Sarah Knight Wants You to Have a (Mentally) Clutter-Free Year

If you’re staring at a blank page of New Year’s resolutions for 2016, there’s a book publishing today that’s as helpful as it is a hilarious way to give you a jump start. In fact, Sarah Knight’s The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*CK may just become one of your favorite books to thumb through this year. Inspired by the wisdom of Marie Kondo’s bestseller, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Knight’s irreverent book aims to help you rid yourself of unwanted obligations, shame and guilt—and give your f*cks instead to people and things that make you happy. Read on as Knight, who found herself giving too many f*cks about too many things for too long, which left her stressed out, anxious and even panic-stricken by her commitments, shares how her uber-honest take on life can change your life, too.

Was this a book you always wanted to write?

It happens to be something I’ve been living with for a long time. I’ve always been the kind of person who says ‘wait, hold up, this isn’t as great as you think it is—why are we pretending that this family gathering is so fun or that we all care about x, y and z?’ In that sense, I was primed to write a book about this. It’s legitimately how I feel.

Do you think the book will redefine the self-help category?

I would love it if the world said that’s what I have done. Self-help is largely about branding and tapping into what is in the zeitgeist of the moment. I think I have hit upon something zeitgeist-y. I’m also giving people some affirmation which is what everyone looks for in self-help, but I’m also saying that it’s OK to aspire to less, that it’s OK to commit to less, to be less perfect and to really embrace that so you can enjoy what you have and not worry about what you don’t have.

Marie Kondo Explains How to Treat Your Socks with Respect

The book’s subtitle touts the benefits of no longer, “spending time you don’t have with people you don’t like doing things you don’t want to do.” What if that comes across as mean?

I’m a very honest person. I’m very candid—what you see is what you get. I’m very transparent. I was talking about this the other day. I feel like the word selfish has become a four-letter word. I don’t think it should. I think it’s good to look out for No. 1. The more you look out for yourself, the happier you’re going to be. If people were to say that my outlook is nasty or selfish I don’t consider those to be bad designations.

 What’s the highest praise a reader could give you?

If someone told me that the book changed their life for the better, I would be thrilled. I think that a lot of people struggle with obligations and these feelings of guilt, shame and anxiety about having to do or say or participate in all of these things that they don’t want to do. I think the message of my book is resonating because I’m saying what so many people are thinking, which is ‘I don’t have time, I don’t want to do that and it’s OK.’