How to Spark Joy at Work by Following the KonMari Organization Method?

“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” These words have been credited to the brilliant physicist Albert Einstein, and his desk was often piled high with books and papers regardless of whether he actually said this.

Similarly, the famous painter Pablo Picasso was known to create surrounded by numerous paintings. Additionally, it's rumored that Apple founder Steve Jobs intentionally kept a cluttered desk.

Legendary geniuses whose offices are cluttered are uncountable. To highlight this, a new study from the University of Minnesota revealed that a chaotic work environment generates creative ideas. However, many people think a cluttered office is good and encourages creativity, maybe because such stories are common and go against the idea of an organized life.

Here's an exercise you can try: Imagine your desk or workspace, then answer these questions:

• Do you feel positive about working here right now?
• Does working in this office bring you joy every day?
• Are you sure you're giving enough space for creativity?
• Do you want to come back here tomorrow?

These questions are not meant to be depressing but to help you understand the emotions you experience in your work environment. To be clear, it doesn't matter whether the desk is cluttered or decluttered. What matters is being aware of the environment type that brings you joy while working. Organization is one of the best ways to discover that.

After organizing their homes with basic interior design using the KonMari method, many clients want to add more decoration. They start incorporating details they adore. Until they've cleaned up, people frequently don't fully realize the environment type that brings them joy.

The main difference between our home and our workplace is that our workplace is public. Even when our books and clothes are strewn all over the floor, nobody sees them at home. However, since the office is a shared area, everyone can easily distinguish between a cluttered desk and a decluttered one. Interestingly, most people are unaware of this reality's greater influence on our professional lives.

Several research studies on employee assessments in the workplace have demonstrated that people are more likely to be considered ambitious, intelligent, calm, and enthusiastic by others when their workspace is well-organized. According to a different study, these people are regarded as self-assured, amiable, diligent, and compassionate. This qualities list makes them appear genuinely successful.

Three main points can be used to summarize these studies: A well-organized desk raises our self-worth and motivates us to work hard and produce more because it shows that our personalities and skills are valued more. Taking this perspective makes the organization seem like a good idea, doesn't it?

Our offices aren't the only places that require organization—we ourselves are weighed down by unseen disorder. Specifically, modern technology has caused digital clutter in the form of emails, files, and excessive online accounts. A study found that answering emails takes up almost half of an office worker's day, and unread emails in their inbox are approximately 199 on a daily average. Additionally, office workers waste two hours and 39 minutes per week in unproductive meetings. These unproductive meetings cost more than $3.7 billion annually. Forgetting passwords or misusing them results in a loss of at least $420 per employee annually, which can surpass $10,000 annually in a company employing 25 people.

For many people, organizing only frustrates them. “I'm too busy to spare time for that,” some say. Some say, “I tried that already, organizing all my documents, but chaos came back.”

Some people don't believe they can find joy in their work. They claim that organizing things won't make a difference and use expressions like “I'm stuck in pointless meetings all day”  to convey this. However, the correct organization is what makes finding joy at work possible.

Here's a useful way to help you in this regard:

The KonMari Method at Work

The KonMari method has two distinctive features:

• First: It is simple and effective, ensuring that you never revert to clutter again.
• Second: It uses a unique selection criterion, which is to choose what sparks joy. We re-establish our connection to joy and figure out what matters most to us when we ask ourselves, "Does this truly spark joy?" The end effect is a long-lasting behavioral shift that turns life around.

Of course, not everything at work can be evaluated based on whether it sparks joy or not. There are company rules that must be followed, and decisions made by managers and coworkers may affect our work.

Organizing the physical workspace alone is not enough to make our jobs run smoothly. We can truly spark joy in our professional lives only when we organize every aspect of it, including emails, digital data, work-related tasks, and meetings.

The organization has changed many people's professional lives. For example, one entrepreneur tells how, while organizing her books, she suddenly remembered her childhood dream and decided to quit her job and launch her own business. This was just what happened after she looked at everything that was in front of her and decided whether or not to keep it in her life.

Organization is much more than just clearing clutter; it is a major project that will change your life forever. It will help you understand how each task you perform is related to a joyful future. Ultimately, the real goal is to discover what brings you joy in your work so you can give your best.

1. Time

We can work fewer days and enjoy our work more if we learn to manage the activities' chaos, which results from the things we do and take up valuable time and energy without producing any noticeable change.

On average, we spend less than half of our workday on our main job responsibilities, while the rest of our time is wasted on work stoppages, non-essential tasks, administrative tasks, emails, and meetings.

These cases can generally be classified into three common traps:

Reward Trap

Although competition and the desire for rewards are part of our identity, they can easily mislead us. Therefore, when choosing how to spend your time, remember not to give up an activity you love in favor of a reward you don't value.

Urgency Trap

We jump from one seemingly urgent task to another, leaving us little time to think or move forward. This is because we don't allocate enough time to dive into our work and feel the joy that may come from finishing an important task.

Multitasking Trap

Multitaskers are typically the least capable of doing so successfully, and doing so can reduce productivity by as much as 40%. The human brain can only process a certain number of ideas at once.

2. Decisions

No matter what kind of work you do, you make thousands of decisions every day. In fact, some researchers estimate that you may make more than 35,000. However, a recent study found that people remember only about 70 of these decisions on average.

When considering your many work-related decisions, follow these simple steps: forget the small decisions, sort and organize the medium ones, and save your mental energy for the high-risk decisions.

Make low-risk decisions first; don't spend too much time on decisions if you think the result won't have a big impact. Next, compile all of the medium- and high-risk decisions you currently face or will soon face and sort them out.

High-risk decisions are usually eliminated, leaving only a few for most people. These decisions will significantly affect your life or career and deserve your time and energy. Choose carefully which tasks to commit your time and energy to, as you may realize that what you previously considered an important decision should not be made by you or anyone else.

3. Social Networks

Knowing the relationship type you enjoy is among the most important points in building joyful relationships. For example, while some people prefer to have closer relationships with a select group of people, others prefer to be surrounded by friends and enjoy activities together.

Using the KonMari method, you can evaluate each name in your social network and keep only those who spark your joy. After that, you'll feel like the load has significantly lessened, and you'll be better positioned to look after the relationships you've decided to maintain.

Choose what sparks joy for you and care for what you decide to keep. When you sense that something is off in your relationship network, take it as a sign, and remember that when you are comfortable, you can lead a more fulfilling life and make a greater impact on others' lives. Then, eliminate with gratitude any relationships you no longer need and focus on the relationships you have decided to keep.

4. Meetings

You enter a shared area for cooperation, making decisions, and exchanging ideas when you walk into a meeting. If you take good care of this area, it will bring you joy. The following rules will help you enjoy meetings:

Rule No. 1 "Be Confident"

Sit up straight near the table, and let your body radiate positive energy. This is not the time for your mind to wander.

Rule No. 2 "Be Prepared"

If you feel you don't have enough time to prepare yourself, perhaps you don't have the time to attend the meeting either.

Rule No. 3 "Put Electronic Devices Away"

Concentrating on the meeting—not even glancing at your phone —will make it shorter, more fun, and more productive.

Rule No. 4 "Listen"

During meetings, we should be able to learn from one another, but this can be very difficult since we all enjoy talking.

Rule No. 5 "Speak"

If you have something special to contribute, concentrate on adding it to the conversation, offering an alternative viewpoint, or bringing the topic back on course.

Rule No. 6 "Do No Harm"

We are mature enough to take responsibility for our actions. Blaming others, interrupting them while speaking, or being self-conceited will create dysfunction.

5. Teams

Larger teams are less satisfying than smaller ones, and they can create significant chaos. Large crowds increase the possibility of members' contributions overlapping, which makes teams more likely to become chaotic and disorganized. Additionally, having a large number of people around makes it difficult to see the results of our work, and larger teams typically move more slowly because it can take a long time and sometimes impossible to reach a consensus.

Amazon's CEO, Jeff Bezos, works by a rule known as the "two-pizza rule," which states that a team's members should not exceed the number of people who can be fed with two pizzas. Research indicates that when trying to come up with ideas, make decisions, or innovate, most teams work best with four to six members.

While teams can bring joy to all of their members, they frequently fall short of expectations. Remember that the team's success is everyone's responsibility, regardless of job title, seniority, position, or privilege.

6. Inspirational Organization

Scott Sonenshein's office, a management professor at Rice University's Business School, was in a terrible mess. Among the many books he owned, many had lain unread for years. His desk drawers turned into a shoddy storage area full of snacks and outdated office supplies still in their packaging, and there were mountains of research papers piled so high they obscured his view. He even possessed a mysterious key that he doesn't know what it opens to this day.

His colleagues were shocked after he organized his office. The inspiration he provided to those around him was just the beginning. Sonenshein had bigger ambitions to help people organize all their work aspects.

Although you cannot force others to be organized, you can motivate them by telling them about your successes. Therefore, share your organizational journey with your coworkers, spread cheer throughout the office, impart your techniques to those who are interested in learning, and discuss how the organization has improved both your professional and personal life. You'll soon inspire others to make radical lifestyle changes.

Work depends on accumulated experience, and no job is exciting from the start. Consider it as growing pains if something isn't going well or doesn't feel right now, but it will lead you to a joyful future. If your professional life doesn't spark joy all the time, don't assume you're a failure. Recognize this moment's ability to bring you closer to your ideal goal, enjoy the process, celebrate the fact that you're still progressing, and have faith that you're creating an enjoyable professional life now through your daily accumulating experience.

The first and most important step toward realizing your vision of a fulfilling career is organization. Therefore, organize your workspace, commit to your passions, and remember that joy at work brings joy to life.