Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up Lit Notes

Is it just me or does anyone have a hard time buying that their socks work as hard as they do? If there was one thing that bugged me about The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, it was the constant personification of objects. Animals, well duh. I’m convinced my dog feels excitement, shame and even empathy. Although my cat only portrays the emotion of dissatisfaction with her human servants, she does it very well.

As for socks, Kondo says we need to treat them with respect by not folding them together. I can’t imagine opening a drawer full of single socks to find they’ve organized a sit in to protest their work hours.

But this is not a book bashing! Marie Kondo wrote a book about organization, so she gets a two hand praise emoji from me all day long. Her process of organization has been perfected through her work with clients and anything that brings attention to the professional organization industry earns a HUGE fist bump. I review the points she made that spoke #truth, but also mention a few I’m going to #hardpass on.

Opinions of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up run the full spectrum of support. There is already a book published called The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck (yikes) yet there are people who state that their life has forever been changed for the better after reading this book.

The KonMari Method is her namesake process of organization. It begins with de-cluttering categorically, and advises keeping only the items that “spark joy”, saying good-bye (somewhat realistically) to everything else. I wholeheartedly encourage the de-cluttering priority before organizing and that less stuff WILL equal less stress. Having fewer items to keep track of will, most assuredly, make your life easier to manage.

While I love the concept of holding on to the items that spark joy, I personally feel it works best with the categories of clothes and nostalgia. I have to admit there are some items I keep that do not spark joy in my heart. For example, toiletries (yes, I use up the lotion I don’t love and would never buy again), cleaning supplies (can toilet bowl cleaner ever ignite anything but a groan?) or child items (especially if you’re not done expanding your brood).

She embraces the word perfection as an attainable goal and I don’t think I’ll ever be on board with that. Can your house be perfectly organized? Sure. But I hardly believe the same person with a perfectly organized house has a full-time job, active social life, children or a Netflix account. And let me tell you, dinner with friends wins over dishes in my house every. single. time.

She speaks truth of the finger-pointing observation about her clients. Similar to my experience, some who enthusiastically complain about their family member’s clutter tend to be the biggest offenders.

But don’t we all do that sometimes? Notice other’s shortcomings on the things we feel most self-conscious about? No judgement to any of my clients present or future, just take note that when you’re about to complain about your husband/roommate/child’s clutter maaayyyybe you’ve got some projects calling for your attention.

The Life-Changing Magic of Organizing Your Things

Even though she recommends against this, tidying up by location works for me. I generally start with closets, move to bedrooms, then bathrooms and finish in shared living areas. The reason I go in that order is I’m starting with the spaces less likely to be harboring alien items (items belonging to another room). The shared living spaces are usually the rooms with the largest collection of put-aways. By the end, it’s easier to find a “home” for those put away items in the already tidy bedroom or closet.

One tip she gave that was a complete mind blow was folding shirts and storing horizontally, rather than stacking vertically. What?! I used this for shirts and workout clothes and now I can see everything that’s clean without digging through the drawer. Some other great tips she shared – storing your purses and handbags within each other saves space and you have better visibility than with dust bags. Also, I am all in for decorating your closet just like other rooms in your house, wall art, paint and all.

Another tip she mentioned that I have always embraced is unpacking and de-tagging new purchases immediately – your Target bags included! You’d be amazed at how often clutter comes from Amazon orders and that recent trip to Costco.

Okay, while I just complained earlier about the personification of items I couldn’t BELIEVE she would rip pages out of books! Literally, my mouth fell open with a gasp. I couldn’t believe she thought so highly of socks and so low of books. I have an active library card so I don’t buy one time reads (like research books or autobiographies) but I love sharing from my personal library with no regard for returns and have read the Harry Potter series three times over, Chronicles of Narnia twice and will read Lemony Snickets again #thankyouverymuch

There was a great list of toss now items like unidentified cords, spare buttons and broken items – just do it and don’t look back. Although she said not to keep a piggybank, I have one and every time it’s full (once a year) I count, roll and deposit around $40-50 in the bank so booyah. As for paper? I agree with her method of discarding as much of it as possible, and I mean ruthlessly.

She touched on a popular professional organizing method of storing like items together. I definitely agree to do this with as many categories as possible. However, if you live in a two-story house, I forgive you for keeping a bottle of aspirin and Tums in every bathroom.

There is one more #hardpass – I’m not unpacking my purse when I get home every day. Period. 

All in all, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is a good read with there’s even more great tips to help you de-clutter than I could fit in a blog post. If you are reading it, you will absolutely finish with a motivation to get organized. High five to that! She ends with a quote that I absolutely love,

As for you, pour your time and passion into what brings you the most joy, your mission in life. I am convinced that putting your house in order will help you find the mission that speaks to your heart. Life truly begins after you have put your house in order. – Marie Kondo