The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
My Rating of “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo: 6 / 10
I watched a few episodes of Marie Kondo’s Netflix series and decided to pick up this book. This way I could gain all of her tips and tricks on how to tidy up – without having to go through the rest of the Netflix series. For those that don’t know, Marie Kondo has developed quite a reputation as an expert who can come in and help turnaround your environment. She will take your house from an unordered chaos to an ordered oasis.
Marie Kondo’s process is to focus first on discarding your unwanted items all at once; and she recommends to do it intensely and completely. Once discarding has occurred she moves you to tidying by category and storing where your items make your life shine. The process makes a lot of sense, however, the importance of discarding all at once is the key aspect most people skip when tidying.
This book isn’t life changing nor is Kondo’s writing style. I felt there were too many stories in each section that just didn’t resonate with me. I respect the Japanese Culture, however, walking into my house every day and thanking it for the joy it gives me isn’t what I will take away from this book. That said, I’m a pretty tidy and happy guy to begin with. Perhaps it will resonate more with you.
Three key takeaways from the book:
- When your room or area is tidy and uncluttered, you have no choice but to examine your inner state. You can see any issues you have been avoiding and are forced to deal with them.
- The key is to store things standing up rather than laid flat! Apparently arranging clothings so that they raise to the right is also important.
- Presents are not “things” but a means for conveying someone’s feelings. When the present is given those feelings have been exchanged. Don’t get caught up on the need to keep presents because of someone else. The feelings have been exchanged.
