. Instaread - The life-changing magic of tidying up : a 15-minute key takeaways & analysis of Marie Kondo

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

by Marie Kondo

Key Takeaways, Analysis & Review

By Instaread

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This is a key takeaways and analysis.

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Table of Contents

Overview

Important People

Key Takeaways

Analysis

Key Takeaway 1

Key Takeaway 2

Key Takeaway 3

Key Takeaway 4

Key Takeaway 5

Key Takeaway 6

Key Takeaway 7

Key Takeaway 8

Key Takeaway 9

Authors Style

Authors Perspective

Reference:

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The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing (2011) by Marie Kondo helps readers discard unnecessary items, reorganize their possessions, and properly store items in a home. The procedures Kondo developed for organization and decluttering are called the KonMari Method. Those who follow these Japanese methods of organization can experience the magic of tidying and the ways it can transform a persons life.

Discarding items is the most important step in tidying, and must always come first. The rule is for the owner to pick up each individual item and ask whether it excites them or brings any joy to their life. If so, it should be kept for reorganization and storage. If not, it should be discarded. While discarding, people should follow a certain order, with hard-to-part-with items such as mementos and tokens of sentimental value sorted last. This is to avoid becoming derailed in the discarding process.

After discarding, people should then reorganize remaining items and find suitable places to store them based on the format and style of their home. They do not need specialized storage containers and can instead follow certain guidelines for making the most of their storage space in a simple way, such as storing things vertically. Throughout the process, tidiers should appreciate their home and belongings, and treat them as they would treat other people. Once a home is tidied in this manner, many people notice significant changes or transformations in their lives: this is the magic of tidying. By following these methods correctly and without cutting corners, tidiers will not revert back to disorderly or cluttered housekeeping.

Marie Kondo: Kondo is the author of the book and an organizational consultant who developed the KonMari Method, which teaches people how to better discard, organize, and store their personal possessions. The KonMari Method claims to offer its practitioners a tidier home and a happier life.

1. The KonMari Method is more than just rules for how to tidy a home. It also teaches people how to acquire the mindset required to create order in their lives and become tidier people.
2. The best way to begin tidying a home is to discard unnecessary items and retain only items that spark joy.
3. Tidying a home can have a significant impact on a persons life. This is the magic of tidying.
4. When people put their home in order, they also put their past to rest and dispel fears about the future.
5. Tidying helps people realize what their passions and desires are: it reveals what a person actually needs and wants.
6. Storage is not the answer to clutter. Fancy storage equipment or techniques mask the problem of clutter instead of solving it.
7. Its best to store an item somewhere it can be easily returned rather than somewhere its easy to get.
8. When tidying, people should appreciate their possessions and their home and treat them with love and respect, almost as if they were people.
9. Even though the discarding process often results in many bags of discarded possessions, people seldom experience regret for parting with their things. Instead, they realize how little they are inconvenienced by discarding things they do not want or need.

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The KonMari Method is more than just rules for how to tidy a home. It also teaches people how to acquire the mindset required to create order in their lives and become tidier people.

Analysis

The KonMari Method offers instruction on how to organize items into categories that facilitate the process of discarding, how to decide which items to discard, and how to best use the storage space people have in their homes. This method also forces people to be introspective about themselves when making these tidying decisions. Once a person has tidied their home with the KonMari Method, they will have changed their mindset to extent that they will never go back to living in an untidy home.

From professional sports to entrepreneurialism and many things in between, mindset means everything: it separates the success stories from the failures. Without a mindset focused on sports and fitness, a professional athlete may not be able to keep up with rigorous physical conditioning or train their mind to be quick with the reactions needed to play sports confidently. An entrepreneur without a mindset for growing a business could see their projects either run out of money or never achieve their full potential. To be successful, athletes and entrepreneurs need to ascribe to what author Carol Dweck defines as the growth mindset: the belief that their abilities arent fixed, but can instead be improved. [1]

The same goes for people who want to be tidy. Without the right mindset for being a tidier personthat is, the belief that one can become a tidier person and live a tidier lifepeople can easily rebound or fall back into habits that lead to a house full of clutter.

The best way to begin tidying a home is to discard unnecessary items and retain only items that spark joy.

Analysis

In the KonMari Method, the first step is always to discard before reorganizing. If someone is unable to part with unneeded belongings from the outset, they will have a difficult time organizing their possessions. The rule for deciding what items to keep or discard is to find every article of a particular category throughout the house, not just a single room, and to lay them out together on the floor. Maintaining the correct order of categories is also important. The KonMari Method requires starting with clothes and books and papers and ending with sentimental items. Then the owner picks up each item one at a time and decides whether the item sparks any joy or excitement. If notand this should be a fairly quick realization or decisionthen the item should be discarded.