The Joy of Less: A Minimalist Guide to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify

I have a problem with clutter. Not to hoarder levels, but I’m definitely a collector of:- Shelves upon shelves of unread books.- Plastic bins full of yarn, shoved in a closet.- Clothes that are put away but which I never wear.- Boxes upon boxes of shoes, despite the fact that I wear the same two pairs of shoes every week.- So. Many. Books.When it first hit the bestseller list, I read Marie Kondo’s treatise on sparking joy, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Did I agree with all of her ideas? Definitely not. I refused to dump all of my clothes in one big pile, handling them one by one. I did go through my closet and drawers and donate/trash a bunch of items, however. Did I ask myself if each item “sparked joy”? Not necessarily. But I got real with myself and decided what was worth keeping or not. I also refused to thank the items I was letting go of prior to them leaving the house—I just didn’t see the point of personifying my stinky old shoes that way, but hey, whatever works for people, right?The problem with becoming clutter-free is that it’s an ongoing process and that’s the part I have trouble with: keeping up with it. Keeping things tidy. The process. Try as I might, I struggle with “collecting” a little too enthusiastically and find myself needing to purge every few months when my book stash reaches critical mass (along with my other collections).I ran across Francine Jay’s book, Lightly, when it was the Audible Daily Deal recently. I saw that she had another book, The Joy of Less: A Minimalist Guide to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify. Unlike Kondo’s book, Jay’s book seemed more straightforward and practical, so I bought the audiobook, put in my earbuds, and got to work.I don’t know if I was just in the perfect mood to declutter or if the book is solely responsible, but I decluttered SO much while I listened to this book. I’m talking three trash bags full of clothes and shoes for donation, not to mention A LOT of books (six bankers boxes worth). Plus a bag or two of things that just needed to be recycled or thrown away.As with Kondo’s method, I haven’t put everything in Jay’s book to practice. Jay emphasizes the importance of putting things away immediately after you’ve used them, rather than leaving them out. For example, not having a lot of random things on the coffee table or nightstand all the time. For me, that doesn’t quite work, because too often out of sight equals out of mind, which means if everything is put away I forget that certain things are there to begin with. But I get the concept and it’s part of that process I’ve always struggled with. I can definitely put certain things away immediately (dishes, clothes, mail) but my books are pretty non-negotiable in terms of being out in each room.Something else I love about Jay’s method is the idea of having a place for everything. Before, our mail would sit on the dining room table, piling up, when most of it was junk that could be recycled immediately anyway. It even got to the point where we had so much clutter on the dining room table that we stopped using it for its intended purpose. Now, the mail gets dealt with every day and the table is clear. We use it as an actual table again! For sitting at! And having meals on! What a concept! And any mail that needs to be looked at more closely or dealt with later goes in a small basket. Just thinking about that tidy basket versus the table, previously covered in junk, gives me joy.I still have a ton of work to do—while the closet is tidier, it’s not as clear as I’d like it to be. Next up are my plastic bins of knitwear, purses/bags, and who knows what else. I also have a second closet that’s stuffed with yarn I never use and things I’ve held onto for a decade or longer…but why? Just to sit in a dark closet? I cannot wait to tackle that space next.I’m not sure if the full minimalist lifestyle is for me. Jay, the self-proclaimed Miss Minimalist, shares that she and her husband live in a sparsely furnished bedroom. That’s fine for some, but personally I like having a big, comfy bed and lots of storage for clothes that I do actually wear.All this being said, Jay’s book really resonated with me because I love the idea of having fewer things with the intention of creating more space. There’s something freeing about that concept. My challenge is to resist the urge to fill that new space with more random stuff, but like I said—it’s a process. And the things that are worth keeping are the ones that are truly meaningful to me, which means that when I look around, I see things that—dare I say it?—spark joy, rather than panic or stress.

I use to really struggle with keeping my house remotely clean. I tried FLY Lady and various apps and making a cleaning schedule but nothing helped. Then one day I was browsing a used bookstore and stumbled upon The Joy of Less by Francine Jay and it was exactly what I needed.It's about minimalism, but not rigid "100 items" minimalism. It's about having *enough*. What's enough for one person will look different than what's enough for another. Like a gourmet chef's "enough" in the kitchen will look different than the "enough" of a single guy who eats take-out all week. I have a lending library, so my "enough" looks different than someone who relies on an e-reader. The point is to have your needs and wants met but not to excess. Every book I own deserves its spot on my shelf, and I do cull my collection regularly because books do still sneak in. (That is the nature of books, haha)It's also about the value of space. If your table is full of clutter then you first have to clear it off before starting a project. That could deter you from getting started in the first place. But if your table is clear, if you have that *space*, you could start a project on a whim. Doesn't that sound like a more enjoyable way to live? Plus space just plain feels better. Clutter clogs the air flow but when the space is clear it's easier to breathe and there's less weighing on your mind. It's more relaxing. Spas aren't cluttered for a reason ;)The book also helps you reframe your relationship to your stuff. It makes you be honest about why you're hosting this stuff. Is your stuff serving you or are you serving it? Is your stuff worth the time and hassle of its upkeep, of maintaining it, of putting it away? Does it deserve the space it occupies? Where did it even come from? The book helps you deal with gifts and freebies and sentimental items and back-up items (if your coffee machine breaks are you really going to get and use your old one from the garage or go buy a new one?). It helps you evaluate every item.The book has practical suggestions on how to downsize too. For example, take items out of "their spot" when you're evaluating them. Like items in a junk drawer, they might trick you into thinking that they belong in that drawer because that's where they always are. But if you dump the drawer out to go through the contents, suddenly you realize that you don't need or want those seventeen ink pens that you never use. Empty your closet to go through your wardrobe, take books off the shelf, empty your pantry.Also in the book is how to keep the clutter from building up again. Be a gatekeeper, don't let new things in without an interview. Try the "one in, one out" rule. Don't accept freebies at conferences (yay... an advertising magnet, thaaanks....).The last chapters walk you through decluttering room by room. Do you really want all those expired cosmetics in your bathroom? What's that stuff in the back of your closet?The author wrote the book before she became a mother (she has one child last I heard - she has a blog, that's how I know), so her advice on kids' clutter is... well she wrote it before becoming a mom ;) One piece of advice is to ask for experiences vs things for their gifts. For example, my daughter is receiving ballet classes for her birthday. Her physical gift will be ballet shoes. That's from my parents. I'm giving her new pajamas (the girl loves pajamas, and she has a lot of sleepovers). The craft at her party will be an art project to decorate her new bedroom. It'll be made with love and will remind her of her friends AND it's useful (because being beautiful IS a use). I get my kids involved in downsizing their possessions regularly too, but I never force it. I gently guide them and every decision about their stuff is theirs to make. We make it fun and they feel good about donating their things for other kids.I have a friend who said she's impressed by how little stuff we have. We haven't always been this way! Our walls use to be lined in furniture and clutter. Our closets were packed with clothes we never wore. The playroom was insane!!! We still have more than I'd like to have (that happens when you have three kids), but our house feels way better and is so much easier to maintain now. It's a constant effort though. Stuff still sneaks in, and if a clutter pile forms it can get out of hand (clutter attracts clutter. It does).Anyway, this book helped us improve our quality of life. We're sacrificing much less time to fussing with our stuff now that we have less stuff. And I don't miss the stuff! I now see stuff as a burden to an extent. We use to stop at a thrift store weekly and buy random crap. Now it's been months since we've been to one, and even then we went with a purpose!OH! And now that we have less stuff I no longer fail at housekeeping. I didn't need FLY Lady, I didn't need a cleaning schedule. I needed less stuff. That's it. Now it's easy and enjoyable to maintain my home. I just put a little bit away and suddenly my home is peaceful and serene.BTW, this book has earned a permanent spot on my shelf. I re-read it sometimes when our clutter starts sneaking back in. I loan it to others. It very much deserves the space which it occupies!

This is written by an environmentalist and a committed minimalist. It is nicely set out though there are many pages with very little text (very minimalist, of course!)I have now read five books about decluttering...all bought off Amazon, and the Jay book, the most expensive, does have some excellent ideas e.g. about keeping surfaces, including the floor, absolutely clear if you can... but imho, other good ones are:For psychological detail about WHY people buy and accumulate goods they don't need, I recommend Dr. Marilyn Paul's book,"Why am I so disorganised?" which is an exhaustive exploration of the many reasons that may be applicable (though at times it does read like a series of notes of the various books she read when researching for her book.) [And it does have annoying 'quizzes' to fill in early on.. but don't let that put you off.]And for a down-to-earth British approach covering bad habits, smaller spaces, home office issues and a description of Joan Bakewell's "Saying Good Night to My House" routine, I would recommend, Sheila Chandra, "Banish Clutter Forever: how the Toothbrush Principle will change your life forever". This helped us to dramatically change our bathroom, and to save a good deal of money too, as when we redecorated we found we had no need for any bathroom cabinet, or extra 'fripperies' - and it looks really simple and nice, and is much faster to clean. I found this the best value for money as regards effecting real change... tho' I am still working on our loft...

When I saw the reviews saying that this book is 'life changing' I did not believe it for one minute - how can a book that helps you clean out your drawers be life changing?!!! But I was wrong - it really can change your life. This book has a no-nonsense approach and gets down to the nitty-gritty from the start. It explains exactly how to declutter your home, room by room... and really gets you questioning why you are hanging on to objects that really don't mean that much to you any more. As if that wasn't enough, the book goes far wider and deeper, questioning our habits as consumers, making us look about why we buy so much 'stuff' - but it's not just our personal clutter that is the problem - it looks at the effect that buying and disposing of all this stuff is having on our world and questions how others can manage to live with so much less stuff than we do. A truly thought-provoking, life-changing and excellent read - extremely well written and thought out.

I couldn’t stop reading this. I read lots of books on the subject of decluttering not because I have a house full of clutter but because I am always on the look out for new ideas to reduce, tidy and make my use of housework time efficient . This book is completely inspiring in that it doesn’t just talk about decluttering but it hits home about the effects of over consumption on the planet and the people in it. It made me think of different ways that I can live responsibly as well as freeing up my space and my time. Areas in my home that I thought I had decluttered suddenly saw a new effort both in terms of getting rid of stuff and acquiring less. Very enjoyable and meaningful read.

I watched Marie Kondo a couple of years back and was inspired to have a clear out and organise what I have. And tbh, I declutter and sort on quite a regular basis. But this is another level and I LOVE it! It really makes you think about every item you have in your house I. E. Why do we need two bottles openers, 50 biros, 4 coats? I've always looked at any space in my house and thought how can I make that space work harder, but now I think can't I just let that be an empty space. I also love the advice on how to encourage the other people in your house to be minimilists.As well as making me get rid (in a responsible way) of a load of crap, I am now really thinking about everything that comes into my house (including presents) which all adds up to wasting less money and being more responsible (to the environment). Some things were quite challenging such as the reason we keep sentimental items, but I did pretty well at narrowing these down too. I highly recommend this book.

I bought Joy of Less when on a decluttering kick and found myself underlining large parts of it as worthwhile. Although I had decluttered some years earlier, my junk had built up again to proportions where I felt irritated by it and I really needed to start chucking things out. Although I have read several decluttering guides, this one has proved perhaps the most useful. Particularly important is the advice to empty out EVERYTHING from a drawer, shelf, storage item or room in order to go through it and to only put back the things you love and use. For some reason, that simple advice has really helped me be much more hardcore in throwing things out. Her simple point that you are not a celebrity and that since by and large your clothes will go unremarked, and therefore you don't need a celebrity-sized wardrobe, is also golden, as is the advice to keep a bag in your closet and box in the cellar or somewhere else, into which you can put things that have outlived their usefulness and 'gifts' that come into the house that you don't really want, before they take up permanent residence. The second half of the book is somewhat repetitive if you sit down and read it straight through - it's better used as you tackle each room individually.