Marie Kondo | Finding Joy at Work | Talks at Google

Marie Kondo | Finding Joy at Work | Talks at Google

Hello everyone! Today, we are welcoming
a world-famous tidying consultant, the founder of KonMari Media, Inc., Ms. Marie Kondo. As you all know, she has been fascinated by
tidying since she was a child, and developed the famous
KonMari Method. This is an organizing system to re-examine the relationships
between a person and possession. It also stands by clients suffering from clutter
and excessive consumption. Bringing mindfulness
to tidying up houses, it recommends owning only things that make you feel really happy. It suggests that by only holding on to things that spark joy, you would be able to feel
gratitude in your daily life. I think you all know this. In books, Netflix shows,
and YouTube channels, she is running various courses to lead a sustainable
and mindful life. Now, she lives with
her husband, Takumi, and three children. So, let’s welcome her warmly. Enter, Marie. Welcome to Google! Have a seat. Marie, you are really here. We are all happy to have you. Thank you for coming
despite your busy schedule. You talk to our staff
almost every day. You are scheduled for many lectures like this. No, it’s a great honor, thank you. So, let’s get started. First of all, I’ll get into the question
right away. I think that will
lead to your questions. First, how did tidying become a part of your life? Could you tell me about it? Of course.
I work as a tidying consultant, but actually, my interest in tidying started when I was five years old. My mother is a full-time housewife. She has fun when she is doing
housework at home every day. As she was enjoying
household chores so much, I asked her about it one day
when I was a child. I asked her why she had so much fun doing housework every day. My mother replied to me that being a housewife was a great job. Every day, I cook, tidy our house, and wash. By organizing our house, you are able to go to school happy, and your dad can still go to work. This is a great social contribution. What she said to me is one of the things
that inspired me so much. Since I was little, housework looked amazing. l also want to master
housework like mom. That was what I felt. So, such things happened. My mother has subscribed
to a lifestyle magazine since I was 5 years old. It is a magazine
full of wisdom for living. I read it well as a child. With the many magazines that I read, I would try out their tidying tips
around our house. When I came home from school, I would tidy up my room one day, my brother’s room the next day, then my sister’s room, the kitchen, and the living room. I tidied up my friends’ houses. After that,
I tidied up my house again. I kept tidying up every day. I was living a life like that. I devoted my youth to tidying. When I was 15 years old, I really wanted to
start a study on tidying. The Art of Discarding was a best-selling book
at that time. Reading it fueled
my interested in tidying. I thought,
“Tidying up is so amazing!”. I felt even more drawn to
tidying up. Until then, from cooking, cleaning,
tidying to sewing. I loved everything in my house. After reading it,
I focused on tidying. So when I was a student, I read every single book
about tidying that had been published in Japan. I practiced
what I learned from it at home. I continued those things and around the time I entered college, for the first time, I helped someone else to tidy up. I’ve got a change to actually
experience helping others. The opportunity was this. When I became a college student,
there were more and more friends around me who were living alone. When I found such friends, I asked them to let me tidy up. I kept offering to tidy up. As I continued doing so, a rumor was spread. When KonMari comes to visit, the house would become clean. Then I started to get
emails from people I didn’t know. From strangers? I was asked to teach them
how to tidy up. They offered to pay for it. Gradually from there, my tidying turned into my job
as a tidying consultant. That’s how tidying became a part of my life. I want to be your friend, too. I am kind of unique. At that time…but you started it
at the age of five. I think you’re really a veteran. Many of guys here are very familiar with the KonMari Method. But could you introduce
the method to us again? Sure. KonMari Method is not just a way to clean your house. By tidying it up, you are reflecting upon yourself. It’s gaining the skill to
choose what matters to you. Through this tidying method. I’ll share the best point for that, or what it features. Some of you may know, but please choose what sparks joy. That’s the point. Many of you believe tidying is discarding,
what you have to do, or a duty. That’s not the case. From what is in your house now, it’s about choosing,
things that make you happy things that are important to you, and choosing what sparks joy. That’s the biggest point. So how do you choose
what sparks joy? There’s an important point. When you choose things, always touch each and every one. For example,
just opening your closet, thinking just by looking at it,
“Does it spark joy? Does it not?”. That doesn’t work. Instead of that, really feel your senses as you
touch that item. This process is very important. For example, when you touch
something that sparks joy, feel how your body reacts. For example,
you’re holding the item, at that point, something within you wells up and you feel that spark! You feel something light up! You feel your cells being lifted. It’s like being in love. Yeah, you might call it love. It feels similar to love.
Your body will feel delighted. Conversely, when you touch
something that doesn’t spark joy, you feel your body’s cells sinking. In such a lecture or in a speech, every time I practice it,
everyone goes silent, or smiles wryly. You’ll be really surprised when
you actually try it because you’ll be able to
feel that difference. This is what
a spark of joy feels like. This is the feeling of
not sparking joy. Don’t think with your head. Feel the cells in your body. This is one of the most significant
features of the KonMari method. Please do this through tidying, for everything in the house. As you distinguish
things the spark joy for you and those that don’t, your physical senses
are being honed. This will improve
your spark sensitivity. It’s how I express it. Please do so for not only things, but also, for example,
for our relationships, or job related things. In all of your life’s choices, you can determine
if your body is very happy now, or this isn’t the case. With the actually tidying, for example,
in the case of our jobs, it should be an offer
with very good conditions if you think about it in your head. However,
your body’s cells are sinking. So that’s an option
not sparking joy for you. In this way,
you will be able to determine what sparks joy for you. Repeating this make you live a life that sparks joy for you. Because you will always be able to
decern and choose the option that will
lead you to happiness. That’s why my first book is… The Life-Changing Magic of
Tidying Up. That’s what it was called. Your life will change, and it’s a magic that will
bring a spark to your life. That’s the KonMari Method. Thank you very much. When you touch something
to determine if it sparks joy, before that,
is there a state of mind, or guidance for how we should be? Like if we have stray thoughts… Some how… Yeah, thank you for your question. That’s very important. I recommend to do this
before cleaning. First, think about your ideal life. I recommend you take this step. Rather than hastily starting
to tidy up. Think back on what you want to achieve
in your house by this tidying up. What can I do to be able to lead the life I want in this room. First, start by visualizing this. I want it to be like this. Decide on that goal. Go into your tidying up
with that mindset in place. Does this spark joy? Is it something that
aligns with your goal? You will be able to discern it. In your book,
you have also mentioned, to think about each step, as you have just shared,
in place of idle thoughts, what kind of career, or what kind of goals
we want to achieve, is something we should visualize before going into things right? Indeed. There’s a difference between
doing it and not doing it, that changes our motivation
to tidy up drastically, as well as the speed at
which your tidying up will progress. Thank you very much. Indeed, Marie,
I’m sure it’s true for you too, we all have really very busy days. With our work and personal lives, there are so many things that
we have to do. How can we create an environment
to focus on what really matters? I’d like to hear your perspective and get some guidance from you. Yeah, as you said, we have a lot to do. There’s a lot of stuff
in our houses. Awhile ago, I told you that
the most important thing in the KonMari Method is choosing things that spark joy. Equally important to that is letting go of things that don’t. This step should never be skipped. The key in letting go of something
that doesn’t spark joy, is gratefulness for each and every thing. That’s a very important point. For example, your clothes. When tidying up,
we have things that don’t spark joy, but yet are hard to let go, right? For example, the clothes you bought, but you have never worn, or those that were very expensive. There are various things. When you let go of it, thank each one of those things. It’s like this… Oh, this kind of clothing
doesn’t suit me. Thank you for helping me
to understand that. Or maybe that clothing
was something that gave you joy at the point when you bought it. Thank you it for the
moment of spark it brought, and let it go. Even in letting go, by give thanks to each one there are things
you can learn from it. Be it buying or holding on to
this item, what have I learnt from it? By thinking carefully one by one, for everything… In the end,
what really matters to you will become clearer. So, as you’re taking care of
things that are important, you’ll realize what kind of things
are really valuable to you. For example, I’ve done a lot of work and I’ve also made
a lot of mistakes. In the case of failures,
was it an unnecessary experience? No, that’s not the case. What did I learn from that? How did I grow? Please think in such a way. You can let go of it with gratitude. What kind of jobs
you should really go into will become clearer. If you repeat this process, you’ll be able to create
an environment where you can focus on
what really matters to you. Thank you very much. Separate from the idle thoughts
I mentioned earlier, sometimes it can be hard to reach that point of gratefulness. Are there things you do
that help in this regard? Yes, in order to reach that inner
peace of mind, you know, for me it really then turns back to
tidying up. By clearing my surroundings… -Yeah, yeah.
-Yes. Because that’s what
sparks joy for me, but taking time for something
that sparks joy for you. I think it’s very important. For example,
for some it might be yoga. Or perhaps time to appreciate
your favourite coffee. To consciously make that effort to create time for yourself, really brings about that
inner peace. By taking a moment to enjoy
that sense of satisfaction, I think you’ll be able to face life
more positively. I have another question. You have three children now. Yeah. You have kids who are still little. How do you spare or secure such time? This is something
that I am very concerned about, too. I have three children. I have a 9-year-old,
8-year-old, and 3-year-old child. To create time for myself, as I shared, I pratice securing my own time first. It never has to be long. For me, I definitely need
my tea time once a day. If I didn’t get my tea time, I feel depressed when
it’s time for bed. Is anywhere okay for you? Or do you go out? I like to do so in my house. Of course, anywhere is okay.
Outside is good too. But I still have 30 minutes of
tea time for myself. If it’s hard,
I’ll secure at least 15 minutes. In other words, you have to
secure your time to spark joy first. By securing it, you can bring yourself
back to a good state. For schedule management, I’m the kind who keeps a vertical type schedule table. I would make sure to write it in. Indeed, without that inner peace, it’s hard to draw out gratefulness. That’s what it means, right? Thank you. With information coming
from everywhere, we’re in an environment
where we’re easily distracted. Such is modern society today. However, how can we organize
things all around us, especially in the digital space, so that we could…
Maybe like the tea time you shared reach that kind of feeling? Do you think we can increase
our concentration or peace of mind? I’ve been asked many questions about digital space tidying lately. I apply the basic
KonMari Method of tidying in many cases. There’s the base
to choose what sparks joy. Then, how do you tidy it up
in concrete steps? The key point is to proceed with tidying up
by category. That’s the point. So, for tidying up your house, when you’re tidy up clothes,
you’d do all the clothes at one go. When tidying books, it’s all books. In other words, tidy them up by dividing them into categories. The step becomes clear if you know what category
you are tidying up. The complicated part about
tidying up the digital space is not knowing how to do it. First, the concept of
digital space itself is vague, even as a word. So, what does tidying up
the digital space entail? If we dig it deeper, looking at it by category,
for example, tidying up the apps. Tidying up emails. Tidying up the digital files. If we go further, for example,
tidying up presentation materials. There are many categories, right? Split it into categories
and proceed one by one. By thinking like this, your will feel more calm. How should I tidy it up? It’s messy, both here and there. If you go in thinking like that
it will be very messy. My advice is to
start with something simple. The easiest thing to recommend is tidying up the apps. It’s very easy to see. On the phone, you can see them
visually represented by icons. Because you can tidy up within
this relatively small category, finish tidying them up first.
In this way, starting with the easiest to do tidying up one by one. You’re reducing your load
bit by bit. It will become fun to tidy up. For tidying up in the digital space, are you doing it regularly? Yeah, I’m doing it regularly. For example,
in the case of tidying up photos, for me, I do it almost every day. Every day? If you have children,
you’ll take a lot, wouldn’t you? It really accumulates. It’s going to be a huge amount.
So, every time I take it, if I feel like I’ve taken a lot, I put heart marks on
those that spark joy. For those that don’t, I delete them that day. By doing so… When it comes to digital things, I’ve been doing so-called
physical tidying for a long time and doing it professionally. Digitally, it’s more difficult. The volume by which it increases
is large. So it is the speed of it. The speed is so high. So I practice doing what I can within that day. I guess you can’t tidy up someone’s
digital space for them, right? Yeah, I can’t do that. With the idea you’ve given us,
there are many things we want to try and we’ve all taken away something
from that. Then, I have the next question. When we have a lot of work, we’re not sure
which one we should prioritize. As you said earlier, we can approach
what we have to do by category. Even when we can see the road map, applying priorities can sometimes be difficult. Time management becomes challenging. With all this work, how do we secure time that sparks joy? Do you have any advice? Applying the KonMari Method, in this method, for example, when tidying up things
in one category, suppose you’re tidying up clothes. There’s a step where you would
gather all your clothes in one place and stack them up, right? I’ve done this
in a lot of TV and Netflix shows. Everyone… Is always shocked. What are they shocked by? The amount of clothes they put out. Could you try imagining for a bit? Your closet.
The clothes you have now. You get them all out of the drawer. Those hanging in the closet too. Can you put try them in one place in your head? Yes, multiply that amount by three. That’s the real amount. So far, I have been teaching
a lot of tidying lessons. When I do it on site,
everyone said it was three times as much as they thought. The effect of taking them all out
is amazing. You realize how much you have. So even in the case of work, you should take out all the tasks
that you have. What kind of projects
do I have right now? What work am I doing,
and what do I spend my time on? When my work is messed up, I write down all the work I have. I’ll write everything down. It is so full of writing
that the paper turns blue, but when it’s all out,
I can see clearly. So how should I tidy it up? Then I get into the resolution step. I would naturally want to do that. For clothes too, once they’re out,
there’s no choice but to do it, and so the tidying makes progress. With all that’s there, what work is really matters to me? What leads to results? In fact, what are unnecessary things
you actually do out of habit? You can see it calmly after you put it all out that way. Things that spark joy,
and thing that don’t. Things that spark joy,
may be because you truly like it. Things that leads to results,
or it bring you growth, can also be sparks of joy.
Or anything that’s a win for you. Considering these, separate what sparks joy
from what doesn’t. Starting from what you’re able to, try to remove and let go
of those that don’t spark joy. That’s how I do it. With what you’re working on,
when you’ve written it all down, is there someone you would
bounce your thoughts off? Although I do it on my own at times. Of course my husband…
He’s called Takumi. My husband is both
executive of my company and manager. He is also acting as a producer
and a business partner. Talking to someone
often makes things clearer. Objectively, this is unnecessary. This is necessary for your growth. His objective advice like that can be very helpful to me. Certainly,
we have similar experiences… This could be a manager or a peer. While talking to many people, we might find things that, whose priority can be lowered
when looked at objectively. Thank you. In relation to that,
I have another question. Organize what you feel
is no longer needed. Say goodbye with gratitude. This is what I have gathered. Do you have a favourite practical advice for work? For letting the things go. An idea for discarding
what you don’t need, right? In physical tidying,
when you discard unnecessary things, a very common practice, recently, it to donating those things instead of discarding them
as garbage. I mostly give it away
to those who need it. Did you say that
this question was for work? In terms of work, for example… It’s like tidying.
It’s also important to tidy up. In our work, when we find
something that’s not important, or things that could be done
by someone else, in such cases, would you pass it on? Yeah, of course. Sometimes I pass my work to others. Rather than me… If I think someone else doing it
sparks joy for the whole, and if I think
it will bring good outcomes, I often do so. For example, I’ve been working
as a tidying consultant. The consultant’s job is basically going to the customer’s house
for a one to one session of tidying. And we actually tidy it up together. It’s a very time-consuming job. By the way,
my cleaning lesson takes 5 hours. We have five condensed hours
together. I’ve been doing that all this time. Amazing! That’s just a bit of a side talk. However, there was a time when
there are too many lessons, and I had 3 lessons in a day. Just calculating normally,
it doesn’t seem to fit in one day. 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. From 12:00 to 6:00… No, 5:00 p.m. From 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. I was in my 20’s at that time. I was able to do it
because I had the physical energy. When I was doing so, I became overworked. Although I got a lot of requests, I thought that, rather than
me doing it all the time… That’s when I started writing books. I was in a position to convey the KonMari Method to many people. I felt that conveying
the most important core of the KonMari Method to many people was the best way for me to contribute the world, so I let go of the tidying job that I really loved so so much. It was really good for the whole. At the time, I was very lucky. After my book, The Life-Changing
Magic of Tidying Up, was published, many people told me that they wanted to do this
as a profession. They are called KonMari consultants. I was training these
KonMari consultants, and I decided to entrust the on site tidying up to them. So, I myself would go overseas. Now, in more than 50 countries
around the world more than 900 KonMari consultants are actively tidying up the world. Tidying the world… -Yeah.
-At that time, you were a big fan of tidying. But stepping back was because you felt it
had to be scaled. If you hadn’t done that it wouldn’t have led here, right? Yeah. Of course, I really enjoyed it so it felt like a waste, but no matter how I looked at it,
it made sense. I felt that I had received a sign that this was what I had to do, so I made that decision. So not just the concept
of tidying up. What we’re doing on YouTube is to let great creators in Japan and artists advance into the world. In that way, I think you’re really
one of the pioneers. Thank you very much. So maybe even in the future, I think you will continue
to make progress in the world. The reward of such a job, and that kind of joy, I think you have experienced it. Do you have any advice for us who want to find
the same reward and joy? To find the reward and joy
in your work… It’s very clear. Become aware of what sparks joy. I like this moment in my job. I like this type work operation. There are moments in your work
that you find it sparking joy. By becoming more aware and conscious of the things that you like, work will become so much more fun. I learned this in tidying up. The good thing about tidying up is, as you tidy and choose the things
that spark joy one by one, everyone will realize that they have
many things that spark joy. That’s the fact. It’s been so messy.
I need to tidy up. There’s so much stuff. Though I have a lot of things, I don’t have anything to wear today. From having that feeling, to realizing that
you have so many favorite dresses. From knowing that
they belong to you, to really re-looking at the wonderfulness of these things. I think that
it’s the same for your job. For example, in my case, in tidying, I like all aspects,
but I love folding clothes. Oh, really? Just having the awareness that I like folding clothes is good. I like this indeed.
Each time I do so, it sparks joy. You taste that feeling every time. If you do that, then automatically the spark gets
bigger and bigger each time. In your job, I’m sure
you’ve had that feeling. For example, you may love the moment
when the numbers align. -I like it.
-Something like that. All you need to do is
savour that moment. Affirm that feeling. Every time you do that, your joy will be increased. You don’t have to do
anything special. In the work you’re doing right now, find what sparks joy to you. If you create a moment to love it, you’ll have fun
more and more in your current job. Thank you very much. You liked tidying very much,
yet you stopped visiting clients. As you shared, you love folding. Where did you draw a line? As a professional, how have you dealt with it? How have you compromised? Yes, well… In that case,
I consciously try to pass on what sparks joy for me to others. I mean,
it’s fun to fold the clothes, and you teach that, right? So you’re going to
convey that, right? Each of you have a favorite part
that sparks joy for you. What matters is… I think it’s very important that your energy sparks joy. So I always say this
to the KonMari consultants. Start by feeling the spark of joy
within yourself. First of all,
you should organize your life. Make sure that
you make your life sparks joy. This is very important. Because only when a consultant
is in that state, then can they convey that spark
when they meet the client. Then the client’s spark of joy will
be conveyed to the client’s family, and the family’s joy
will spread to the community. If it expands further,
it will spread across the country. Then, it will spread to the world. Let’s increase the total amount
of sparks of joy in the world. That’s what I always tell
the consultants to do. Thank you. Certainly, when we have a meeting, it’s better to have fun
and be cheerful. In meetings and our work as well. Thank you. It’s time to answer questions from our Googlers. I’ll ask you questions from
Google offices around the world. Thank you, all. First, I ask you a question
from Mark in the Tokyo office. I want to help people around me
stay organized. While learning
how to tidy up together, I’d like to create an environment
where we can concentrate. What should I do? Thank you for the question, Mark. Thank you. While helping
people around you tidy up, you’d like to create an environment
where you can concentrate? I mean, the answer is very simple. I think you’re talking about
the people in the office. Please tidy up together
with the people in the office. You know, please have
a tidying up festival together. There’s a team called ‘Reuse’
that manages our office. The team will be pleased
to hear what you just said. I recommend it.
It’s really enjoyable. Actually, for a period of time, I had been teaching tidying-up
lessons for business owners. When I was an office worker… I’ve been doing tidying-up work
all this time. However, there’s a period when
I worked as a company employee. At that time,
while working in sales, I gave tidying-up lessons to our sale clients’ president. Because the desk
behind the president was too messy, while I was doing work
as a sales person, I talked to the president. I was there to
support in recruitement, but I said to him to
tidy up his desk before hiring. It accidentally escaped my lips. It was by this chance
that the lessons started. After that, because the president
had cleaned up his desk, by having one person
starting to tidy up, employees around the president
started to tidy up their desks. -So this was top down?
-Yeah. After they started tidying up, then… Everyone said that the performance
of the company improved. Everyone… This was really the case. After many customers
and business owners let me tidy up, wasted motions were eliminated. While tidying up, they are also
organizing their minds. They were thinking that it was
time to downsize the business, but they got a spark and felt
they should put more focus in it. Their sensitivity to sparks within
the business started increasing. And their ability to make
management decisions improved. I never provided any such advice. Nothing at all. The change came to them naturally. I’ve seen this many times, and it is effective. Our company also provides corporate training. Tidying with KonMari Method is
performed in companies, where we get all the employees
to participate, or having it done in groups. Even if it’s not done company-wide,
we might have a group try it first. Tidying up together. Tidying up together, they have fun. It’s liberating.
Performance increases. It’s fun, liberating,
and performance increases. It’s full of good things. Mark, let’s do this
in your team first. I highly recommend it. -Thank you.
-Thank you. The next is from Valentina, in the American Boulder office. By the KonMari Method, I think many people have organized
things around them and found joy. How do you yourself practice this method
in your digital life? Well, also you shared earlier, about organizing emails, files
and photos, but could you give advice to those
who are struggling? As you said earlier,
breaking it down into the categories could make it easier, right? Please divide them into categories, and start from the easiest. Gradually lighten your load. For example, when cleaning up data,
I do it based on this theory. I have been helping my clients to tidy up documents in their home
all this time. When I’m tidying up their documents, the thinking is very simple. Only two types of documents
will be left in the end. Only two types. To be stored or not processed. Unprocessed things can be
discarded when finished. Things to be let go or to be done. Things to be stored is what
needs to be preserved in some way. First, think only of
these two categories. Then the category splitting
becomes simple. What is the purpose
of organizing files? To make the unprocessed things
clear. To make what was saved
easy to retrieve. These are the two things you
need to do when organizing. Just by remembering the question,
is it unprocessed or to be saved? Tidying up the data will
become very simple. With hard-copy documents
they can then be discarded, is what you’re saying. Leave only the two, the unprocessed
and the other one. So meaning to say we can do the same
with digital data? Yes. As a key point,
when I’m tidying up documents, I always tell my clients to discard all documents. I strongly emphasize it. This doesn’t mean that
you have to reduce it to zero. When on an assumption that
all of them should be discarded, it is important to select
what really needs to be kept based on criteria. With data… Documents… Because each sheet of paper is
small and thin, you tend to think it’s fine
and leave it. That’s why paper
piles up so quickly. Before you know it,
it’s out of control. The paper cannot be found anymore. So from the start, assume
that you’ll discard all of them, and think about what needs to be kept. It makes it easier
to choose what should be left. I think it’s the same with
our career. You maintain a strong, clear image
of your final goal, and make your approach
based on that. So when you tidy up the office, think about what kind of work style you want to achieve by tidying. Think about what kind of office
you want to work in. That’s what I highly recommend. Thank you. Thank you. Valentina, let’s do our best. And the next question from Chris
in our Austin office. In your book, Joy at Work, you advocate that organizing a workplace environment
makes work more comfortable and productive. But rather,
chaotic conditions stimulates some people’s
creativity and concentration. How should such type of people
incorporate the KonMari Method to organizing in their own way, and creating a
comfortable environment? Our question from Chris. Thank you for your question. Some people like a slightly messy environment. That is completely fine. KonMari Method is not about
making you have less things or becoming a minimalist. In the end, it’s about understanding
what kind of environment sparks joy for you. That’s very important. So, for example, in such a case, it is not necessary
to decrease things by discarding. But even in those the cases, according to basic KonMari Method,
go by category and choose what sparks joy for you. That would be sufficient. And even if there were to be
a lot of things that spark joy, because there are so many things
that spark joy for you, I always say… Isn’t that great? I think it’s a wonderful thing. The final goal is to be comfortable and to like your current condition. That is what’s important. Accepting that you have many things but trying to make it
just a little easier for you to use, or things easier to understand. To be able to know where things are and to be able to grasp how much you have. That’s very important. Create storage by category. If you know this basic, then it’ll be okay. Thank you. There are a lot of different styles. So first, we need to acknowledge
that part of us. It’s important to accept that,
is what I gathered from your sharing. And well… I have a question, too. As a professional, you’ve established this
from the ground up. You’re raising your children and now you’re doing this
amazing job. When you look at your life ahead, could I ask, what are you plans
for your future? My life ahead? I… When it comes to my life, actually I don’t have firm plans, or have a very long-term plan. I am always treating every chance, or offer with care. One by one. I treasure what I have now and I do what I can. Actually, my favorite style is to respond to what comes as it comes. So I am very grateful
for all the people who reach out to me. Truely. I always feel so grateful. As I mentioned earlier, I was just a person who
really loves tidying up. I was someone who was just happy
tidying up in my room. Before I knew it,
I was in a position to speak in front of so many people. This to me, feels like
kind of a miracle. I don’t think it’s because I’m doing
something special. Nor that I’ve done something great. There were people who have
aided me at times. People who have supported me. This is something I’ve made
with these people. So even from now on,
with the ties from all these people I think it’ll be nice to be able to
continue doing work that sparks joy. We are really proud of you, so we want to wish you great success
also in the future. Thank you. I still have a lot to ask, but we’re out of time. Thank you for
coming to Google today. Thank you very much. Everyone, thank you very much
for today.

Tidying expert and founder of KonMari Media Inc., Marie Kondo, joins us for a conversation about how to spark more joy in your career. Explore how decluttering both physical workspace and your mindfulness approach can set you on the way to greater focus and fulfillment.

Learn more about Marie Kondo here: https://konmari.com/.

Marie Kondo is a tidying expert and founder of KonMari Media Inc. Enchanted with organizing since childhood, Marie developed the renowned KonMari Method™, a system of organization that reshapes practitioners’ relationships with goods, while working with clients struggling against clutter and over-consumption. The Method integrates mindfulness and home organization, encouraging households to acquire only what sparks joy and to feel deeper gratitude for every possession. In addition to her books and Netflix shows, Marie is also the founder of KonMari, a digital platform dedicated to sustainable, mindful living. She lives with her husband, Takumi, and three children.

Moderated by Akiko Nakajo.