Book: The Life‑Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

I like the book and there are very few things I disagree with the author. I think it’s too much to talk to objects, but I understand where this is coming from. In my opinion, just holding the object is enough, even if you don’t talk to them.

I don’t think it’s a good idea to remove all objects from your bad/purse every day. I have a jacket that I only use to ride my motorcycle. This jacket has everything I need to ride my motorcycle on its pockets (documents, keys, gloves, etc.). This works for many things, IMO.

When Tidying, I like to have a pile where I put things I’m still not ready to discard. This pile is reviewed from time to time. It’s been working well for me in the past 10 years and I usually discard many things from there. When the time passes, you start thinking that it’s not useful after all and just throw it away.

I still remember I considered many times to be a tidying consultant at some point, but I love software engineering much more. :)

If you have a messy place or messy life and want to restart from a clean state I would totally recommend this book. It will give you some interesting ideas on how to do it, most of what is described here works quite well in my experience.

Here is my raw notes about the book:

  • If you tidy all at once, you will change your mindset
  • The feeling of seeing everything tidy helps with the habit changing
  • When the tidying process is finished, people look better, it feels like a detox of the body too, for some reason
  • Get everything out of your bag every day – meh, I disagree. It’s OK to have my bag “worn”
  • Your storage space is your personal paradise. Customize and decorate as you want.
  • Don’t stock things, buy them when you need. If you consider the price of storing it, it doesn’t make sense to buy and keep for she future.
  • Avoid labels on your storages. Just the fact of having a lot of visual noise gives the impression that things need to be tidy, especially is the labels are on your language
  • When you can’t discard something try to find out why that’s happening. Is it the attachment to the past or concerns about the future? Or maybe both?
  • Everyone needs to have their own space, so they can organize their things
  • If you’re lazy to organize, keep things in the same place to make things simple
  • When it comes to storage, vertical is best
  • The storage object I use the most is a shoe box. They are very versatile and usually look good – 💭 haha! Me too! for years
  • Photos should be sorted out last. If you have a box of photographs don’t keep is as a box, organize them and throw away the ones that doesn’t spark joy
  • After tidying, you will feel when “it’s enough” and you’re happy. You will “feel the click” – I felt this already :)
  • Don’t use numbers to determine how much you have to tidy, measure your feeling about things. Touch them and measure how much joy this brings to your life now.
  • The things we have are for.she person we are now or the person we want to become. Don’t be attached to the past.
  • Put all your papers in one place. Separate the ones that need attention, the inbox for them must be empty at some point.
  • Do not store receipts for credit card payments
  • Discard any manuals for electrical appliances you have. You don’t need them. If you feel the need, you can check them online.
  • Do not store seminar notes and material. Seminars are useful when you apply what you learn. Keep those materials for years only reinforce that you “will apply it some day”, when it may not make sense anymore
  • warranty files must be kept in the same place, not sorted. If you need them you will check all and get rid of the expired ones
  • Gifts are not things, they reflect the will of giving something to someone. After giving the gift, it already played its role. Of course, it’s better when you use the gift, but don’t feel guilty of getting rid of it.
  • Keep in mind that sorting general papers is different than sorting emotional papers (letters, diary, etc)
  • Do not keep books because “you will read some day”. Someday may be never and you will keep these books forever. Give them a better use and donate or sell. If you feel you need to read this book, you can always buy it again if it’s not super rare.
  • If you already read a book don’t keep it because you may want to read it again. A book has a purpose and there’s a good chance it already fulfilled this purpose in your life. If you decide to read it again, you can always buy it again if needed. 💭 keeping stuff also has its cost. We must have this in mind
  • Don’t let other people give you things they (and you!) don’t need or like
  • 💭 I would add a different clause to the discard pile. Sometimes, when I don’t know if I should discard an object or not, I ask myself if it has a place where it will not take a lot of space and I store it there. Next time I do cleaning I will see this again. It usually helps me to decide the next time. Sometimes it takes years, but it’s OK as it’s not bothering me there. I know it’s a slippery slope to have such a loose rule in Marie’s guides, but to me it works like a charm.
  • Don’t keep clothes you don’t like as lounge wear or pajamas, you deserve something comfortable to these occasions. When you don’t want to use something while going outside, it’s time to get rid of it.
  • The way you dress at home also has an impact on how you see yourself, it’s not just how people see you.
  • Touch every item and ask yourself: “Does this item spark joy?”. Keep it if it does, discard otherwise.
  • Avoid starting with hard items to discard (e.g. photos)
  • A good sequence is: clothes, books, papers, misc, mementos
  • Don’t let your family see what you’re discarding or you will probably fill their lives with things they will not use
  • Before starting, ask your family if there’s something they need. If you find this thing while tidying up, give to them as a gift
  • Why are you reading this book? You must have a why on your tidying up process to avoid rebound.
  • You’re not naturally untidy. If you change your mindset, you can do anything
  • Discard first and then think about moving stuff around
  • Tidy by category not by location. Sometimes we have multiple storages for she same thing and we will never know the actual amount if we do by location
  • Tidying must start with discarding
  • Putting things away [on storages] do not fix the problem of cluttering, you’re just moving around things you don’t need.
  • A cluttered room is a reflection of a cluttered mind. By tidying your stuff you will have more time to reflect about your cluttered state of mind