As a fan of Marie Kondo’s work, I have been looking forward to reading her book, Joy at Work, since it came out. Approximately three years ago, I read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and Marie’s philosophy transformed my perspective of material possessions. I explained Marie’s concept to my husband and over a period of several months, we tidied our house. I’m thrilled to say that our house remains tidy and we apply the “spark joy” technique when we purchase new items. By no means have we reached a minimalist lifestyle, but we are definitely more thoughtful of our buying habits.

I loved The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up and still talk about things sparking joy. I’m excited I found a new way of thinking and that it has stuck with me over the past several years. So, when her next book Joy at Work was published, I was intrigued. I finally decided that if I’m ever going to read this book, it needs to be now, as I’m planning on retiring in 2024. Since my retirement plans are in place, I initially thought I waited too long to read this book and I wouldn’t benefit from her teachings. Well, I was wrong and I’m so glad I stuck with it. I think now was the perfect time.

Marie Kondo partnered with Scott Sonenshein, an organizational behavior psychologist to write, Joy at Work. The books opens with content designed to get readers engaged by talking about the benefits of the techniques described that will help people feel motivated, organized, and energized about their jobs. I mentioned that I’m retiring next year, right? My only motivation at work right now is getting one day closer to my anticipated retirement date. I no longer care about impressing supervisors or hoping for a promotion. I continued listening to the book anyway.

Marie and Scott go through each of the konmari steps that are very similar when tidying a house; books, papers, office supplies, electronics, personal care items, sentimental items, and digital documents. The more I listened, and got sucked into the excitement I feel when I tidy, I modified the application of their suggestions. Since I’m not motivated to develop my career, I’m instead motivated to retire, I decided I can apply their suggestions to my dream of one day cleaning out my office. Instead of waiting until a few months before I retire, I can start now!

I have photos and additional information that I'm unable to include here. It can all be found on my blog, in the link below.
A Book And A Dog ( )

OK, starting at the root, go through your hard drive, open every document, and ask, "Does this spark joy?"

No, no, no. This book isn't like that, though it might have been better if it had been. It's only PARTLY written by Marie Kondo; the other part is written by some guy who isn't Marie Kondo, and contains trite advice about improving life in an office. This trite advice gets into a Marie Kondo book by being called a form of "tidying."

Examples: Stop saying 'yes' to everything. This is 'tidying your time.' Unsubscribe from email lists you don't read. This is 'tidying your email.' Categorize all the decisions you have to make and see if you can eliminate, automate, or delegate them. This is 'tidying your decisions.' etc.

It only becomes bearable when Kondo's voice once again returns at the end, because she can carry any book on charm alone. But really, this one is not a keeper. You do not spark joy; good-bye. ( )

I could have finished this sooner but thanks to MCO, it had sort of delayed my reading as I'm working from home and not the office so no commuting. Anyway, this book is a timely read what with the change of my work life plus I could tagged this to TBNT Book Challenge for January: A book about new beginnings.

Here's my full review:
http://www.sholee.net/2021/01/mpov-joy-at-work.html

Thanks to my dear friend, Ai Jou, for this lovely book gift! ( )

I was a bit blah on this tbh. ( )

Not sure if I will actually try this practice, but definitely some good advice that makes you really look at the time spent on work. ( )