The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Yes - really enjoying it! I've really enjoyed tidying up by category instead of by room or little bit at a time. We started with clothing - gathered all of it (even underwear) from every room of the house and put it in the living room. The mountains in front of me were embarrassing - it inspired much more purging. I really think I got rid of 60-70% of my closet and now I only have things I love. It's inspiring to try to live simpler and teach my new son about living with less - as a way of living more.

Ali, are you looking for all or only positive reactions to the Kondo book and her method?

Wow, that must be some book. There are 84 holds (most I've ever seen) on it at my local public library.

Best tip for de-cluttering or any other organizational or maintenance activity: Treat it like any other project to be managed, and break it down into bite-sized pieces.

I have a most demanding work schedule, but I do get to take breaks now and then. I find that switching gears during those breaks makes me considerably more productive, in so many ways.

On the weekend, or on the rare day off, I plan and organize tasks that can be done in 2, 5 and 15 minutes, by making lists of them on small index cards. Hour-long projects, for the occasional evening when the spirit moves me (that would typically mean some evening when supper wasn't too late and there's a baseball game to listen to on the radio), or over the weekend, go on a separate card.

When a pocket of time becomes available, I simply scan the cards, pick one or more tasks, do them, check them off, and move on with my life. On the weekend, I update the cards. (I keep notes of new tasks of course during the week as they occur to me.)

This is one of a number of ways I pack as much life as possible into every beautiful day - and they (the days) are all beautiful. ;o)

I bought white photo boxes on Amazon, and I keep my shoes in them. (With handwritten labels!!!) No more shoe mess and uneven piles of shoe boxes. It looks like a heavenly white tower. Every morning I walk into my closet, look at the white neatness and fell happy all over.

I love that book! I am already pretty good at tidying and purging (e.g. last year one of my New Year's resolutions was to get rid of at least one thing every week -- and yes, I followed through on it), but the KonMari method helped me take my penchant for organization to a whole new level.

I already folded my daughter's clothes on end (instead of stacked), because it is easier to see what she has, but for some reason I didn't think to apply the same principle to my own closet. Also, I used to ball up my socks, and was skeptical when Kondo claimed that those "potato-like lumps" take up more room (and are harder on your socks), but she was right. Folding my socks into compact rolls saved me room in my sock drawer.

Marie Kondo says: "Things that are cherished shine," and, since I already name things (plants, statues, etc) around the house, it wasn't a stretch for me to follow her advice and start thanking inanimate objects for how they've served me (i.e. my purse for carrying all of my stuff all day). Either way, I figure more gratitude certainly can't hurt anything.

I love Kondo and her tips. In my case, though, I can only really clean out much of our "stuff" with the approval of our kids, who need to tell me what goes and what stays when it comes to their possessions. When my daughter last visited, we were able to send a full Chevy truckload of items to Goodwill. Having permission to discard is key.

I also enjoyed the book. The thing that still brings me joy is her instuctions on folding and organizing laundry. I smile now when I fold.