Reviews and Comments

Having read one of Marie Kondo's books previously and having watched her series on Netflix a lot of the content mentioned in this book was not new. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up focused on her history from a young child and how her passion has existed since a young age. What will be reassuring for many is the use of her own mistakes which can reassure you that an expert in the field of tiding makes mistakes and has since learnt from them. This could support people who may feel overwhelmed before, during or after the tiding process. The book is an easy listen and broken into 30 minute chapters at most making it easy to delve into. There are times during the book where I question her methods and I think that is perfectly fine. The overarching ideology is treating your belongings with respect and care. This is most likely why she suggests socks shouldn't be bundled (as it could stretch the elastic) or not leaving bags filled. Likewise our houses are often filled with items, but how many of them make us smile when we wear it or use it. This is where she refers to the 'does it spark joy' term. This helps us to appreciate what we have. As with any book there are elements you may wish to incorporate and disregard. What may reassure many is the fact that tiding up is not a daily chore but something that will become 'second nature' once a system has been organised. Finally I found it interesting that she mentioned how the health of her clients tended to improve after decluttering, sort of like a weight had been lifted. Perhaps once a declutter has started you look elsewhere on how to improve your lifestyle?

Cal Newport's book explains the philosophy of Digital Minimalism; showcasing how technology can negatively harm our social interactions. Personally I listened to this book from the local library in an audiobook format and felt the chapters were way to long. Some chapters were up to 70 minutes in length. I personally prefer shorter chapters as it allows someone to dip their toe into a book for 20 - 30 minutes. I often put the book to rest and picked it up the next day trying to pickup where I left of.

The book cites examples of how peoples experiences with technology before his 30 day programme. It talks about how parents may miss out on quality time with their friends and family and what can be done. Cal offers advice throughout the book though some of them are more basic. The range of advice allows the reader to pick and choose some tips and try and implement them. Advice ranges from spending time alone to gain solitude, deleting social media of our phones and walking outside.

As mentioned earlier I borrowed this book from the library as an audiobook which gave me more confidence to pick it up and follow along. Unfortunately, I returned the book before finishing it, which I rarely do, skipping a whole hour long chapter. I felt that the tips were too basic of which some felt 'common knowledge'. I also felt that my life didn't meet up with the examples cited in the book. While age plays a part I have never been inundated with notifications but I have stripped my phone apps to the basics. Cal talks about social interaction being better than digital which can be argued either way. While face to face interactions might be beneficial for some, others may find it harder. Personally I prefer avoiding large social interactions as it can be awkward and hard to gage where conversations are leading. Likewise text based communication does not have white noise from other people talking around you which I find very distracting. Finally the majority of my friends, all be it limited are online and very few are in person where I know their phone number.

TLDR:

To summarise this book explores how social media can be harmful, looking at studies showing both sides. Cal's advice is basic but allows the individual to pick and choose what works for them. Though a large proportion of the advice given could be found out through online queries. I enjoyed listening to how one person spends time drawing a picture for his children's lunch box everyday, and thinking that is a nice touch. But it is far fetched from financial independence which is also discussed in another case study. I wished the chapters were shorter as I often zoned out of the book when listening or got bored and paused it for the day mid chapter.

This book was written by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac, architects and lead negotiators of the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Christiana and Tom discussed how they used their power to bring change at the Paris Agreement. They discuss the politics that is played behind the scenes and how the summit nearly ended due to national security. Despite the concerns raised they continued battling due to the uncertainty of another summit occurring.

This book predicts what the future may look like with the inventions of technology and lack of resources like water. How autonomous vehicles may help the environment but act as trackers to repressive countries.

Each chapter showcases a problem and solution to the crisis from fake news on social media and conformation biases to climate doom and why we need to be optimistic when talking about the changing climate. Christiana and Tom draws on politicians, companies and us to bring changes to help preserve our planet and restore our eco systems.

This book will show you how to declutter and improve your life with proven techniques that have brought families together. Statistics are used throughout to back up the minimalism lifestyle or to highlight consumerism. I found the book to be informative and showcase the power of minimalism!

I listened to this book whilst decluttering which helped me along the way. While I did not use all the recommendations, a wide range were mentioned which supports people new to the concept, while pushing those who have already began! The chapters break down the 'normal' home which allows you to focus on one area, or skip a chapter if it does not apply to your current situations. Personally I found this book was slanted to the American audience, after all it was written by an American, so I found the financial savings less than ideal as they were all in dollars. Despite this I enjoyed listening to the book and I picked up information throughout which I hope to use going forward.

What is evident from the start is the author, Anita Vandyke, took their time in laying out the chapters in book. There are 30 mini chapters, which gradually get more complex. I feel breaking down the chapters avoids making irrational decision and the sense of feeling overwhelmed.

It is worth mentioning that a good 30 day holiday might be the best time to complete these stages. While some require minimal changes to routines, some include decluttering which might take a considerable amount of time.

I also appreciate the diverse range of topics covered such as food waste, composting, decluttering, zero waste shopping and reflecting on the progress half way through. The idea is by making changes and following them for 30 days, they should be engrained and we are more likely to accept and follow them. As someone who focuses on environmentalism some of the statistics and suggestions were not new however, I did learn some ideas I could implement moving forward.

Sadly I despite the organised structure some chapters could have linked better. One example was decluttering where she advised tops could go to thrift/charity shops amongst other suggestions. Yet later in the book she recommended clothes could be used as scrap material for cloths etc. I also would have liked to have seen varied levels of support for some days, such as the no buy period. Personally I was not keen on her "Noah's Ark" method to what items are required however others may.