Do you desperately need to declutter your office?
If paperwork landslides off every surface, the storage closet is packed to the top, and you call in a search and rescue team to locate your stapler every time you must use it…then it’s time.
Allocate some time to applying the KonMari method and reclaim your messy office. You’ll feel inspired, become more focused, and watch your productivity soar when you finish the job.
So, if you’re reading this and you agree that you need increased workplace productivity and a good declutter day, but you’re not sure what all that KonMari jazz means, read on. We will explain the method and how you can apply it to the workplace.
What is the KonMari method?
The KonMari method is an organizing methodology that gives people the tools to get — and stay — free of clutter and organized.
The method’s name is mash-up of the name of the innovator of the system, Marie Kondo. The Japanese entrepreneur began organizing for clients as a 19-year old college student and has grown it into a global enterprise. She has YouTube videos, a NetFlix show, and the book that brought her worldwide fame, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.
KonMari’s organization system works because she acknowledges that we humans become attached to our “things.” We feel shameful about being unappreciative or wasteful when we discard things that are still viable, even if they are no longer useful to us.
KonMari enables you to show respect for those items you should discard
without feeling guilty.
You gather all similar items in one location and sift through them. As you handle each piece, ask yourself the question, “Does this spark joy?” If the answer is no, then you thank the article for its valuable service to you and place it in a bag for disposal or donation.
This system means that you are keeping only the items that add value to your life. As you place the items back into their proper place, you will arrange them, so they are easily accessed, more functional, and honored with your use.
How can office items “spark joy?”
So, here’s the question you might be asking. How can office items spark joy?
Well, there are sentimental items, family photos, business gifts, and many random items that we all accumulate in the office.
In the office, however, perhaps we should modify that litmus test. Let’s face it, the seven years of IRS documents that I’m required to retain don’t spark any kind of joy for me–but they are a necessity.
So, I set out to organize my own office from the “sparking joy” to analyzing if there is a “legit business need” to keep any given item. Because the truth is, some items do “spark joy,” even in my office but some items that are merely tools I need to do my job.
Before you begin — the KonMari categories
Marie Kondo suggests you take a holistic approach to declutter and organize. In her book, she suggests gathering all like items from five categories from the entire home for sorting rather than randomly grabbing things room by room.
From there, you place all the like things in one location, lay your hands on everything, and begin the “spark joy” test. You only allow the now-pared-down joyful items back into your home.
For the purpose of business or office organizing, you’ll locate the items by category from your entire workspace, gather them in one location, and beginning the “spark joy” and “legit business use” tests.
Marie Kondo’s 5 Categories
1 - Clothing
Hopefully, you won’t have too much clothing in your office. However, it happens. I am a native of Erie, PA, where the weather is frigid. I remember boxing up a desk at a former job when I was getting ready to move south and digging gloves, scarves, and snow boots from a milk crate under my desk.
In my current workspace, I found several cute doggie t-shirts in my office. I guess my office mascot Rocco forgot to put away his things. Yes, those sweaters spark joy for him; we kept them.
If you do have clothes in your office, decide if they spark joy or have a legit business use. Keep or donate them accordingly.
2 - Books
Here’s where things begin to get hairy for the office. Books–and for an all-out office declutter, let’s also include binders filled with papers you’ve never used.
Collect all your books. Decide whether or not they spark joy or have a legit business use. Donate them or dispose of them if they don’t pass those tests.
The chances are that you’ve either already enjoyed them and won’t need them again or never got around to reading them and never will. Those that you do use for reference regularly (that spark joy or have legit business use) you can display on a now decluttered bookshelf.
3 - Paper
For those who have not already embraced a paperless office…
Paperwork can take over your space and become an enormous source of wasted time
and lost workplace productivity.
As you’re reviewing documents, retain physical copies only of the ones that are legally necessary. Others can be scanned quickly for storage or shredded and discarded.
Think of your accumulation of old business cards, brochures you never look at, notes from lectures, old product manuals, and sticky notes filled with random information.
In my clean-up effort, I found a sizeable folder filled with warranties from appliances from a home I haven’t lived in for almost 20 years. While I’m not sure how it ended up in my office, I was able to clean out about 3” of file drawer space by chucking it.
The fact is that with so many resources available online today, you don’t really need to hang on to all these things.
For example, you can eliminate the need to print out customer emails by creating a contact form which your site users can use to contact you; it will be stored securely online. Not only does that make your office cleaner, but it also protects customer data.
Be brutal when attacking that pile of paperwork. I bet many of the items neither spark joy or serve a legit business use.
4 - Komono
Do not confuse Komono (small things, random accessories) with Kimono (a traditional Japanese gown).
In KonMari organizing, Komono refers to the miscellaneous items that don’t necessarily fall into the other four categories. For organizing your office, think about items like electronics, cords to old phones and tablets, DVDs, computer accessories, desk accessories, decorative items, lamps, and pictures.
I found a snarl of jumbled up cords to old cell phones marked with a brand of phone that I haven’t had for over six years. These were not even smartphone cords. I guess I kept them as “spare cords” at some point, but now they are obsolete.
I also located a giant bin of pens and notepads — swag I had picked up at a trade show. I boxed these and donated them to a local non-profit agency.
Sort through this category. You know what to do.
5 - Sentimental
The final category is the one that Marie Kondo addresses last because it’s the most difficult one for most of us to tackle. The sentimental segment of items challenges us.
If you have artwork from your children, family photos, or business gifts from colleagues that inhabit your office, think about if each item sparks joy or enhances workplace productivity.
Some of you are getting defensive at the mere thought of discarding these items.
But, look carefully at your child’s macaroni art picture of your cat–the bits are probably crumbling away. If it still sparks joy, keep it. However, I would suggest you frame it and display it instead of keeping it in a paperwork stack where it can’t inspire you.
Same goes with photos. Treasure them be creating an inspiring photo gallery, don’t toss them in the desk drawer to get tattered.
If you know you will never display these with honor but feel genuinely obligated to keep them, store them away with love outside of your office.
Watch office productivity soar!
Take a day to apply the KonMari method to your office. Yes, it will take several valuable hours.
I was surprised at how difficult this process is. I consider myself only a “moderately sentimental” person and donate old items with regularity. I was astonished at the number of meaningless things I had stuffed into my office. More so, I couldn’t believe how much those “things” were holding me back.
However, you’ll become more efficient when you don’t need to hunt for missing items every day. And, you’ll feel more inspired in your newly-organized workspace. In fact, your office productivity will soar as a result of this endeavor, and you will feel a sense of accomplishment.
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Deborah Tayloe
Deborah is a blogger and freelancer who often writes for EmailMeForm. When she’s not blogging, you’ll probably find Deborah working on DIY projects around her home in North Carolina.
