Knight - The life-changing magic of not giving a f**k: how to stop spending time you dont have doing things you dont want to do with people you dont like

The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k

Title

Copyright

First published in Great Britain in 2015 by

Quercus Editions Ltd

Carmelite House

50 Victoria Embankment

London EC4Y 0DZ

An Hachette UK company

Copyright 2015 MCSnugz, Inc.

The moral right of Sarah Knight to be

identified as the author of this work has been

asserted in accordance with the

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication

may be reproduced or transmitted in any form

or by any means, electronic or mechanical,

including photocopy, recording, or any

information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the publisher.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available

from the British Library

HB ISBN 978 1 78429 846 3

TPB ISBN 978 1 78429 847 0

EBOOK ISBN 978 1 78429 849 4

Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders.
However, the publishers will be glad to rectify in future editions
any inadvertent omissions brought to their attention.

Quercus Editions Ltd hereby exclude all liability to the extent

permitted by law for any errors or omissions in this book and

for any loss, damage or expense (whether direct or indirect) suffered

by a third party relying on any information contained in this book.

This book is not approved, endorsed or authorized
by Marie Kondo or her publishers.

A fucking disclaimer

This is a book about not giving a fuck. In order to practically quantify my methods, Ive confessed to banishing many objects, concepts, events, activities, and people from my life. You may not agree with all of my choices. Fair. You may even think you recognize yourself in these pages particularly if you are a parent of small children, a karaoke enthusiast, a friend, family member, or former colleague of mine. If so, youre either correct, or delusional. In any case, if youre offended by anything Ive written, then you really need this book. Proceed immediately to page 25: You Need to Stop Giving a Fuck About What Other People Think.

Contents

Introduction

If youre like me, youve been giving too many fucks about too many things for too long. Youre overextended and overburdened by life. Stressed out, anxious, maybe even panic-stricken about your commitments.

The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a Fuck is for all of us who work too much, play too little, and never have enough time to devote to the people and things that truly make us happy.

I was almost thirty years old when I began to realize it was possible to stop giving so many fucks, but I was nearly forty before I figured out how to make it happen on a grand scale. This book is a culmination of everything Ive learned about not giving a fuck, a testament to the pleasure it has brought me, and a step-by-step guide for those wishing to free themselves from the shackles of fuck-giving in pursuit of healthier, happier lives.

If the title sounds familiar, congratulations! You havent been living under a rock as The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Japanese decluttering expert Marie Kondo has climbed bestseller lists all over the world. Millions of people have discovered her two-step KonMari Method, discarding items that do not spark joy and then organizing the ones they have left. The result is a clean, tranquil living space that,
Ms Kondo claims, promotes transformation even outside the home.

So what does a Japanese book about tidying up have to do with my manifesto on not giving a fuck?

Why, I thought youd never ask!

As prim, genteel, and effective at organizing your physical clutter as Ms Kondo is, Ive got something else in store for you...

Tidying up your fuck drawer

In the summer of 2015 I quit my job at a major publishing house, a career that had been fifteen years in the making, to start my own business as a freelance editor and writer. The day I walked out of my high-rise office building sliding down that corporate ladder faster than a stripper down the last pole of the night I eliminated a whole category of fucks I had previously given to supervisors, co-workers, my commute, my wardrobe, my alarm clock, and more.

I stopped giving a fuck about Sales Conferences. I stopped giving a fuck about business-casual and town-hall meetings. I stopped keeping track of my vacation days like a prisoner tallying her sentence in hash marks on the cell-block wall.

Once I was released from the yoke of corporate ennui, I naturally had a bit of time on my hands and the freedom to spend it as I wished. I slept until I was damn well ready to get up, ate lunch with my husband, worked on a freelance gig or two (or maybe went to the beach), and avoided the New York City subway as much as humanly possible.

I also read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up . As a generally tidy person, I didnt think I was in dire need of Ms Kondos advice, but Im always looking for ways to make my apartment look more like Real Simple magazine and, hey, my time was my own to work, nap, or declutter as I saw fit.

Well, let me tell you, this little book works as advertised. It was almost... dare I say... magic?

Within hours, I had KonMarid my husbands sock drawer, which involves getting rid of socks you dont like and never wear (or, in this case, socks I knew he didnt like and never wore), then refolding the rest to look like little soldiers standing at attention, so when you next open the drawer, you can see all of them in one glance. After viewing the results, my husband whod initially thought I was batshit crazy to spend my time organizing his sock drawer was a convert. He did the rest of his drawers and his closet all by himself the very next day.

If you havent read Marie Kondos book, allow me to explain why we were so motivated to do this work.

Beyond discarding items of clothing we no longer need or enjoy (and therefore being excited about all of our remaining options), weve decreased the time spent figuring out what to wear (because we can see everything in a single drawer with one look), nothing gets lost in a drawer any more (because we follow Ms Kondos method of stand-up folding), and we do a lot less laundry (because we havent tricked ourselves into thinking were out of clothes when in fact the good stuff was just crumpled up in the back of the bureau under the pants that dont fit).

In other words: Life is significantly better now that we can see all of our socks. And I ran around for weeks evangelizing to anybody who would listen (and many who would not).

Suddenly, with all the job-quitting and sock-tidying, I found myself in a life-changing kind of mood!

As I contemplated my exceptionally tidy home, I felt more peaceful, sure. I like a clear surface and a well-organized kitchen cabinet. But it was the freedom I felt from leaving a job I wasnt happy in and being able to add people and things and events and hobbies that made me happy back into my life that truly brought happiness. These were things that had been displaced not by twenty-two pairs of balled-up socks, but by too many obligations and too much mental clutter.

Thats when I realized... its not really about the socks, is it?

Dont get me wrong, I admire Marie Kondo for starting a revolution of decluttering physical spaces to bring more joy to ones life. It worked on me, and its clearly working on millions of people around the world. But as she says in her book, Life truly begins after you have put your house in order.