Who's familiar with Marie Kondo? I learned of her after watching the Netflix show Tidying Up With Marie Kondo. She's a Japanese woman who developed a revolutionary method of decluttering at the young age of 19. What sets her philosophy apart from others is that the emphasis is on what to keep. The KonMari Method™ teaches that you keep only the items which spark joy. Joy is that tingling feeling you get inside when something really strikes a chord with you. It's an electric feeling that never grows old.
The KonMari Method™ of tidying gives you permission to purge that which does not spark joy. What if you were to apply this method to your life? How exciting would it be to find time to infuse your life with joy? Has it been so long since you've done something for yourself that you are completely out of touch with what sparks joy for you? Do not despair, just follow along. First, you'll recall your source of joy, and then you'll conduct a joy audit and find 15-30 minutes a day to claim just for yourself.
First, you need to be clear on what sparks joy for you. If you don't remember, carve out 20 minutes of quiet time and give yourself permission to use your imagination like you did as a child. Do you remember staring up at the clouds until they formed into animal figures? Did you ever slide down the tallest slide at the park and get that funny feeling in your stomach, or swing as high as you could and then let loose of the swing and fly down to the ground? Let your mind relax and remove any sense of judgment. Whatever comes to mind, do not squash it. Let your brain jump from one memory to another. Soon the memories of that joy will surface. Whatever it is that sparks joy for you – as long as it's legal, ethical and moral – why not make it a part of your life today?
Now that you know your source of joy, you're ready for the joy audit. This is so named because you are going to take a look at your daily routine for a couple of weeks and edit out activities that are not essential and do not spark joy. The time that is freed up is your time to do whatever it is that fills you with joy.
There are responsibilities in adulthood that are nonnegotiable, but there may be a few activities you could trim, or time within the day that could be used more intentionally. LinkedIn recently published a list of common time-wasters to consider such as excessive social media usage, aimless internet browsing, procrastination, excessive TV or video game consumption and lastly, unproductive gossiping. (I'm not sure that gossiping is ever productive, but it was on the list, and LinkedIn didn't ask me.) If you identify a block of 15 minutes each day that you can dedicate to yourself, that adds up to 91.25 hours per year. And if you free up another block of 15 minutes, that adds up to 182.50 hours per year – four-and-a-half work weeks. You can really accomplish something in that amount of time.
Fifteen minutes can slip by in a blip, but if you use that time intentionally, you could begin learning a new language, take a brisk walk, stimulate your creativity by sketching, start a journal or list five things for which you're grateful. For me, I am going to get reacquainted with my guitar. The longer you go without joy, the more tired you grow and the less joyful you become.
At the end of the day, there's one guarantee: the hands on the clock never stop, and time flies by so quickly that before you know it, we will be at the beginning of another new year. Make this year yours by taking command of your time, even if it is only 15 minutes a day. You are worth the investment.
Holly Whisler is a freelance writer from Springfield and associate editor of Springfield Business Journal who is planning to spark some joy this year.
