Author Marie Kondo
Genres Self Help
Rating 💖💖💖💖💖
Date Finished 24/08/2024

🚀 The Book in 3 Sentences

  1. Start by discarding by category. Then organize.
  2. Organization gives the illusion that the clutter problem has been solved.
  3. Tidying is not the goal. Tidying is a special event. Don’t do it every day.

🎨 Impressions

I love this book. I think “The life-changing magic of tidying up” and “Goodbye, Things: On Minimalist Living” are the only books on minimalism worth reading (from a practical point).

Even thought it doesn’t target minimalism as the end goal, the result of following the KonMari method will be much closer to functioning minimalism than all the rule-based minimalism you will find around the net (like the 90-90 rule, or the 10 rule or similar) because it focuses on what bring you joy, rather than on a predefined set of rules. It approach is also very grounded, with realistic experience from the author. I found myself agreeing with the book quite often, and having arrived at some of the same conclusions as Marie Kondo gave me the confidence that her approach is the right one.

How I Discovered It

I was looking for books on decluttering and minimalism. I’ve watched a few videos on the KonMari Method and decided to cut the middle man and read the original book.

Who Should Read It?

Everyone. Exspecially people who:

  • want to become minimalists
  • want to learn how to keep only things that bring joy
  • care about consumerism and want to reduce it
  • want to waste less and apprecciate their possessions more

🍀 How the Book Changed Me

I did a tidying marathon following the KonMari method. Unfortunately (sarcasm) I had to discard only a single garbage bag of stuff and sell a few things. I was already a minimalist before reading the book so I already had fewer possession than the average person.

I wanted to read the book anyway because I thought that my approach lacked something. And I was right. By focusing on the joy factor it is now much easier to decide what to keep and what to discard.

All the rule-based minimalism you will find around the net or in other blogs won’t help you because it’s to limiting. The joy factor is much more powerful and can be extended to other fields (even when buying new things) and can be constantly applied if you find yourself not enjoying something anymore.

📒 Summary + Notes

Start by discarding (by category). Then organize your space, thoroughly, completely, in one go.

Incremental tidying doesn’t work. A dramatic approach causes correspondingly dramatic changes in your lifestyle and perspective (mind-set).

Putting things away creates the illusion that the clutter problem has been solved.

Tidying is not the goal. Tidying is a special event. Don’t do it every day.

  1. Discard
    • Clothes
      • Tops (shirts, sweaters, etc)
      • Bottoms (pants, skirts, etc)
      • Clothes that should be hung (jackets, coats, suits, etc)
      • Socks
      • Underwear
      • Bags (handbags, messenger bags, etc)
      • Accessories (scarves, belts, hats, etc)
      • Clothes for specific events (swimsuits, kimonos, uniforms, etc)
      • Shoes
    • Books
      • When deciding consider how many of your unread books you have actually read and how many you have actually read multiple times.
    • Papers
      • Discard everything except: currently in use, needed for a limited period of time, or must be kept indefinitely.
      • Keep all papers in a single spot.
    • Komono (miscellany)
      • CDs, DVDs
      • Skin care products
      • Makeup
      • Accessories
      • Valuables (passports, credit cards, etc)
      • Electrical equipments and appliances (digital cameras, electric cords, anything that seems vaguely “electric”)
      • Household equipment (stationery and writing materials, sewing kits, etc)
      • Household supplies (expendables like medicine, detergents, tissues, etc)
      • Kitchen goods/food supplies (spatural, pots, blenders, etc)
      • Other (spare change, figurines, etc)
      • Hobby specific things (like ski equipment, tea ceremony articles)
    • Mementos/photos
  2. Put everything in it’s right place
    • Designate a place for each thing.
    • Prefer drawers, and boxes over over-engineered containers.
    • Store items of the same type in the same place and don’t scatter storage spaces.
    • Store clothes vertically, not stacked. Hang only what is hangable.
    • Hang in order from the left: coats, dresses, jackets, pants, skirts, blouses.

Choose what you want to keep, not what you want to discard.

Tips:

  • Don’t downgrade clothes to loungewear, you will probably non wear them.
  • Don’t have separate off-season clothes. Keep everyting in the same closet.
  • Don’t separate by frequency of use. Let it emerge from use. By keeping the most used clothes in the front, the less used ones will move toward the back.
  • Clutter is a consequence of not assigning an object its own space.
  • Every family member must have its own space.
  • Put items on the floor in the closet.

Failure to tidy is due to an attachment to the past or anxiety about the future. The process of facing our possessions forces us to confront our imperfections and inadequacies and the foolish choices we made in the past. There are three approaches we can take toward our possessions: face them now, face them sometime, or avoid them until the day we die.