in a perfect world our homes would always be neat and tidy and everyone would feel calm and organised living in it unfortunately that s not always the case and most of the time we re just frantically trying to find a lunchbox right before the school run all that is about to change welcome to the the konmari method a new approach to de cluttering that claims you ll only have to organise your home once and never again the method developed by marie kondo is based on japanese values and aims to teach you how organise your belongings and surround yourself only with items that spark joy the result isn t just a tidier cleaner living space but an all round happier life so how does it work here are some of the top tips to get you started find out what a de cluttered life would mean picture what a life free of clutter would mean to you but it s not just more space for more things dig deeper perhaps it will mean a better social life as you d be more likely to invite friends over or that less mess will mean freeing up time to do things you love learn to let go marie says that belongings should be acknowledged for their service and thanked before being let go of if they no longer spark joy the idea is to be introspective look at the things you have and really consider whether or not you still get joy from them if not throw them out stop thinking you ll need it someday be ruthless about the stuff you decide to keep in your home instead of simply convincing yourself you might need it someday really think about whether or not that s true most of the time we don t even notice the things we think we might need so desperately tidy by category not location once you have finished discarding items that no longer bring you joy it s time to organise what you have left instead of starting say in the kitchen and then moving onto the dining room pick a category clothes photos documents etc and start there similar items are likely scattered throughout the house and you ll want to arrange them together allocate a place for everything after discarding find a specific home for every single item you keep this helps to avoid clutter relapse stick to simple clear tools to store items that are easily accessible again such as single shoe holders or clip and file document holders steer clear of simply putting items in boxes and hiding them away until next year this after all is tidying for life not just for the season