Books

Once you have finished joy checking clothes, you are ready to move onto books. Books is the second category in the KonMari Method™.

Take a moment and think about what your ideal library looks like. Your library should be your personal hall of fame! Each book that you keep should spark joy for you!

Take out ALL the books throughout your home and pile them together. (Make sure you remember those old textbooks kept in storage too!) You will handle all of the books one by one and ask yourself, “Does this spark joy?”. Keep those that do and graciously give away those that don’t.

To make things easier on yourself place the books in sub categories (cookbooks, fiction, non-fiction, coffee table books, magazines, children's books, etc). Work through one sub category at a time and continue this process until you get through all the books. If you have a book series, hold them all at once and ask yourself if they collectively spark joy.

During this category we really are judging a book by its cover. You will touch and pick up the book, but DO NOT under any circumstance open a book and start reading. Once you do that, you have lost momentum and the process will become much more difficult.

Many people come across books that they started, but never finished. If this is you, ask yourself why you stopped reading. Do you actually think you will finish it? Most likely not. Please, do not keep a book out of guilt. That is the opposite of finding joy. Trust your past self. You must have stopped reading for a reason. If it didn't bring you joy then, it won't now.

Once you have completed the joy checking process it is time to store your books. The ideal way to store books is vertically. This allows you to see what you have and makes them more accessible. Decide if you want to store your books by genre or color. Find what best suits you and what brings you the most joy!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me here.