What made me pick this book? 

When the pandemic hit, most of us were tied down to our home base. This was also followed by huge modifications that were occurring at the global, local, and family levels. First few weeks, I wouldn’t lie, I realized that I needed this break not exactly under these circumstances, but I needed it. It was good initially, however, slowly loneliness kicked in. But then I thought to myself that I will get something constructive out of this whole situation.

I was working towards getting our home organized for a couple of years now, and I would tackle small organization projects as and when I got time. Anyways, long story short, I picked up this read and the organizing saga began during the pandemic. I initially thought of finishing this book before getting my home organized. But the funny thing is, I got my home organized before I finished this book. But I understood Marie kondo’s organizational principles. So, Marie’s system of organizing was always in my reference. I also follow some really awesome organizational gurus on YouTube (I linked one of those channels here). For us, I ended up creating a fusion that worked for my family in terms of organizing our space. But I still like the work done in this book and it came into my library and @Tiny villa on a Hill at the right time. 

I believe that books choose you, we don’t choose them.  

Introduction

On-Page 1, she lays the very mantra of this book to the readers, “Start by discarding. Then organize your space, thoroughly, completely, in one go.” – KonMari Method. She states that her method works because it’s not only about clearing the clutter, but also giving a home to your essential belongings in your house/office.

In this chapter, she also confidently points out that “organizing your home is going to change your life”. I will be honest; I was hesitant in believing this initially. However, it can be true, it will depend on your personality, space, and time in your life. If you are operating from the place of seeking deep cleaning inside out and are desperate to see a positive change then this whole organizing chronicle could potentially bring positive vibes.

Chapter 1: Why can’t I keep my house in order

Here, Marie explains the philosophy and science if you may, of tidying up. What are the common issues revolving around tidying and maintaining the space that way? She says, “People cannot change their habits without changing their way of thinking”,  She adds to it by saying that it’s not easy to change one’s thinking, however, there is one way that could change the way one thinks about tidying if they understand the significance of discarding unwanted materials.

She closes this chapter with a line in this book, that caught my attention immediately. “Tidying is a special event. Don’t do it every day”. Now that’s a thought. I need to let this line stay with me for a bit, and I am intrigued more so by how this statement can be true. Let’s keep reading 😊    

Chapter 2: Finish Discarding first

She lays out the barebones of tidying in this chapter which comprises of two steps – discarding and deciding where things will go. She emphasizes following this order religiously. She asks the readers to visualize their clutter-free space and what does it mean to them to live in this space. In other words, Why Tidy?

She gives a technique to discard on the basis of the ‘sparks joy’ concept. If a thing sparks joy as you take it in your hands then it’s a keeper, if not it goes to the discard pile. It’s more emotional than a practical process. I think there is value to this approach or at least worth giving it a try because we are emotional beings, and things that we possess do show a certain side of our personality. Marie suggests that don’t force this change on other family members, apply this approach only to your belongings, once they see the difference, they will follow.

She closes this chapter, with one of my favorite lines in this book – “To truly cherish the things that are important you must discard this that have outlived their purpose”. Pg. 61.

Chapter 3: Tidying by category works like magic

She again emphasizes religiously following the order of going through one’s stuff – clothes, books, papers, komono, (Japanese term for misc.), and mementos.

She starts with clothes organization; within the clothes category, again she lists out an order of individual items to sort the clothes. She then talks about loungewear and the idea of how people still keep hoarding clothes that they know are in perfect condition but won’t wear outside. She says it’s a waste and one never wear such ‘loungewear’ clothes. So, discard it. Finally, folding the chosen clothes neatly and storing them at accessible places is also key. She gives the simple protocol for folding clothes, organizing your closet, off-season clothes, socks storage, etc.

Books – Discard the unread books, if you are really passionate about that book or topic, you will revisit it, but you can only find out about that topic if you get rid of it. And the books that you read will belong to your library, she says ‘the moment you first encounter a particular book is a right time to read it”. It’s interesting, but I don’t completely agree with it. Sometimes, some books make into your life, and you are not ready at that time to receive the information from those books, but once the right time arrives you do read them or reread it because it was in front of your eyes and you were ready. I have a soft corner for books, so this style was a bit harsh for me 😊

She breaks down paper sorting methods and gives examples of several items in the miscellaneous category that needs to be either discarded or reorganized. Similarly for sentimental items, she follows the spark joy concept while deciding to keep vs discard for the items.

Finally, she wraps up this chapter by saying that following your intuition and keep noticing how you are deciding about the items, it’s an ongoing process, you will soon reach a point that will tell you what’s your optimum amount of stuff that you want to keep and maintain.  

Chapter 4: Storing your things to make your life shine

Designate a house for everything in your house. The point is that if you know where each individual item should go, then your house will be in order. You only have to remember to bring the item back to its original allotted space. That’s easy because you are not actively deciding where things will go after clearing. But remember to discard everything first and only then start allotting space for your items. Storage has to be visually simple and accessible. “Don’t scatter the storage space”, Pg. 138 is a very effective solution to decrease stress and anxiety while putting your space together.

I know this by first-hand experience, once I got my house organized and gave things its home, even my Lil one was able to put away stuff once she was done playing or reading. This is simple but very effective and instills great values in kids and helps them understand that every place including schools and outside places needs to be kept tidy and in order for everyone to enjoy the space. And every human being no matter small or big, has a role to play in keeping our communities clean.

This chapter is full of practical tips from getting rid of things that clutter your floor, to closet space, etc. Good one!

Chapter 5: The magic of tidying dramatically transforms your life

 She states here that if you put your house in order, it will tell you what you want to do with your life. I appreciated this sentence here on Pg. 175 which goes like this, “At their core, the things we really like to do not change over time. Putting your house in order is a great way to discover what they are.” Loved every word of this sentence 😊.

She describes this process of tidying as a meditative process because, you are constantly pushed to make decisions, what you like and why not, you are actively thinking, many painful memories surface and you realize that its time for them to go, you gain confidence because of your constant dialogue with yourself, you reach to the core of you as a being, you find order in this maddening process of tidying.

She asks the readers to greet the space they live in and describes that the real reason for putting the space where your live or work in order is actually to gain harmony in life.  When the house is in order, you are surrounded by things that spark joy. And that brings harmony to your mind, body, and soul.

My take on this book:

They say, “For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned.” – Anonymous. I recommend this book, it truly brings The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing into your space. It will provide you with a good foundation of the why and how’s of organizing. Building on it is up to your imagination. It is effective and everyone can do it if they put their hands and feet to it 😊. And you will be meeting this person, that you live with, but have forgotten what he/she is like, or how he/she doing these days, and that person is ‘YOU’. You will soon observe that not only for physical things, but even for day-to-day work, routine, and decisions, these organizational skills and principles will kick in, and slowly but surely you will pave your own path to where you want to go.

As I said earlier, I created my fusion version of organizing principles based on my family’s needs, time, and space available. I learned from this book and several YouTube organizers’ channels. But still, this book is in my library and will be a forever classic in the world of organizing. Good work from Marie Konda and her team.  
Happy reading. Please feel free to leave your comments on this book or my review. This will keep filling me with inspiration.