Continuing our Marie Kondo week by reviewing her best selling book.
Introduction
The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up follows Marie Kondo’s journey into professional organizing and her key processes to help you tidy your home.
The book presents an introduction to finding your organizing mindset and then goes into the steps she recommends to accomplish a tidying marathon.
She has an interesting balance of specificity about how to do some tasks, like store bags, but presents most of her concept of "does it spark joy?" and using intuition and gratitude to find the right amount of belongings and organization.
Favorite Parts
I put so many flags in this book! There were so many words of wisdom and insight. The introduction and the last section resonated especially since it covers exactly why I went into organizing professionally - the amazing impact getting organized (tidying) can have on your whole life.
"A dramatic reorganization of the home causes corresponding dramatic changes in lifestyle and perspective. It is life transforming" (p. 3)
"When your home is clean and uncluttered, you have no choice but to examine your inner state." (p. 21)
"The process of assessing how you feel about the things you own, identifying those that have fulfilled their purpose, expressing your gratitude, a bidding them farewell, is really about your inner self, a rite of passage to a new life." (p. 64)
Also, it felt like reading a book about an introverted version of myself who grew up in a different country. I was constantly organizing my belongings growing up and thoroughly enjoyed reading about someone else's experience with being naturally organized.
Recommendation
This book should definitely be considered an essential book on for home organizing.
I would recommend it highly to anyone starting to think about how to organize their home. There are great insights on how to declutter and great questions to ask yourself about your belongings.
I do think her process is effective and efficient, but not for everyone. The biggest reality is people don't have the time and energy to "tidy up" their whole homes in one go. I feel like that can be overwhelming and turn a lot of people away from the organizing process. I know from experience even a little change can make an impact. I would like people to know there are a lot of ways to get organized, and if you need a guide, be sure to find one that really fits with your goals.