Joy at Work

Organizing Your Professional Life

By: Marie Kondo, Scott Sonenshein

Narrated by: Brittany Ishibashi, Dan Woren

Declutter your desk and brighten up your business with this transformative guide from an organizational psychologist and the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.
The workplace is a magnet for clutter and mess. Who hasn't felt drained by wasteful meetings, disorganized papers, endless emails, and unnecessary tasks? These are the modern-day hazards of working, and they can slowly drain the joy from work, limit our chances of career progress, and undermine our well-being.
There is another way. In Joy at Work, bestselling author and Netflix star Marie Kondo and Rice University business professor Scott Sonenshein offer stories, studies, and strategies to help you eliminate clutter and make space for work that really matters.
Using the world-renowned KonMari Method and cutting-edge research, Joy at Work will help you overcome the challenges of workplace mess and enjoy the productivity, success, and happiness that come with a tidy desk and mind.

Critic reviews

"Marie Kondo and Scott Sonenshein are modern-day superheroes -- the dynamic duo of office efficiency and satisfaction. Their timely book delivers the tools, questions, and mindsets you need to rid the clutter that's piling on your desk, clogging your calendar, and infiltrating your personal networks. If you want joy in life, the place to begin is Joy at Work."—Daniel H. Pink, New York Times bestselling author of When, To Sell Is Human, and Drive

"Marie Kondo and Scott Sonenshein understand something very important about life and work: many times the key to success comes from subtracting, not adding. For anyone looking to bring more joy and focus to their office and career, Joy at Work is the book you've been waiting for."—Alex Banayan, author of the #1 international bestseller The Third Door

"Finding joy at work isn't magic -- it takes work. But it might feel a bit more like play thanks to the practical insights from Marie Kondo and Scott Sonenshein."—Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take, and host of the TED podcast WorkLife

"A tidy guide to finding joy at work. Full of psychological wisdom and practical tips -- I loved it!"—Angela Duckworth, New York Times bestselling author of Grit

"Joy at Work is a charming antidote to the messiness of organizational life. It will help you be happier, waste less time, and lead others -- and is mighty fun to read."
—Bob Sutton, Stanford Professor, organizational psychologist, and author of bestsellers The No Asshole Rule and Good Boss, Bad Boss

This book would be great for those in large companies

I love Marie Kondo but this book is more for people in larger businesses. I am not in a team and I don’t attend meetings and that was half of the book. Definitely a great book for those people who do though.

Great to focus on what's important to each reader

I am a performance improvement consultant and have often helped people sort their work areas. This was an incredibly uplifting approach. I will highly recommend this book to anyone asking me how they can improve their time management or joy at work.

Excellent

Inspiring read. Thank you, Marie! Highly recommended to all. Filled with great and useful ideas.

Okay

This was my first KonMari book. There are some useful lessons that I want to try, but it’s not earth-shattering. That being said, it’s a short listen that probably offers some useful tips for most people. I found the latter half (written by the co-author of Kon Mari) more useful.

Interesting for tidying geeks

I am a big fan of Marie Kondo. The life changing magic of tidying up transformed my life when I picked it up 5 years ago, so I was eager to listen to this book to see what it could offer.

Essentially, this book is a rehash of her first bestseller. I think it’s only suitable for people who already love the Kon Marie method. I personally found it to be a good reminder. It inspired me to clean up my workspace. It also helped me reflect on my priorities. The book gave me more confidence in my decision to pursue my current career path.

I didn’t resonate as much with Scott’s portion of the book. I did however finally clean up my inbox and desktop thanks to his advice

Another great sequel

I wasn’t sure if I would benefit from this as much as the previous books, but I enjoyed it thoroughly and Scott also added a lot to this. I would recommend it without reservation to anyone who is a fan of Marie Kondo or of tidying up, but especially to those who are interested in a journey of self-discovery which can be informed by the process of shaping the environments they inhabit.

I love it!!!

So inspirational as well as her show. It's amazing to know she also had to learn how to find joy.

It’s ok

Unless you are very unhappy at work you will not be amazed by the suggestions mentioned here. Tips for productivity are not super creative but useful if you have never though about them in the past.
I don’t regret having used the time to listen to it but I am not amazed.

This book was irrelevant—until it became relevant

Through most of the book, I tried to find ways to weave my new learnings into my daily work life, but it wasn’t fitting. I WFH and some of the tips seemed dated. I almost gave up reading it. However, the last few chapters really drove home the idea of tidying digital documents and folders. I also appreciated the tips on strengthening work relationships and tidying our networks. My biggest takeaway? Just because you don’t have a day full of meetings doesn’t make you less important or vital to your org. More meetings doesn’t equate to more valuable.

Impactful

I’ve read all Marie’s books, loved them, but this was in a way the most impactful for me. Maybe cause my WHOLE life...not just my closets and drawers...was the real issue. Also, some of the personal frustrations and issues she alluded to made her seem more real, and made me feel less imperfect. I got a LOT out of this one. Now to apply it!