Did Marie Kondo get this one wrong?

Is organizing your home a one and done event? Should you ever revisit household clutter using the Kon-Mari Method more often?

Are you struggling with clutter or feel like you are constantly decluttering your home and never getting it quite as organized as you would like? In this video, we are examining the KonMari Method doctrine that you tidy your home one time and all at once.

Sounds amazing right? One big clear out of your stuff and you will never be surrounded by clutter again?

If you have watched my videos before you know I am a fan of Marie Kondo and her methods. But when I read this part of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, I had my suspicions. Many of my clients are hesitant to examine all the belongings in their homes because of just the sheer volume of possessions, like 10s of thousands of things they had accumulated over 50 or 70 years in addition to the collections of things from their parents, grandparents, children, and spouses. But when I watched the Netflix special Tidying Up with Marie Kondo and saw that there were people willing to sort and examine all the things in their lives it gave me hope that the magic of tidying was alive and well and that my job as a Professional Organizer was pretty secure since I love to coach people through the process of sorting and discarding.

But is tidying really just a once in a lifetime event? I don’t really think so and here’s why. Yes, the process should be done as a top to bottom examination of all your things. Even if it takes many months, the mental shift that comes from this process is priceless. However, throughout our lives, most of us will experience many life transitions like starting a business, getting married, getting divorced, moving, retiring, having kids, and losing a loved one. I would encourage you, after each life-changing event you experience, to reexamine the things in your life. In the last 8 years, I have downsized, upsized, gotten married, ran an Airbnb, moved from urban living to rural living, and rescued 3 dogs. So the things I own and that occupy my space have changed as well. Use the KonMari Method to tidy your things all at once, but when you go through a life transition, do it again! Reexamine things that sparked joy to you 5 or 10 years ago because they may not be the things that bring you joy now, and that’s ok!