Reading Journal: Joy at Work

by Marie Kondo and Scott Sonenshein

When I picked up this book, I was inspired by the title – feeling meh after a 15-year corporate career at the same organization, I was hoping the book will bring back some joy at work. I didn’t expect the book to be mostly about tidying up (although on hindsight, the book is co-authored by Marie Kondo – what should I have expected?).

The premise of the book is that being tidy removes feelings of being overwhelmed, leading to less stress and therefore, Joy at Work.

Being a naturally tidy person, I didn’t need to be convinced to be neat, so the book was not groundbreaking for me. Nevertheless, there were some good reminders in the book. The content was also comprehensive, ranging from tidying up the physical workspace to non-physical workspace e.g digital documents, time, meetings, and even teams.

Takeaway: Reading about tidying books helped me feel better about letting go some books which I had bought in the past but have never read. I feel guilty about spending money on books which I don’t read, but learnt that the ‘spark joy’ moment for these books have passed. By hanging on to them, I hang on to the guilt. It’s time to let go.

Overall, the book does offer some good advice about the benefits of keeping tidy and how to go about tidying your work-life.

However, I do wonder about the continued relevance of learning to tidy the workplace, since offices are moving towards co-working spaces rather than fixed desks, which forces employees to be minimalist and allows no opportunity to build up clutter. For example, at my workplace I am allocated a small locker to store my personal belongings. When I go to the office, I bring the things I need to an available desk, and I am expected to clear the desk if I step away longer than 2 hours. Such hot-desking setups and the trendy work-from-home arrangements these days also makes it challenging to store printed papers. (I also hope environmental teachings are sinking in and people print less anyway.)

How does your office look like and does it spark joy?