Dana leads you step-by-step with the heart of a woman who has been there and struggled with the same issues you are currently struggling with. Really, this is a must read for anyone who wants to learn the secrets that all those organized types seem to know." -Kimberlee S. I definitely didn't make up the word clutter, but I did make up a definition for it that helped me get it out of my house. I define clutter as anything I can't keep under control. If a space in my home consistently gets out of control, I have too much stuff in that space. I have clutter. I had to dig my way out, and it was the most unnatural thing I'd ever done. If I'm left to my natural tendencies, clutter builds, and clutter stays. A Slob Comes Clean is the completely honest (and never-ending) story of my deslobification process. As I find ways to keep my home under control, I share the truth about cleaning and organization methods that actually work for a real-life slob. And I'm funny. Decluttering isn’t organizing. When I realized decluttering and organizing were two different things and that it was okay to just declutter, I felt a weight lift off my soul. I no longer slumped my shoulders in defeat before I even started, knowing from experience that whatever solution I might create would surely fail like all the others had. Instead, I purged. I focused solely on getting things we didn’t need out of our house.

Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-E…

Honestly, it wasn’t emotional at all, and I believe that’s why the moment had such an impact on me. I finally understood what I now call the Container Concept.

This doesn't mean forgetting the future exists. Living now means giving now preferential treatment over the future or even the past. This is where Decluttering At The Speed of Life gets really practical. After talking about a decluttering mindset, Dana then gives you step by step decluttering instructions for every room in your home as well as decluttering tips pertinent to that specific space. In Decluttering at the Speed of Life, decluttering expert and author Dana White identifies the mindsets and emotional challenges that make it difficult to declutter. In her signature humorous approach, she provides workable solutions to break through these struggles and get clutter out—for good!

Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending

Not only does Dana provide strategies, but she 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. I did not understand that my overabundance of stuff was directly related to my inability to function well in my home. The more stuff I brought into my home, the more out of control it felt. The more out of control my home felt, the more I looked to the future as the time when I’d finally have things figured out. The more I focused on the future instead of the present, the more I justified collecting things I might need one day. I have been pondering limits lately. Eating, drinking, days of our lives, energy, strength, traveling. All tied in with acceptance and gratitude. Decluttering is stuff you don’t need leaving your house. And that’s really all it is. If five things leave or five hundred things leave, you’ve succeeded.Develop coping strategies – Write down memories associated with the item, take a picture of it, or give it to someone who will use and appreciate it. This may aid in reassuring yourself that letting go of the object does not erase its associated memories. THE TRUE HOARDER'S GODSEND Empty your shelves of your decluttering books, this is the bible of decluttering Those definitions describe what I was desperate to make happen in my home. Keep things under proper control? Mm-hmm. Prevent or limit the expansion or advance of my stuff? Yeah, baby. Succeed in preventing the spread of clutter? Yes, please! Decluttering isn't Stuff Shifting. It isn't rearranging or buying a new shelving unit or sorting into slots or drawers or baskets. Practice Mindful Decluttering- Make it a lifestyle where you only keep items that resonate with your present taste and needs. Allow room for growth and change.

Decluttering At The Speed Of Life Review - Organised Pretty Home Decluttering At The Speed Of Life Review - Organised Pretty Home

My first success was to trot down to the charity shop with no less than ELEVEN books on Decluttering! They were all written, not by hoarders but by people who are tidy and simply think they can teach a hoarder to be tidy and throw their stuff away and that doesn’t and can’t work. I bought each one in the hope that they would make life easier but each one sat on the shelf next to the last, gathering dust, creating more anxiety but yes – I kept them all – for years. It’s not about whether something gives you joy or when you last used it or whether it still fits, it’s much bigger than that - would that it was so simple. Not that I don't make mistakes. I totally do. But I've accepted that while Decluttering Regret (the realization that I need something after I declutter it) isn't fun, I've survived every time. And the peace I feel over a home that's easier to manage outweighs the frustration I feel over having to write "medium-sized cutting board" on my shopping list. I accepted that people with homes that are consistently under control prefer living with regret over living with clutter. I want to be one of those people. While you can only take responsibility for your own clutter, there are times when you need to know what to do about other people’s clutter. Dana explains how to use her step by step process to respectfully and kindly, help family and friends sort through their stuff. Really enjoyable to read as well as inspiring and informative. I didn't expect to laugh as much while reading a book about housekeeping but the author's tone is really funny and entirely realistic. Think I'm going to buy a physical copy so I can refer to it over the years when my house gets (as it undoubtedly will) out of control. Read more Yes! Scarf hangers full! Go me... blergh. How is my floor still covered in scarves?! Now what do I do?I thought the purpose of containers was to hold stuff. That’s why I kept buying more when the ones I had were full and I still had stuff that needed to be held. But once I understood the purpose of containers, I was freed from my overthinking. Once I understood that the purpose of a container is to contain, I saw that though the container held the scarves, its most important purpose was to limit the number of scarves I kept. Once the scarf container was full, I knew how many scarves I could keep.

Decluttering at the Speed of Life | Winning Your Never-Ending Decluttering at the Speed of Life | Winning Your Never-Ending

Integrating the ‘less is more’ philosophy into your decluttering process can be effectively achieved by regularly assessing and eliminating unnecessary items, focusing on maintaining only those that serve a function or bring joy. Living now means my kids can easily get dressed for school because the only things in their drawers and closets are clothes that fit. Not clothes they outgrew two years ago or clothes they'll grow into someday. I absolutely LOVE this book. It is rare that a book actually changes your life but this has. If you are not just untidy but are a TRUE HOARDER, you will understand that it is more than a mindset, it is a way of life, almost an illness. You probably open a cupboard which is stuffed to the gunnels with every intention of emptying it and then move a few things around having found no reason to get rid of anything but six or seven reasons to keep each item. The steps are: 1. trash, 2. easy stuff, 3. the duhs, 4. asking the 2 questions (if I needed this item, where would I look for it? + if I needed this item, would I remember having it?), 5. make it fit into a container (shelf, box, cupboard, etc.).The same thing happened when I collected stuff… a shoeshine box I didn’t need turned into frustration when I had to move it out of the way as I searched for things I actually did need. Dana K White, Decluttering At The Speed Of Life Decluttering at the Speed of Life, decluttering expert and author Dana White identifies the mindsets and emotional challenges that make it difficult to declutter. In her signature humorous approach, she provides workable solutions to break through these struggles and get clutter out—for good! But as long as I was using containers incorrectly, I was never going to reach that State of Organization.