138 - Why the Magic Art of Tidying Up Doesn't Work for American Women

<p>I’m sharing what I like, don't like and why I think that this book doesn't work for American women.</p> <p>Talk about a controversial statement, I know, but I think "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" does not work for the majority of American women. Marie and I approach organizing differently based on our ages and countries of origin./p></p> <p><strong>There a few things that I do like about Marie's book.</strong></p> <ol> <li>I love that she has brought the discussion of clutter and organizing to the attention of the media and people around the world.</li> <li>I like the idea behind her method of sparking joy. “If it doesn't spark joy that you should get rid of it.”</li> <li>I also love that Marie champions that idea that organization is a teachable and learnable skill.</li> </ol> <p><strong>Yes, yes, YES! That is what I have been saying for years, that it doesn't matter if you're not organized now, you can learn to be organized.</strong></p> <p><br /> {To really understand why this book doesn’t work for American women <a href="https://organize365.com/magic-art-tidying-review/">read the whole post</a> or listen to the podcast where I dive deep into the differences between an American house and a Japanese house and our cultural differences.}</p> <div> </div> <div><strong>What works for Marie but I have not seen as easily implementable for Americans are the following five things</strong>.</div> <div> </div> <div><strong>#1 Marie says you should tidy all at once and be done.</strong></div> <p>Immediately that rubbed me the wrong way, which is why I had such a hard time with her book. Having helped so many women organize their whole homes and organized my own I know, it took me three years to get organized. Knowing how hard American women try to be organized and the quantity of items to be organized I knew it was not that easy. You can't just wave a magic wand, do it once and it's all done.</p> <p><strong>#2 Marie consistently brings up this idea of perfectionism, the perfect system and that you can reach pe