The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up – Experiment

Anything that promises true magic grabs my attention. Not the hocus pocus, you’re a frog kind of magic, but the kind that promises a more fulfilling, better life. I’ve avoided this book successfully for the past two years. I heard whisperings of it from several people I followed and chalked it up to mere hocus-pocus. It wasn’t until my home reached a breaking point of clutter did I consider reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Sometimes I wish I weren’t so headstrong and stubborn

Are this book’s methods too good to be true? I plan on finding out.

Book Review

FYI – I don’t like book reviews. I don’t think it’s fair for someone to pour their heart out in book form, and then I leaf through it, reading it one time and calling it good or bad. Since I regularly read self-help books – conventional rating systems don’t work for me. I decided that my book reviews would have a qualification assigned to each ‘star.’

My Rating Qualifications:

• Did I take notes?
• Would I tell a friend about it?
• Would I re-read it?
• Did I buy the book? OR If I got it from the library, would I check it out more than once?
• Did it motivate me to make a change?

I have to be honest – the fourth question needed qualification – I don’t know that I will be buying an extreme amount of books in the future after reading this book. So I had to add an extra part to the question – if I check out the book more than once from the library.

With those questions in mind:

My book review is 4 3/4 stars with this note: I’ve only checked out the book once from the library, but I did get the 2nd book by the author, a companion, expanded version of this one called Spark Joy and started reading that one too. I guess that I will probably check it out again in the future. (Read Amazon Reviews here – it looks like theirs is similar to mine)

Experimenting on the Word

Have you ever heard of experimenting on the word? Let me explain if you haven’t. After reading a book that claims to change your life – you can’t rely on just the words; you have to do the things that it tells you to find out if a book is life-changing or not. I’d like to see if this book changes my life as it proclaims. The best way for me to see if it does it to try out its methods and see if what it claims is true.

Current Living Arrangements

Let me tell you why I picked up the book in the first place. We live in a three-bedroom house, and I have three children. Their stuff is everywhere; my things are everywhere. The baby still sleeps in my room, despite being 14 months, there is just no room for him in his sibling’s rooms. His crib is in the nook in my bedroom (thankfully we have that alcove). My husband and I took over the dining room with our desks. (In a house this small, is a separate dining room essential? We have an eating area already.)

I am not going to debate opinions on sleeping arrangements with children – that’s not what this blog is about, and there are lots of different viewpoints out there. Let it suffice to say that the stuff in our house reached a breaking point. Either our house would break or I would. We want to move to a new home soon with other options like a fenced in backyard, or even one with just a backyard at all. We are not at the point yet where we can move. It’s coming, but not yet.

It Called to Me From Way Over There

My goodness, there’s lots of background story with this one. Anyway, when I took the kids to the library the other day, I wandered around the library and finally had to ask a librarian to find this book. FYI, it was in the parenting section. I brought it home and looked at it for a couple of days. Then I started reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. At first, I thought I was going to take notes. I’m a terrible note-taker when reading, I try to write only the important things. Well, I end up recording everything, and I end up with incomprehensible notes or pages and pages filled with sloppy word-for-word sentences that have no significant meaning.

Reading the Book

I started with this method of note-taking and soon filled a spread in my bullet journal. I didn’t want to fill more pages, so I decided to go back and re-read it if I felt so inspired and take the notes that are important. So I set down my pen and paper and started reading the book.  The book took me about two hours (ish) to complete. I brought it to the park while the kids were playing and then couldn’t get my nose out of it long enough to fix dinner.

Perhaps this book wouldn’t appeal to all, but I LOVE organizing. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is more than organizing. It’s a way of life. In the past two years of avoiding this book, I read silly memes referencing this book and tossing things they didn’t love (like bills, their husband, the noisy dog, etc.) but they were still stuck with all their stuff.  I desired some way to get rid of stuff and a lot of it. If we are moving sometime soon, I don’t want to pack it all and take it with me.

It’s Appeal

I’ve glanced sideways at a minimal lifestyle. You know, toured Ikea’s 240 square foot house and briefly thought about living that type of lifestyle and had no idea how even to start. I’m not saying that is the goal by any means, but willingly getting rid of the unnecessary stuff in my life taking up space and keeping only what I love is exceptionally appealing.

After finishing that book promising magic, I wanted more. Not more stuff, but more of her words. But I let it sit for a while, days, so I could spend some time thinking about what I read and if I was ready to jump in with two feet. This method of life-cleansing is not one you dance around. It is one that you jump in both feet and submerge yourself.

Did I Undo the Effects Before I Started?

Before starting on my closet containing years of memories and clothes I used to love or thought I liked, I went on a fun girl’s day shopping trip with my friend. Sounds counter-productive, doesn’t it? I felt so too. But before I knew it, my cart quickly filled with finds, and I had more than 20 pieces to try on plus a new purse. In the dressing rooms, I thought about what I read. Instead of taking home half of my cart, I thought about each item and if I loved it. I ended up buying three things, and I was very excited to wear them. Already different from previous shopping trips.

My Husband Says It Makes Sense(?!) Economically

I talked to my husband about the book and described to him some of the methods used in the book. Like saying thank-you to your clothing for being there or teaching you valuable lessons of personal fashion (some clothes just aren’t for you!). The act of thanking them allows you to let them go. When I presented the concept to my husband, his economics degree supported this concept.

He said, “it makes sense that it is hard to let something go because of ‘sunk cost’ or that you have spent so much time and energy and money on that one thing that you keep it just for that reason.” So many people have held to businesses long after they should have, kept dusty memorabilia in their homes from trips taken or not able to let go of those gorgeous shoes that they wore once because they spent money on whatever artifact is now occupying their home.  My husband suggested that saying ‘thank you’ was breaking the psychology of  keeping that item because it was a ‘sunk cost.’ I tried it, and it worked.

The Wait, the Anticipation

Due to schedules and appointments, I waited another couple of days before I could sort out my clothing. I have to admit that I was getting more and more excited to go through it though. So finally one day after work, I came straight home and started on my ‘little project.’

Marie Kondo suggested that it would take six months of your life to sort through your whole house. I don’t doubt it. This morning, hubby made the bed (thanks hubby!), so I could start efficiently on the project and pile all my clothes and sort them there. Pretending like Marie was there asking me if I loved an item, and thinking hard about not what I was getting rid of, but instead what I was keeping, the donation bags grew fuller and fuller.

No Before, but a During and an After

Like many things I start doing, I forget to take ‘before’ pictures and realize after I start the project. I cleaned out my closet. Gathered every article of clothing I possessed, each handbag, every pair of shoes and all the socks I owned. From just my closet, I stuffed three 45-gallon bags, and I threw out a big box of trash.

Two hours passed, more like flew by. I ended up with 20 shirts and about ten pairs of pants and shorts, and I was happy. I kept only things that gave me joy. There were items in the back of my closet that made me feel sad because of experiences in past jobs. I liked the feel of the fabric against my skin, but my heart was heavy every time I saw it hanging in my closet, and what’s more, I could never bear to wear it again. I can’t say how good it felt to say thank you and goodbye.

It Just Might Be Magic Afterall

I cannot wait to start another category. I do feel like I kept too many socks. What can I say? I love me some fuzzy socks.

The goal is to keep it up for six months and see where I am at that time. Is anyone else willing to go on a binge house-cleaning/organizing spree with me? I’d love to have some friends.

I created this layout before reading the book, thinking to do a little at a time. Now I know that it is not the most accurate way to track progress with the KonMari method. But I like crossing things off, so I’ll use it anyway and make perhaps some other trackers as well.

Results:

I reduced my closet to 1/4 its size, I love finding pairs of socks. I don’t miss any of the clothes I never wore anyway. The shoes that hurt my feet? Gone. The worn out handbag? Gone too.

Total Number of bags taken for donation: 4

Number of Trash/Recycled Bags: 3

In the coming weeks, I’ll share progress and reports of how this little experiment is going. Even if it doesn’t last, I’ll be glad to get rid of stuff. But I’m hoping that it produces the magic that it promises.

Will you join me? I’d love some friends along this journey. Do you have any advice? I’d love to hear about your experience. I created a couple of printables you can print, complete, and hang up or add to your bullet journal or planner. Click on the image below to view it in the shop.