Book: The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide: How to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify Your Life by Francine Jay. Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

This is a book I can see myself writing. I would say that around 80% of the things said here regarding a personal organization I already practice since I was a child. The ones about decluttering I learned many years ago when my home was robbed and I decided to get rid of [almost] everything that was left.

The book is a bit repetitive because the author decided to repeat every step for each space you’re decluttering. I think it was done on purpose so you can follow the book step by step when doing it, but when you read chapter by chapter it is a little boring (especially in the audiobook).

I would totally recommend this book to someone who wants to change the way he/she consumes things. I decided to do some decluttering (again) myself after finishing it. :)

Here are my raw notes about the book:

  • Minimalism is space. It doesn’t have to be a white multi-millionary house with three pieces of furniture
  • Our stuff exists to serve us, not the other way around
  • Things you use (really use, at least weekly) can stay, not items of the “I will need someday” list
  • The things you have do not define who you are. Marketing tries to sell you that.
  • We are not what we own. We are what we think, what we do, what we love.
  • Having things is much work. Deciding to buy, looking for a place, searching for a deal, buying, bringing home, storing, taking care of it, cleaning, etc.
  • Not only items have value, but space also has too.
  • The person who knows he/she has enough is rich
  • Our happiness doesn’t have much to do with the things we own after we reach a certain threshold
  • Separate your items into sell and donate. Some of them have no use for you but will make the day of someone else
  • When someone is around when you’re doing the decluttering, it is sometimes easy to throw something away because you can’t justify it reasonably
  • Don’t use storage as an excuse to keep things you don’t use
  • Decorative items are made to be on display. If you’re storing them, why keep them in the first place?
  • All surfaces clean. If you’re coming home with things in your hands, there’s a big chance they will be put on the first clean surface you find. Keep them clean; surfaces are not for storage
  • Store your stuff in modules, so it’s easy to find them. They will have an especial place to be
  • Do you like the craft of doing things or just collect material for them? Limit your storage and finish your projects
  • Once you discover the joy of limits, you will want to apply it to other areas of your life
  • Instead of thinking about getting rid of things the a, e.g., the shelf is full, people think about building a new shelf — 💭 LOL
  • Have Trash, treasure, and transfer piles/boxes. They will be used for trash, keep and donate/sell
  • Do you really need a TV? It’s OK to have one but keep that in mind. Do you really need one?
  • Think about hobbies that don’t need much material. Modules are especially good for storing hobby material. Avoid keeping them with other things.
  • Borrow things from friends or rent if you’re not going to use it that much
  • Keep only two sheets for the bed. The warmer your environment is, the less you need
  • Remove everything from your wardrobe and start from scratch. Choose your style and plan a trip. Which clothes will you keep? What you would not use, think about donating/selling/trashing
  • Chose colors for your clothes that match each other. The goal is that you could look great dressing yourself in the dark
  • Don’t keep too many similar items. Chose your best and declutter the rest
  • Limit your clothing to the available storage space. If there’s no space to add more things to your drawer and all the things there are too good to get rid of, why are you buying new things?
  • Declutter your office: remove/archive paper not in use, clean surfaces, and add things to modules for easy access
  • You probably have many things in your kitchen that are used just a few times a year (fondue?). Would they really worth storing? You may go outside when you want it, or maybe borrow one from friends
  • Create a goal for decluttering and share it with your family members. Example: we’re going to declutter the garage to be able to play music there with our friends.
  • Show you want to dedicate less time to stuff and more time to them
  • When we have the basics (clothes, shelter, and food) we don’t have to consume; we should be careful about what we buy. Do we really need it?
  • Quality of life has nothing to do with the things you buy
  • We use consumer goods to show an image of ourselves