t mind so long as the items spark joy. That means we don’t have to cut the magnets down to 10, only hold on to our favorite treasures, or ditch all but six pieces of art per child. If it makes us feel joy when we see it or touch it, it can stay.
Getting started
Many people have reported that the KonMari Method changed their lives. The fact that Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, has become an international bestseller should tell you something. This stuff works.
But how do you get started?
Here are the rules from Kondo herself:
“Rule 1: Commit yourself to tidying up.” If you want to do it, you need to really want to do it. Don’t back down when things feel difficult. Just think of all the weight you’ll save in HHG. Try to do it all at once—what else are you doing over those four-days?
“Rule 2: Imagine your ideal lifestyle.” What is the end game? Once you complete the process, what do you hope your home looks like? There are many suggestions of “feeling like a goddess surrounded by peace and calm,” but you don’t have to go that far with it. I didn’t. I imagined a calm organized home that led to a calm and organized mind. Military life is hectic enough, so I want my home to be the one place that isn’t like the chaos of being in the middle of a hurricane with a hole in my boat while I attempt to use a measuring cup to bail out the water.
“Rule 3: Finish discarding first.” When you start with clothing, empty out the closets, the drawers, the laundry baskets, everywhere, and pile it on your bed (who am I kidding, it won’t all fit on the bed anyway) or your living room floor. Go through the entire pile. Once you’ve separated what you’ll trash, recycle, or donate, only then can you begin putting the clothes back in your drawers and closets. Kondo has creative folding tips to make your closets and drawers look like works of organizational art. The bonus of piling all the clothes on your bed is you can’t sleep in your bed until it’s done. I call that motivation.
“Rule 4: Tidy by category, not location.” This is a big detour from most organizing suggestions. Other top names often recommend starting in one room before moving to another, but not Kondo. This means clothes first before moving on to papers. Then all the papers in your house before moving on to the next step. Tracking down all of the same items from all over my house is an accomplishment in itself!
“Rule 5: Follow the right order.” As mentioned above, there’s a method to the madness. The order is clothes, books, papers, miscellaneous items, and finally sentimental items. There are numerous sub-categories as well. For clothes, you can focus on seasons or types of clothing. For papers, you can start with important paperwork (like what you keep in a filing cabinet), then move on to children’s artwork.
“Rule 6: Ask yourself if it sparks joy.” Be honest with yourself! You’re supposed to hold each item as you consider its level of joy. I felt it was a weird process. One minute you’ll be staring, teary-eyed at a lop-sided, multicolored teacup your kindergartener made in art class saying there’s no possible way you can part with it because it makes you feel all the things. The next minute, your fingers barely touch an expensive vase a family member once gave you and say, “thanks,” with a shrug, easily tossing it aside. Once you’re finished with KonMari, you’ll be able to look around your home seeing only the things that make you happy. How great is that?
Myths of the method
While there has been mass amounts of helpful information related to the KonMari method, there are a lot of myths out there, too.
1. You can’t keep many books. Wrong. You can keep books, but you should be keeping books that you love, not the ones to which you feel no attachment (I’m looking at you, Jane Eyre). Weed out the ones you didn’t like and would never read again to make room to display the ones that will always have your heart. Yay for keeping all the books!
2. The method is about minimalism. Nope! While there’s a focus on reducing items, it’s because those items don’t really mean anything to the owner anymore. Rather than ditching things to have less, you’re ditching things to keep only what “sparks joy.” For some that may be a random collection of coins, a library of books, special keepsakes, or oodles of shoes. Let your freak flag fly, y’all.
3. Tidying up means cutting down on shopping. Not necessarily. You can still shop to your heart’s content, but be sure that the items you buy actually mean something. Remember the bit about sparking joy? Keep that in mind while shopping. Sorting through your belongings will help you understand what makes you happy, which in turn, should give you the confidence to buy new things that will continuously spark joy—not cause regrets later. Yay for even more books and no buyer’s remorse!
Don’t take it all literally
We all have things we feel we can’t part with. Some of us hold on to baby clothes in hopes of having another baby. Some of us hold on to business clothes even though we’re currently staying home with children. Some of us hold on to books we haven’t read yet because we plan to get to them.
It’s okay! Don’t overtax yourself by following the rules literally.
Maybe gathering all the papers in your house won’t work. Or maybe you want to start with drawers before moving on to the clothes in your closet. Tweak it to make it work for you. You’re the one doing all the work anyway!
There is one Kondo suggestion I think everyone should try to stick to: when preparing to KonMari, don’t buy any additional storage bins. Work with what you already have. Most likely, you have plenty of things in those storage bins that you could let go of.
Get to tidying!
Let the process be empowering, rather than overwhelming. Keep the personal vision of your home in your mind and push yourself to work toward it. In the end, you’ll have a more peaceful feeling home without the distractions of things that don’t spark joy. Then, when you roll around to your next PCS, you aren’t scrambling to declutter or organize.
Happy tidying!
