For those of you who don’t know, I am personally obsessed with Marie Kondo. Like OBSESSED. Like almost-beat-up-Alison-Roman-obsessed (if you’re like .. what??.. you can read more here). But, back to Marie. She just released a new book, called Joy At Work, and now she wants to be your professional guru too.

If you had a pulse last year, we’ll bet you heard about the Queen of Organization, Marie Kondo, and how to spark joy by shredding your closet. Sidebar: in case you’re currently spring cleaning (not sure… is it still spring??), the basic idea is that you dispose of any items in your home that do not make you happy…or “spark joy” as she famously says. Ie. gifts from your ex? Thank you, next!!

Last year, Marie quickly rose to national notoriety after the debut of her Netflix series: Tidying Up With Marie Kondo. It was the most popular non fiction show of 2019. And it helped land her a major investment deal, which I imagine was the fuel behind her latest and greatest launch, Joy At Work.

So, onto what you came here for!! The main point of her workplace philosophy is to take the same concept from your closet, to your office. Marie suggests doing the following to help spark more joy at work:

• compile a list of tasks you complete daily/weekly
• review each task and ask yourself if it sparks joy
• if the task does not, ask yourself if it contributes to a more meaningful future (for instance, I hate doing my laundry.. but I love walking around not smelling like sh*t!.. Ok but maybe think a little bigger picture here but you get what I mean)
• if you come across tasks that you’d like to drop, decide if you have the authority to determine this and if not, then set them aside for a discussion with your boss
• if you work for someone else, conduct a “beneficiary test” with your boss: i.e. ask your boss about the task at hand. Start with trying to determine if he/she derives any value from it (does he/she read the report or open the chart you send? Does it help him/her do his/her job more easily?)

The goal is to offload unnecessary busy work that doesn’t make you happy so you can enjoy your work life more. Sounds simple enough, right? Also sounds like a necessity given that we’re working more hours in quarantine than we ever have before.

I personally have not had a boss in 8 years… but I’ve been using her strategy to organize my “entrepreneur” life. And quite frankly, it’s pretty freaking great so far!

Ps. If you want a longer rundown, check out this article here.

xoxo,

nicole rosé