Ep 151 | Minimalism and Mental Health with Ivanka Siolkowsky

KonMari Consultant Ivanka Siolkowsky shares how her love of minimalism and environmentalism intersects with KonMari and her mental health advocacy. Our guest today is Ivanka Siolkowsky. Ivanka is a former Elementary School Teacher whose life was transformed when she began learning the many benefits of minimalism and organization! Although she was always considered a tidy individual, after decluttering, and applying minimalism to her surroundings, it was as if the pieces of her life puzzle all fell into place. It is because of these life-altering improvements that Ivanka decided to become a full time Professional Organizer - to help others find that same inner peace in their daily lives! She is a Master KonMari Consultant with The Tidy Moose, which is based in Toronto, Canada. How Ivanka went from KonMari reader to trainee practically over night Spark Joy podcast episodes about minimalism: 7 (https://www.sparkjoypodcast.com/episode-7-design-and-the-future-of-minimalism-with-lloyd-alter), 34 (https://www.sparkjoypodcast.com/ep-34-incremental-minimalism-with-stephanie-seferian), 39 (https://www.sparkjoypodcast.com/episode-39-closet-joy-part-2-build-your-capsule-wardrobe-with-courtney-carver), and 119 (https://www.sparkjoypodcast.com/ep-119-minimalist-shopping-habits-spark-joy-sarit-sela) Ivanka's take on minimalism and how it shows up in her work and life How Ivanka's shopping habits weighed down her mental health and was the catalyst for a year of no shopping How Ivanka determines the number of things to keep in her home and an inspiring TEDx Talk: "How many towels do you need?" (https://www.ted.com/talks/rose_lounsbury_how_many_towels_do_you_need?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare) Ways Ivanka adopted a zero waste lifestyle over the last two years and her favorite recycling tip The blogger (https://www.businessinsider.com/zero-waste-woman-2016-5) that fit a year's worth of waste in one jar How organizing her classroom had a direct impact on Ivanka's mental health and her student's ability to learn What's sparking the most joy for Ivanka: Practicing gratitude Ivanka's favorite organizing tip: Organizing in rainbow order (red, organge, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) What's sparking the most joy for Ivanka: Practicing gratitude Touch base with Ivanka on Instagram: @tidymoose (https://www.instagram.com/tidymoose/) Gems: "Not just surrounding yourself with things that spark joy, but surrounding yourself with only the things that you need." "There is a huge physical weight having these items around." "I really had to focus on what joy meant to me, not who I was trying to impress." "The less you have the less you have to focus on organizing and keeping organized." "Only 10% of what we donate ends up on the floor of the donation center." "The more I do it the better I feel and the more money I have in the bank." "When I work with my clients I'm really trying to help them get their life back from a mental health standpoint." "I've got everything that I need and nothing that I don't." The Spark Joy Anniversary Give-A-Way contest prizes! Win one of three bundles consisting of Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up, signed by Marie Kondo, a fifty dollar gift certificate to the KonMari Shop (https://shop.konmari.com) to select your own Joy Sparking gift, and a two-hour Virtual Tidying Session from For the Love of Tidy! Three lucky winners will receive a bundle of all these prizes! To be eligible for all of the prizes above, all you need to do is head over to: www.sparkjoypodcast.com/itunes​ for detailed instructions on how to leave a review via iTunes. Once there, follow the Apple Podcast instructions to leave us a rating and review in iTunes to help us reach more ears, minds, and hearts.