The Art of Discarding

How to Get Rid of Clutter and Find Joy

By: Nagisa Tatsumi

Narrated by: Karen Cass

Length: 3 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's Summary

The book that inspired Marie Kondo's The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Nagisa Tatsumi's international best seller offers a practical plan to figure out what to keep and what to discard so you can get--and stay--tidy, once and for all.

Practical and inspiring, The Art of Discarding (the book that originally inspired a young Marie Kondo to start cleaning up her closets) offers hands-on advice and easy-to-follow guidelines to help listeners learn how to finally let go of stuff that is holding them back - as well as sage advice on acquiring less in the first place.

Author Nagisa Tatsumi urges us to reflect on our attitude to possessing things and to have the courage and conviction to get rid of all the stuff we really don't need, offering advice on how to tackle the things that pile up at home and take back control. By learning the art of discarding you will gain space, free yourself from "accumulation syndrome", and find new joy and purpose in your clutter-free life.

©2017 Nagisa Tatsumi (P)2017 Hachette Audio

All you need!

Way better and more logical than Marie Kondo method! I'm already disorganized, why do I need to pile everything I own and create more chaos? This gave me a clear rebuttal for all of my mental arguments about the clutter. Listening to this book over and over while discarding REALLY empowered me! Yes! I can do it! And I Did! Yes!!!

Just read "The Magic of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo

I wanted to read this because it inspired Marie Kondo, but her book “The Magic of Tidying Up” is WAY better. This book was not even worth the read. I grew very weary of the author describing “situations” in which someone hung onto clutter. It is annoying how he describes many clutter situations, then goes back to each one describing the solution instead of one situation, then the solution. This took up way too much of the book and was not helpful with actual techniques about how to declutter like the in-depth techniques Marie Kondo describes in her book.

"Lower Law" Konmari method, still a good read.

Marie Kondo refers to this book, but if you get it the essence in her book, you don't necessarily need to read this one. I think it's still good for us to remember it's okay to throw things out. Worth a read if you're working on getting to where you want to be, but I like Marie's book better for "finishing the thought" if that makes sense. It's a good base.

Helpful to get motivated

I would suggest reading Marie Kondo's books first. This book will give some extra suggestions and motivations.

Such a good reference.

I am a pack rat, I was raised by a old Black Goddess from the deep South that was taught never to throw out anything. Poor people are scared of lack. Everything can be used, and you might need it later..the problem is later never gets here.
This book address all of these fears and much more. She gives you clear strategies to address all areas of your house and your life.
Highly recommended.

Informative

I enjoyed the book as an addition to the KonMarie method (she mentions this book in her writing as inspiration) and as a general "why" for decluttering and minimalism.

Chapters seem to have been cut short

The reader ended one chapter in mid sentence! And then proceeded on to the next chapter.
Left me hanging on what she was about to say!!
Please revise. I would like to hear the whole book.

highly recommended

loved it. excellent narroration. super motivational to listen to while tidying. thanks to the author for sharing her ideas.

Meh, not for me

Having already read Marie Kondo's 'The Magic of Tyding Up,' I found this lackluster and uninspired.

I had decided to pick this one up because supposedly it's the one that inspired Kondo. Perhaps my expectations were too high. I found Kondo addresses the psychology behind clutter and hoarding more thoroughly and provided clearly defined actionable steps and strategies. This in comparison can be summed up by, "Throw stuff away." Tada. Saved you endless regurgitation of the same concept over and over.