Summary of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: (The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing) by Marie Kondo | Summary & Analysis

by aBookaDay

After Reading this Book You Are going to Know how You can Keep your Home and Your Life in Order. Not Just on a Short Term Basis but for Life! Be Free of Clutter Forever, Once you Read this Book you will Know How! Are you are someone who is truly seeking to find a way that will work on getting your home in order? As well as getting other aspects of your life in order? Then, this book will offer you some great guidance on how to achieve these goals. Offering you not a quick fix, but a long-term solution to the clutter in your life. Starting with the basics-the clutter within your home environment. This is A Preview Of What You'll Learn...
how to tidy
how to aim for perfection
how to make tidying a special event, not a chore in your life
how to start discarding, all at once not a little bit at a time
how to visualize what your end result will be
how to reach the lifestyle that you want to have
Would You Like To Know More? Download your copy today! Available on PC, Mac, smart phone, tablet or Kindle device. (c) 2015 All Rights Reserved

Genres: Nonfiction

36 pages, Paperback

First published April 9, 2015

Reviews

[Ilona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kondo's book is refreshing, because well, you do not have that many good books that can get you to put yourself together and clean your garage with joy. I have to admit, I love arranging things and throwing stuff out, which makes me a great to-go person for all the hoarders out there. Not sure if it would work for those who do not enjoy this kind of leisure time.

What is missing here are 2 things. First of all, every time Kondo tells the amount of trashbags thrown out, I cringe because why doesn't she give tips on recycling other than "donate or throw away". I mean, it's a book about trash - sure there are tips of how to discard it with having environment in mind.

Another thing that I though was repetetive and unnecessary were the stories of her clients. Every time, the story is the same: "I met a person who was a hoarder, and then I said: throw out stuff which doesn't give you joy. Then they did it. The end". Well, if you tell about your clients, do this right - give the trashy details and weird shit that is found.:) The states managed to make an entertaining reality show on this - so how come a professional declutterer can offer us only the vanilla bits of the story? For one, it would let everyone think "well, I do not want to end up like that guy" and start fixing their cluttered lives faster.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book very inspirational and at the same time a bit disturbing. The author clearly provides a good strategy of cleaning out places and very different than I have read before. I was inspired to read this because a colleague said it changes his whole outlook on life....nice result! What I found is the process of asking myself what I like and what brings me joy vs what do I need to get rid of a very refreshing outlook and much easier to part with things. The outcome is surrounding myself with all positives and memories and much lighter feeling. It is easier for me to part with things. I am in the midst of working through the strategy and can see how it would be freeing! The disturbing part is how OCD the author appears and I found some of the stories just too much. I hope to find a good balance of what to keep of those things that hold memories and I think her strategy is very helpful.

[Meghan Dougherty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved

Clear and concise instruction for how to simplify your living space in a very quick and easy read. Beauty in simplicity.

[Karima · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating. I won't do it (en todo) but the concept is great.

[Amy Reade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I expected

This book was a bit hard to read because of the lack of adequate punctuation, but it did set forth some ideas for decluttering and getting rid of stuff.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

In her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Marie Kondo shares her life story as it relates to tidying. She shares her childhood journey filled with interest in storage and interior design to her current occupation of working with clients throughout Japan and around the world to tidy their homes. The basic message of the book is to get rid of everything you don't need and don't love. She also shares some practical tips about deciding which papers to keep, how to store purses, and whether or not buying all the new storage goods is actually helpful. While I did find some points of this book helpful and have paired down my possessions in response, the book is a little long-winded. For how spare she is with possessions, the book felt very repetitive. This is a translation, so I can't speak for how this would sound in its original Japanese, but reading this book did occasionally feel cumbersome.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe if you hadn't the slightest idea of how to organize, this book might be for you. But most of the information could be conveyed in far fewer pages. I picked up a few tips, but living strictly this way made me feel obsessive-compulsive. How many people are going to empty their purse each evening and place the contents in a box under the bed?

[Lilliam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book presents a very interesting concept where you are not necessarily getting rid of things but deciding to keep them because they bring joy to you. I also felt like I had permission to acknowledge bad choices and part with them. Now, I have to say that I am a bit taken aback with some of the suggestions of thanking your house and unpacking your purse every night.

[Bookish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring!

This book is absolutely inspiring! I have read quite a few home organization books and this one made the most sense. It is a quick read, but it packs so much wisdom into these few pages. I highly recommend this book.

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very inspiring book. I loved Marie Kondo's passion and dedication to tidying. I even checked Marie and her folding out on youtube. Many ideas resounded with me, especially finding the joy in objects and cleaning in categories. I feel compelled now to try this out at home, wish me luck.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little skeptical but this book helped me get rid of a lot of clutter; like a lot of clients she describes, I thought I was living pretty clutter free, so was surprised to see how much stuff I generated to get rid of using her method!

[Laura Paulson · Rating 3 out of 5]

We often ask "what should we get rid of?" when Kondo says we should, instead, ask, "what should we keep (that 'sparks joy')?" The book was, ironically, cluttered with more words than necessary. Had it been one third the pages, it would have better supported her inspiring mission.

[Heather Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am going to do this. But I need permission to just donate everything that doesn't spark joy. Since I don't even have enough money to care for my 5 kids, it is hard to justify not trying to sell everything. But I don't have time to do so. Hmmmmmm....

[Jessie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Perfect if you want to live like a blank canvas. Nothing has value. Toss it all. There are no seasons. No hobbies. No memorabilia. Use it and toss it. A letter, once read, has no value. Toss it. Etcetera.

[Dougie W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of things to consider. I adopted some things, like I do when I read these kind of books.

[Jan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good book on tidying up.

[Fettya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great tips and I now ask myself the question, "does this spark joy"? If not, it now goes into the trash!

[Dennis Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and plan to put many of the ideas into action.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, workable plan...easy to read and implement

[Pam Klimper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Already done. Great tips for organizing your home

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life changing book!

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being someone who loves to tidy and insists on having a clutter-free home, I found this to an interesting read. I would not ascribe to all that she teaches, but the overall method is good.

[Anita · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was looking for a little inspiration :) and it was...

[Cherice Bock · Rating 1 out of 5]

Most of this book I didn't like at all because she just seemed pretty neurotic about tidying. While I could definitely learn a thing or two in this area...adding a neurosis is probably not helpful. Also, it really felt like a "first world problems" sort of book for most of it: we have so much crap that we have to literally throw away bags and bags of junk! She was assuming that we would have enough resources to be able to just have stuff that "brings us joy," as in, get rid of all your clothes that don't spark joy in you. Most of my clothes don't necessarily spark joy, but I--and many people--don't have the funds to go out and purchase things that DO spark joy, and then once they no longer spark joy, what would we do? Just throw them out and get new things? It felt incredibly elitist and not so good for the environment.

What I DID like about the book was the section toward the end about being grateful for each thing and treating it with respect and care, rather than treating it as an object. This part was more about being connected to the world around us, and rather than acquiring things just because they're cheap or they're just there, she invites us to be intentional about what we bring into our lives, and care for it while it's there, sending it along on its journey with gratitude and good wishes for its journey as it either goes on to a new home, or re-enters the cycle of decomposition and life.

[Jamika · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was good, then it got weird....

[Deepak Kafle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very simple book on solving one of the most complex issue in our lives.