As reviewed on The Cafe, TV3!
Marie Kondo is a tidying expert, bestselling author and star of a Netflix TV show. She is probably best known for her #1 New York Times bestselling book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying. She’s now teamed up with Scott Sonenshein who is an organizational psychologist and professor to write a book called Joy at Work.
It’s written for anyone in their work environment, whether in an office or working from home. It’s for people (like me!) who seem to have a never-ending backlog of emails that they can’t get on top of. It’s for people who feel like their working life is just a never-ending check list. So Marie Kondo suggests it’s time for us to tidy up!
Marie argues very persuasively that for most people working in a tidy environment you will be more productive and less stressed. So Marie suggests you put aside dedicated time for the decluttering. I like that she brings a joy element to process, so she asks you to put things into three categories: things that directly spark joy, those that provide functional joy, and those that lead to future joy. So everything that you keep in your workspace will play a positive role in your work. Of course, all of this applies to areas where you have sole responsibility. So you can’t just waltz into the company café, or a shared office space and start tidying!
I really love that she has loads of information about digital clutter, emails, files and online accounts. She’s a big proponent of unsubscribing from e-newsletters you really don’t want, deleting emails when you have finished a project, and deleting apps you don’t need from your phone.
Joy at Work is surprisingly upbeat and has loads of great tips to declutter your workspace and keep it tidy. It definitely has a refreshing joyful vibe and I think most people will find the advice achievable.
Reviewer: Karen McMillan
Macmillan Publishers