Kissing Your Socks Goodbye

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/23/garden/home-organization-advice-from-marie-kondo.html

by aaronbrethorst • 12 years ago

86 69 12 years ago

doshi• 12 years ago

I clean out my belongings at the end of every month, and it is surprisingly refreshing to see how much unused stuff has been cleared out of my home.

But I guess it's easier to live a lifestyle as a 24-year-old where I can pack up and move to a new location easily... I imagine it's more difficult for older people that have more items of sentimental value.

aaronbrethorst6• 12 years ago

I'm 32 and have become less sentimental over time. I went through an aggressive cleaning spree about six months ago, and gave away about 1/3 of my belongings.

danielweber5• 12 years ago

Older, and I want to get rid of everything.

mareofnight3• 12 years ago

22, and remember being a kid and finding sentimental value in many, many more things than I do now. Part of it might be that the novelty of having things at all wears off over time.

dionidium• 12 years ago

33, never been very sentimental and I don't own much stuff, but there are those weird little things. Sitting here in my office is the manual film camera I used during photography class in college. I've been meaning to put on eBay. It hasn't been used in many years and I could always get another camera, if I wanted one. And I wouldn't even want this model again, if I were starting from scratch. But once it's gone, I'll never have this camera again. I don't know why that matters, but it somehow does.

collinvandyck76• 12 years ago

As I've gotten older I've come to realize that very few of my own posessions actually mean anything. In my twenties the things I owned had a very strong sentimental value. In my late thirties I can't think of very many things that fall into that category.

R_Edward• 12 years ago

The stuff that means the most to me would look like junk to anyone else: an origami crane, inexpertly folded; a used sock with buttons sewn on it; a styrofoam heart with tissue paper and googly eyes glued to it; a few really bad pencil drawings... Handmade by my children, and given to me with love. I'll never part with them.

wvenable• 12 years ago

My wife and I do a full clean out every year. Our key phrase is "Be ruthless". Some things are obvious tossers, some are obvious keepers, and if it comes to a discussion usually just saying "be ruthless" to the other is enough to force the decision.

It's frightening how much stuff you can collect over the year but also how much stuff you kept last year that you no longer care about.

r12s• 12 years ago

The "ruthless" spring clean is a similar tradition in our household. Now, if only we hadn't bought all the stuff we "no longer care about" in the first place.

toomuchtodo2• 12 years ago

Want something? Bookmark it in a folder in your browser. Forget about it. Come back a couple weeks later. Still want it? Get it.

ObviousScience• 12 years ago

To be fair, half of the stuff I throw out when cleaning each year is stuff that I already got my use out of: old tshirts that are getting frayed, worn socks, old underwear, old towels, inner shower curtain, clothes that no longer fit right, worn/stained bedding, stacks of papers, half filled notebooks, felt pens that have the tip worn down (I write too hard/poorly), etc.

What's amazing to me is the volume of "long term consumables" I seem to go through - eg, things that I'm not wearing out on a weekly rate, but nevertheless, and wearing out on a quarterly/yearly rate.

Couple that with things that I realize need replacing (old dishwear that's accumulated stains/damage/missing pieces), that I've lost a bunch of silverware but still have a pile of spoons, etc and you end up with a fairly sizable selection of stuff every year, even though all of it makes sense both to have bought in the past and to get rid of now.

sliverstorm3• 12 years ago

On the other hand, if it's my closet or the landfill (as opposed to reselling, and the associated depreciation and opportunity costs) I'm not in a rush to toss things.

Unless there are circumstances like an impending move, or I am running out of space in the closet.

It's kind of a difficult line to walk. I used to keep way too much stuff. But just yesterday I pulled equipment (tools, a VGA cable, a prototyping board) out of the back of my closet that I hadn't used in four or five years, and was able to save myself a couple hundred bucks (computer repair). That VGA cable occupies very little space.

bostonvaulter2• 12 years ago

I would advise you to not completely rule out the tax that every item you own has. Even just looking at a drawer that is full of odds and ends can be stressful. With that said I am all in favor of re-selling things, then someone can get use out of them and overall waste in the system is reduced. Now I just need to sell my $300 jambox that I only used 10 times...

danielweber5• 12 years ago

I hear this. Oh, do I hear this.

First, you can donate many things to other people who will get use out of it. My house has two recycling bins: one for the traditional recyclables, and one for the stuff to donate to AmVets or Goodwill or the Salvation Army or whatever.

Second, I also feel the tremendous amount of waste going on with so many things that have piled up in my house (against my will in the first place). And many of them would not survive a trip through the Goodwill.

One reason I want to go live on Mars is that I'll never come in from working on the fields to find a bunch of new junk in my hab.

rtpg• 12 years ago

slightly OT, but I remember seeing the blog of some guy who got rid of everything he owned except for a laptop, a kindle, and some clothes, does anybody remember this person?

I've always been fascinated at having as little junk as possible, especially since I've been moving very often recently.

archagon2• 12 years ago

Not the same guy, but figured I might as well put this here. I've been living on what can fit in a suitcase for the past... year or so? Especially now that most of our valuable possessions — photos, writing, music, video — can be digitized, it's awfully liberating to pare your physical inventory down to the bare minimum.

I'm doing this for travel purposes, but the end result is mostly the same, I think.

http://www.archagon.net/a-few-pointless-thoughts/2013/8/28/g...

http://www.archagon.net/a-few-pointless-thoughts/2014/6/15/g...

wingerlang• 12 years ago

Kind of same here. The only things I really keep is my laptop, phones and iPad (all for work/dev purposes). My Credit cards and such trinkets. Some papers like visas and other seemingly important things. And a couple of pairs of clothes. And a backback to fit it all in.

In around a month or so I will discard most everything (again) due to moving (and sadly, bedbug paranoia).

Can't wait.

lifeformed• 12 years ago

I've been living out of a suitcase for the most part, but recently I've been developing my hobby of cooking, and now I'm anchored down by a huge pile of heavy, expensive kitchen items.

yzzxy• 12 years ago

Maybe @Levels.io?

https://levels.io/the-100-thing-challenge/

driverdan2• 12 years ago

I did this but didn't blog about it. I got rid of everything that didn't fit in my backpack and traveled for six months.

This is a very practical way of traveling or moving but not something I'd do long term. You sacrifice efficiency (eg doing laundry every few days vs once every 1-2 weeks) and ability. There are just some things you can't fit into a backpack, eg tools, kitchenware and appliances, and furniture.

state2• 12 years ago

Wouldn't it be incredible if this was the attitude of your average American?

SiVal2• 12 years ago

Why? What are the "incredible" benefits that you imagine? This is about taking things that once brought you enough "joy" that you bought them and moving them from closets to landfills, probably making room to buy some more joy.

I'm not saying that tidying up is a bad idea--I think it's a good idea--but I'm not sure what imagined consequences have filled you with such rapture.

state2• 12 years ago

If you are mindful of the things that you have, you tend to acquire less of them.

coldtea2• 12 years ago

"probably making room to buy some more joy" -- that sounds like a stereotypical american interpretation of it. It might also be what the journalist had in mind, but not what the author of the methodology describes.

valleyer• 12 years ago

Well, I’m not that guy, and I’m not sure I share his opinion, either, but I can imagine a few of the benefits he’s thinking of:

1. People who have fewer things are not as likely to be consuming a lot of things, so they may create less waste, which preserves energy, reduces landfill use, etc.

2. This attitude may contribute to an overall less materialistic society, which could mean things like fewer ads / web tracking (because there’d be less incentive for the advertisers)

Tiktaalik• 12 years ago

As North America increasingly moves toward a more urban, condo lifestyle, I think this sort of attitude will become the norm. The alternative is simply impossible. There's not enough space.

driverdan2• 12 years ago

I disagree. You shouldn't be tying your emotions to physical objects. That's the very pro-consumer approach that leads to us accumulating junk. You need to be far more practical about it, such as "If I haven't used something within X months I get rid of it" and "Before buying something wait a week and see if I still want it"

coldtea2• 12 years ago

Nice methodology described (well, maybe methodology is too heavy a word) by I disliked all the BS self-references and attempts at jokes by the journalist. Either cover your subject with respect or don't.

ebt• 12 years ago

If you have a compulsive reading disorder[1] and need to shed books, consider http://www.books4cause.com/ -- they will pick up your books and provide a tax deduction receipt. The last time I dealt with them was 176 books, no problem. My local (Queens, NY) libraries weren't so friendly.

[1] http://bit.ly/1w1NT64

danielweber5• 12 years ago

The median value of a used book is $0. Most people don't want your book at all. The only way bookstores make money is by having exactly the book you want when you want it.

Libraries have a hard enough time getting rid of yesterday's books; they don't want yours to add to their problems. Libraries are places of learning, not museums for books.

I just chuck most books to the Goodwill or Amvets.

mareofnight3• 12 years ago

This sounds very similar to Alicorn's How to Have Things Correctly http://lesswrong.com/lw/eyt/how_to_have_things_correctly/

jimmcslim• 12 years ago

If Marie Kondo can show me how to fold a king-size fitted sheet properly, I'll suggest that's a feat worthy of nomination for the Nobel Prize in Physics...

codemac• 12 years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHTyH2nuFAw

Been following this method for a few years, and worked really well. I also suggest just not buying fitted sheets if you make your bed everything morning.

sithadmin• 12 years ago

For Ms. Kondo’s instruction on sorting papers is perhaps the most liberating of all her maxims: Just throw them all away.... “There is nothing more annoying than papers,” she says firmly. “After all, they will never spark joy, no matter how carefully you keep them.”

Strongly agree with this. Scanning every document I owned, then discarding the originals (save for things like my birth certificate, social security card, etc.) was one of the most liberating things I have ever done.

Now, I scan every piece of paper I have collected over a month, then shred and recycle.

aaronbrethorst6• 12 years ago

What do you do with old tax returns?

techsupporter• 12 years ago

I dunno about others, but I use TaxACT to file my taxes and it spits out a PDF of my full return. My W2s are delivered as PDFs through my employer's internal site. Everything else (student loan interest, investments, etc) is downloadable. The only tax document that doesn't come electronically is the mortgage interest statement from my (crappy) servicer so I scan it and shred it. Hopefully that gets fixed next year when I refinance.

sliverstorm3• 12 years ago

I have had great success with a small filing box, perhaps the size of a backpack. I toss half-important documents in there (vehicle service records, key receipts, contracts) and forget about them.

Every couple of years I spend ten minutes flipping through. Documents that are laughably obsolete are promptly tossed, and the box goes back into the back of the closet.

Perhaps an important circumstance is how little paper I deal with, though. There is no temptation to file all my bank records, for example, because they are already all electronic.

jeffmk• 12 years ago

Completely agreed. I picked up a Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 [1] a few years ago and got rid of probably a foot stack of paper in total. It works wonders at eliminating that existential hopelessness too much clutter sometimes brings.

[1] The scanner works very well on linux and OS X, and has had very few jams no matter what I throw at it. http://www.amazon.com/Fujitsu-ScanSnap-Instant-Sheet-Fed-Sca...

keerthiko• 12 years ago

I have a pretty simple rule with my stuff, which works because I mostly live out of a suitcase. Since I kind of relocate somewhat often, almost all my belongings end up in boxes regularly. If something hasn't left a suitcase I have with me by the time I'm packing again, I sell/donate/chuck it.

If I'm in a place longer than 3 months, that's the other time I audit all my boxes and see if an item has been there since I moved in. I either try to put it to use right away (if I'd just forgotten about it) or get rid of it if it's not immediately useful. I am really ruthless with my stuff if I'm living in a big city or in the states, where I can re-acquire a similar item on short notice (nearby store or amazon) when needed.

Winter-wear is the only exception to this rule - a single thick jacket, pair of gloves and two sweaters stay in my possession despite not being used for months, for obvious reasons.

Edit: With this rule, I find I own less and less stuff every year, and I have rarely missed anything I've discarded due to this rule (I do miss things I had to discard for other reasons, like when I couldn't afford to reasonably transport my home theater system across continents).

obviouslygreen2• 12 years ago

This is crap. It's also not very Japanese... the assertion that your apartment already has all the organizational equipment you need is utter bullshit if you've ever visited or lived in an apartment in Tokyo (that costs less than 5k USD a month). Even in less crowded places, there's usually a practical need for extra shelving, hanging space, etc. in order to keep enough clothes and related items around unless you live alone and lead a rather spartan lifestyle. I'm currently managing it, but only barely, and with a bare minimum of... everything.

It doesn't help that consumption here is positively rampant. Without making a value judgement, I'll just leave it here that shopping is a major form of entertainment.

This is the same kind of self-improvement crap that sells so well in the US. Don't make the mistake of thinking Japan doesn't have it too.

So, really, the only objection I have here is the idea that it's a "Japanese art." That's marketing; effective marketing, but like most effective marketing, it's a lie. I got rid of most of my stuff to move here, which was actually one of my goals, and I'm very pleased with it; however, the "joy" tenet is misguided, and the general lack of space in Japan has NOT inspired minimalism. It's inspired clutter and the avoidance of the home as a place to entertain and relax.

Again: Not a value judgment. Just observations from an American living in Japan and surrounded by the culture and people this piece misrepresents.

danielweber5• 12 years ago

I've seen people who's idea of "organizing" is to Buy More Things. That advice, in my head, was trying to stop those people from Buying More Things in order to unclutter the house.

legulere• 12 years ago

the assertion that your apartment already has all the organizational equipment you need is utter bullshit

It's not if you need to declutter. Organizational equipment is there for you to put even more crap inside. If you get rid of the crap you almost always have lots of empty organizational stuff.

fractallyte• 12 years ago

Right this moment, my mom's going through my old school books and papers - work I did from ages 7-16. I still have C64 printouts from the 80s, old BASIC listings and graphics. And lots more besides.

These are the equivalent of old family photos. You can't capture these things electronically! There's no way to run your fingers over the curves and grooves of decades-old handwriting, to hold a sheaf of printouts to your nose and have the scent of Epson dot matrix ink bring back memories of days long-gone.

This is personal history, a record of who I once was. If I'd thrown it all out, who would I be now?

Kissing Your Socks Goodbye

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