A Scientific look at Marie Kondo’s Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.
In the last year, a certain self-help book became a best seller, seemingly out of nowhere. This book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo, claimed that “When you put your house in order, you put your affairs and past in order too” (Kondo & Hirando, 2011). This book claims that by tidying up and organizing your house in one go will not only help you keep your house tidy forever, but also change your life (Kondo & Hirando, 2011). While the approach Kondo takes to cleaning is rational, I wanted to look at whether her theories on the importance of tidying, and her claims about this ‘life changing magic’ are bounded in scientific fact or not. By examining the hallmarks of pseudoscience, the effects of stress on life’s, stress reduction strategies, adherence to trained regimes and some of the recovery rates for hoarding, I aim to determine whether the Japanese Art of Tidying actually is magical or not. Firstly, it is well known that long term stress has detrimental effects on the body, and the mind. One study published this year showed a possible link between cortisol, the stress hormone, and depression (Jin, et al. 2016). Another literature review published this year linked stress with increased risk of developing several mental and physical conditions, like certain cancers, arthritis, mood and
I PUT DVDS AND BOOKS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER, THEY ARE EASIER TO FIND. I COLOR COORDINATE MY CLOTHES FOR WORK, IT TAKES ME LESS TIME TO PUT AN OUTFIT TOGETHER. THERE ARE SO MANY WAYS THAT YOU CAN RE-PURPOSE THINGS. YOU CAN USE ICE CUBE TRAYS FOR A DESK, FOR HOME OR WORK. IT WORKS GREAT FOR US, WHEN WE ARE TRYING TO SAVE TIME. MY BIGGEST THING IS, GET RID OF THINGS YOU HAVEN’T USED FOR AT LEAST A YEAR. IT’S HARD TO GET RID OF SOME STUFF, BUT IT KEEPS IT A LITTLE MORE ORGANIZED. THE CLEANER AND MORE ORGANIZED YOUR WORKSPACE, THE BETTER YOU WILL FEEL. YOUR HOME WILL BE EASIER TO CLEAN AND STAY CLEAN, I HAVE FOUND THAT OUT. THERE 'S A DISTINCTION BETWEEN ORGANIZATION AND ALSO THE MERCHANDISE YOU MAY USE TO REALIZE THAT GOAL. ORGANIZATION MAY BE A METHOD, NOT A PRODUCT. I HAVE A FEW TASKS FOR YOU, THAT YOU CAN DO IN LESS THAN TEN MINUTES. RESPOND TO OR DELETE 20 EMAILS. CLEARING OUT OLD MESSAGES, ARCHIVE ONES YOU WANT TO KEEP. FILE ONE STACK OF PAPERWORK. CHECK YOUR APPOINTMENT CALENDAR FOR THE WEEK. MAKE A TO DO LIST. YOU MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO ALL OF THESE THINGS IN TEN MINUTES BUT, DOING SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN DOING NOTHING. USING A LABEL MAKER COMES IN HANDY, I HAVE FOUND THAT IT MAKES THINGS MORE SIMPLE. STORING MANUALS FOR SOFTWARE, PRINTER, COPIER, CALCULATOR, AND FAX MACHINES IN ONE PLACE, MAKES THEM EASY TO FIND. TRYING TO MAKE YOUR DESK AREA HEALTHIER, MAKES YOU HEALTHIER. TRY TO COMBINE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY INTO YOUR DESK AREA, IT WILL MAKE YOU MORE
Things you won 't use, don 't like, or bring up bad memories are good candidates for being decluttered.
In The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, Marie Kondo introduces her revolutionary and cathartic method of organizing called the KonMari method. The book begins by explaining how her drive to create the KonMari method began at a young age of five and which errors she learned from to develop into an experienced professional organizer. Soon, she explains how you can declutter and tidy your home in seven easy steps: tidy all at once, visualize your destination, identify why you want to live the way you envision, determine if each item “sparks joy”, tidy by category, not location, tidy in the right order, and discard before you place things back. One of the major ways to declutter was to simply
When the body has been activated by stress, long term exposure, or the inability to effectively deal with the exposure to stress, the chances for long term health concerns increase.
of the Seven Habits Profile. It opened my eyes to see how much time am not spending on long-term life
“The way we see the problem is the problem” (pg. ) As individual we have to allow ourselves to experience a change in how we think. Covey explains how we must altar our attitude and behavior in order to achieve true change through the seven habits.
Stress affects your health without you even realizing it. Constant headaches or trouble sleeping would be something stress causes often. This can get bad enough which leads to serious health problems such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Stress effects your body with things like muscle
According to “It’s My Life” first-borns more organized, the article says, “You probably know where to find things, like your books, your Mom's keys, or your homework assignment. Even if your folders are a little messy, it's likely that you have a system.” I may have a messy room, but I always have a plan and am to a point, organized. What I can’t stand is complete anarchy, no control. Because as I said before, things can be a little out of order, but overall control and understanding is always necessary. For example in school I have a 4.0 that is partly due to the fact that I’m not like all these other people who are running around with their heads chopped off trying to find there assignment in there disorganized abyss of a locker. I always have my accordion folder with all my assignments in class specific dividers at my side all the time. My room however is messy, but contrary to what one might think, I can still access all my belongs in there organized respective areas of the bedroom. As one would see, I may be a little messy, but anarchy is completely out of the question.
The longer you stay in a state of negativity, the more damage you do to your body. Chronic stress affects every inch of your body, right down to the DNA strands that make up who you are. You age faster, you get sick more, and chronic illness is more likely to appear in your life.
According to doctor Michelle Albert “an abundance of stress can overpower the body and put you in a constant “fight or flight” mode, which can have negative effects on multiple organ systems, including the heart” (Is stress making you sick, 2012). Constant or too much stress is harmful for the body. It can lead to “type 2 diabetes, impaired immunity, worsening depression, and gastrointestinal problems” (Is stress making you sick, 2012, p. 3-4). Other less serious effects such as colds and fatigue can also occur. While being stressed, it is very important to learn and develop ways to cope with the stress and prevent these complications that can
The conclusions we found were that men’s sections tended to be messier in athletic stores while women’s sections were messier in department stores. Regardless of what type of store, both the men and women’s sections in the clearance area was significantly more disheveled compared to the regular priced items. We discovered that neatness would often depend on the quality of the products and the size of the store. If the store was more high-end or smaller, customers tended to feel more obligated to place the item back as neatly as they could. The number of employees working, specifically those workers on the floor, directly affected neatness as well.
We, as minimalists, choose to de-clutter our surroundings and our mind, in order to appreciate the simplicity of living without that bric-a-brac. It is a relatively easy process. However, while we feed our soul, we ignore physical nourishment as it is impacted by our minimal lifestyle.
Clutter is a big problem for many people. At a lecture that I gave, I asked for a show of hands regarding how many people had problems with clutter and disorganization. I was surprised to find that at least half the people raised their hands.
Having stress for a long period of time can lead anxiety disorders like phobias, obsessive compulsive disorder. It can also
Stress can cause many things that affect a healthy body. Stress causes quick yet shallow breathing in which case, the body's cells are being deprived of oxygen. Stress will increase cholesterol levels and can also cause indigestion, heartburn, a decreased sex drive, and also arteriosclerosis (the hardening of the arteries). While these symptoms may seem minimal, stress can decrease the activity of white blood cells. Since the white blood cells fight off sicknesses and diseases, the immune system is affected by stress and can make the body more susceptible to colds, viruses, flues, and diseases (Morrison 2).