5 ways to KonMari your smartphone

Clean up your smartphone to make it more user-friendly.

March 7, 2019, 4:35 AM

If you started watching Marie Kondo's hit Netflix show when it premiered in January, by now you have probably KonMari'd every inch of your home and closets.

But what about your smartphone?

Your phone is likely one of the things you rely on and look at most during your day.

PHOTO: Marie Kondo's Method of Organizing on your Smartphone!
Marie Kondo's Method of Organizing on your Smartphone!
ABC News Photo Illustration

It can also become just as cluttered and hard to manage as the "junk drawer" in your kitchen (everyone has one).

(MORE: This mom KonMari-ed her life and here's what happened next)

Here are five ways to apply the KonMari method of organizing to your smartphone.

1. Delete apps that do not 'spark joy'

PHOTO: How to delete apps on an iPhone.
How to delete apps on an iPhone.
ABC

Take a step right out of Kondo's playbook and get rid of anything on your phone that you do not absolutely want to be there.

Go through each app and ask yourself if the app sparks joy for you. If it does not, hold it down with your finger and click the X to delete it.

2. Organize your apps by color

PHOTO: Home Edit co-founder Clea Shearer organizes her apps by color.
Home Edit co-founder Clea Shearer organizes her apps by color.
The Home Edit

Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin, authors of "The Home Edit: A Guide to Organizing and Realizing Your House Goals," have taken a rainbow approach to organization inside the homes of celebs like Khloe Kardashian and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Shearer applies the same color-coded organization on her phone, organizing her apps by color.

"For me, color-coordination is intuitive, and by far the easiest way for me to find what I'm looking for," she told "GMA." "Apps are designed to intentionally be memorable and stand-out so, without trying, you instinctively know the color of your favorite and most-used apps."

3. 'Fold' your apps

Kondo's most famous organizing trick is the KonMari folding method which allows you to easily see your clothes in a drawer or on a shelf.

Do the same with your phone by "folding" your apps by category. For example, group the apps where you watch movies or read books into a folder labeled "Entertainment" using either text or emojis.

(MORE: What happens when Marie Kondo leaves? See how 3 families on 'Tidying Up' are doing now)

Put your apps focused on diet and exercise into a folder labeled "Health."

PHOTO: Apps organized on an iPhone.
Apps organized on an iPhone.
ABC

4. 'Tidy up' the content of your apps

PHOTO: A phone with more than 13,000 unread emails is pictured here.
A phone with more than 13,000 unread emails is pictured here.
ABC

Viewers of “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo" can see that Kondo's method is truly life-changing for the families she visits, freeing up mental and physical space in their lives.

Just like seeing clothes spilling out of a drawer or closet can be overwhelming, so can an email app that shows thousands of unread emails or a messaging app that shows dozens of unread texts.

Give yourself a block of time to clear out those apps so your phone screen is free of notifications. Make it a priority and once it's done, you will have that mental space cleared up too.

5. Move apps out of sight

Out of sight, out of mind. If you have apps you want to use less (hello social media), move them off your phone's home screen.

Catherine Price, the author of "How to Break Up With Your Phone," calls this approach creating "speed bumps" for yourself.

Depending on how often you want to use the app, even consider giving it a screen of its own to really set it apart.

PHOTO: The Instagram app is shown on its own home screen.
The Instagram app is shown on its own home screen.
ABC