A Tidy Little Resolution for the New Year

CLEVELAND -- We think of the holidays as a time to get stuff. But it might be the perfect time to get rid of stuff.

"Lay out, let's say, all your Barbies and hold each one and say, 'Does this spark joy?'" says Carolyn Ievers-Landis, PhD, a child psychologist at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital. "You decide which ones spark joy and those are the ones you're going to keep and if there's any that don't spark joy, you give that away so some other child could enjoy it."

Dr. Ievers-Landis is applying the principle of KonMari espoused in the New York Times bestseller, the life changing magic of tidying up by Marie Kondo. Dr. Ievers-Landis says the New Year, particularly as people make resolutions, is a good time to think about organizing and tidying.

"Most people give away about two-thirds of their belongings," says Dr. Ievers-Landis about people who use the KonMari technique of getting rid of anything that doesn't bring immediate joy to the touch. "Then you figure out how to store everything so everything has a place."

Dr. Ievers-Landis says author Kondo developed KonMari for adults but says it works well for children, especially for kids with anxiety disorders who get stressed by having too many things. But it can work for every child, especially when receiving new toys over the holidays, toys she says the child can decide to return or give away. "Organization helps with other aspects of life, for example, school," says Dr. Ievers-Landis. "Everything we buy doesn't have to be with us forever."

Sound bites from Carolyn Ievers-Landis, PhD, child psychologist at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, b-roll and natural sound are available for download on University Hospitals Case Medical Center Newsroom www.news.uhhospitals.org/.