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Do you need a change of surroundings but are restricted by the inability to travel? Perhaps it's time for a mental reset in the form of a home-organising makeover. Tidying guru Marie Kondo recently launched an eight-week programme for anyone to follow. Kondo believes that tidying up your home is an effective way to improve your emotional state, as opposed to being a tiresome chore that leaves you drained. However, forget trying to clear your entire home in one fell swoop – this manageable eight-week challenge is your answer to living your best home life.
The weeks are divided into categories for different types of clutter, and each day is dedicated to smaller tasks like piling all your papers into one spot (day 22), or organising your data and digital files (day 35).
There’s not much heaving around in the first week, though. Your first step is to plan how you want your space to look like by the end of the journey, and Kondo encourages you to jot these visions down in a journal. Some of these daily tasks might raise eyebrows, but the KonMari website details the reason behind each task while providing a few tips to motivate you.
Once you’ve snapped a ‘before’ pic of your living space, you’ll be ready to dive into week two, where you’ll begin removing the items from your wardrobe that don’t ‘spark joy’. Week three is all about reorganising your bookshelf whereas in week four, you’ll be getting rid of all those pesky papers and documents that have outlived their usefulness. Week five walks you through sorting your komono (miscellaneous goods), and week six takes on items of sentimental value. Most recently, the website was updated with the addition of week eight, which focuses on adding final touches to your home that 'spark joy'.
Though the outline for the final week has already been released, the eight-week challenge will remain on the website, which means you'll be able pick up the project whenever you like and go at your own pace. You can show off your progress on socials by using the hashtag ‘#mykonmari’.
By the end of the journey, you will have picked up a couple of self-care practices and your home will be a place that actually elevates your mood and state of mind.
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