#Konmari

[hussyknee]

[soybeanman504]

紺珠伝の魔理沙

[olkihattuluffy]

Voispa konmarittaa ittensä 

[in-sufficientdata]

Why the Konmari method is pretty useless for people with genuine problems with hoarding and OCD, or OCD tendencies, at least without some caveats and definitions:

Hoarding is defined by a persistent emotional attachment to inanimate objects. Clutterers and hoarders often have an unconscious need to save items, whether for an imagined future ideal use, or just because otherwise they would end up in the landfill.

People with these issues often have difficulty discerning the difference between a truly useful item and something that should be given or thrown away because of their emotional attachment to the item.

They see themselves as the best curator of the items, which may range from useful items like craft supplies, display items, sentimental items, and stuff that is truly just junk.

"Sunk costs" is a term from economics that means that a cost that has already been incurred and cannot be recovered. Although the original term refers to finances, the sunk costs of the time and effort someone has put into an item can influence their decision to keep the item.

Therefore, another factor in this attachment is the sunk costs of money, effort, and time that a person has put into an item. A person may no longer be personally attached to an item, but will keep it because they have always meant to use it or simply because it's not yet ruined.

This is also a reason those with fewer economic advantage tend to be hoarders more than those with a comfortable financial situation. Someone like this realizing they've obtained two of an item will take on the responsibility of curating both instead of getting rid of one.

Because of all these factors, the expression that was translated as "sparks joy" in the English version is too easy for a clutterer to confuse or redefine in their own mind as they work to sort through their items.

In my case, for example, I had a situation where the basement, which was full of our excess saved items, needed to be cleared so the cracked foundation could be repaired. I had to decide what to save in the limited storage space we still had, and what to throw out or donate.

If Konmari had been in vogue at the time (this was in 2004) I'm certain I would have kept far more items than I should have. This language is too easy for a clutterer to massage and redefine in their own mind based on what the item is.

First, clutterers need to be clear-eyed about the fact that they suffer from excess emotional attachment to objects. Flylady's declutter method was in vogue at the time I engaged in this declutter session, and she has a whole checklist of questions to ask oneself about an object:

Do I love this item?

Have I used it in the past year?

Is it really garbage?

Do I have another one that is better?

Should I really keep two?

Does it have sentimental value that causes me to love it?

Or does it give me guilt and make me sad when I see the item?

This may seem needlessly complex to someone who is not a hoarder or clutterer but this addresses many of the reasons that a sufferer would keep an item that they shouldn't.

Another factor is that they are perfectionists. This seems at odds with the idea that they may have a huge mess in their home, but what happens is they often can't deal with their persistent need to have a perfectly clean home that matches their vision.

Because of this they put off starting on the project until it can be done perfectly.

This is why methods like Flylady and Unfuck Your Habitat (which is really just Flylady without the cutesy rhetoric) help these people so much, because people with differences such as ADHD become clutterers because they don't know how to regulate their own time or how to organize.

The emotional attachment to their possessions is, incidentally, why decluttering on behalf of your hoarder friend is a very bad idea. The person will need to work through this process on their own, in order for it to stick.

Getting rid of these items can be intensely emotional and difficult for someone with these tendencies.

Time limits, routines, consistency, and persistence are the best tools for someone who needs to declutter. Don't try to do this all in an afternoon. Not only is it a difficult process, it should become a consistent habit.

For resources and further reading please check out Squalor Survivors (archive.org link).

[dedicatedfollower467]

i've said it before but i'll say it again:

as an adhder, the hard part about the konmari method is not the "don't keep things that don't spark joy" bit, it's the "put things away when you're done with them" bit.

[whowouldwininafite]

[carolinalaurel]

i know that i konmari’d and loved it so much so i am def for sure her target audience and am therefore biased but: people were so fucking dismissive and rude about marie kondo over some journalist’s skimming of the first chapter of her book. people act like she’s some tyrant trying to throw out all your clothes but her book is literally about yes throw out things you don’t care about but KEEP and TREASURE things you love! she says do you want to throw out this old cosplay? no? then fucking wear that thing around your house for no reason proudly! do you want a hundred pinball machines? then make your house PINBALL HEAVEN!!!

and people are like oooooh now that she has three kids she doesn’t care about cleaning and she gave up! when in actuality she said that she’s given up on making her kids sort their toys by type of material as long as they’re in boxes.

[arctic-hands]

Ugh someone in the free stuff group wants a copy of Marie Kondo's book and naturally the most popular comment is about how she "gave up cleaning" and is a fraud #EmbraceTheMess

She had a third baby, fuckos. Her priorities changed now that she has to keep up with three young children, that doesn't mean she lied it means sometimes life gets in the way. #EmbraceTheMess all you like it that makes you happy, but why are you threatened by this petite Japanese woman who advises you just keep the things you're happy with and say goodbye to the things you don't? And I say that as a pathological hoarder.

[howtophilosophizeontheinternet]

The urge to minimize sits, ironically, like a piece of junk in the mind.

[veetri-bitcrush]

I just love this trend

[uchidachi]

I’ve got to hand it to Marie Kondo, thanking my old, worn out clothes for their work before I get rid of them has been a game-changer.

[msfbgraves]

Corporate framing really is a drug: "Forget Marie Kondo! You're finally allowed to own stuff again!" Today's "Volkskrant" newspaper.

Marie Kondo would delight in a packed, happy house with loads of stuff that is tidy. The only thing she says is to let go of stuff that doesn't serve you because that stuff will hinder you.

A side effect of that is that people often buy less. Goodness, who could that possibly hurt?

No - oh, corporate not happy, is it?

On the one hand I often think corporate is too large to even begin to fight and on the other hand corporate freaks out at the mere thought of someone spending $55 a year less on knicknacks or spices or hair ties they didn't need. Or finally liquidates their storage unit. It's beyond silly, and it makes me wonder how big the "frustration business" actually is.

If you're as happy as a clam in a clean space absolutely packed with your favourite stuff, she'll rejoice with you! As long as you know, roughly, where everything is. I am just baffled why it upsets people so much to hear this...

...though in spite of a 15% price hike on groceries, I have managed to spend 15% less than a year before and I know that can't have been the plan.

Imagine if everyone did that.

Yeah, I guess that's worth a corporate campaign.

[lanalol]

[eeveehigashikata]

I finally KonMari-ed my cosplay! I treated it as sort of bridging komono and sentimental, because since of those cosplay I poured my blood, sweat, and tears into. As it turned out, though, several of them just plain didn't fit anymore (too small) and since I'm now a healthy weight, it was a no brainer to thank those costumes and move on.

Others it was fun to see how far I've come in sewing skill because while I don't put in the hours/practice that some people do, I was able to look at work from 10+ years ago and think "aww I was so baby I had no idea what I was doing. I would do this totally differently now." And for some I might remake them if they're simple enough and for others... eh we'll see. The challenge to do better and wear something I really felt good in is nice, but I have other cosplans on my plate for now.

One thing I really got to think about was how I make a point to take my time now! I don't want to rush or con-crunch if I can help it. So I've been enjoying the process more.

Lastly I know I probably should have thought longer and harder about the wigs but I like how I look in so many of them...

[nervouspiratedragon]

Eggman and the Konmari method

Minion : *displeases Eggman*

Eggman: *picks up a useless minion*

Eggman : "This does not spark joy. Yeet!" *tosses the minion into a furnace alive to dispose*

[in-sufficientdata]

(though it won't work for you if you're a legit hoarder)