Only keep things that spark joy in your life. In a zest, that is what the Konmari method is. It was founded by Marie Kondo, a Japanese organizing consultant, and the author of the bestseller “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing” book.
On how she got started, during her school years, when the class representative was chosen, instead of yearning to be one she sought to become the bookshelf manager. So that she could tidy up books.
But some time after that she had a nervous breakdown. In her own words —
“I was obsessed with what I could throw away. One day, I had a kind of nervous breakdown and fainted. I was unconscious for two hours. When I came to, I heard a mysterious voice, like some god of tidying telling me to look at my things more closely. And I realized my mistake: I was only looking for things to throw out. What I should be doing is finding the things I want to keep. Identifying the things that make you happy: that is the work of tidying.“
So, how can something so superficial have an impact on your WordPress site? Well, it might not be as superficial as you think.
What is the KonMari Method?
The KonMari Method is a state of mind and a way of life. KonMari is a philosophy. Instead of finding things to let go, this method emphasizes to find the things that you want to keep, that sparks joy within yourself. The KonMari method is founded on six principles.
- Commit yourself to tidy up
- Imagine your ideal life
- Finish letting go first
- Tidy by category, not location
- Follow the right order
- Ask yourself if it sparks joy
KonMari method suggests a way of living where simpler is usually better. You may have heard the phrase less is more. KonMari method re-emphasizes that. You should realize that time has greater value than money, and people should have higher priorities than possessions.
If you are still having some trouble to familiarize yourself with the KonMari philosophy, check this video. This video shows how you can tidy up your room with the KonMari method.
You might be wondering, what does this KonMari method has to do with WordPress? Well, WordPress is a CMS. WordPress blog is your virtual space. Just like your room, you should tidy up your virtual space too.
WordPress and The Konmari Method
If you created a WordPress site recently then you know how lucrative it is to install plugins. Meaning you get them all for free and there is an abundance of them. As it is very easy to install WordPress plugins, one finds it very lucrative to install a bunch of new plugins.
If we are to give an example, there are a dozen spam protection plugins, dozens of caching plugins and so on.
And it has been proven (pretty sure it’s proven!) that most people have more plugins that they need, installed on their WordPress website. You do not need more than 14-15 plugins on your website, as we found out while making the list of best WordPress plugins.
If we are to make a connection with the KonMari Method we can say
“Only install plugins that bring joy to your WordPress site.”
Does that sound cliched? Well, you are not alone. When we first saw the recently launched Netflix show (yes, Marie Kondo has her own Netflix show) we too thought it was cliched.
How can tidying up be so much important aspect? But it’s something you need to experience for yourself first hand. As you know, people do not like a cluttered website. Even if you get traffic, people will soon leave your website if they find you are using unnecessary elements on your website.
Besides, having many items on one page makes the whole website much heavier than normal. It takes more time to load those webpages. People do not like slow websites at all. Even Google does not like it. That’s why we suggest people use a CDN like Cloudflare to speed up their website.
Services like Cloudflare tidy up your backend – the code, javascripts, CSS and more. However, you should tidy up your frontend too. We covered some of the best and free SEO friendly WordPress Themes to help you choose an aesthetically pleasing design.
And when we found that joy we thought if we could apply the KonMari Method on our WordPress website, why shouldn’t you?
Fun Fact: Currently there are 54,647 plugins in WordPress.org plugins store.
Apart from the mental joy that you use only what you need in a WordPress site, there are also multiple technical benefits as well. Increased site performance, reduced website crash, better security, and so on are the obvious benefits of using the plugins that you need.
Instead of having 100+ plugins installed in your site, keep those that you use on a regular basis only.
This post was inspired by the popular tv show Tidying Up With Marie Kondo which is available on Netflix.
Final Words
KonMari, Minimalism, Buddist – these are all a way of perceiving life. All these philosophies have one thing in common, Do not use more than you need. Do not buy more than you need.
Not only these philosophies help you to stay focused and organized but also they help you to gain a state of inner peace knowing you are not wasting any resources.
Having more and more will not solve your problems as happiness does not lie in possessions. If you cannot find peace and happiness in yourself, they are not going to come from outside.
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