Danshari method | The Japanese method of ordering what the competition does to Marie Kondo

But the Konmari method has started to face stiff competition: the Danshari.

What is the Danshari method?

The architect of this discipline is Hideko Yamashita, author of the book ‘Dan-sha-ri: order your life (2016). The name of this method comes from the Japanese words’and‘(reject unnecessary things),’sha‘(get rid of the useless things one owns) and’ri‘(detect the insane desire for unnecessary things).

“Does my present self need the possessions that I have right now? If the answer is no, does itwhy is it so hard for me to get rid of these things that I have been accumulating for years, and that to this day I keep saving? What makes me do it? “This is the premise used by Yamashita in his book, which, although it was published two years ago, has now begun to gain a foothold at the international level.

The author proposes a philosophy of life that seeks happiness through material simplicity. Because when ordering we are not simply making better use of the space, but we are also becoming aware of what surrounds us and what we can use.

Because the method Danshari It consists precisely in that, letting the protagonist be the utility that we give to the object and not the object itself. That is, when ordering, think about whether the things you have at home are appropriate for you, are they going to be useful or if, on the contrary, they are unnecessary.

Hideko Yamashita’s theory is that by transforming what surrounds us and keeping what is fair, we will begin to transform our interior. A transformation that will help us to know ourselves better and achieve stability and happiness.

The five golden rules of the Danshari method

• The rule of occupation. Try not to fill everything and occupy only 80%, be it the house, the closet, the drawers, etc.
• The replacement rule. Keep only those things that really make you happy and replace them only when others appear that deserve a place on that list.
• The rule of the two movements. Now is the time to choose where to keep the things that we have kept. For this, the Danshari method recommends organizing them so that when you want to access them, you only need a maximum of two movements (for example, open the closet door and remove them).
• The rule of autonomy and freedom. If you store objects vertically (such as supermarket shelves) you will be able to access them with total freedom and ease.

• The ‘automatic gear’ rule. This point refers to the ease and automatic way that your body and mind have to relate to the objects of the house. With the Danshari the order of things returns to its place and with it, the way in which we relate to them.