ABOUT THE BOOK (from Amazon):
This #1 New York Times best-selling guide to decluttering your home from Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes readers step-by-step through her revolutionary KonMari Method for simplifying, organizing, and storing.
Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles?
Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo’s clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list).
With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house “spark joy” (and which don’t), this international bestseller featuring Tokyo’s newest lifestyle phenomenon will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home—and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire.
People seem to be really into the *idea* of minimalism these days. I often see posts from my friends on Facebook and other social media platforms rejecting the idea that we need so much stuff in our lives. But sometimes I wonder if what people are really doing is putting out an excuse to the world for why they don’t have as much stuff as other people. Or maybe they really believe that having more stuff isn’t what makes them happy, but they’ve never been able to connect that belief with the actual practice of minimalism (getting rid of the stuff they don’t need and avoiding buying more stuff they don’t need).
Ultimately I don’t really know anyone in my day-to-day life who truly practices minimalism. I myself have never really gotten into the fad. While I don’t necessarily think of myself as someone who loves stuff, I also don’t like the idea of getting rid of things like old craft supplies I’ve held onto for years thinking someday I will have the time again to do something with them.
Marie Kondo’s book is convincing, though. She claims that decluttering your home will also help declutter your mind and help you become a happier, more productive person in general. She shares with the readers her step-by-step approach to getting rid of all the excess stuff in our homes — the things that don’t really give us joy. Although some of her advice was a little odd for me personally (i.e. telling each of your items thank you for serving their purpose each day), her method is simple and her tips are easy to follow.
So, what if you spent six months focusing on getting rid of all the stuff in your home that you don’t really need? If that’s something that weighs heavily on your mind/heart, then I highly recommend this book.