Decluttering

I recently read an article on Marie Kondo, an expert on decluttering, which she has made into a global business charging her superfans £1675 for one of her seminars.

This accompanies her best selling book Spark Joy: an Illustrated Guide to the Japanese Art of Tidying which sold 5 million copies.

Her theory is that it is not about what you get rid of but how you decide what to keep.

She advocates hugging the object and deciding whether it sparks joy. If it does not, get rid.

In one case a fan took this so seriously that the object she dispensed with was her husband.

My own approach is somewhat different.

Probably once a week, I lose something.

Last week it was my camera whose battery I had charged and had no clue as to its whereabouts after that. A friend of mine has a theory that you should give up looking after 10 minutes, after that the object will find you. This is what happened as it turned up in another drawer.

In searching, I identified some detritus which I threw away. I am an inveterate user of little notebooks in which I keep daily lists. These go back 7 years and I decided they should go.

Then I could not find a banking document. This turned up in my “to be filed” paper holder and inspired another attack on out of date paperwork.

The great thing about decluttering -aside from the cleansing feeling of more space – is the discovery of the odd object you have totally forgotten. I saw a photo of a South African girl I no longer see taken some 15 years ago which not only brought back memories of her but the place I then lived.

You can attend a Tickler course on Decluttering Made Simple for far less than £1675.