Review: Decluttering At The Speed of Life by Dana K. White

Decluttering At The Speed of Life by Dana K. White

Published by Thomas Nelson on February 2018
Genres: Non-Fiction
Pages: 240
Format: Audiobook
Source: Bought
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4 Stars

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:

Nowadays, I’m a skeptical person when I read these minimalist approaches to life. Sure, I fold my daughter’s clothes in the MariKondo way (I have to, they won’t fit otherwise.) And I have read several books on decluttering, including my favorite which is the art of tidying up. (Ask me if I follow it though and that’s another story). But a lot of them say the same thing, stuff I already know, nothing that really makes me think I can keep up with this lifestyle 24/7.

Until…

there’s something utterly charming about the book Decluttering At The Speed of Life. It’s so real. Now to be brutally honest, I am not in such as bad shape as the author, whose home sounds like a hoarder’s dream. I found myself secretly happy that I wasn’t living in a wall to wall boxes type home. I’m happy I don’t have a bunch of items to sell on ebay nor do I like to spend money on junk or garage sale items only to use it one day, or sell it. But I do find myself needing to declutter a lot, and recently, even books have lost their appeal to me. They all say the same thing, blah blah stop buying stuff. But what they don’t understand is that I have a toddler who loves stuffed animals (I have paired them down) and a husband who won’t throw away a book after he’s read it, even if he’s hated it.

So imagine my surprise when one day as I drive to work, I’m enjoying this audiobook and laughing with her. The first thing that really struck with me was how she talked about space. I’m not stupid and I’m not a rocket scientist, but for some reason, I just never thought of it this way – organizing and decluttering and cleaning are all very separate things. I always thought of them as one. Especially because I seem to want to buy containers while I declutter. And that’s the thing, maybe that’s why it hasn’t worked for me yet.

I also enjoyed the part where she talks about containers. And how everything should fit in a container and if it doesn’t fit, then you don’t need it! I have heard this before but her example was scarves. (I also have a collection of scarves.) If they don’t fit on the scarf holder, then I need to only keep the ones that will.

What?!

Yes, that’s right. I purged my scarf collection and kept my favorites. The one I bought all those years ago in Paris, the gift from my mother in law, the recent gift from my sister in law. Those all stayed. The one I’ve had for over 20 years from the gap that is thick and wool and I never use and I continue to forget about because I live in Southern California? That one is gone. It doesn’t seem like much, but it really inspired me. I’m doing the library first, and all the books and the containers for the books etc. (Watch out for another giveaway soon)

Overall, there is a lot of realistic tips and a friendly and non-judgemental voice in this book. I like how she talks about the visual surface your guests see and decluttering those first. Because yes, that’s my usual concern too. It’s not my closet or my shoe collection. It’s the kitchen counter and the coffee table.

And for that, thank you. I have taken it to heart and may even post some before and after pictures. 🙂