Book Review- Joy at Work by Marie Kondo and Scott Sonenshein

In May of last year, I went shopping for new books at Walmart. I already had many books I had not read yet, but I wanted to see if there would be any new releases I would like to buy and read. One of the books that caught my eye is the Joy at Work by Marie Kondo and Scott Sonenshein. I heard a lot about Marie Kondo and the KonMari Method of organizing, but I didn’t know much about it. Joy at Work was released in April 2020, so I decided to buy and read it.

Joy at Work is about bringing joy to work by organizing and tidying the workplace. The book is co written by Marie Kondo, an organizing expert and star of the Netflix show Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, and Scott Sonenshein, an organizational psychologist, professor, author, and keynote speaker. The book not only focuses on tidying and organizing the desk, but work related digital devices, such as emails, and other work related topics that can cause stress and frustration in the workplace.

Since the book is written by both Kondo and Sonenshein, there is a note to the reader page in the beginning of the book explaining who wrote which chapter. There are also important notes about the voice of the book and other information pertaining to what is discussed in the book.

As for the book, it was very interesting to read. It was well written and, even though Kondo and Sonenshein wrote different chapters, their individual writing styles complemented each other, making the book’s overall writing style much easier to read. In addition to explaining how and why to organize the physical items on a desk, such as papers and other tools on the desk, the book discusses how to organize the digital parts of work, such as emails, as well as time, networks, meetings, and teams at work. I knew quite a few things the book talked about, but it was very nice to review and know I’m still current on work related tidying.

Even though I found the book very interesting, I don’t think this book is for everyone. If you already know many of the tidying tips and tricks either because your workplace already implements a variation of them and/or you area already trained in leadership and meeting organization, this book will be a review and won’t be new information to you. Also, if you work outside of the corporate world or would like tips on how to organize the office space only, then this book may not be as useful for you. Even though the book is written for a general audience, the book does not  cover a lot of things I thought it would, such as paper and tools organization.

I do recommend this book, but only to anyone who wants to organize and tidy their work lives. If you are looking for a book that talks about how to organize, then this is not the book for you. If you do have trouble finding joy in your work because you’re stressed out, but keeping a schedule and things tidy keeps you motivated to work and reduce stress, then this book is for you.

Well, that’s all for now! Thank you for reading!