Why do some people find it hard to throw things away?
What kind of objects do people usually hoard?
🎧 Play the podcast
a) 2.6 thousand
b) 2.6 million
c) 26 million
Practice - Fill in the gaps:
After cleaning out my closet, I felt _________ and relaxed.
e started the new project _________, but quickly got overwhelmed.
There’s so much _________ in this room that I can’t focus.
She’s trying to clean the entire house in one day – she’s _________!
If you want to succeed, do it _________.
My brain is _________ just looking at this mess.
🔄 Phrasal verbs and expressions related to decluttering:
Why is clear space, clear mind a powerful saying?
What are some things you find hard to let go of?
How often do you clear out your wardrobe or desk?
What advice would you give someone who’s afraid to throw things away?
Have you ever decided to declutter your life? What led to your decision?
What does bite off more than you can chew mean?
Tidying Up with Marie Kondo
Watch the trailer of the Netflix series that made her method world-famous by showing real-life home decluttering transformations
📘 Vocabulary Glossary
How Marie Kondo Changed Her Mind About Mess
“I realised perfect order was not my goal — it was spending time with my kids”
Marie Kondo became a global home-organising phenomenon when she wrote The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up more than a decade ago. The book was published in more than 30 countries, and her trademarked KonMari Method of tidying — by categorising, ordering, and only retaining objects that “spark joy” — catapulted her onto Time magazine’s 100 most influential people list in 2015. It also inspired two Netflix shows: Tidying Up With Marie Kondo and Sparking Joy With Marie Kondo, and amassed the Osaka-born guru 4.1 million decluttering fans on Instagram.
“The overwhelming reaction from my followers was relatability rather than shock, surprise or betrayal”
Three children later, the 39-year-old’s mindset has shifted radically.
“As long as the living room floor is clean, then that is what the new tidying threshold becomes,” she says.
Word of her embracing a “messy” home emerged last year when she explained in a webinar that she had “kind of given up” on tidying the house after the birth of her third child, a son, now two. (She also has daughters, aged seven and eight.)
“There were as many reactions as there were followers and fans that I have around the world,” Kondo says of the response to her revelation that kids’ toys were now strewn across her formerly immaculate home.
“But the overwhelming reaction was relatability rather than shock, surprise or betrayal. More than messages saying: ‘What happened?’ were ‘Oh, I completely understand what you’re going through,’ and, ‘I thought so, too.’”
Her followers’ attitudes have evolved alongside her own.
“As my life stage has shifted, perhaps the same thing has been happening with my followers,” she says.
“It may not necessarily be with growing families; people may be really busy with work or they just aren’t physically able to always be tidy.”
When Kondo launched her brand, work was everything.
“I was focused on my book and spreading the message and the idea of sparking joy in one’s life through the act of tidying up.”
Sparking joy, she says, remains core to the KonMari Method, which she reprises in New York next month in her first in-person course for aspiring professional organisers since 2019.
But the circumstances around her method are different now, and she is open with followers about that:
“I realised always maintaining the perfect state of tidiness was not my goal, but spending time with my kids is. That’s what really sparks joy.”
Her previously stringent approach to designating spaces for items (the Marie Kondo effect triggered a transatlantic rise in sales of storage boxes) is now less rigorous in her own home.
“In the past, I’ve encouraged my children to put the plush toys in the plush box and the music items in the music box and the doll house items in the doll house box, but when kids play and it comes time to return items to their designated homes or the places we agreed upon, everything just gets mixed up.
“Now I have shifted my mindset to the idea that everything being at least inside a box is satisfactory.”
She has a temporary pile-up of “stuff” by the dining room table.
“In the past, I didn’t have the idea of a temporary location for items.”
It’s not that Kondo doesn’t enjoy the practice that made her name.
“Perhaps my position is slightly unique, because I am a huge fan of tidying and I enjoy the act of tidying up,” she says.
“It’s just that the idea may no longer always be attainable.”
Publicly acknowledging that change — when your name is synonymous with eliminating clutter — was a risk, although Kondo’s following is undented.
“When you have a brand, the perception, or expectation, is that my life must be [the same]. If you look at the Netflix series, especially the first season, the core message is that the protagonist in each story is going through a journey of tidying,” she says.
“I understand how that might project a certain image of my own lifestyle, but those two are not necessarily always equal. My own personal level or threshold is something completely separate.”
And at the moment, Kondo is closer to her clients’ experience than ever.
Reading Comprehension Questions
A. Multiple Choice
What major change happened in Marie Kondo’s life that affected her view on tidying?
a) She wrote a new book
b) She had children
c) She moved to a smaller home
What is Marie’s new tidying standard?
a) Total tidiness in every room
b) Every item in its designated box
c) A clean living room floorWhat was the main reaction from her followers?
a) Betrayal
b) Disbelief
c) Relatability
B. True or False
___ Marie Kondo now sees perfect tidiness as her top priority.
___ Her fans were shocked and disappointed by her change of approach.
___ She still believes in the concept of sparking joy.
___ She has completely stopped tidying her house.
Discussion:
Has your definition of “tidy” changed as your life changed?
Should public figures change their personal habits when they’ve built a brand around them?
Is there such a thing as “too much tidying”?