The controversial points from The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (1)

I mentioned when I started writing about this subject that I’d seen posts pop up all over the place, most good but there was quite a bit of controvery, especially on some blogs.

My goal when I read anything non-fiction is to get something useful from the book. Obviously the more use I get from any book the better it is, but I do know that if I even get ONE idea which saves me 10 minutes a day, that’s 2 and a half days a year, which is sizeable.

So when I saw all the controversy, I naturally assumed that most people expect every book to completely wow them in every way.

(I haven’t been completely wowed by maybe more than 10 – 20 non-fiction books in my lifetime)

When I was making notes about the book, I made a section about the controversies too and I want to talk about those in two posts.

Let’s get to it:

1. Single vs families

People seemed to discount her information because they have a family and she didn’t. Yes, Marie Kondo was single at the time of writing the book (I think). She certainly didn’t have any kids.

I don’t feel that took anything away from the book. It’s fairly obvious to me that when a child or two (or more) are thrown into the mix, of course you have more stuff.

I can learn from single, unmarried people as well as I can learn from people in exactly the life stage I’m currently living in.

Solution – simply adjust your plan and extend the time to work through your home.

2. Emptying your bag daily

She says in the book that she empties out her entire bag every evening after returning home. There are some benefits to this – if you’re changing your bag or just to toss out those used tissues, cash receipts, etc.

I change bags fairly often so I could see this working. Better still, use a bag organiser.

On the evenings I go to Spanish dancing, I do transfer my wallet, phone and one lipstick to my spanish bag.

Maybe Marie Kondo changes her bags daily?

Solution – if you don’t need to empty your bag daily, don’t.

3. Does this spark joy?

Some people even have issues with the question, “does this spark joy?” because of the things we all have in our lives that don’t necessarily spark joy, but are necessary.

Like medication, appliances, etc.

I honestly feel like some people went a bit over the edge on this point.

Let’s think logically about these things. The Panado in my make-up case doesn’t really spark joy but when it’s hot in Jhb and I have a heat headache, I can tell you I feel more joy when that Panado is there than when it’s not!

For other things, if you have an item you need but that is not joy-inducing, if you can afford to, get one that you’ll LOVE to use. That kind of thing.

I have a laptop bag that I love. I paid far more money for it than I felt it deserved at the time but I do love it and I get compliments at the airport whenever I travel 🙂 so it ended up sparking lots of joy.

Solution – think a little bit further than just this moment and check if the item does spark joy when you need to use it in the moment.