The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo sold over 3 million copies worldwide and was a New York Times bestseller. I read the book, so you don't have to, and let me start by saying that Ms. Kondo's idea of tidying up is not an American one of cleaning. This is about a permanent organization system that if you follow correctly, you can do it once and let it work for you. I have summarized the most useful information.

The Four Key Ideas

1. Don't store, discard.
2. Keep all of the same category of stuff in one place.
3. Have a place for everything, and keep everything in its place, every day.
4. Make tidying up a special event. If you do it right, you can maintain order and never have to do it again.

Three Basic Steps

1. Take everything of one category out and don't put anything back until you do step two. She suggests using the floor, so, for example, take every piece of clothing you own from every single closet or drawer in every part of your house and put it on the floor. For the clothes, I liked using the bed instead. Repeat this for every category in every room of your house, such as the kitchen cabinets, books and magazines, bathroom medicine cabinets, junk drawer, file cabinets, toys, school supplies, electronics, CDs, tools, etc.

2. Discard, discard, discard. The main question to ask yourself is Does It Bring You Joy? If the answer is no, throw it out. Clothes and accessories that haven't been worn in two years. Books that have never been read or won't be re-read. Papers--throw out everything that is not currently in use or must be kept indefinitely. Get read of all those user manuals and warranties; everything you need to know can be found online. If it's broken, get rid of it! You are probably saving so much useless stuff. You need to let it go. If it is hard to do, just thank the item for its service before tossing. I said namaste to a lot of junk. Ms. Kondo will say that unless you have at least 36 big garbage bags, then you definitely did not do it right.

3. Once you discarded, you need to find a place to keep what is left. Don't spend money on fancy storage. She suggests shoe boxes, and she hates piles. Don't store anything horizontally that can be stored vertically, like put pens in a pencil holder or fold your clothes so they don't stack on top of each other. I rolled all my t-shirts like she suggested, and not only do they all now fit in one drawer, I know exactly which one is which without digging.
   

Organizing Saves Time and Money

I cannot tell you how much more room I have for the things I have, and how easy it is to find stuff. I used to keep all the school supplies in different rooms, now everything is in one section in a closet, and I don't keep buying things that I already had. I know where everything is now without having to search. This takes a lot of time and effort, but in the long-run it is so worth it because now I just have to maintain the system.