Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff
by Dana K. White
Print Length: 240 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (February 27, 2018)
ASIN: B072TMNCBH
Genre: Cleaning, Hoarding, How To
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0
You don't have to live overwhelmed by stuff--you can get rid of clutter for good!
While the world seems to be in love with the idea of tiny houses and minimalism, many of us simply can't purge it all and start from nothing. Yet a home with too much stuff is a home that is difficult to maintain, so where do we begin? Add in paralyzing emotional attachments and constant life challenges, and it can feel almost impossible to make real decluttering progress.
In Decluttering at the Speed of Life, decluttering expert and author Dana White identifies the mind-sets and emotional challenges that make it difficult to declutter. Then, in her signature humorous approach, she provides workable solutions to break through these struggles and get clutter out--for good!
But more than simply offering strategies, Dana dives deep into how to implement them, no matter the reader's clutter level or emotional resistance to decluttering. She helps identify procrasticlutter--the stuff that will get done eventually so it doesn't seem urgent--as well as how to make progress when there's no time to declutter.
Sections of the book include
Why You Need This Book (You Know Why)
Your Unique Home
Decluttering in the Midst of Real Life
Change Your Mind, Change Your Home
Breaking Through Your Decluttering Delusions
Working It Out Room by Room
Helping Others Declutter
Real Life Goes On (and On)
As long as we're living and breathing, new clutter will appear. The good news is that decluttering can get easier, become more natural, and require significantly fewer hours, less emotional bandwidth, and little to no sweat to keep going.
Review:
I really enjoyed this helpful work on decluttering. Ms. White shares great tips and specific rules that help in the process. I’d love to share the questions but then others might decide they don’t need to get the book. The book read easily and the method of questioning makes great sense.The suggestions/guides are shared with experience and humor.
The first weekend I got my husband to help me clean a room that was a real mess. We filled a large bag with trash and two boxes of giveaway items. That was just the visibility level so there is still more to do but it was a big improvement.
I am guilty of buying items I like but not using them...because I like them. An example is candles. Now I have boxes and cabinets with lovely candles that I don’t use. So I have to decide to use them up or donate them if I want to clear that space.
I have also been implementing the tips during my Christmas gift organizing. I have pulled gifts that I won’t ever give to anyone (either expired or outgrown) and put many in a donate box. Some I have put in a box for future giving but I made a list so I won’t forget what I have.
My husband and I want to downsize our house but first we need to declutter our belongings! This book will help. It is nice that the implementation can be small as that is all the time I have had… but it has helped. Even five minutes a day can make a difference. I recommend this to people who want to declutter their places and lives.
Source: NetGalley 2018. This qualifies for NetGalley Challenge.
