The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up review 1/9/2025

 

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

Kondo, Marie *

2 stars

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read, how-to, non-fiction

Here is pretty much everything you will get from this book. "Tidy" all off your possessions in one go. Start with dividing items into categories: clothes books papers other sentimental photos They should be "tidied" in this order. Pull all items for each category and process them before moving to the next category. If you come across something in a category you have already processed, toss it no matter what, she is assuming if you could not find it earlier you don't really need it. Process each pile by looking at each item one at a time. If it brings a smile or you use it regularly, keep it. Otherwise, toss it. Should be quick on each. If iffy, toss it. Clothes: She wants to fold most of the clothes you keep, believing it will take less space. To get around the bottom of the pile issue, put folded items in drawers on their edge. But do not store out of season items. Keep all like items together so you do not rebuy. She thinks you should dress at home like when you go out. Books/magazines: Only keep the ones you reread often and only the one you will read next. Toss/donate the rest. Note that she said she ripped out pages at one point to save the lines she wanted to remember. But then realized she never looked at them. Never did she suggest having a Kindle or audio version. Nor did she think of just taking a photo of the page, much less OCRing a photo to have it in a form she could quickly search. Papers: Toss everything not required later for legal reasons, like tax info. Other: Toss anything you are not using regularly. This includes things like all manuals, gifts, spare parts, tools, and even guest bedding. You should toss these and repurchase them if needed later. Sentimental: Toss them unless you use them regularly, or at least they will bring a smile to your face when you look at them. Photos: Again, toss all that do not touch you when you look at them. This is covered in about one-quarter of the book. Most of the rest of the book is examples and biographical info to convince you this works.