Every year, I make the same New Year’s resolution to be organized, yet I always fail to complete it. Keeping everything tidy has become increasingly hard, especially having to juggle it with school work. The last thing I want to do when classes are over is organize my desk. This is why I was interested when I first learned about Marie Kondo.
Marie Kondo is a professional organizing consultant. She has written four books and has her own Netflix series called “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.” Marie works to help people ogranize their objects and lives with her KonMari method.
What makes the KonMari method special is that it focuses on categories rather than locations. Her five categories are clothing, books, paper, komono, and sentimental items. Organizing by category keeps you focused and from bringing one room’s mess into another.
I decided to watch the series and felt inspired to, once again, try and become organized. This time I would try by following the KonMari method, with a few tweaks of my own to make it more applicable to college life.
Category 1: Clothing
On her Netflix series, Marie has her clients pull out all their clothes and place them on the bed as the first step. This step isn’t convenient for college students that have little space and assignments that need to be done. Instead, I split my clothes into categories and created a new pile each day. The smaller piles were less overwhelming and gave me time to complete other tasks throughout the day.
At first, I was hesitant about Marie’s vertical folding technique. My whole life I had folded my clothes horizontally and it felt strange to change it up. After using this new technique for a few weeks now, I can say that it is the best change I have made. Finding clothes is so simple and quick. The fold also doesn’t take any more time than a normal horizontal fold. I usually fold while I listen to a podcast or watch Netflix, that way I can relax and be productive at the same time.
Category 2&3: Books and Papers
Marie separates books and papers into two categories, but because most of my books and papers were school related, I decided to put the two together. It might not have been the best idea because the pile was big and overwhelming. I had plenty of books and papers leftover from last semester.
Going through the piles of paper reminded me of my time in high school when everyone would save all of their papers, and at the end of the school year, would take turns throwing them into a bonfire. While that was fun, I just decided to simply recycle them this time.
I found that having all of my books and papers sorted has helped me with my schoolwork. I no longer have to dig around or go searching for that one textbook that I can’t find. Now I have no excuse about procrastinating on my assignments, although I’m sure I’ll soon find other reasons.
Category 4: Komono
The Komono category stands for kitchen, bathroom, garage and miscellaneous items. If you are living in a dorm, you probably won’t have to worry about anything but miscellaneous items. I live in an apartment, so I had to go through my stuff in the kitchen and bathrooms. I think the hardest part about this category is figuring out where to put things. The most important part was finding storage that looked neat but was also convenient.
This category is the largest and had the most noticeable transformation. The top of my dresser is not a disaster zone anymore and my cabinets are gorgeous. I want to invite all of my friends over just so they can see how neat they are now. Category 5: Sentimentals
I found this category to be the easiest. I didn’t bring too many sentimental items from home to college with me. I did have some paintings that had been sitting on my floor since the beginning of the school year. Hanging them up gave my room a sense of hominess that it had been lacking. I think that by having objects that you hold dear be visible, it creates a relaxed and joyful environment.
Going through the KonMari method was nice because it told me what to do. Whenever I try to tidy up on my own I have a hard time knowing where to start. Having designated categories made it easy to focus and took away the stress of figuring out what to do next.
Having a tidy room comes with a sense of pride. I can have my friends over without being embarrassed of the pile of papers on my nightstand just waiting to be knocked over. Marie says that the process of tidying up is not just about physical objects, but also yourself. I agree.