Review: THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP by Marie Kondo

Rating: 5/5 stars

This book changed my life, as the title told me it would.

I am moving across the country next month, and I have way more stuff than I want to move. So it's time to declutter. That was the main reason I picked up this book, and I am so glad that I did. I had no idea it would have such an impact on me.

Marie Kondo's approach to tidying up your home is based on two steps: deciding whether or not to keep something, and deciding where to put it. The steps must be done in that order for the process to work. Her entire book focuses on surrounding yourself only with items that bring you joy.

She starts off by asking you to visualize your desired lifestyle and your desired home, and then ask yourself why you want it to be like that? Keep asking yourself why until you reach the ultimate answer of that it makes you happy. The purpose of this book is to help you achieve happiness in your life. It is stressful to always be around items that don't bring you joy or things that you don't need, so just eliminate them from your life. Choose what you want to keep, not what you want to get rid of.

To declutter, you start with clothes, then move to books, papers, miscellaneous items, and finish with mementos and sentimental items. You must declutter by category, not by room, and you must go through everything in one category at the same time. To decide what to keep, you physically touch or pick up each item, look at it, and ask yourself, "Does this bring me joy?" If the answer is an immediate yes, keep it. If you hesitate to answer or say no, then the item doesn't bring you joy and you should discard it.

Her approach to cleaning isn't hard, but it's effective. I cleaned out my closet four times in the last month before I read this book and got rid of two boxes of clothes. After reading her book, I went through my closet again and got rid of another two boxes of clothes. Now I'm left with only the clothes that I actually wear and like, and I can honestly say that it's made me happier.

Although the author writes with a holier-than-thou attitude and sometimes sounds condescending, her process of helping you organize your life and get rid of unnecessary items works. I've read this book two times already, and I intend to read it again as I continue to declutter my life.