I recently read two books about tidying: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and MUJI Storage. In the first, Japan's Marie Kondo draws on years of tidying experience to explain how tidying, storage, and talking to your belongings can change you and make your life shine. In the second, Saori Honda uses lots of beautiful photos to show how to organize your home with MUJI products. Interestingly, Saori Honda's room-by-room approach is exactly what Kondo argues against; she recommends tidying by category instead.

  1. Tidying is a conversation between your belongings and your heart
  2. Keep only what sparks joy and discard everything else. To decide whether to keep something, ask whether you still feel a spark when you see or touch it
  3. When you find something that doesn't spark joy but you don't want to throw away, think carefully about its purpose. Many things have already fulfilled their original purpose. Accept that calmly
  4. The difference between tidying, storing, and putting away: tidying means sorting what you need from what you don't and discarding what you don't need. Storing means keeping what you need where you need it, so it's easiest to find. Putting away means returning things to their original place after use, and that place must be fixed
  5. The order for discarding things smoothly is: clothes first, then books, papers, small items, and finally sentimental items
  6. Don't let your family see what you're throwing away, especially your parents. They may feel stressed because they hate to see things wasted
  7. Secretly throwing away your family's things is not OK. If your family isn't good at tidying, first discard and tidy your own things, then start with shared spaces. Set a good example and influence your family gradually
  8. Don't give things you don't use to your family unless they clearly need them. It may seem kind on the surface, but really you're just pushing your guilt about throwing things away onto someone else
  9. Tidy by category, not by room. Gather everything in the same category in one place and decide all at once whether to keep or discard each item
  10. Give everything a fixed place, without exception. If even one thing doesn't have a fixed place, clutter can start
  11. Whether it's clothes, books, or anything else, don't stack things. Storing them upright is the way to go
  12. Don't obsess over buying storage products. Lots of things, like empty shoeboxes, work well for storage