Joy at Work

Key Concepts

The benefits of tidying at work

“We’ve seen countless examples of how tidying up can improve one’s work life, both materially and psychologically. Just as tidying the home sparks joy in our lives, tidying the workplace sparks joy in our work, helping us to become more organized and achieve better results. This book introduces the secrets of that process.” (p. 5)

“Various studies show that messy conditions cost us far more than we could ever imagine, and in multiple ways. In a survey of one thousand working American adults, 90 percent felt that clutter had a negative impact on their lives. The top reasons they gave were lowered productivity, a negative mindset, reduced motivation, and diminished happiness.” (p. 10)

“Clutter also adversely affects health. According to a study by scientists at UCLA, being surrounded by too many things increases cortisol levels, a primary stress hormone.” (p. 10)

“In addition, recent psychology research shows that a messy environment taxes the brain. When surrounded by clutter, our brains are so busy registering all the things around us that we can’t focus on what we should be doing in the moment, such as tackling the work on our desk or communicating with others.” (p. 10)

“Visualizing Your Ideal Work Life”

“The trick is to imagine in vivid, motion-picture detail what your whole day will look like after you finish tidying up. That image should include three elements: the physical environment, your behavior, and your feelings. Visualize what your workspace looks like, such as your neat and tidy desk and where everything is stored; what you do there, including such things as enjoying a cup of coffee or refreshing aromas; and what you feel when you do that: for example, excited, fulfilled, or content.” (p. 29)

“Only when you have set tidying goals based on a clear picture of your ideal work style can you approach tidying with the right kind of mindset.” (p. 32)

Heuristics for tidying your workspace

“To begin with, tidy only those spaces for which you have sole responsibility. This is a cardinal rule of tidying, and it basically means starting with your own desk.” (p. 47)

“The rules for tidying these categories are also the same. Work on one category at a time. Begin by taking out every item in each category or subcategory and piling them in one spot.” (p. 48)

“The rule of thumb for papers is to discard everything. ...I’m just trying to get across how much resolve we need in order to choose only those that are absolutely necessary and to discard the rest. There is nothing more bothersome in our workspace than papers, which seem to accumulate before we realize it.” (p. 53)

Business cards: ”One business owner I advised had four thousand business cards. Soon after we started our lessons, he discovered that he didn’t need any of them because he was connected with almost everyone on social media. He also had the email addresses of anyone with whom he had communicated by email.” (p. 60)

“For those who find tidying up sentimental items difficult, try taking a photo before letting them go.” (p. 68)

“Your desktop is a work surface, not a storage cupboard, so the rule of thumb is to store nothing on it.” (p. 71)

“How Tidying Up Can Change Your Life”

“But what is its true value? I think it’s far more than feeling fantastic about your nice clean desk or seeing your work efficiency improve. Tidying up allows you to rediscover your own self. When you face each item you possess, one by one, and ask yourself if it sparks joy or if it will contribute to a joyful future, you begin to see quite clearly what you really want and what makes you happy. By the time you have finished tidying, your mindset, your behavior, and the choices you make have changed. As a result, your life undergoes a dramatic transformation.” (p. 73)

“To face the things we own through tidying is to confront our past. There will be times when we regret our purchases or feel embarrassed by our decisions. But to face these feelings honestly and let things go with gratitude for teaching us what we really need is to acknowledge our past choices. By constantly repeating the mental process of identifying what we truly want and deciding what to do on the basis of what brings us joy, we acquire a positive perspective that affirms every choice we make.” (p. 75)

Heuristics for tidying your digital workspace

“Keep digital documents organized. Staying organized is much easier once you have a small set of intuitive, primary folders. If you decide to keep a new file, put it in the most appropriate folder. Otherwise, delete it. The usefulness of your folders will improve as you consistently place similar files in the same place and keep only what you need.” (p. 84)

“Use the Desktop to Delight”

“Finally, process your emails on a daily basis. When new messages come in, shift from thinking everything gets kept to thinking everything gets discarded, unless there’s a good reason to keep it. It’s best to schedule email work in a few sittings each day, such as at the beginning and end of the day. You will find that something you thought you needed to respond to in the morning gets resolved by the end of the day. Using blocks of time for email will also minimize distractions and allow you to focus on the work that matters most to you. Let people who depend on you know your system and provide another way for them to contact you for highly urgent items so you aren’t forced to check email constantly.” (p. 91)

“Don’t confuse your email with your work. Email is one of many tools to get your job done, but it is not the work itself.” (p. 92)

Tidying time

“Earning rewards and being competitive is a part of who we are, but it can derail us easily. When deciding how to spend your time, remember: Don’t trade an activity you’d love to pursue for a reward you don’t value. Being mindful and aware of what we truly want and who we truly are can protect us from falling into this trap of chasing the wrong goals that we’ll later regret.” (p. 104)

“There’s a simple way to hold ourselves accountable for how we spend our days. Instead of asking which activities you should eliminate, ask, Which ones should I keep?” (p. 109)

“Pick up each task and ask yourself: Is this task required for me to keep, and excel, at my job? Will this task help create a more joyful future, for example, by helping earn a raise, get a promotion, or learn a new skill? Does this task spark joy and contribute to more satisfaction at work? Stop doing any task that doesn’t meet one of these three conditions.” (p. 111)

“Here’s a quick rule I follow: Apply the beneficiary test. Be honest—does anyone read the weekly report you send out, and does it change their decision-making? You can survey your beneficiaries to appraise the usefulness of your work. You might just learn that people do value your work and find new meaning in completing the task.” (p. 112)

Tidying decisions

“Start by asking, What’s worth keeping? Or, more precisely for this category, Which decisions deserve my time and energy?” (p. 122)

“When considering your many work decisions, follow these simple steps: Forget about the small decisions, sort and organize the medium decisions, and reserve your mental energy for the high-stakes ones.” (p. 122)

Good Enough Is Good Enough for Most Decisions: “Striving for perfection is often unnecessary and comes at a cost. It both wastes time that can be better spent on other activities and creates feelings of frustration and disappointment when you didn’t make the perfect choice.” (p. 130)

Tidying your network

“Having a large network means only one thing—that you’ve accumulated a large network!” (p. 134)

“There’s a big difference, though, between having a network full of valuable contacts and having a network full of valuable contacts truly willing to help.” (p. 135)

Tidying meetings

“For those meetings that you’re responsible for organizing, go through each index card with the mindset that you’re going to cancel all the ones you’ve already arranged.” (p. 151)

“Now put the remaining index cards in front of you so you can look at them all at once. What do they tell you about your job? Are you spending too much time in meetings and not enough doing your job? Are most of the meetings requirements for the job, and too few are bringing you closer to your ideal work life? Are you finding your days occupied by attending meetings only to please the boss?” (p. 151)

“Trust Keeps Teams Tidy” 

“When you’re in a group with high trust, everyone tries to better the collective. In low-trust groups, those efforts go toward individual goals, usually at the expense of the group. The result: a messy team full of arguments that spends a lot of time accomplishing very little.” (p. 172)

“If the team worked to build trust beforehand, it’s got some protection. Trust turns disagreements over ideas into productive conversations, while making us feel better about hearing the news.” (p. 175)

“Let Your Tidying Inspire Others” 

“Although you can’t force tidying upon others, you can inspire them by sharing all that you’ve accomplished. Invite colleagues to check out your workspace. Talk about your approach to managing your email and calendar. Show off your smartphone and computer desktop. Let people know how you’ve avoided getting bogged down by too many decisions. Keep building high-quality connections, and people will be moved to make their own.” (p. 181)

“If you can, go one step further. Propose a tidying day to the company’s leaders so that everyone in the office can transform their workspaces. For meetings, suggest for one day per week canceling all but the most essential meetings and try to shorten the ones you still need to have. Use the saved time to work on anything that sparks joy. Recommend that everyone in the company lay off email for one coordinated hour each day; that will provide needed relief from constant interruptions. Then build a supportive community of work tidiers to learn about new tidying techniques and motivate one another to keep going.” (p. 182)

“Should You Change Your Job If It Doesn’t Spark Joy?”

“Tidying quite naturally hones our ability to discern what sparks joy and what doesn’t, and we learn to apply this sensitivity to all kinds of things. I know many people who switched jobs or quit to start their own business once they finished tidying their workspace.” (p. 193)

“If, like Yu, you’re wondering if you should change jobs, I encourage you to analyze your current situation first. When we encounter difficulties at work, whether in our relationships with coworkers or clients or in our job responsibilities, those problems often originate from a combination of factors. We need to examine and deal with each one. What sparks joy for you at work right now, and what doesn’t? What can be changed, and what can’t?” (p. 195)

Work-life balance

“With children, we have a lot less control over many aspects of daily life. For this very reason, it’s important to make the spaces over which we do have control spark joy. Creating a place, even just one, that sparks joy for us each time we’re in it can really change how we feel.” (p. 211)

“One of the most common questions is ‘How can I create a good work-life balance?’ I always respond with this suggestion: ‘Start by visualizing your ideal work-life balance.’” (p. 212)

“Joy at Work Sparks Joy in Life”

“Our work is the same. Every job is essential. It doesn’t have to be big. Take a good look at your own. How does it contribute to the company as a whole? And how does it contribute to society? Finding meaning in our daily tasks makes our job worth doing, and this leads to joy. In fact, the attitude with which we approach our work is far more important than what kind of job we have. When we’re happy and emanating good vibes while we work, as opposed to being stressed and irritable, we have a positive influence on those around us. The greater the number of people like this, the more such positive energy will spread, changing the world. If you radiate joyful energy in the work you do, that in itself is contributing to society.” (p. 214)

Quotables

“To be honest, it doesn’t really matter which is better—a clutter-free desk or one that is total chaos. The most important thing is that you yourself are aware of the kind of environment that brings you joy at work; that you know your own joy criteria.” (p. 17)

“No matter how wonderful the personal-care products you keep at work, if your work life itself doesn’t spark joy, you’re putting the cart before the horse. Start by imagining your ideal work life, then decide what kinds of personal-care products will help you realize that ideal. And what kind won’t.” (p. 66)

“Given the social pressures to say yes—after all, we want to be seen as good team players—putting off making a decision when approached with these extra requests is one effective technique. Simply say, ‘I’ll think about it and get back to you.’ Then take some time to decide if the task will spark joy for you. If not, politely decline it. The research shows that when we delay making a commitment, we feel more empowered to say no to tasks we don’t enjoy and yes to tasks we do.” (p. 116)

“A [meeting] recap should help them understand why their time was well spent. Ask questions such as: What progress did we make? What got in the way? What did we learn? What did we solve? At the end of a meeting where something is decided, ask people to publicly commit to working to support it, even if they weren’t in favor of the decision. With this public declaration, they’re much more likely to follow through, and less likely to engage in back-channel after-discussions with others in which they undermine or sabotage the decision.” (p. 161)

“Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos lives by the “two-pizza rule”—no team should be large enough that it needs to be fed with more than two pizzas. Research backs up Bezos’s rule of thumb. Studies peg the optimal size for most teams from four to six people if they’re trying to generate ideas, make decisions, or innovate, with teams of more than nine people pushing the limits of what’s effective.” (p. 177)

“So when you tackle your workspace, don’t think of it as ‘tidying.’ Tell yourself that you’re designing a joyful place to work.” (p. 190)

“You only get one chance at life. Which will you choose? To live in fear of what others might think? Or to follow your own heart?” (p. 201)

“Our work and our lives are the cumulative result of our past choices. Whatever happens is the result of our own decisions. If something you’re engaged in doesn’t bring you joy, remember that where you are now is the path that you chose in the past. Based on that understanding, ask yourself what you want to do next. If you choose to let something go, do it with gratitude. If you choose to continue, do it with conviction. Whatever your decision, if it is made deliberately and with confidence, it will surely contribute to a joyful life.” (p. 209)

“I’m convinced that tidying is the first and most effective step toward realizing your vision of a joyful career. We hope that you will try this again since we offer here for tidying up everything from physical clutter to time, networks, and decision-making. Finish tidying up your workspace then devote yourself to what you love. Joy at work sparks joy in life.”  (p. 214)