"The Life Changing Magic of Tidying" - read it under THREE minutes

If you have met me this month, chances are I must have mentioned the book.  I followed pretty much all the steps and it took me a day to from start to finish.  It was so worth it and I love my tidied rooms!  As promised, here are my notes that save you time reading. Let me know if you have any questions and hope you find them helpful.

Gold rules of tidying philosophy (short book review* at the end)

o   You don’t need that many things in your life.

o   People are messy because either 1) don’t/can’t throw things away 2) can’t put things back to where they should be 3) combination of 1) &2).

o   Live in accordance with the rule of the nature.

Step 1. Discarding

·       Identify your goal before discarding – picture it as detail as possible, think why you want a life like that.

·       Examine what you own – does I “spark joy”?

Step 2. Organizing

·       Have a designated place for everything.

·       One category at a time, specifically from: clothes -> books -> paper -> miscellaneous -> sentimental stuff (e.g. letters)

·       Tips for clothes organizing

o   hang clothes that needs to be hanged (jackets, tailored clothes etc.) and fold clothes with softer fabric. Learn how to fold (tons of KonMari folding video on Youtube)

o   Hanging: (left – right) dark, heavy -> bright, light

o   Drawer: light colour in the front, dark colour in the back

o   Never tie/ball your socks

o   Keep all clothes for all seasons out, divide by category, similar fabric should be stored together e.g. cotton/wool [if you store away stuff, you’ll forget about them, and they become clutter]

·       Books: sort by: general -> practical -> visual -> magazine

·       Papers: throw away all of them except important documents. Sort by: 1) Save 2) Deal with (then throw away)

·       Storage in the drawer sort by: frequent in the front, infrequent in the back.

·       Never use piggy bank.

·       Order to sort Miscellaneous: CD/DVD -> skin care -> make-up -> accessories -> valuables -> electrical -> household equipments -> stationary -> household supplies -> kitchen goods/food supplies -> other -> stuff related to interests&hobbies

Step 3. Storage

·       Keep storage simple, clever storage leads you to want to keep more = more clutter.

·       Designated area for each member of the family, sort by type (clothes, books etc.).

·       Shoe box = best storage.

·       Bags storage = can be stored in bags.

·       Items on the floor cupboard: offseason & stuff that are difficult to get.

·       Items on the upper level: beddings and linens.

·       Keep everything away from shower/bath tub, put in a cupboard – take out when using, wipe clean after use and put back in cupboard. [No more slime or brown stains]

·       Kitchen sponge: dry and hang outside/away from the sink (could use a peg and hang).

·       Don’t keep oil & spices condiments/bottles out on counter, store them back in cupboard to avoid them getting greasy.

·       Private interests: can be put at the back of a wardrobe or cupboard – like high school lockers.

·       Remove product labels/seals to remove “noise”.

*It’s a self-help book about an OCD girl who is obsessed with tidying, the author Kon Mari repetitively recalls how she finds her way to the “Kon-Mari Method” and clients’ success stories. 

Gut estimation – 20% useful stuff, 80% her life stories, how she threw everything away, gave stuff to her sisters, cheekily threw family stuff without telling, “saying goodbye” to her dying old phone after which phone magically dead, etc., and how her clients lose weight, quit job, get divorced, find happiness after tidying. #spoiler Point is – I wouldn’t recommend wasting your time reading the above 80%.