Articles

Book Review

Joy at Work

Joy at Work
Written by Marie Kondo

My mental health suffers around mess. When my house is messy, I’m more easily stressed, overwhelmed and anxious. And I’m not the only one, studies have shown that living in messy situations boosts cortisol, a biomarker of stress in the body. Conversely, tidying up has also been shown to boost self-esteem. One luminary in the field that has intuitively understood the link between tidying and mental health is Japanese influencer and “tidying consultant” Marie Kondo. This book review is written by the MHERC librarian, Nicholas Hansen.

Marie Kondo’s Joy at Work focuses on how to bring the tidying lessons that Kondo has developed out of the personal and into the professional. Most people will likely be familiar with her debut book “The life-changing Magic of Tidying up”, or her Netflix show “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo”, where she explains the benefits of tidiness, touching on aesthetic, interpersonal, and health reasons of having, as the old idiom goes, “A place for everything, and everything in its place.” I first became aware of her from snide posts I saw online (“Marie Kondo says people only need five books! Philistine!”) as well as people rushing to her defense.

I soon picked up that people were mostly impressed with her “Sparks Joy” method. Unlike most career declutterers, who tend to approach non-essential items with suspicion and contempt, and seem to want us all aspire to live lives of aesthetic self-denial, Kondo instead wants us to keep everything we want - and it’s the wanting itself that she interrogates. Simply put, her “KonMarie” method asks us to decide if each item we own “sparks joy” in our lives, until we only have those items necessary for a happy and wholesome life. 

When we let go of items, then, we should not think of it as “discarding” or “throwing away”, but instead we should thank the item for the role it had in our life and accept that it’s not filling that role any longer. Even items we never used teach us, by demonstrating their uselessness, the kind of lives we want to live. This reconceptualisation helps sidestep the guilt many people feel when it comes time to tidy, especially when the items involved were gifts or expensive splurges. All in all, it’s a healthy, affirming philosophy towards tidying up.

It does, however, have some obvious limitations when applied to the workplace, where “sparking joy” is often not the top priority. Even people lucky enough to love their work still have items that are as dreary as they are essential. Of all the emotions one has felt receiving a freshly printed excel spreadsheet, joy is not among them. The book makes Konmari relevant to work by pointing out that while a lot of the odds and ends (called Komonoin Japanese) people acquire at work don’t strictly spark joy, they are still useful in building what the book calls an “Ideal Work Life”, one where stress and futility are reduced, and work can be done in an effective manner. As Kondo points out, most people would not say a stapler would spark joy in their lives, but having a stapler at their desk as opposed to on the other side of the office may make their work more efficient, and therefore help the person focus on their tasks that actually excite and motivate them.  

Speaking of excitement and motivation, something that bubbles through this text is Kondo’s enjoyment of helping people tidy up. She describes mundane things like deciding what documents to keep as a “precious opportunity”, and reports on how tidying seems to rejuvenate her clients - tidying for her, it seems, is literally life changing. Is this excitement marketing hyperbole? At least a little, but that’s a writing skill like any other, and Kondo is a master at making you excited to tidy. 

Following Kondo’s chapters, the book shifts gears with contributions from co-author Scott Sonenshein, a professor of management. His chapters delve into the practical application of the KonMari method within professional settings, offering focused insights on how to bring clarity and purpose to workplace routines—from streamlining meetings to cultivating more intentional networking. Sonenshein’s writing is clear, thoughtful, and grounded in organizational psychology, adding a layer of depth that broadens the book’s relevance.

However, while his analysis is undeniably useful, it lacks the spark and charisma that define Kondo’s voice. Where Kondo’s prose is buoyant and almost whimsical in its passion for tidying, Sonenshein’s tone is more academic and restrained. As a result, the book loses some of its momentum in these middle chapters, trading inspiration for instruction. It’s a necessary pivot, but one that may feel like a lull for readers drawn in by Kondo’s signature charm.

The co-authors write as lightly and efficiently as I’m sure they tidy, and their passion comes across in the text. I recommend reading through Kondo’s writing, chapters one to five and the final chapter, and then if she inspires you to apply tidying principles, to go back and read Sonenshein’s chapters in whatever order suits your interest. 

Written from my conspicuously tidy desk!