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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Marie Kondō
Small change Make “into my wallet” your motto
Despite the fact that coins are perfectly good cash, they are treated with far less respect than paper money.
straight into their wallets—never into a piggybank.
Sentimental items Your parents’ home is not a haven for mementos
last because these are the hardest things to discard.
No matter how wonderful things used to be, we cannot live in the past. The joy and excitement we feel here and now are more important.
“Does this spark joy?”
People never retrieve the boxes they send “home.” Once sent, they will never again be opened.
That’s right. By handling each sentimental item and deciding what to discard, you process your past. If you just stow these things away in a drawer or cardboard box, before you realize it, your past will become a weight that holds you back and keeps you from living in the here and now.
It is not our memories but the person we have become because of those past experiences that we should treasure. This is the lesson these keepsakes teach us when we sort them. The space in which we live should be for the person we are becoming now, not for the person we were in the past.
Photos Cherish who you are now
Because photos tend to emerge from the most unexpected places when we are sorting other categories, it is much more efficient to put them in a designated spot every time you find one and deal with them all at the very end.
The correct method is to remove all your photos from their albums and look at them one by one.
Photographs exist only to show a specific event or time.
looked at one...
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only keep the ones that inspire joy.
Unexciting photos of scenery that you can’t even place belong in the garbage.
highly unusual items and sheer numbers.
highly recommend that you get rid of excess stock all at once.
Reduce until you reach the point where something clicks Sort by category, in the correct order, and keep only those things that inspire joy. Do this thoroughly and quickly, all in one go.
As you reduce your belongings through the process of tidying, you will come to a point where you suddenly know how much is just right for you.
Focus instead on choosing the things that inspire joy and on enjoying life according to your own standards.
Follow your intuition and all will be well
your feelings are the standard for decision making.
Only you can know what kind of environment makes you feel happy.
Believe what your heart tells you when you ask, “Does this spark joy?”
Designate a place for each thing
Keeping your space tidy becomes second nature.
The point in deciding specific places to keep things is to designate a spot for every thing.
The reason every item must have a designated place is because the existence of an item without a home multiplies the chances that your
space will become cluttered again.
You only need to designate a spot for every item once.
The essence of effective storage is this: designate a spot for every last thing you own.
One of the main reasons for rebound is the failure to designate a spot for each item.
Discard first, store later
The real problem is that we have far more than we need or want.
Once you learn to choose your belongings properly, you will be left only with the amount that fits perfectly in the space you currently own.
no matter how hard you tidy and no matter how effective the storage method, if you start storing before you have eliminated excess, you will rebound.
storage methods should be as simple as possible.
Most people realize that clutter is caused by too much stuff. But why do we have too much stuff? Usually it is because we do not accurately grasp how much we actually own.
pursue ultimate simplicity in storage
I have only two rules: store all items of the same type in the same place and don’t scatter storage space.
There are only two ways of categorizing belongings: by type of item and by person.
If you live with your family, first clearly define separate storage spaces for each family member.
important point here is to designate only one place per person
Having your own space makes you happy.
But not having a space you can call your own is dangerous. Everyone needs a sanctuary.
storage be focused in a single place
Clutter is caused by a failure to return things to where they belong. Therefore, storage should reduce the effort needed to put things away, not the effort needed to get them out.
Clutter has only two possible causes: too much effort is required to put things away or it is unclear where things belong.
