13 Ways Marie Kondo’s Method Might Be Killing Your Creativity

This post may contain affiliate links.

The Marie Kondo method has swept the world, teaching us how to declutter our homes, fold our clothes into origami, and most importantly, asking us whether our possessions ‘spark joy.’ There’s no denying that watching chaos turn into neatness is therapeutic, but what if this rigid approach sneaks into our creative lives? Does messy inspiration have room when there is such extreme tidiness?

Creativity can be found in the most unexpected places… piles of paper, a mess of a desk, even that drawer full of old junk you keep meaning to throw away. With the KonMari method, where minimalism is paramount, some of us may be tossing out clutter—and more. Could we too be discarding our creative spark in the process? Let’s unpack the idea.

Overthinking the Purge

Kondo’s process of touching every item to work out how much you value it can result in decision fatigue. After all, should you be throwing that pile of old magazines with quirky illustrations in the trash? By the time you’re done analyzing, you’ve either trashed something irreplaceable or lost the mental energy to create.

Creativity Isn’t Always Joyful

Let’s face it: creating something new is rarely all sunshine and rainbows. It’s messy. It’s frustrating. It’s chaotic. Using a joy based filter on tools and materials could disincentivize creatives from embracing the discomfort that often comes with the advent of new things.

A Workspace Which Is Sterile Is Uninspiring

10 Surprising Reasons Your Home Stays Dusty (And How to Fix It) — Image Credit:Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels

While Instagram is all about a perfectly tidy space, for many creatives it feels sterile. Imagine some of the greatest minds in history worked in a cluttered environment. As you may know, Albert Einstein said, “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk?” Chaos can also be a bit of a catalyst for innovation.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

The KonMari method has one principle, store things out of sight and create clean, open spaces. This sounds great, but it can kill creativity. It’s easy to forget tools, books, or unfinished projects tucked away. Having things visible can sometimes be a subconscious nudge to continue to explore ideas.

Spontaneity Dies in Rigid Systems

The KonMari method is about creating structure; categories, timelines and rules. These systems can help organize your life but can also keep you in a box. Inspiration doesn’t come with rules; it is spontaneous and depends on serendipity.

Many People Find That Minimalism Can Be a Mood Killer

While that minimalist aesthetic – bare walls, single potted plant, neutral tones – seems to make some people feel more relaxed. For others, it’s a recipe for boredom. Exuberant hues, fanciful collections, and odd embellishments may create a roiling energy in a room which in turn, will ignite your creative side.

The Pressure to “Do It Right”

"12 Weekly Habits Every Savvy Homeowner Swears By" — Image Credit: RDNE Stock project/Pexels

Marie Kondo’s method is now a cultural phenomenon and with it comes the pressure to follow it perfectly. This perfectionism can spill over into your creative work, causing you to be reluctant to try, to fail, and to experiment, which is exactly what creativity is.

Creative Power Through Sentimental Items

10 Eye-Opening Lessons I Discovered After Inheriting My Parent’s House — Photo Credit: Pexels

Marie Kondo suggests you keep only a few sentimental items, but the discarded items can be powerful prompts for creativity. Maybe that old ticket stub or broken camera lens will inspire one story, or a painting, or a new idea.

Decluttering Is a Time Suck

Decluttering can be an endless process that takes up time you could be spending creating. If you’re always sorting, folding, and purging, when do you make space for creativity?

Not Enough Tools, Much Limit

16 Often Unnoticed Habits of People Who Keep a Clean and Organized Home — Photo Credit: Shutterstock

Minimalism often asks us to pare down to the essentials, but in creativity sometimes the non essentials are the things that make the difference. Cutting off avenues for experimentation is limiting yourself to just the basics.

Taking Away the Mess

The study, published in Psychological Science in 2013, determined messy environments may actually be good for creativity. Individuals in cluttered rooms came up with more original, more unconventional ideas than those in clean spaces. It seems that a little bit of chaos isn’t so bad after all.

Boundaries

‘People feel free to explore and experiment,’ says Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman, a cognitive scientist who specializes in creativity. ‘That freedom can be limited by overly rigid systems,’ he said. If creativity is all about breaking boundaries, why do we enforce them with tidiness?

The Joy Filter Stifles Discovery

When it comes to creative tools or ideas, Marie Kondo’s famous mantra “Does it spark joy?” sounds delightful, but might be overly simplistic. Fireworks aren’t always the inspiration. It might not be something you want to immediately feel joy over, like that old notebook filled with scribbles, but it might be the seed of your next big idea. The mundane is often the place we have to dig to find the magic.

Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.