Better's Blinkist

What’s in it for me? Discover the secrets to tidying up your house – and your life.

Marie Kondo also spent five years as an attendant at a Shinto shrine, learning what’s really important in our chaotic modern world

11 January, 2020 07:08 Share

When you buy new clothes, remove the packaging and tags right away and welcome them to your home. Treat them as part of your life, not as a product.

11 January, 2020 07:10 Share

The first step to achieving your dream lifestyle is visualizing your dream life in your dream space.

Before you can begin to tidy up, you first need a vision for your ideal life and your living space. Before reading further, take a moment to visualize what that would look like. For example, when one of the author’s clients, a woman in her twenties, did this exercise, she confided that she wanted a more "feminine" lifestyle. So she visualized arriving home to find a room free of clutter – as tidy as a hotel suite – with a pink bedspread and an antique lamp. Before going to bed, she would take a relaxing bath and enjoy the scent of aromatic oils, listen to classical music while doing yoga and drinking herbal tea, and finally fall asleep feeling totally at ease and unhurried.

11 January, 2020 07:11 Share

A tidy environment is one where you can efficiently access the things you need and like, which is why it’s so important to first understand what it is that you want. Your space should be filled with things that you truly love. Don’t, for example, turn the clothes you don’t like into your pajamas. Though it might feel pragmatic, it would be better for you to respect your belongings if they’re going to reflect your vision

11 January, 2020 07:12 Share

Don’t be afraid to discard things. Even if you have to give away a dusty book that you really meant to read but just never found time for, these pangs of regret show you that the book is something you’re truly interested in. Now’s not the right time for the book, but you can always buy it again later.

11 January, 2020 07:13 Share

A tidy home will improve both your body and mind.

The purpose of tidying isn’t just to keep things clean and organized. Rather, your goal is to create a space that improves your body and mind. To do this, you should organize your living space in a way that feels most natural to you. When you’re sorting through your things, for instance, you’re also evaluating their purpose and usefulness to you. Letting go of something that no longer serves a purpose – and welcoming something new in its place – can be deeply therapeutic. As you are sorting, focus on what you want to keep, not what you want to throw out. Arrange your belongings by category, closely examining each one with your eyes and hands. Ask yourself: "Does this make me happy? What is its purpose?"

11 January, 2020 07:15 Share

you can picture tidying your living space as a means of detoxing your body and mind. By discarding and re-organizing your belongings, you will effectively get rid of all the dust that has settled over time, thus bringing fresh air into your house.

11 January, 2020 07:17 Share

Put your past in order and gain clarity about the future you want.

Have you ever gone through your yearly spring clean only to find something which means the world to you, that you’d forgotten you still had? Tidying is more than just keeping a clean house: in the process of tidying, you can use the stuff from your past to help guide you into the future.

11 January, 2020 07:18 Share

When you begin the process of tidying, start with the easiest categories, e.g., clothes, books, documents, miscellaneous items, etc., and end with your sentimental items. Photos are the most difficult because of the sheer volume and emotional value. Be sure to keep the ones you remember taking and relive the excitement of that moment.

11 January, 2020 07:18 Share

Only give them things you think they will enjoy, and when discarding childhood keepsakes, ask your family whether they would rather have it.

11 January, 2020 07:19 Share

Documents, for instance, rarely succeed in doing this. Realistically assess their purpose according to your current needs. Warranties and manuals, for example, have a short-term purpose, and can therefore be discarded once they’ve outlived that use. Old course materials have likewise outlived their usefulness. After all, you didn’t take the course for the materials, but for the experience and the knowledge.

11 January, 2020 07:20 Share

Create a comforting and invigorating environment by surrounding yourself with neatly organized things that make you happy.

Strive for simplicity and visual order when storing and organizing. Consider carefully how you feel whenever you use or look at your belongings in the space you’ve designated for them.

11 January, 2020 13:40 Share

Though it might sound unbelievable, changing the way that you tidy your space can have profound effects, not just on your happiness, but also on your very ability to take action. For many, tidying is the first step toward grasping control of their lives. Strive for simplicity and visual order when storing and organizing. Consider carefully how you feel whenever you use or look at your belongings in the space you’ve designated for them.

11 January, 2020 13:41 Share

Some of the author’s clients believed that they were born messy, something they’d never be able to change if they wanted to keep a tidy house. But the author doesn’t buy it. Instead, she advises them to abandon this negative self-perception, and instead to strive for perfection when visualizing their tidy living space. Once they’ve achieved this vision, they feel like they can do anything if they just put their mind to it!

11 January, 2020 13:42 Share

More practically, tidying makes your decisions around the house straightforward, and thus improves your decisiveness. Efficient and intuitive storage eliminates the stress of having to search through clutter for the things that you need. It allows you to make decisions instead of being stuck searching helplessly for hours.

11 January, 2020 13:42 Share

You only have to tidy once to make a lasting change in your life.

Many people find the idea of maintaining a tidy home daunting. After all, doesn’t it seem like a lifetime of effort? But they’re simply thinking about it the wrong way. Rather, if you organize your space so that it embodies your dream lifestyle, then you only ever have to do a comprehensive tidying once in your life.

12 January, 2020 08:57 Share

You can make this seemingly daunting task easier by turning it into a special event. This breakthrough tidying will serve as a crucial and sudden change in your life – a fresh start on the path to your ideal life. The process of tidying is exhaustive, and you should expect to spend a good deal of time on this endeavor. In fact, it takes the author an average of six months to tidy a client’s house.

12 January, 2020 08:57 Share

While you’re tidying, communicate with your possessions and your space. In doing so, you can clarify your relationship to your belongings, thereby gaining a more intuitive feeling of what is of use to you and what is ready to be discarded. It makes the project smoother and more natural. When the author works in a client’s home, she begins by kneeling on the floor out of respect, and offers the space a silent greeting, as if she were in a shrine. Even her clothes, usually a dress and a blazer, embody the respect that she shows for the space.

12 January, 2020 08:58 Share

Though exhaustive tidying is a one-time project, your day-to-day relationship with your space is likewise important. When the author, for example, takes off her shoes when entering her home, she thanks them for their work. She greets and thanks her house every day, and empties the contents of her bag completely, putting each item in a specific place.

12 January, 2020 08:59 Share