So I watched Ali Wong’s Baby Cobra special and she mentions something about aging and reading more books about achieving the optimum level of success. As a young overachiever, I wanted to achieve that optimum level of success as early as possible and when her special mentions Marie Kondo’s The Life Changing Magic Of Tidying Up I couldn’t help but pick up a copy at the library… (I know I am cheap, but I guess it goes with the principles of the book quite well). If you’d like to purchase the book click on the book title.
I did an all nighter and read through the entire book, it was funny because I kept putting it down to tidy up something and soon enough I had a giant pile of clothing in my bedroom waiting to be sorted. I definitely did all of my clothes I had on hand as quickly and completely as I thought. The idea is to keep anything that “Sparks Joy” (Spark Joy is also the title of her second book that I also read within the week) and focus on the items you are going to keep. The items you are going to keep should make you happy. Another takeaway I now do regularly is thank the items for giving me joy at some point or helping me with my day to day. She emphasizes the idea that your items sort of have a relationship with you and that relationship is unique. It really did help me clean out my closet and let go of items I definitely did not like anymore. I even threw away (by throw away I mean donate) things I had worn within the week because I felt that it did not give me a rush of exhilaration she described.
The book reads like she is telling stories to a friend about her other friends or about herself as a child. It is compelling since we are human and we all love to be able to relate to someone’s past. I enjoyed it thoroughly and I feel like I have learned a lot from it. However it was definitely written for someone who is single and only has to deal with their own things because it does not really go into detail about other people’s things. It is still useful for people with a family but it’s hard for you to help them since they have to be the people to decide to throw things out. Spark Joy goes into the idea of tidying with a partner and incorporating other people into your process.
I feel like I enjoyed Spark Joy a little more, it has a lot of the same information, but also shows how she folds her clothes in more detail. I love this method and even though folding clothes is not that enjoyable to me, I have found that I enjoy seeing my clothes all lined up in a drawer neatly. I started cleaning up my room, the guest bedrooms, the community closets and other spaces. I know she recommends cleaning up by category of things rather than by place, but the categories were already mostly separated so I did what works for me. I definitely used the tips I gathered and now I feel great in my room.
I feel like my book reading marathon was also a tidying marathon alongside it. Before this endeavor, I had so much stuff that I didn’t use or even look at for a while. I still had things I kept from 5th grade in my closet or in my drawers. I am by no means done as she suggests discarding then putting things away which might take up to 6 months, but I feel less stressed and lighter. Plus, I found so many things I had that I found extra uses for. What Spark Joy taught that I found let me feel less guilty was that I can keep things and keep them confidently if I decide I need them. This allowed me to like those things a little bit more which definitely makes me happier.
Here’s a picture of one of my tidied up drawers… and it really only took like an hour or so.
Both books were a treat and they were so great! I really did find tidying up a little bit life changing. My clearer space allows me to relieve a little more stress and I have found it makes me feel really productive.
I definitely would have felt more productive if I had listened to the books instead of putting it down every so often to tidy and picking it back up again to read. I think it would be a great audiobook to just have and listen to while you are tidying too!
Amazon has a promotion right now and you can get 2 free audiobooks for trying Audible and I believe you get 30 days free on top of that.
Try Audible and Get Two Free Audiobooks <<<<< Click it!!! Then you can get both of them :)! You can also get the physical copies if you click on the title anywhere in this post. I hope you enjoyed reading!