It’s safe to say I was late to jump onto the KonMari Method bandwagon! So if you’re clueless about this method (as I was), let me give you a brief intro. In short, this is the powerful decluttering/tidying method that Marie Kondo shares in her wildly popular book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. But what does this have to do with Bullet Journaling you may ask? I had the same thoughts. Until I realized how long it can take to ‘Marie Kondo’ your home! So what better way to make it happen than plan your strategy for the KonMari Method in the bullet journal.
It’s what this article is designed to help you do.
As well as a brief look at the KonMari Method itself, we’ll also explore how you can use your bullet journal as a tool to plan your decluttering strategy so it actually happens (and doesn’t get too confusing or stressful).
So let’s dive in…
What is the KonMari Method – a quick overview
The overall premise of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is to tidy your home so you surround yourself by only things that bring you joy. The idea is that this will help you live a more joyful life. But achieving this is NOT easy! Most of us hoard stuff because we say it’s too nice to throw out, cost a lot of money, or it holds sentimental meaning.
As a result, we live surrounded by disorganized clutter. But Marie Kondo has a solution! She invites you to ‘purge’ your way through your belongings in a way you may never have considered before — by category, instead of by room.
It’s effective tidying where you make a decision about each item. You either:
- Discard it – if it no longer brings you joy OR
- You decide where to store it – if it does bring you joy
When I first heard this I was very skeptical. I have similar items in almost every room of my home and the idea of pulling them all together seemed like more work than it was worth! I couldn’t imagine jumping from room to room. It felt over complicated and far too time-consuming.
However, you can’t deny the results and feedback from other KonMari fans, so I was willing to give it a go.
From the few categories I’ve completed so far, I have indeed found it to be much more efficient than going room by room. You can see a post where I tackled my office supplies using the KonMari Method, here.
However, I do have to say that I found the thanking part tricky! I could not get past thanking my items for the purpose they did serve or the joy they did bring at one point. So kudos to you if you enjoy that step, but it’s not for this lady!
How to use your bullet journal to Konmari Method your home
Since many of us in the Bullet Journal community are big fans of list making and organizing, I wanted to share a few ways people (including myself) capture the KonMari method list (or KonMari based) in the pages of their bujo! So check out the example pics and spreads coming up.
In addition, we also created a tidying template you can download and print off to use with your BuJo. You can even make it into a sticker if you print at 55%.
This KonMari inspired decluttering checklist lays out all the categories to declutter – there are five in total:
- Clothes
- Books
- Papers
- Sentimental
- Misc (including everything from DVDs to valuables to kitchen stuff)
Each category is broken down into a series of subcategories (they’re all listed on the template) — so you can tackle small chunks of items at a time.
To grab your FREE checklist, share your details below.
Don’t have a bullet journal yet or don’t know what it is? Check out this page.
Source: Pinterest
Source: Boho Berry
Source: Pinterest
Source: Pinterest
KonMari and BuJo — a perfect match?
With your checklist in hand, you can create all kinds of spreads to get organized. For example:
- A master checklist – where you check off each category when its done
- A scheduler – to plan days and timeslots where you’ll get busy tidying a category
- A list of things you want to keep (and things that fill you with joy)
- A reminder of all the new homes you decide
The choice is entirely yours 🙂
My own KonMari spread got messed up quickly, as I found I needed to add more categories and did in fact want to “cluster” by room – but please know I still go by category through the process. Thank goodness for washi tape and printer paper to save my mistakes!
I’ve found this entire process incredibly worthwhile — and I’m curious to know how you’ve been marrying up your BuJo with the KonMari Method.
If you’ve captured the list in your bullet journal, please share the link to your blog post / pin / Instagram pic in the comments below! I’d love to see what you got.
This blog post was originally published in May 2018 and has since been updated and republished.
Free KonMari Checklist!
Implement the KonMari method using this free printable!
Want it in your bullet journal? Print at 55% on sticker paper to stick right inside your planner.
Loving this! I was mildly interested in the BuJo idea before. But I am ALL ABOUT the KonMari method, so now you’ve really made me want to do my own BuJo! We will see what happens…
Glad we could spark some inspiration for you!!
My daughter is so doing the KonMari Method and getting rid of things that I think she will be sorry for in the future. I believe it’s a good idea to a point, but it doesn’t bring into account things that she will treasure from her children in years to come. I quite giving her things that belonged to my mother or grandparents, afraid she will dispose of them. She has been on me to do this method, but I’m an avid crafter/quilter. You can not get rid of everything. I love your post and your ideas. I am an organizer. We are in the middle of a renovation right now and cannot wait for my office/library to be finished. Then I can organize that area. All my books around someone else may not bring joy to them, but they definitely bring me joy! Thank you. I will be showing your post to my daughter.
Best of luck to your daughter! I hope she is able to identify and save items that will be meaningful to her down the road. I keep a bin for sentimental items, and another for things to pass down to my children.
Just started on the KonMari method this year too! And I’m so thankful for it! I already started decluttering a few years back but the process never felt right. Now I know that (at least for me) it’s not about getting rid of as much as possible, but about only surrounding yourself with things you love. So having a wall of books is alright with me and gives me joy, other things not so much – so they go. Great to see you have joined the movement too 🙂
And thank you for all the inspiration regarding using your bullet journal to organize the process. Definitively something that’s still on my todo list!
I wish you a most wonderful weekend! All the best, Sandra
You’ll start wondering why you kept some things for so long! Glad we could spark some inspiration for your Konmari journey 🙂
I love this approach! I started Kon Mari all at once when moving; to say it was overwhelming would be an understatement. I’ll definitely keep this in mind in the future!
I’m sure this was a lovely blog post. However my ability to read and enjoy it was ruined by the floating Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, etc., bar on the left side of the post. Which covered up the first few letters, making it impossible to read what you have written.
Thanks for letting us know!
Amazing Article! Have been starting to Declutter things myself! ?
And thank you for the Konmari Bullet Journal Examples! 🙂
I keep making post to my Pinterest page , I bought the konMari Book. I have a new bullet journaling, Love the idea. It all looks so simple. I even wrote a few pages in the journal…. but that was it the end. Help
Why doesn’t the lunk with KonMari lists open?
I can’t seem to find a broken link, sorry! Can you be more specific?