Marie Kondo: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
EPISODE 214
Marie Kondo's first book is "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing". It was published in 2011 and has become a best-seller. Kondo shares her unique KonMari method for decluttering and organizing in the book.
The technique uses the idea that you should only keep items in your home that bring you joy and let go of things that do not. The book has inspired a decluttering movement and is the perfect way to start our Japan Series.
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Runsheet
INTRO
Marie Kondo introduces herself, and her focus
Organize the World (2m37)
WHAT IS IT
ABC and Marie Kondo Reveal Simple Ways To Get Organized
Save Time And Space (4m52)
HOW TO DO IT
Snapreads breaks down some of the key ideas
5 lessons from the book (1m58)
Marie’s advice to tune your home into a place for great work
Creating A Home Workspace (1m20)
OUTRO
Marie on the TODAY show closes the show with a call to action to only surround ourselves with things that bring happiness
Being Tidy Is About 'Joy' (1m53)
Buy the book summary from Blinkist
Transcript
Mike Parsons: Hello and welcome to the Moonshots Podcast. It's episode 214. I'm your co-host, Mike Parsons, and as always, I'm joined by Mark Pearson Freeland. Good morning.
Mark Pearson Freeland:
Good morning, Mike. Good morning, listeners and members. Boy, are we kicking off our brand new series with somebody who's pretty much a household name, Mike, and somebody whom I know is gonna bring some fascinating, insightful, and helpful tips into our lives, wouldn't you say?
Mark Pearson Freeland:
I would agree, but I think she's cleaning it up.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Very good. A good unscripted joke there. I like that a lot. Listeners and members, today, we are kicking off a brand new series. This series will be in Japan. So you can imagine some serious life lessons coming through our next few shows. To kick us off right and kick off on the foundation of cleanliness and productivity is none other than Marie Cono.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Marie Cono is a confessed cleaning consultant who takes tidying and cleanliness to a new level. She's created and organized her tips and methods. Into the Con Marie Method, which some of us may know, whether you've read her first book, her second book, or even watched her TV show on Netflix.
Mark Pearson Freeland: There's a lot of information and recommendations that Marie has made, not only publicly and across her books and television appearances, but also what you and I will dive into today on Moonshot Show 214.
Mike Parsons: I think it is fantastic to start the Japan series. We're, I think. Pretty warning for all of our listeners; we're massive Japan fans; what do they call them?
Mike Parsons: Japanphites. I can't; I dunno. We love all things Japanese, and we're gonna be digging into icky guy Kaen. But today, it is all about Murray Kondo Today; it is all about creating order, which will help you reduce stress in your digital and physical lives. This is all about. Putting your energy where it wants to go is to do new things, growing, developing, and learning out loud even.
Mike Parsons: So let's get rid of the chaos. Let's not give in to this world where our inboxes and devices are full of digital goodies. Acquiring stuff in the house is just way too easy. Shopping is just too easy. Things can be on your door that same day. It's time to create order and put things away where they belong.
Mike Parsons: Even challenge the idea should you even have it in your house. These are all the opportunities we have in this show to learn from Murray Kdo to get things sorted, and I cannot tell you how essential it is. Like, just think about it. Mark, if we were about to go deep and work for three hours straight, we would first go right; let's clean up the desk and get organized.
Mike Parsons: Get ready, everyone, because we will get organized in all facets. Thanks to Murray Condo. So, Mark, I think we should tear into it.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Yeah, I agree. Let's open up the bags. Let's get in and try and tidy up our house and minds and find a way to create that calm, motivated mindset that an organization can bring.
Mark Pearson Freeland: So let's hear first of all from Marie Kdo herself, break down her focus and how she's trying to organize the.
Marie Kondo: Hello everyone. I'm Maria Condo. I feel whole not to be standing on such a wonderful stage today. Everyone at Southwest, Southwest is talking about big things, but I would like to talk about something even bigger.
Marie Kondo: My grandmother. My grandmother a very peaceful place in Japan. Her house is not big, and she did not own anything especially nice, but she took good care of her things. Her house was always green and tidy. Even inside, her drawers were beautifully organized, and just like her house, her presence was simple and beautiful.
Marie Kondo: She never got hungry. No matter what happened, she was gentle. I admired her very much. She always tells me what, from the outside,
Marie Kondo: normally, people can't see inside your house. However, the way you organize the area and how to treat your belongings will greatly affect your available thinking.
Marie Kondo: Whether our house is tidy or not has a great impact on our life. Ti is a big thing.
Marie Kondo: Now, I'd like to ask you a question.
Marie Kondo: Is your house id?
Marie Kondo: If you answer No, don't worry. I can help you.
Mike Parsons: Oh. How appropriate is it to hear from Murray Condo as we start this? And how can you not love her? She is just smart. She's so gentle. Like you just wanna invite her over to the house and say, please help me clean up my life.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Exactly. And I think what's great about hearing that intro from Mary Kondo is you're starting to see that passion. She has towards this method and this system that we're gonna be uncovering on today's show. Mike, isn't it? She's enthusiastic about helping others, whether it's her family, her friends, or you and I, as well as our listeners, understand what is correct.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Processes and steps to identify what you do and don't want to keep and create a bit of order in your life. Because Marie Conos called out, her grandmother never got angry. That seems like a trait that I think we'd all want to emulate, Mike, so if we can find guidance steps towards living a life, that is.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Motivated, productive, efficient. We stay on course with the tasks and the goals that we have. I think we owe it to ourselves to explore those recommended methods and strategies because, as we know from James Clear, it's 1% better every day if you can adopt them. Some of these teachings from Marie Kondo are to tidy up your desk and your life.
Mark Pearson Freeland: It all sounds pretty attractive to me. I think Marie's already set me off, Mike. I'm ready to put on the feather, put on my feather dusters and get going.
Mike Parsons: I think that is only the beginning, and I think the exciting thing. What I think Marie Kdo gives us are some simple habits and tools.
Mike Parsons: So James Clear would be very happy as well. But it is when nobody is looking, and what I think Murray Kondo alluded to, there is something super important that we often see. Let ourselves down by making our home or our desk things that people don't see. So we let it get messy. And it's that classic thing when you've got friends coming over for a dinner party; what's the first thing you do?
Mike Parsons: You must clean the whole house and organize everything. So that tells you that. So there's a sort of distortion gap that maybe we should set ourselves up. So if friends are coming over for dinner, there's not that much tidying up to do because you already have a tidy home.
Mike Parsons: And it surely hints that we could all do a better job. Whether that's creating order, getting rid of some old stuff, organizing things better, creating order, peace of mind, or perhaps even entertaining a little joy, that's all ahead for us. And if you need some extra joy, not your life, the first place you have gotta start, the mark would be, I don't know, let's say, becoming a member of the Moonshots podcast.
Mike Parsons: What think you, oh,
Mark Pearson Freeland: I think you're right, Mike. And I think the book of Marie Kondo, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying. It is an appropriate call out for our members, who I know will make life-changing decisions daily by supporting the Moonshots Podcast and our master series. So please warmly welcome Bob John Terry, Marlin, Kenmar, Marja, Connor, Yasmine, Lisa, Sid, and Mr.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Bonura, all of our members. Who has been with us for more than 12 months, a whole 12 months of keeping Moonshot ready? But shortly on, their tales include Paul and Berg Kaman and David, Joe Crystal, Ivo, Christian, Sam, Kelly, Barbara and Andre, Matthew, Eric, Abby and Chris, Deborah Lase, Steve and Craig. Ha.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Daniel, Andrew and Ravi. We've got eVet, l, gv, Karen and Raul, pj Niwa, Ola, Ingram, Dirk, Emily, Harry, Karthik, Vanatta, VIN Parra, Marco and Suns Jet. Pablo, Roger, and brand new member Steph as well. Thank you, everybody, for your continued. We're
Mike Parsons: so grateful. You are helping us keep our lives in order and check, particularly our moonshot lives.
Mike Parsons: So we are grateful for the support. It means the world to us that we're creating value. Your world so that you can provide a little value in our world. So thank you ever so much. And I think if you were to ask yourself, where can we start in finding the value in the thinking, the ideas of Murray Kondo, where can we go to, I think it's, step number one is to get a life.
Mike Parsons: Organize and, particularly, look at the space you are in and how to think about that. So we have this great clip now, Mari and the television network ABC going in and revealing how we can save time and space and help others.
ABC: A busy family of four, their two-bedroom home is chock full of baby clothes.
ABC: I am Overflowing and have loads of hand-me-downs. I could close an entire small country. Some people say it takes a village. You could just raise a village. Yeah, exactly. How do you feel when you walk into your home right now? A little chaotic. A little stress? Yeah. There might be a little anxiety. Are you ready to get rid of things?
ABC: I am ready. We need to simplify. We need to. Our things and therefore simplify our life.
Marie Kondo: Hi, good morning.
ABC: Hi. Hi. I'm Mary. So they've turned to organising Guru Marie Condo, the Queen of Queen, with their best-selling books and viral videos. Condo has become the face of the much-hyped. Declutter movement, helping millions rid their homes of overflow by keeping only the items that spark joy.
ABC: A professional cleaning consultant by trade with a three-month waiting list, the condo has become a folding phenom. Her unique methods spur viral videos that are irresistible, almost hypnotic. Here she is folding undies for New York magazines. Shirts for Vogue, her publisher out with a how-to video for all those folding feet fans obsessed with lighter living, calling themselves hashtag converts, sharing their declutter triumphs on Instagram and Twitter.
ABC: And today, the titan of tidy is bringing some of that declutter Magic to New York, helping the Friedmans finally find that balance. They so desperately desire. Step one, Marie begins her process by greeting the. Her way of letting the space know she's there to begin tidying. Up next, with the help of her translator, we get to work.
ABC: Hello, sorting through clothes and keeping only the items that spark joy. Does this spark joy? Can you feel the joy? Yeah, don't mind me. . . Get to work. Marni, you've got stuff to do. Joy sparking. Condo even suggests thanking clothes you've decided to part with. Thank you. Keep sweatpants. Thank you.
ABC: Orange valore pants that we've never worn. Once our mountain of kids' clothes has been reduced to a molehill, we tackle her most famous organizing trick. The Kaari folding. Some folding 1 0 1 by folding clothes in half or thirds. Condo says you should end up with a rectangle that stands up by itself, helping save space and stay organized.
ABC: Someone who doesn't need the condo's help. Hello, Rema Yaku, who calls herself a compulsive declutter. Clutter is not just. Paper and objects. It's anything that interferes with your serenity. Her Maryland home is immaculate despite housing. Two growing boys. One of the important things to me is for the eye to have a place to rest everywhere there's a thing; it takes your energy to look at it.
ABC: To clean behind it to manage it here. You won't find a coffee table or photos on the wall in the living room. I don't need photographs to see the people I love that are right in front of me. Her cupboards are neatly packed, and her fridge is tidy. Have you ever had that moment where you like to reach behind?
ABC: A bunch of things, and you're like, oh man, I wanted to eat that. And now it's gone bad. That just doesn't happen here. But in her son Zach's room, his trophies are displayed proudly and one major compromise. If it was up to him, every wall in this house in his room would be covered. But we agreed that just one wall would have things on it.
ABC: Whatever he wants can go on this wall. So he has put up. Whatever makes him happy right there. Your environment should be an expression of who you are. Absolutely. If somebody needs to live in an environment that is completely free of anything, then maybe that's what they need to think creatively to get work done.
ABC: Everybody is different. Rima says her clutter-free style is all part of healthy living. Getting rid of the material things so she can focus on what matters. I like to look around my home and not be reminded of 50 things I need to do. All the things that I need to do are written on a list where they belong.
ABC: Sometimes, all of our stuff can drag us down and keep us weighted, and our brain functions better when our surroundings are neat and organized and filled with things that we can feel good about. Our sorting, purging and folding are finally done at the Friedmans. Items are placed neatly in drawers or closets.
ABC: So how much easier is it with this amazing standing-up method? Yeah. And so much more fit in that. Morning. Now that you've figured this out, does this inspire you to apply it across the house? It does. It makes it feel doable, and that's
Marie Kondo: so daunting,
Mark Pearson Freeland: so not so daunting, Mike, because many of us probably think it is when we plan to remove chaos, stress, and anxiety in our house.
Mark Pearson Freeland: These sound big. Achievements, don't they? But the truth is, as we're hearing from Mary Kondo and a couple of the families, that she was benefiting from that particular appearance on tv. It brings so much clarity and reassurance that your house is not quite as chaotic as you thought it was.
Mark Pearson Freeland: I thought particularly the statement removing items from your, let's call it, eye line and yes, your house, and instead, oh, the things that you've gotta do. Put it where they belong. Put it into a list, a strategy time block, maybe when you're going to work on it, but don't have half-completed projects or stuff lying around that.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Then. Quite naturally, and I do this all the time, you get distracted, particularly when you're working from home; it's much more challenging, isn't it? When you're walking around, you think, oh, I need to repair, I dunno that plant pot, or I need to throw out all these old clothes.
Mark Pearson Freeland: It takes you away from the work you had in mind, the work you wanted to give your full bandwidth towards. And I think it's a really clear recommendation that we heard in that clip just then: Keep yourself focused, maintain some clarity, and perhaps feel more relaxed.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Remove the stuff, remove the things that are in your way to having a little bit more, let's say, freedom in the way that you think.
Mike Parsons: Let's do a little. Workshop together now, then, Mark, let's apply this to our workspaces so we know the classic wardrobe story: if you haven't worn it in a year, you should give it to Goodwill.
Mike Parsons: Let's see if we can work out a way to take Mary's condo's thinking here, which seems to be getting rid of things. Are not using, but don't bring your joy and organize things more efficiently. So I want you to look around your desk right now and your workspace right now.
Mike Parsons: What do you see around you that you might identify as something? You don't use it very much, or that doesn't serve you well for your work. So, mark, look around, top to bottom, around you.
Mark Pearson Freeland: I've got, perhaps, too many items, Mike. But, one particular example is I've got some empty photo frames on one of my shelves, which probably have been there.
Mark Pearson Freeland: More than a few months, and they're there too, let's say, put up anything on the walls and so on. But the truth is, I don't have anything I want to put on the wall. So instead, these empty frames are sitting there; they're not doing anything they're not. So all they're doing is taking up space and reminding me that I've gotta do something about them.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Whenever my eyes land on them, I think, oh yeah. Frames. I need to do something with those. And it's
Mike Parsons: distracting. Yeah. And I have the same, so I have a little kitchenette in my studio. So I've got some dirty glasses. I've got an old little coffee packet here, I've even got Some via Oculus glasses sitting on my speaker, which is a bit distracting, and I've got the box to the side.
Mike Parsons: Things that should be stored away are there and distracting me. And that's just like doing a little order, isn't it? Of, is it useful? Is it helpful? Does it need to be there? And I believe so much can be gained from one. Not compromising on leaving the dirty cup or leaving the empty photo frame.
Mike Parsons: Yes, like To me, that's what Murray Kondo's saying is you only get to those things when someone's coming over. Correct? But you are important. You've gotta this is self-care. Start getting on top of that stuff. So if you're looking around, let's think of what, let's try and imagine, mark, what our listeners, as they're sitting at their workspace, might find.
Mike Parsons: So what do you think are some of the usual? Culprits of distraction and chaos and mess. I'm gonna start by saying, If you are like a bride, our producer loves a good printout. She has a lot of printouts all around her, and sometimes I think that causes her a little bit of stress. What else comes to your mind, mark, and what you might think of other people, maybe our listeners and our member's experience around their workspace?
Mark Pearson Freeland: I think similar to how Brady will have the printouts in our house, we often stack the letters that we receive that need. For example, maybe it's health insurance, maybe something to do with the car. So we'll stack it on one of the desks to return to it when we're ready.
Mark Pearson Freeland: But that's not a good technique either because it provides that daily reminder. Oh, we still need to do that. And that behaviour, I think, for all of us is, again, super distracting. Yeah, because it's taking up space on the desk. I can see it right now. But also, it's constantly reminding us that there is something hanging over our heads and exactly as you've just said, why do we compromise?
Mark Pearson Freeland: Why don't we prioritize ourselves in our work environment and live in it? Often. And make it that much tidier. So I reckon there's a lot of listeners and members out there who are probably thinking, oh yeah, I've got a stack of bills and a stack of to-do lists that I've gotta do that I could make more efficient.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Exactly. What about
Mike Parsons: cables? Yeah, cabling, like cable management. That is a great one. I would even go this far. Matt. I am; I sent you a photo of my desk and one of the things this morning; you'll notice that there's very little stuff on the desk. Besides the mouse and the keyboard, there's not a lot on there because I use drawers and organizers to get as much as I can off the desk.
Mike Parsons: And into drawers. So I like to think of, unless something is like a high frequency of usage, like hourly or at least two or three times a day, that. So it goes in a drawer. So I have a notebook which often gets used in my mornings, right? Sometimes, when I'm on a call, I'll handwrite stuff, but for the most part, I'll put things directly into my digital to-do list.
Mike Parsons: So my notepad and pan go in a drawer. They do not sit on my desk. They don't sit on my desk, and that is very intentional to
Mark Pearson Freeland: del. Very sensible. Oh, you bring things.
Mike Parsons: out when you need them. Yeah, that's right. And it just, I cannot tell you how much you know, a lot of our listeners will be familiar with this minimalist movement, which intersects nicely with Mary Kondo.
Mike Parsons: I think the order means you can take a breath and your mind. Doesn't have things to occupy it. Like the infamous list of bills from health insurance or something for the car you have, mark and, but think about this, even that small thing of you looking at that frame that doesn't have the photo in it.
Mike Parsons: Yeah. That's some it might be minuscule, but it's such a great example of how these things chip away at our energy, and we've only got a finite amount of energy, so we want to devote that to the things that matter. Not thinking about photo frames and dirty cups,
Mark Pearson Freeland: it is funny, isn't it, when we can draw this comparison mic between some of the other shows we've done on the Moonshot show with productivity.
Mark Pearson Freeland: With staying focused. Even somebody like David Goggins, whose new book just came out that we did a show on a couple of weeks ago, is all around keeping yourself taking ownership of the things that matter to you. Holding yourself accountable. When it comes to cleaning, tidying, or organization in a general way, a lot of us deprioritize.
Mark Pearson Freeland: And don't think of it as important as exercise, as journaling or meditation, but actually, I think Marie Kondo's already convinced me just how important and beneficial taking that little bit of control over my stuff could be because of those negative. So let's call them energies or distractions that I can experience days when it comes to clutter and stuff getting in the way.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Yeah, and I think that's something that. I've probably deprioritized unconsciously, or maybe consciously actually, because I don't enjoy the act of, let's say, organization or targeting, I should say. But it we're, I think we are already making the case of how beneficial it might be just by releasing that anxiety and chaos that we were hearing in that second clip just then, and what opportunities could come.
Mark Pearson Freeland: By having more mental freedom. Yeah
Mike Parsons: totally. So just a quick reminder, if you're getting into this, obviously head over to moonshots.io. You can get our show notes and links there, and you can also get access to the back catalogue. You can become a member. There are so many good things to do there, but the good thing we're gonna do right now is unlocked.
Mike Parsons: Five big lessons from her book about the life-changing Magic of tiding. So sit back, and get ready to take it in. Here are the big five for Maryon. Over the years
Snapreads: you've probably read countless books and articles on decluttering, getting organized and living a more minimalist life. They've all helped in some way, but just like crash diets don't lead to lasting weight loss.
Snapreads: The life-changing Magic of tidying up is a different kind of self-help. Here are five things. Why one, why can't I keep my house in order? You'll learn that you're better off tidying in one fell swoop rather than tidying up a little and rebounding a complete decluttering session. Rather than sorting and storing things halfway, is needed to change your mindset.
Snapreads: Two, finish discarding first. Do a complete purge of everything you own. Evaluating each based on whether it sparks joy for you or not. You have a relationship with every object you want, but if you don't need some in your life anymore, you can thank them for their service and get rid of them.
Snapreads: Guilt free. Three, tidying by category works like Magic instead of tidying one room at a time. Condo advises we tackle clutter by category instead in the following order. Close books, papers, miscellaneous, and then things with sentimental. Four, storing your things to make your life shine. This section is about storing the stuff you decide to keep with respect in the best way to see and appreciate them Life Hacker readers will probably be familiar with the advice to file your close.
Snapreads: Five. The Magic of tidying dramatically transforms your life. The goal is to be surrounded only by the things you love or need and to be inspired by your professions rather than stressed out by them. Marie Condo's book can help you in many ways.
Mike Parsons: The one thing
Snapreads: you'll hopefully get from this book a desire to get rid of the things that don't make you happy.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Mike, those are very practical big tips right there. The thing that's standing out to me a lot is this idea. Keeping things with respect, and I quite like this concept of applying respect and consideration to the stuff around me in my office and my life. For example, those photo frames, these.
Mark Pearson Freeland: These now infamous photo frames,
Mike Parsons: do you know there, tens of thousands of people worldwide now know about this? Hey, that doesn't create the spectre of accountability, mark. I dunno what will, the first
Mark Pearson Freeland: the thing I'll have to do after we publish the show, Mike, we'll have to be going into my shelves and get rid of those photo frames.
Mark Pearson Freeland: But I'd like the, what Snap reads is doing for us there by calling out those big five lessons from Marie Kondo. The idea of keeping things with respect. I e respect your space, my space, and what I've got around me. Is that item helpful? Is it beneficial? Is it inspiring me to do some good work?
Mark Pearson Freeland: If it's not, have enough respect for that item to move it out of the way to get rid of it. Give it to Goodwill or put it away.
Mike Parsons: Is there something in your house? Closed books, et cetera, that have a prominent space in your house that now that we start applying them a Murray condo's method that you are now considering, doesn't bring joy.
Mike Parsons: It's not serving you but has been, but you are guilty of it. Been sitting there for a long time. Forget the photo frames. Is there something else that, around in your space that you're like
Mark Pearson Freeland: Our collection of shoes.
Mike Parsons: Oh, How bad is it? Come on. How bad is it? It's
Mark Pearson Freeland: bad. It's bad. And what's interesting is that this is partly because of an active, energetic life.
Mark Pearson Freeland: So having different shoes for different occasions, but also we are victims of, fast fashion and so on. Yeah. And I think it's, A good call out and a good reminder that just because you see something that you think you might want or like, and you'll benefit from, think about it twice. Maybe leave the shop or close the browser and think about it.
Mark Pearson Freeland: If you still want to get that, let's say it's a pair of shoes, then maybe come back to it. But I've got and arranged them in a way that seems tidy. To an out, an onlooker, many of these issues haven't moved in a long time. And the benefit of getting rid of, or at least getting them either outta sight or giving them away to Goodwill would relieve a lot.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Background mess. Yeah. Now mess that we won't necessarily interact with too much. We're not tripping over them. They're in a part of the house that, is out of the way, but they're still in sight. . And I think that is the. Call out that we heard in one of our earlier EC clips around letting your eyes rest and letting your eyes be inspired and if you've got stuff, clutter and shoes is a very, I assume a very important thing that a lot of us struggle with.
Mark Pearson Freeland: You're getting distracted by them. It's almost as bad as getting constant notifications on your phone.
Mike Parsons: What a great analogy. That's such a, that's such a great metaphor for what it is. Mark. I think you're right. If you put on your pragmatic hat, I think the big aha she's offering us in the tidy-up is the, first of all, get rid of the old stuff.
Mike Parsons: Do it in categories rather than rooms. And don't start improving and reorganizing until you've done those things. I just would've mashed it all up together,
Mark Pearson Freeland: wouldn't you? Yes, absolutely. I would come at it like a bulldozer. But I think, Maries, again, this idea of respect.
Mark Pearson Freeland: How much respect Marie gives the house when she arrives. We heard in the first clip. , but also the call out that we just heard from Snap reads, look at things with respect. I think that is applied to those five tips we just heard about. Clearing up. You've gotta come at it consciously.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Come at it. Come at it and do it all in a big batch when you are ready. Think about it categorically rather than you and I would probably do, Mike, we'd come at it with a couple of batches and say do we need this? No, there's no structure to it. Yes. And I think that's again the call out from condo here, be methodological, be focused and strategic about it because your brain will presumably be much more strict and notice things or patterns you might have.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Oh, this is another item I've saved for more than five years and haven't touched by, presumably breaking it down into categories, you are more likely to notice those types of items, paperwork or shoes, whatever it might be. I think those are probably, That's probably an insight that I would certainly run into, which is I'm starting to see the same thing again and again.
Mark Pearson Freeland: I can now do this much quicker and it becomes more efficient. It alike an economy of scale.
Mike Parsons: When is a good time to incorporate this Murray condo method into our lives? Is this like a weekend thing or is it a Monday thing? Once a month thing? How would you insert it into your kind of habit system?
Mark Pearson Freeland: For me, my. System. My routine is very based on time blocking. So my weeks will generally have allotted windows where I'll try and accomplish, my exercise, work, reflection, and so on. So I think. The first thing that I will do after this, and I've been scribbling notes, reminders, Mike and listeners, so that I get rid of those photo frames and so on, blocks out that time dedicated.
Mark Pearson Freeland: I would say probably on a weekend I feel as though it would be a daytime activity that I would need to dedicate myself to. So I'd need to free up some time to avoid distractions such as office work or work I need to do during the day. Because what I'd probably be guilty of is beginning it and then stopping.
Mark Pearson Freeland: So I break rule number one. Cleaning batches rather than tidying up all at one time. So I think dedicating a. Few hours to this is probably what I would need to do, and I'd probably dedicate that maybe once a month feels ambitious, at least to get started. So, yeah. Maybe it's more like once every couple of months or once a quarter.
Mark Pearson Freeland: What about you? Yeah,
Mike Parsons: I would probably look at it like, we would go at it about let's do books this weekend. Let's close next weekend. Does that make sense? Yes.
Mark Pearson Freeland: That's nice. Yeah. So categorize. Yeah.
Mike Parsons: Yeah, definitely do that. And Yeah, I, and I wonder about the turn of the season, whether that kind of might be a time where you force a little audit upon yourself.
Mike Parsons: I think the big thing here is just not getting comfortable with the chaos and letting it slowly chip away at you. It's really about getting on top of it and, not only creating a. Set up for your personal life, but also for your professional life. And the great news is that we've got now some thinking from Mary Kondo about creating a home workspace, which, Five years ago, many of us were not even thinking about this.
Mike Parsons: So let's dig into how you can create a home workspace.
Mark Pearson Freeland: A lot of the journeys that I've had as an organizing TI consultant have been in a
Marie Kondo: very physical process, but I do feel that the nonphysical is just as important now that we're
Mark Pearson Freeland: sharing our space for so long. I think it's important that we know each family member's, partners.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Schedule the day so we can complement each other, support each other, and align our priorities. It's something that I do with my husband as well. We like to take out a sketchbook and write out what our
Marie Kondo: priorities
Mark Pearson Freeland: are, what our goals are. We're trying to make our environment spark the most joy possible.
Mark Pearson Freeland: I'll give the situation. So I think thinking about how we spend our time is an important aspect
Marie Kondo: of tidying. One of the things
Mark Pearson Freeland: I re. Especially when you're working in the same place that you're also living is all about mindset. I like to have a ritual, whether it's meditation or chiming my tuning
Marie Kondo: fork.
Marie Kondo: That allows me to
Mark Pearson Freeland: kinda shift gear in my mind and let my body know I am entering work mode. I think it's important that we have a sense of calm in our hearts, especially now. So at the end of the day, try to focus on and appreciate what you did accomplish rather than what you failed to accomplish.
Mark Pearson Freeland: I think ending each day with gratitude.
Marie Kondo: I'll have a positive outlook for the next day.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Oh, Mike, with the help of Marie's translator, we are hearing some key moonshots insights in that clip, aren't we? Break, go on.
Mike Parsons: What you see here is she's really. Explaining the new paradigm we're living within, where there's a lot more work from home and where personal and professional are all blending.
Mike Parsons: So we gotta work
Mark Pearson Freeland: on it, don't we? Mark? Yeah, taking that ownership is something that we've run into on the show a lot, and we're hearing again this time from
Marie Kondo, the importance of setting goals, staying focused on the task or the tasks that you've got in mind, and allocating time to guard and do those goals.
Mark Pearson Freeland: What I liked though, as well, Mike, which I think speaks to Marie's desire to bring this bit. Joy, this bit of awareness to your organization was that you should also celebrate at the end of each effort. And again, this is something that we run into, particularly with any productivity or goal setting or efficiency shows that we've uncovered and discussed before, which is you've gotta be aware. So you have gratitude for the things that you've done.
Mark Pearson Freeland: And the journey you've been on, rather than necessarily the destination. Sure, the tidy house will be a great destination, but, the truth is it's never gonna end. It's not a project that you'll necessarily reach the end of and say, cool, well done. So now we'll move on with our lives.
Mark Pearson Freeland: This needs to be that routine, that habit you revisit. Maybe it's every weekend, maybe it's every quarter. It's a lifestyle, isn't it? It's a lifestyle. Exactly.
Mike Parsons: The interesting thing to build upon is that you start to see that creating these frames of reference of tidy, and organized allows you to be calm, thoughtful, and more collaborative with your partner.
Mike Parsons: You hear Mary Conde talking about how she works with her husband. This applies to many of us with family, friends, people we live with, and people we work with. When you are on top of things when. Time and space, you can be very present. I almost go to the Eckhart Toll. You can enjoy the power of the now because not all these things are stealing your attention, pulling your left and right, be it in the digital workspace.
Mike Parsons: Nothing like do not disturb the greatest invention ever if you ask me. And saint thing for your home. So the parallels are very powerful there. And joy is at the end of it. I think what brought you and me some joy Mark, was what we had. We love it when our listeners and members send us feedback.
Mike Parsons: You can do so via email at hello@moonshots.io. You can chat at the Patreon members area or leave a review on the Apple Podcast app. And Mark, did we get a cracker? Just recently?
Mark Pearson Freeland: We got an amazing review from a brand-new favourite with a pretty impressive username.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Mike from Daley DoBoy, who recently got into a brand new job and role at work, specifically in the construction and engineering space, and was looking to learn a little bit more about Frank Lloyd Wright, a very famous American architect and what was great for Daley DoBoy. Stumbling upon one of our episodes within the past ca catalogue and we're pleased to Daley Doe Boy, not only for you to check out one of our previous shows. We're so glad you shared it and recommended it to your friends, but we also took the time to go into apple Podcast and leave us a rating and a review.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Because what's fantastic for us is, To, remember some of these shows that we've gone on in the past. But also it's great to see that we're getting such listeners from around the world, getting in touch and also enjoying the show no matter what year they were recorded
Mike Parsons: in.
Mike Parsons: Absolutely. What is? An important note here for all our listeners and members is that show was done in 2019 and you can head over to moonshots.io and go through the entire backlog of 200-plus podcasts. I think we're up to 19 master series. It's all there@moonshots.ao. So jump in, listen to it, and if you're feeling.
Mike Parsons: You're feeling the vibe. If you're feeling some Kondo joy, you can leave us a rating or a review on Spotify, apple parkas or your app of choice. But this joy thing keeps coming back, mark. So I feel like the only way for us to wrap up this show is to hear from you. The lady herself, Mari Kondo, and to hear about joy.
ABC: To show me how to restore order, we called in for expert help. And this isn't just any expert. I got a house call from a global phenomenon. Marie Kdo is on a crusade to get us organized. So excited to meet you. Two books Spark Joy and the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up have sold more than 6 million copies worldwide.
ABC: This Tokyo native has a cult following in Japan and the US two, proving that no matter the language, her message is universal. And through an interpreter, she agreed to show me some tricks to make my every day just. The little easier first, is the purse purge. How important is it for women to declutter their bags, the thing that they carry around all day
Marie Kondo: long?
Marie Kondo: Condo
ABC says that decluttering your purse helps you know what you have and where it is. With that in mind, I'm afraid we dig in and take everything out. That's the condo's method. Removing and analyzing everything to help you streamline. I'm ashamed. Now, look at it. This is what I'm carrying around every day.
ABC: She says, sort through and only keep the things you need every day. Within minutes, my bag went from a messy catch-all to an orderly tote and closes next. She gave us a clinic on the right way to fold our clothes. YouTube videos of her folding have been viewed more than 2 million times. Condo says she puts love into her palms as she.
ABC: What is the thought behind putting love into your clothes and the joy and the happiness part of all of
Marie Kondo: this organizing, she says, is all about taking care of your things and only surrounding yourself with things that spark joy in you. Things that make you
Mark Pearson Freeland: happy. Mike, again, we're hearing that lovely Marie Kondo's passion and adoration.
Mark Pearson Freeland: For making a difference in people's lives and the respect that she provides people's homes and the items they have. This is not a bulldozer approach. You are not coming into somebody's house and throwing out absolutely everything and starting from scratch; I think that's one of the key things I've learned while digging into Mary Kondo.
Mark Pearson Freeland: It's the. Consideration is the conscious effort that I think she applies and asks us to apply to everything we own. It reminds me, Mike, of the work, strategy, or approach we would do when approaching a project or anything at work. So you would go in and gather all the necessary information and you'd disregard it.
Mark Pearson Freeland: The irrelevant stuff, right? This project's gonna be technology focused. So I just need to focus on this. If I know that the project is O Oculus similar to yourself one sitting on the side, sitting on your speaker right now, then you can just focus on that and remove everything else.
Mark Pearson Freeland: This is not something that, this is not a strategy that I have necessarily employed in my personal organizational life. And I think this is a really big call out and a big reminder to me that my work approach will be methodological. It'll have a strategy to it. It'll be organized. As soon as I step away from that and I realize, oh yeah, I don't employ that with my organization of my stuff of my items.
Mark Pearson Freeland: And fundamentally, the items are the bigger things. They're taking up space, stopping me from having a house that feels airy or inspirational and I think it's just a really. The moment for me as I reflect on what we've started to learn from Marie Kondo today, and that's applying the same strategic focus that I would give some data, some insights let's say it's interviews with customers or just feedback and applying it into something that I'm trying to create would be very focused and intentional.
Mark Pearson Freeland: And if I can employ that to my stuff. That'll help me tidy up, get organized, and put my house into water. I think it's gonna fundamentally benefit how I go out and work and live my life. So what is the feeling from that final clip from Marie? This idea of tidiness being about joy?
Mike Parsons: when I think about where this joy is and where the examples are of this joy, I think we can explore. Two of the key things are cleaning up your clothes and your books. Now, if you clean up your wardrobe, one of the instant things I notice is number one, geez, it feels good to, pop down to a goodwill shop and drop them a serious bag of good stuff, right?
Mike Parsons: That just feels good. So you're off to a good start. Secondly, you can then come back, and organize things like my little thing is getting all the T-shirts. Like basically all the blacks, greys, whites, and the one or two coloured ones I have. Getting them all sorted and then, you're like, oh, I love that T-shirt.
Mike Parsons: I don't wear that enough. Same thing for my pants, shoes, and drawers. I think that the. The reason that I get a lot of joy from that beyond the organizational thing, is it enables me to get more in touch with the clothes that I want to wear, which I feel are a real expression of the person that I'm trying to be, the mood that I'm feeling.
Mike Parsons: And let me try this on you. I think it's the same with books. When you organize your library and remind yourself, reintroduce yourself to some of your favourite books, you will often go, geez, I really wanna reread that. That book was instrumental. I'd love to return to that. forgot about that much in the same way you forgot about that favourite tea, you forget about that favourite book.
Mike Parsons: So beyond the immediate tidy-up benefit, And that calmness, it becomes this space by which you can go I wanna read those books. I love getting out my favourite architectural and design books, putting them in the studio, and opening them to a page. And then sometimes in the morning, I will change the page so that over a couple of weeks, I just have this small little experience.
Mike Parsons: Flicking through a design book, just opening it, and leaving it on that page. This is a way to be more connected to the things you love, to remind yourself of the things that really matter so they're not lost in the clutter. So I think this is what happens, like when you do Murray Kondo, your library and your clothes, you.
Mike Parsons: Reintroduce yourself to the clothes you love and look how you want to look, which may make you more confident. And in the same way with books, you can return to the books that matter to you, that excite you, that you feel that contribute to your imagination. To me, that's the upside of everything Mary Kdo is talking about.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Yeah. Yeah. I agree and I think you've just made a really good case, Mike,. Consideration, which is to say that Marie Kondo's not necessarily calling us out to say stop buying stuff. She's not saying to live a minimalist life necessarily. Everybody is different, but instead, use your items, the things, and your possessions, to help inspire you and live that life.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Valuable and enjoyable. And I think the design is perfect for the example you just gave with the coffee table book. If you've got those items, what generally happens, is you might put them away, and you'll forget about them. But using them to inspire you, which is probably why you bought them in the first place, is exactly the benefit you are starting to see there, which I like.
Mark Pearson Freeland: And I think that example you've just shared is great. Build upon what I think we've learned today from Murray Kondo about respect. You've got that book, and you want to respect it, enjoy it and appreciate it, and in doing so, it is helping you be more creative, insightful, and maybe more.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Aware of a particular problem or task you're working on. And I think that's an important one. Whereas conversely, Mike, on the other side of the mic in my house, I've got things that are probably taking up too much space that I could remove and I'm doing them a disservice by, not using them.
Mark Pearson Freeland: Instead, I need to either find a function or tidy away or give away. And I think. That's a stark change of direction versus what I think we might have, I might have assumed about this topic of bringing structure to my possessions and instead applied an understanding of the value of this level of organization.
Mark Pearson Freeland: I think it's captured me actually, Mike.
Mike Parsons: I am delighted to hear that because I feel like I'm returning to tidy school again. with you, me too, and all our listeners and members. I look I would usually ask myself, The one topic that's gonna get your consideration, but I know it's your empty photo frames,
Mike Parsons: I don't need to ask what's happening next. I just know, but I am with you. It has been fantastic to delve into the world of Mary Conda to kick off our Japan series. It has truly been great to do it with you, mark. And it has also been wonderful to do it with you, our members and listeners. So thank you to you.
Mike Parsons: And this has been just the start of something fantastic here on Show 214 Mari Condo, the life-changing Magic. Of tidying up, and I think that's not an overstatement at all. So we started the show with Mari Con, introducing herself and her mission to organize the world. Watch out. Google Mari Con also revealed there are some simple ways to remove chaos, stress, and anxiety from our space.
Mike Parsons: One of the really interesting things we learn is one of the five lessons. To discard before you start the ti. Another one was to respect your workplace. And by doing that, you're respecting yourself, do those things. And Murray Condo tells us there is a path of joy ahead of us. We know that because when we learn together, we push ourselves to be the best version of ourselves.
Mike Parsons: And in doing that hard work, in knowing that we're giving our all to the habits that matter, to do the things that matter, we know for sure that there. They're not only with Marie Kondo but here on the Moonshots podcast.
Okay, that's a wrap.