I’ve recently finished reading The DOSE Effect by TJ Power. In this book, Power shares some simple, do-able activities that can increase your levels of Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin and Endorpins (DOSE), a.k.a. your happy hormones.
Power mentions the benefits of creating – and living in – an organised home quite a few times. According to his book, it can increase your dopamine levels. So I thought I’d share some of his knowledge in this blog, and hopefully it inspires you to start – or continue – your decluttering journey.
Marie Kondo and TJ Power
I did my Professional Organiser training with Japanese tidying expert Marie Kondo. And I now work as a KonMari® Consultant in London, helping people to declutter and organise their homes using the method developed by Marie Kondo. In the introductory chapter of The DOSE Effect, I immediately noticed some similarities between the DOSE Effect and Marie Kondo’s KonMari Method®.
TJ Power writes:
The DOSE Effect is a simple formula that is easy to understand and actionable by anyone. A formula that focuses on the positive. It provides people with their north star – a goal and direction towards where they want to be. It is so much better if people are pursuing the idea of feeling good, rather than running away from feeling bad.
Benefits of home organisation, according to The DOSE Effect
In the next few paragraphs I’ll explain what the similarities are between the above excerpt from TJ Power’s The DOSE Effect and the KonMari Method®.
Further on, I’ll also share why TJ Power recommends to organise your home.
When I want to do something that I’m finding difficult, I love exploring what the benefits are of whatever it is that I’m trying to achieve. It helps me take that first step and keeps me motivated along the way. I hope reading about the benefits of home decluttering in this blog will do the same for you for your home decluttering journey!
The KonMari Method® – simple and suitable for everyone
Just like the DOSE Effect, the KonMari Method is also a simple formula that is easy to understand and actionable by almost anyone.
What makes the KonMari Method® so simple? You tidy by category, rather than location. And there are no rules on what to keep or discard; instead, you base all your decisions by asking yourself for each item if it sparks joy. And that’s it really. Simple enough, right?
When you simply follow this method, you will at some point be done. You will have gone through all your belongings, and your home will be free of clutter.
A lot of people feel overwhelmed by their clutter, and don’t know where to start. And don’t how to continue when they do start. The Konmari Method® gives very clear advice on where to start, and what your next step is. It lessens the overwhelm.
The KonMari Method® – focus on the positive
The DOSE Effect is a formula that focuses on the positive, and so is the KonMari Method®.
When you go through your items and try to pick out the ones that you no longer want/need, the focus is on discarding, on the negative. With the KonMari Method®, the focus is on what you want to keep, on the positive.
Whilst decluttering, don’t tell yourself that you must get rid of items, because this means focusing on the negative and it can make decluttering much more difficult. When approaching the decluttering process using the spark-joy-philosophy, you don’t need to decide what you don’t like. Instead, the process almost decides this for you.
Scott Sonenshein’s view on Spark Joy
In “Joy at Work”, Marie Kondo’s co-author Scott Sonenshein explains why choosing what to discard is very different from choosing what sparks joy:
If you’re thinking that choosing what sparks joy is the same as choosing what to discard, think again! Although deciding what to keep and deciding what to discard may sound like different sides of the same coin, from the perspective of psychology they are worlds apart. To choose what sparks joy is to focus on the positive aspects of the things we own, while to choose what to discard is to focus on the negative.
If we focus on the negative when we discard, the best we can hope for is to elimanate what we don’t like. Not being sick isn’t the same as being healthy, not being poor isn’t the same as being rich, and not being sad isn’t the same as being happy. Likewise, getting rid of things we don’t like isn’t the same as choosing things that spark joy. So when tidying, focus on the positive – on the thigns you love. If you do, you’ll likely find that you actually enjoy tidying.
The KonMari Method® – goal and direction
TJ Power says that the DOSE Effect provides people with their north star – a goal and direction towards where they want to be. He continues to say that it is so much better if people are pursuing the idea of feeling good, rather than running away from feeling bad.
There are six “rules” with the KonMari Method® of which rule number two is “Imagine your ideal lifestyle”. The idea is that before you start decluttering and organising your home, is that you think about your WHY. Why do you want to declutter? Why do you want a clutter-free home? How will you feel once it’s done? What will you be doing in your decluttered home?
When you approach decluttering like this, you don’t focus on the messy house that you want to run away from. You don’t mull over the fact that your home is not in the state that you’d like it to be. Instead, you focus on the home and lifestyle that you aspire to have. You are pursuing that beautiful, calm home where you’ll be feeling good and doing things that you love with the people you love.
Higher dopamine levels through decluttering
Part 1 of The DOSE Effect teaches us how engaging more often in effortful activities will increase your capacity to experience high dopamine levels.
Instead of engaging in the main causes of low dopamine – such as sugary foods, alcohol, social media and online shopping – TJ Power recommends natural forms of happiness to increase your dopamine levels.
Taking care of your home and working towards your goals are two natural forms of happiness that he recommends, alongside making deep social connections, moving your body, eating nutritious foods, reading books (Marie Kondo’s books anyone?) and sleeping deeply (who wouldn’t want to fall asleep and wake up in a calm, clutter-free bedroom?).
Strengthen your AMCC / willpower
TJ Power explains that there is a specific area in your brain called the anterior mid-cingulate cortex, or AMCC. When you resist an addictive behaviour or intentionally engage with a healthy behaviour, this specific part of your brain is activated. The more frequently this happens, the more that area strengthens—just like how repeated bicep curls build arm strength. Every time your AMCC is engaged, your willpower grows. As this part of the brain develops, staying disciplined becomes more natural and less of a struggle.
My advice based on the above is to resist behaviour that will increase the amount of clutter in your home, by buying less and doing more regular tidying in your home (even just the day-to-day tidying counts). At the same time, start spending time on decluttering on a regular basis.
More tips from DOSE expert TJ Power on how to develop your self-discipline
TJ Power writes that being disciplined in a world that is constantly fighting to pull you towards short-term pleasure and away from your goals, is incredibly challenging. But it is possible to develop your self-control, and doing this will increase your dopamine levels, and it can help you in many areas of your life.
TJ Power recommends these four activities related to home organisation to help you increase your levels of discipline:
- Make your bed every morning
- Maintain an organised bedroom
- Maintain an organised work space
- Regular wash dishes
He goes on to say that each time you empty the dishwasher, or wash your dishes, or take the bins out, see these tasks as valuable to your mental health. If you spend a week implementing discipline in these aspects of your life, you will begin to see it translate to other areas.
Or as TJ Power puts it:
When you make your bed before you go on your phone, before you do anything, this simple act of discipline and accomplishment will set the tone for your day ahead.
Joanna Martin from One of Many recommends a similar strategy when you find it difficult to start and finish tasks. She recommends to set a 10-minute timer on a daily basis, and to start and finish chores in this time frame. It can be any chore; it’s purely to get you into a more disciplined mindset. If you do this for a week, you’ll notice that you are capable of doing stuff. Once you start feeling confident that you can get things done on a small scale, you can start tackling larger scale projects too.
For all those parents out there who wish their children would keep their rooms tidy
In The DOSE Effect, TJ Power shares how he – as a young boy – developed the ability to nurture his home environment. It’s very simple, and I think every parent should try this ‘trick’:
When I was a young boy, maybe five years old, my mum used to say to me, ‘I love that you love keeping your room so organized.’ Read that again. ‘I love that you love.’ From a young age my mind began to feel and believe deeply that I did love having an organized bedroom. As I got older this love became very real.
Whether I am in a low headspace and need a boost of productivity to get me motivated, or I am in a more anxious, worried headspace and need to create more calm around me, I now genuinely love organzing my environment to help me achieve the headspace I am looking for.
Two more quotes from The DOSE Effect to inspire you to declutter your home
To end this blog, I’d like to share two more TJ Power quotes from The DOSE Effect which will hopefully inspire you to declutter your home.
Your environment is an externalization of your mind. Clean it and observe the clarity that follows in your thoughts.
Our external environment reflects our inner environment. Create a clear space to experience a clear mind.
Clarity of thought, clear mind – that sounds like pure bliss, doesn’t it?
Tidylicious – Home Decluttering & Organising in South East London
This blog post has been written by Hester Van Hien from Tidylicious. Hester is a Professional Organiser based in Lewisham, and helps people in and around Lewisham, Blackheath and Greenwich to declutter and organise their homes. She did her training with Japanese tidying expert Marie Kondo, and is a Master KonMari Consultant, which means that she’s been supporting a wide variety of clients on their decluttering journey, using Marie Kondo’s KonMari Method®, for 1,500+ hours and still counting.
