If you’re even somewhat of a blog reader, you’ll have read about The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up somewhere on the internet over the last 6 months or so.

I like to think I have a tiny bit of a clue about decluttering, simplifying and organising so I didn’t get all excited the first time or two I read about it.

But then I saw all the controversy starting and like a bad accident, I couldn’t look away. I confess that I read all 100 comments on one particular blog post to find out what the big deal is.

The thing is that with books you like some things, you don’t like other things, and that’s the normal course of events.

What was it about this book that was either making people into raving fans or very harsh critics? People either LOVED this book or HATED it.

Modern Mrs Darcy (one of my very favourite blogs on the internet) wrote one post, and then another, and I think it was on the second one that a commenter asked what it is specifically about this book that is making it such a hit.

She said (and I paraphrase because I’m far too lazy to go look it up), it’s the fact that the author deals with both mindset and very specific how-to advice that is The Thing.

I thought, “AHHHH” and that’s what swayed me, honestly.

So when my next Audible credit became due, I bought this book and started listening.

Quick tip – if you like the idea of learning from non-fiction but you keep falling asleep after a page or two, get yourself an Audible membership and listen in the car, while you cook supper and when you tidy your house 🙂 It will change your life. For real!

I have so many bookmarks that I still have to go through step-by-step but the main thing about this book is this:

It’s not really about tidying up; it’s about tidying being the means to the end, and the end is your amazing and beautiful life!

I listened to the book very quickly because I couldn’t wait to get started.

I also wanted to see if this book would be life-changing for me, a self-proclaimed organising queen 🙂

1. The short answer is yes. I’ve been tidying (according to her definition) for two weekends and I’m THRILLED with the results in my already (fairly) decluttered home.
2. I have listened to every single word, rewound many sections to re-listen if I was momentarily distracted by the traffic and I feel very confident to speak to the content.
3. Just off the top of my head I wrote down 7 things that I saw as controversial on the blogs (which I will address in future blog posts) which, before listening, I thought were huge dramas, and in fact are like a sentence or two of the book. What the heck?!

As with anything I read/ listen to, I take what works for me and implement, and leave what doesn’t. You should definitely do the same (I say this in my courses too – we are all different personalities and obviously, we all do things in different ways) and I’ll be talking more about the what doesn’t work for me next week.

But definitely, you should read/ listen to the book for yourself (you can get a free book if you go to www.Audible.com/Happier (you all know I’m a big fan of Gretchen Rubin’s podcast and I heard this advertised last week), make your own notes so we can have a lovely, robust discussion and then we can have that life-changing magic going on 😉

I’ll show you some before and after pictures on Friday of the areas I started tidying, and why I started in that order. Meanwhile, please follow Organising Queen on Instagram because I’m posting a lot more photos on there.

So, who’s read the book?

What did you think?

PS I gave it 4 stars!

PPS Jess Lively made a printable for the book which you can find on this post.

I’ve nearly finished listening to Marie Kondo’s book and I’m itching to start TOSSING!

I need to re-listen to my bookmarks and make notes before I start blogging, but I already have a few post ideas, like:

1. things other people seem to have a problem with but not me 🙂
2. the reasons why I think the book/ method has been so successful
3. why I think other people are kicking against the method
4. how this ties in with traditional organising advice, and how it goes against it
5. my favourite insights about her process

Get this – her method for folding is probably my least favourite part of the book.

We have a 3-day weekend in South Africa (YAY!) and I intend to make some good progress on my clothes and maybe even start something else.

Has anyone else used this method?

Did you “tidy” in the suggested order?

(does anyone know if there’s an app that “writes down” the sections of your book you highlight/ bookmark? If not, someone should do that! Currently when I read a book on my iPad, I take screenshots of the highlights when I’m done with the book. There’s got to be a better way… )