KonMari - what lifestyle do you aspire to?

[clayspaniel]

In the chapter on Discarding, Marie Kondo says it's important to visualise the lifestyle you want before doing it. She talks about a woman who wanted a feminine lifestyle with her room like a hotel suite and bathing with aromatic oils, then yoga with piano music and herbal tea before bed. If you have done KonMari, did you do this process?

What would your perfect lifestyle be?

I skipped this part of it ( never wrote it down) though had a general idea.
I want my home to be peaceful and easy to clean so I don't feel guilty about taking kids out, baking or starting a craft project. I'd look forward to choosing my outfit each day. I'd not feel panicked if someone dropped by without warning.

What did you do about discarding things? I 'm really struggling with chucking out old letters, general ephemera from student days etc. But haven't thought about the ideal lifestyle, do you think this would help?

I kept my goal in mind and every time I finished a group ( like all clothing) I allowed myself guilt free time doing what I can do all the time when the house is clear of excess.

If you are really struggling I guess it's time to work out why! Sentimental letters from ex partners ( for example) set me off down memory lane. It's nice to remember the great tunes I had with them but ultimately they are my ex's for s reason! I read them, acknowledged them and let them go.
School stuff - its all history. I haven't looked at any of it since I wrote it/last revised it and must stuff from upper school is out of date anyway.
If you look it up on YouTube and listen to it when you have some time ( I did it while declutterig even though she says not to... I know- what a rebel!) and it'll refresh your mind on your tasks and her reasoning.

For the letters or personal things it might help to think about whether you would feel comfortable with anyone else reading them.

I think it depends why you're doing it? My house was cluttered and I found I'd be constantly nipping off when the kids were entertained to sort 'stuff' or clean.

I imagined a clutter free (ish) house where nothing was stuffed in drawers, no clutter in random bags and everything being easy to put away at the end of the day. That's what we mostly have and now it's a five minute tidy before kids bed and all the cleaning is done as and when to stop it getting overwhelming. Usually tackle a job 4 nights a week like dust skirting, clean doors, ironing etc but daily jobs are now a breeze.

My vision was really to be more relaxed and spend more quality time with my babies. Going through sentimental i didn't keep what I couldn't store easily, Plus I envisioned the kids having to clear out our things one day so anything that I didn't think they'd want or I'd want them to see etc I discarded easily enough. The book is right, you do let go of your past and start to focus on the present. But you build your foundations doing each category in turn.

Everything having an obvious convenient place so I can spend guilt free time having fun with my DD or DH or my hobbies depending on who is around.

Smart and elegant but with bookshelves full of books but not overflowing/covered in junk so I can instantly find a book.

Easy to have people to visit/stay but relaxed for children to play in.