Sep 18, 2015

Reflections on The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: Introduction

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Reflections on The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

I first learned about Marie Kondo's best-selling book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up several months ago from this post at The Kitchn. I have to admit that I was intrigued mostly because the author is Japanese, and I've experienced first hand the tiny homes they have there. As I always do when learning of a new book to covet, I added the book to my Amazon wishlist (then I check regularly to see if there's a price drop; I am often able to snag books for $1.99-$2.99 this way). But then just a couple months later, I stumbled across the book at Costco and snatched it up.

The book then sat, until Crystal at Money Saving Mom started reviewing it. That somehow spurred me into action, and I plowed through the book rather quickly.

There are parts that are definitely not for me, but for the most part, I think it makes a whole lot of sense, and it's changed the way I approach my belongings.

Throughout the book, the author teaches her "KonMari method" (the name is derived from her name). Using this method, you begin the tidying process by keeping only those possessions that "spark joy" and discarding everything else. Only after you've sorted and discarded the items that don't give you joy can you start organizing and storing.

I thought there was a lot of value in the book, as well as some weirdness, so I am going to share my thoughts in a series of upcoming posts. I'm still in the process of tidying my house - because although she recommends doing it all in one fell swoop, I can't! I have kids underfoot, dinners to make, laundry to do, a house to clean, work to do, places to go, etc. But I've been making at least some progress every day, and I feel good because of it.

Stay tuned!

2 comments:

Linda said...

I too was encouraged to finally read it after Crystal posted about it. I really connected with some of it and started KonMarie inch my place. I got through my kitchen and laundry room last week. But with me taking 15 units this semester and 2 kids in sports and school this week I did not make any progress. But suprignsly I was able to keep up with laundry and keep the kitchen clean this week. I know the clearing out helped this. There were also some books I found to be very strange. I attributed that to a culture difference. But I could be wrong. I am excited to read your thoughts! I hope they will help me continue the process.

Chief Family Officer said...

That's awesome! I'm slowly progressing my way through category by category, and it really works! Just keep at it - 15 minutes is enough time to get through a small group of items or a box (I went through our box of extra dental supplies in about 10 minutes, tossed a bunch of samples that I know we'll never use, and grouped all of the like items together to discover that we have plenty of toothbrushes but are running low on toothpaste!).