Marie Kondo

It's easy to get rid of things when there is an obvious reason for doing so. It's much more difficult when there is no compelling reason.

Keep only those things that speak to your heart. Then take the plunge and discard all the rest. By doing this, you can reset your life and embark on a new lifestyle.

Effective tidying involves only three essential actions. All you need to do is take the time to examine every item you own, decide whether or not you want to keep it, then choose where to put what you keep. Designate a place for each thing.

The objective of cleaning is not just to clean, but to feel happiness living within that environment.

Have gratitude for the things you're discarding. By giving gratitude, you're giving closure to the relationship with that object, and by doing so, it becomes a lot easier to let go.

It's going to be labor-intensive and time-consuming, but you need to take all the books down and put them on the floor. Take them down and spread them in one area. Physically pick each book up, one by one. If the book inspires you, keep it. If not, it goes out. That's the standard by which you decide.

A lot of people agree that tidying is connected to how we live, and even though, outside of Japan, houses might be bigger, people have more things than they need.

The objects you decide to keep, the ones that gave you the spark of joy? Treasure them from now on. When you put things away, you can actually audibly say, 'Hey, thank you for the good work today...' By doing so, it becomes easier for you to put the objects away and treasure them, which prolongs the spark of joy environment.

I recommend tidying by category, not by place. For example, instead of deciding that today you'll tidy a particular room, set goals such as 'clothes today, books tomorrow.'

People cannot change their tidying habits without first changing their way of thinking.

Once you learn to choose your belongings properly, you will be left with only the amount that fits perfectly in the space you own.

I had a slight hope the phrase 'spark joy' might become popular, as it was the keyword that I wanted to put forward in the first place.

The inside of a house or apartment after decluttering has much in common with a Shinto shrine... a place where there are no unnecessary things, and our thoughts become clear.

I'd like to tidy up the entire planet. I would go anywhere if there were something that needs tidying.