(That’s A LOT of stuff to tidy.)
I was very intrigued when I heard about this book and I just knew that I had to read it. (Fun fact – it is currently ranked in the top five (in books) on Amazon. After reading “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” and disagreeing with parts, agreeing with parts, and ultimately being more inspired to declutter and tidy (even more), I wanted to devote an entire post to what I personally took away from the book. (I also decided to offer ONE free copy to ONE of you, be sure to enter below!)
My Personal Takeaways…
The two parts of tidying up – deciding whether or not to dispose of something and deciding where to put it. (She says if you can do these two things, you can achieve perfection!)
Organizing is not a “quick fix” – it takes much time and dedication.
Putting things “away” may create an illusion that your clutter problem is fixed, but it’s really not!
Marie categorizes people into the following three categories:
- “Can’t-throw-it-away.”
- “Can’t-put-it-away.”
- “Can’t-put-it-back.”
She encourages you to ask is (when decluttering) – “Does this (x) spark joy?” All of your decluttering, tidying, and organizing should revolve around this question.
The main point that I struggled with was the focus of doing a once-over of your entire home. While this is a fantastic approach, I don’t know how realistic it is. Our lives are full and a project like decluttering your entire home is something that could take many, many hours, if not days, or even weeks! I see this as being a great kick-start, but I feel what is even more important, is a daily focus of keeping things clean and tidy. I should also note that I won’t be folding all of my t-shirts the way that she suggests “KonMarie” style, nor will I stop rolling my socks – ya gotta do what works for you! (But I understand why she suggests both!)
In my home I often feel that we have a revolving door of things coming in and things going out. The more I stay on top of things daily and weekly, the better we tend to stay organized. I’ve mentioned before that I do do a BIG purge two to three times a year, and these are very effective. But I feel that you really do have to have a daily mindset of “put-it-away,” “throw-it-away,” and “put-it-away.”
In fact, after finishing this book I shared my takeaways with my hubby. David is more of a creative type, you can instantly tell who’s nightstand is who’s! I suggested (gently) that maybe one of the reasons that he has difficulty sleeping is that his nightstand is filled to the brim. Baskets and bins of books, receipts, chargers, headphones, you name it. He had approximately about 15 books haphazardly stacked. And guess what? He agreed to tidy it! After about 30 minutes his nightstand when from chaotic to calm. I bagged up a huge bag of books to return to our library. It’s amazing how a little bit of time can make a big difference.
By asking the question – “Does this (x) spark joy?” helped him to really minimize what he was holding on to. And, the train receipts from our Italy trip were definitely not needed anymore. 🙂
This is just an intro to the book, you may also enjoy checking out Marie’s website Tidying Up, she is very inspiring. If you would like to win a free copy, enter below! Happy tidying!!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
US resident will have the option of either a Kindle copy or a hard copy, non US resident will be eligible to receive only a Kindle copy. Winner will be notified next Friday!
