The reason that I chose this book is because while working on my Ph.D I noticed that I had so much stuff lying around, and it would always distract me! The constant clutter made it difficult most days to work on my dissertation. I had to clean up and tidy before I could concentrate on my schoolwork. I would also forget what I purchased, and therefore purchase another of the same item. Before I knew what happened, I had four bottles of dishwashing soap, three boxes of Hefty trashbags...and I can't even count how many boxes of Q-tips I had. (I think it took me about two years to get through them all.)
Back to the book. I wanted to find a way to organize my little two bedroom apartment. It was hard to do though. I was definitely in that mindset of "Well, I should keep it because I might need it one day." I was also a member of the out of sight, out of mind club. If I found myself wanting to "tidy" I would just put items in a box or bag and then never look at it again. I knew that I had to change my way of thinking, so once I heard about this miracle book, I had to give it a try!
First things first, for me, it wasn't as easy as read the book and then your life is completely changed. I admit that I had to read the book on three different occassions in order to fully understand how the KonMari method would work for me. What sparked joy for me one week, wouldn't the next. So was it really worth keeping an item the first place? Might sound a little cheesy, but I ended up creating a pinterest board of aethetic pictures of how I imaginged my neat and tidy space to be. If you want to see the page here it is. I used this board and the tips from the book to compeltely renovate my space and finally declutter my home. If you feel like this might work fo you, check out the links above and read more about Marie Kondo, the KonMari Method and even where to get the book.
The key takeaways from this book are that if it sparks joy for you, it is okay to keep. If you collect books and it makes you happy, then you can collect books. The point isn't to become a minimalist, it is to curate your space so it will bring you peace when you're there.
Examples of the KonMari Method
