Title Marie Kondo

Author The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up

Year Published 2014

Kind of Book: Organization/Home décor

How strongly I recommend it 8/10 

My Impressions On the surface this book is about decluttering your home and getting rid of everything you own that doesn't have utility or doesn't "spark joy." It offers a systematic process for the decluttering process . On a deeper level, this book forces the reader to reexamine his or her relationship with material possessions and live more deliberately. It changed the way I fold clothes and declutter my belongings.

Date Read March 2019

Practical Takeaways

  • Write out what your ideal life

  • Write out what your ideal home would look like (find pictures from magazines)

  • Lay out all the things in the category on the floor. Go through them one by one.

  • Hold the item in your hand and pay attention to how your body react

  • Lay out all the things in the category on the floor. Go through them one by one.

  • Put the things that spark joy in places where you will see them

  • Hold the item in your hand and pay attention to how your body reacts

Focus on what you want to keep

  • Do I need it? Yes> keep it

No> does it bring me joy? Yes>keep it No>get rid of it

Thank the item before getting rid of it

  • Thank it for sparking joy when you bought it.

  • Thank it for serving you in the past

  • Thank it for letting you know what you don’t look good in

  • Thank it for sparking joy for someone else or the person who passed it down to you

  • Store all items of the same type in the same place

  • Never stacks things you are storing

  • Thank your home when you come home

  • Thank your home for all it does for you

Order to prepare house

  1. Dream

  2. Tidy (discard then organize)

  3. Clean

  4. Decorate

Tidy by category (not by room)

  1. Clothing

  2. Books (30 max)

  3. Documents/papers

  4. Misc

  5. Sentimental items

 

Big Ideas

  • Your house will never be clean if you don’t tidy it first.

  • As long as everything has a place where it belongs a certain amount of clutter is not a problem.

  • Having a tidy home elevates your self image

  • Items have 3 types of values: Functional Value, Informational Value, and Emotional Value

3 types of value an item might have

Functional Value

Informational Value

Emotional Value