What is a KonMari tidying festival? 15 unexpected outcomes that will improve your wellbeing…
What is a tidying festival?
When one commits to decluttering and organising every single item in their home using the KonMari Method.
Why do we call it a ‘festival’?
Because it’s a time of celebration to honour your commitment to the tidying process. Furthermore, if done properly, a tidying festival is a once-in-a-lifetime experience to look intentionally at the things you currently own through allowing you to:
assess how they came into your life;
determine whether they still have any relevance in your life in line with your tidying goals and vision for your ideal lifestyle;
redetermine your consumer habits to establish a more conscious consumer attitude moving forward.
KonMari is not simply about going through the ‘stuff’ cluttering up your home - It’s about uncovering a new way to live.
Since starting my KonMari business in 2018, I have had the opportunity to work with hundreds of clients who are transforming their homes in an effort to transform their lives. I’ve witnessed many of my clients grow in confidence, embark upon new careers that spark joy, redetermine their boundaries and adopt a new-found courage to say ‘no’ to things in their lives that prevent them from living the life they wish to live.
At the heart of KonMari is effective decision-making. During a tidying festival you’re encouraged to declutter by category, instead of simply working on a drawer, cupboard or whole room at a time. This allows you to focus your brain and engage in mono-tasking. By holding each item you own and asking yourself ‘does this spark joy?’ and ‘does this serve me practically?’, you become more decisive. Through following the KonMari tidying order of clothing, books, paperwork, komono and sentimental items, you have the opportunity to ask yourself thousands (perhaps hundreds of thousands of times) if an item still has a place in your life. Repetition builds confidence. At the end of the process, you’re able to apply the ‘spark joy philosophy’ to other areas of your life including:
how you wish to spend your time;
whether friendships continue to spark joy (goodbye toxic relationships!);
whether your career continues to spark joy.
The last point was the game-changer for me… I realised after completing my own KonMari tidying festival that my job as a Primary School Teacher no longer brought me joy. Therefore, I said goodbye with gratitude to the profession and decided to train with Marie Kondo to become a KonMari Consultant instead! And what a joy and a journey it’s been!
To help you anticipate what can come to fruition in the journey ahead, I’ve created a list of 15 beautiful, (often unexpected) outcomes that can come when you commit to a KonMari tidying festival:
You redetermine your relationship with your things. No more keeping things ‘just in case’ or because you think it will ‘come in handy someday’. Goodbye guilt; hello freedom to make your own choices!
You reflect on past consumption habits and adopt a more conscious, sustainable consumer attitude for the future. Facing piles of items that have accumulated over time and acknowledging the ‘waste’ (things you’ve never used, duplicate items bought because you're unable to find them when you needs them etc.) is a kick-starter for change. You will never want to end up in the same messy situation again. Less buying, more living!
You become extremely decisive through 1,000s (or sometimes 100,000s!) of joy checks. Through KonMari, you hone your ability to decide what actually brings you joy.
You learn how to let things go with confidence and gratitude, saying ‘goodbye’ to the items that no longer have a place in your life. Being conscious of what you’ve said goodbye to creates a toolkit for the future of what to avoid buying again. Time to embrace intentional living!
You give to others in need. Yes, the objective is to create your tidy home, but let’s not forget that through you figuring out which items you no longer need, you will be able to pass them on to others genuinely in need. Isn’t donating unused items better than letting them sit in your home for years, gathering dust and feeling unloved?…
You commit to a goal and see it through. What a dose of dopamine for the soul!
You may inspire others to start their own KonMari tidying festival too. If you share your journey with others, there are two benefits: they will hold you accountable to your goals and they will feel inspired by you (prompted perhaps to tidy their own home if it’s in a state of disarray!).
You will create physical space. By choosing what you wish to keep, you set a new standard for yourself and as a by-product, discard a lot of redundant items that are holding you back. Watch in amazement how the home that once felt ‘too small’ now offers the exact amount of space you need (and more in some circumstances!).
You will create mental space. Have you heard the phrase ‘tidy home, tidy mind’? There are a host of problems associated with clutter, from increased stress levels to other negative psychological effects. Studies show a tidy home can enhance your well-being, improve your productivity, reduce your stress, and lead to healthier eating habits. Read this post for all the studies.
You establish sensible homes for every single item you own, storing like with like. You will no longer waste 9-10 minutes per day, looking for items you can’t find (data tells us that over a lifetime, this routine searching adds up to approximately 6 months, or about 3,680 hours of lost time). Just think of what we could do with the additional six months of life!
You establish boundaries to stem the flow of clutter coming into your home again. If done correctly, you will never have to complete a tidying festival in its entirety ever again. Once finished, when you have decided to keep only the items that spark joy and serve you practically, as well as give every item a home, you will want to protect this new organisation at all costs! Goodbye forever to the mess!
You will confidently maintain your home environment through daily resets. When the mess has gone, your items are organised by category, and you’ve established organisational systems which work, putting things away becomes automatic because there is no question about where things ‘live’. Over time, putting things away becomes easier and easier, giving you much more time to do the things you want to do.
You enhance your wellbeing knowing you are fully in control of your home. There’s an innate confidence that stems from living in an ordered environment - combine this with the boundaries you have created to prevent the future build-up of mess, and you are fully in the driving seat! Control breeds confidence in yourself.
You fall back in love with your home. Home becomes a sanctuary you can’t wait to return to, instead of a space you wish to run away from.
You fall back in love with yourself. I’ve seen all of my clients adopt a more decisive mindset. They’re able to apply the question of ‘does this spark joy?’ to their friendships, career, daily habits, routines, and every aspect of their life! Do the majority of people believe that a KonMari tidying festival can unleash such magic? They can’t say for sure until they’ve tried it for themselves!
Are you ready to start your KonMari tidying festival? If you need help, please get in touch.
And if you’re on the other side of completing your festival, let me know which of the points above resonated with you most.
