5 ms·

I read Ms. Kondo's book out of curiosity about a month ago. If you're just looking for some new tidying ideas/tips, don't bother with the book - it's written in

I read Ms. Kondo's book out of curiosity about a month ago. If you're just looking for some new tidying ideas/tips, don't bother with the book - it's written in more of a self-help style that regurgitates the same simple points ad nauseum. There are really only a few practical tips in the book: - Don't be afraid to do a big purge. Your stuff is just that, stuff. - Do the big purge all at once. "Ongoing" tidiness should simply be putting your stuff away, not constantly revisiting different parts of your home looking for stuff you can throw away. - Look up "konmari folding" on YouTube for a new idea about how to fold and store your clothes. For those who are already fairly tidy, this is the only real "new" idea in the book that may interest you. - Be affluent enough to have these problems in the first place. None of the advice is for people who are simply slobs, it's for people who have accumulated too much stuff and who feel it dragging down their life.

famousactress 11y ago
I enjoyed the book but agree that it was pretty pedantic and for lots of people that's overkill. That said, I think you missed the two points that I found most useful: 1. When deciding what to keep/discard, keep things that "spark joy in your heart". That is, don't use rules like "If I haven't worn this in X".. The book's explanations around this are pretty helpful. 2. Do the big purge in order of type-of-thing... not room by room. I think the specific order prescribed is something like Clothes, Books, Papers, [I forget, I forget], Keepsakes. Going by type makes it easier to make sound decisions, and the sequence of types warms you up for hard purges (keepsakes, etc) that will otherwise likely hang you up in room #1. All of that said, I only really got through Clothes, books, and papers... but even just that was massively helpful.
pervycreeper 11y ago
I also read (well, skimmed through) both of her books, and found them to be so vague as to be useless. Would have greatly benefited from having a lot of diagrams and photos to illustrate her points (new book does have a few, though).

famousactress 11y ago

I enjoyed the book but agree that it was pretty pedantic and for lots of people that's overkill. That said, I think you missed the two points that I found most useful: 1. When deciding what to keep/discard, keep things that "spark joy in your heart". That is, don't use rules like "If I haven't worn this in X".. The book's explanations around this are pretty helpful. 2. Do the big purge in order of type-of-thing... not room by room. I think the specific order prescribed is something like Clothes, Books, Papers, [I forget, I forget], Keepsakes. Going by type makes it easier to make sound decisions, and the sequence of types warms you up for hard purges (keepsakes, etc) that will otherwise likely hang you up in room #1. All of that said, I only really got through Clothes, books, and papers... but even just that was massively helpful.

pervycreeper 11y ago

I also read (well, skimmed through) both of her books, and found them to be so vague as to be useless. Would have greatly benefited from having a lot of diagrams and photos to illustrate her points (new book does have a few, though).